Echos of the Past

Echoes of the Past Skill List

General	Social	Combat	knowledge	Magic
Name Attribute Source Alchemy Intellect Core Rulebook Athletics Brawn Core Rulebook Computers(Hacking) Intellect Shadow of the Beanstalk Computers(SysOps) Intellect Shadow of the Beanstalk Cool Presence Core Rulebook Coordination Agility Core Rulebook Disclipline Willpower Core Rulebook Driving Agility Core Rulebook Mechanics Intellect Core Rulebook Medicine Intellect Core Rulebook Operating Intellect Core Rulebook Perception Cunning Core Rulebook Piloting Agility Core Rulebook Resilience Brawn Core Rulebook Skullduggery Cunning Core Rulebook Stealth Agility Core Rulebook Streetwise Cunning Core Rulebook Survival Cunning Core Rulebook Vigilance Willpower Core Rulebook	Name Attribute Source Charm Presence Core Rulebook Coercion Willpower Core Rulebook Deception Cunning Core Rulebook Leadership Presence Core Rulebook Negotiation Presence Core Rulebook	Name Attribute Source Brawl Brawn Core Rulebook Melee Brawn Core Rulebook Ranged Light Agility Core Rulebook Ranged Heavy Agility Core Rulebook Gunnery Agility? Core Rulebook	Name Attribute Source Knowledge Intellect Core Rulebook Society Intellect Echoes of the Past InfoSphere Intellect Echoes of the Past	Name Attribute Source Arcane Intellect Core Rulebook Divine Willpower Core Rulebook Meta Intellect Echoes of the Past

Summary

Its the Year 2563 in Sol time and the Garm believe they are in the Age of Observation. After years of unregulated Experimentation, the Collective has decided to sit back and focus on cleaning up the messes they have left all over the Galaxy. With the Garm busy with that the Arakona have began mobilizing some of their forces with a focus to expanding into the Unclaimed section of space. The Sovar and Revalents have been silently fighting over a plant with an absurd about of Aether in it, with both hiring PMCs to mine the planet's supply of Aether for their own use.

Important Groups

Garm Collective

A collection of systems ran by a Council. This group was the first to reach the stars, Due to this they own a good chunk of the galaxy. The most common species you will find in this group are the Garm, though you will find Hu'zark a close 2nd, followed by Humans.

Sovar Federation

Started by a group of systems near the northern tip of the Garm Collective. This group slipped off wanting to escape the bureaucracy of the Garm Collective, Over time more and more systems have joined the Federation.

Revalents

A Collection of systems owned by the Wassie, one of the younger civilizations in the galaxy. They generally have open borders and don't mind letting the other species of the galaxy come and go.

Milran

The Systems that you will find most Arakona located. This civilization has a focus on robotics and generally rejects outsiders. This rejection will usually mean you won't find a good port to land in this section of space. Though having an Arakona in the crew will get you special treatment.

PMCs

Pheonix Shroud

Leader: Zakres

A stealth based PMC created by Zakres, a Hu'zark who was 2nd in command of another PMC called 'Raven's Stash'. When his original PMC collapsed due to betrayal and internal conflict, he took those who remained and made 'Pheonix Shroud'.

Jrillvis

Leader: Mi-quan (Mi)

This PMC puts the MILITARY in PMC, they are ruthless and unforgiving. This PMC has a focus on pure Lethal action, their armor can withstand most bullets and there shielding tech can block most shots.

The Rectifiers

Leader: Yanivos Serrel

A PMC with a focus on energy. Their guns fire off arcs electricity and their shields can withstand most bullets easily. This specific group is known for its rather strange way of enter the Area of Operations, with drop pods and cannons.

Void Groups

Groups that work with or involved with the Void.

Void Travelers

Created to research and understand the space between realities, with some effort spent on understanding the Universe overall. Lead by Three leaders.

Reclaimers

A small group that is attempting to understand the 'Abyss'. They've been known to displace people with the intention of studying the effects it has on them and the universe.

Soul Order

This group believes that the current universe is improperly setup. Believing that only those who are truly important need Souls. They want to bring about a great change to correct this.

Technology Level

Well into the space age, most people can buy a ticket and travel all the way across the galaxy in a couple weeks. Most people carry around super computers that can hold their own personal AI if someone wanted.

You'll find some crazy wizards carrying medieval weapons due to some limitations on Digi-Bags when it comes to enchanting more complex weapons, though some will go for guns if they wanted.

Most guns are energy based, though some PMCs have used Ballistic due to them being cheaper and easier to store in a Digi-bag.

You'll find many cities are designed with foot traffic or public transport in mind. Most cars that are owned by your normal person are used for traveling between towns.

Background

Backgrounds represent your life overall. The things you focused on before adventuring. This determines your Attributes, starting skill, and your Wound and Strain Threshold. By default you are free to make your own, but below a few pre-made ones if you wish to use them.

Something Your Own

1. Pick your Major and Minor Skill, the Major starts at 3, and the minor starts at 1
2. Pick 1 skill related to your Major skill and increase its rank by 1
3. Pick either a Tier one Talent, or a Background Talent.
4. Set your Wounds and Strain to 10 for each.
5. Adjust Both thresholds by subtracting some amount from one and adding it to the other.

Background Talents

Here is a list of talents that you can pick as your background talents. These are generally a bit stronger than Tier One talents, but can only be taken during character creation. (Note: More to be added later)

Name	Description
Beyond One's Limits	You may ignore the effects of a Critical Injury for so many rounds up to your Willpower stat. Once this effect has ended, you suffer the consequences of pushing yourself. After ignoring the injury, double the effect of your critical injury. EX: if you lose your free maneuver, instead you lose the ability to-do any maneuvers.
Dubious Knowledge	When rolling a knowledge check, you can use this talent to generate a success on an already failed check. You will gain some correct information and some incorrect information.
Tough Times	After failing a roll, Once per session, You can re-roll your dice pool. Doing so always generates a Despair (d).
Encouraging Speech	You can, once per scene, perform a Hard (kkk) Speech check to encourage your comrades. For each success you generate, your comrades will gain an upgrade to their next roll. Your comrades also recover strain from any Advantages you generate.
Nimble	You can gain 2 Strain to perform one additional Maneuver that ignores the Maneuver cap. You can do this as many times up to your Agility stat.
Pulse of the City	Your heart beats in time with the world, you may roll a Hard (kkk) Streetwise, on a success, you can spend the success from this roll to get a general vibe of the world around you. Getting a sense of something wrong, or maybe a sense of something you missed.
Empath	When interacting with another creature or person, you may spend 1 Story point and ask the GM how this creature currently feels. The GM can tell you its general mood, and if that mood has a cause. Using this knowledge on social checks generates a j.
Visual Calculus	You may roll Perception Hard (kkk) to reconstruct a scenario in your head base on very little evidence. This reconstruction's accuracy is based on how many s are generated. Just getting one will tell you how many people were involved, and the overall flow of actions that took place. Additional s can be used to ask specific questions that the GM must answer, as long as they are relevant.
Mystery of The Druids	You may spend 2 strain to take on the form of an animal your silhouette or one size larger. You gain this creatures Physical stats (Brawn, Agility, Presence) and gain its WT and ST. You may keep this form for the rest of the scene, or until you dismiss it early. IF You break either threshold while in this form, you return to your own form, filling both of your threshold up by half your max. (IE if you max is 10 and your form breaks. You gain 5. Rounded up)
A Quick Invention	You gain the ability to cast 'spells' through your Mechanics skill. These are treated as either, an invention you make up on the spot, or something you already made. This roll acts just like using Arcane or Divine, so cost 2 Strain if a roll is required.
Once More	When attacking a creature, you may spend 3 Advantage (a) to roll another attack with an upgrade to the difficulty. You may repeat this, but each additional attack requires an additional Advantage (a) to trigger.
Tricky Action	You may attempt to roll Deception Vs Perception on a target at anytime before performing an action. For each Success (s) generated, you may upgrade the next roll, each Advantage (a) generates a bonus die, and a Triumph (t) generates an auto success (s) on the following roll. Generating any failure (f) results in all positive bonuses to be negated. Threat (h) and Despair (d) are handled by the GM.

Well Rounded

Well Rounded
Wounds		10	Strain		10
Brawn	Agility	Intellect	Cunning	Willpower	Presence
2	2	2	2	2	2
Skill
Pick 1 skill from any section.

Hard Labor

Hard Labor
Wounds		12	Strain		8
Brawn	Agility	Intellect	Cunning	Willpower	Presence
3	2	2	1	2	2
Skill
Pick 1 Skill with the attribute; Brawn

Long Study Nights

Long Study Nights
Wounds		8	Strain		12
Brawn	Agility	Intellect	Cunning	Willpower	Presence
2	2	3	2	2	1
Skill
Pick any skill with the attribute; Intellect

Socialite

Socialite
Wounds		8	Strain		12
Brawn	Agility	Intellect	Cunning	Willpower	Presence
1	2	2	2	2	3
Skill
Gain One rank in any Social Skills

Divine Worshiper

Divine Worshiper
Wounds		10	Strain		10
Brawn	Agility	Intellect	Cunning	Willpower	Presence
2	2	2	1	3	2
Skill
You gain 1 Rank in Divine

Rogue

Rogue
Wounds		10	Strain		10
Brawn	Agility	Intellect	Cunning	Willpower	Presence
1	3	2	2	2	2
Skill
Gain 1 rank in any skill that uses Agility

Races In the Milky Way

This section is all the races that can show up in the Milky way Galaxy. They are the most common and the kind you will see everywhere you go.

Each Ancestry grants you two talents, you should have one that is focused on combat, and one that is narrative focused. If not I probably haven't touched that race in a bit.

Human

Lore Page: Humans

Human
Humans from the planet Earth, and for some reason Kul'dah. You know what a human is, squishy apes with a love for tools.
Ready for Anything	Cool Under Pressure
Once per session as an out of turn incidental, you may move one Story Point from the GM’s pool to the Player’s Pool.	When a Cool roll is required you can spend 1 strain to add a Bonus Die, this can be used after the roll is made.

Android

Lore Page: Androids

Androids come in many shapes and sizes. They can come from a large range of backgrounds. Some were created by the Arakona while others seem to appear at random. They are humanoid in form, most typically resembling humans. It is common for androids to be obviously robotic but not unheard of for them to pass as human.

Android
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Made of Sturdier Stuff	Machine
Unlike the meatbags of the world, a couple of stabs isn’t going to put you down so quickly. When rolling for Critical wounds, your roll takes a -10 to the total.	You do not need any help traversing dangerous environments. You take no penalty for being in a bad environment and do not need any items to travel in space.

Possible Malus

Name	Description
Made by The Imperfect	When you break your strain threshold. You suffer a Non-Permanent critical injury. This injury can be fixed by performing a Full Reboot, which takes a full round of combat. Requires: Your Ancestry to be a Machine or Construct.
Machine in Mind and Body	When you perform a Social related check. You always add jj to your pool.

Hu'zark

Lore Page: Hu'zark

Humanoid dragons created by the Garm a long time ago. They usually stand around 5-6 feet in height. Mutations within the species cause them to have many different layouts for their horns and sometimes digitigrade legs.

Hu'zark
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Dragon Remnant	The Garm's Expirement
Dragon blood runs in your veins, allowing you to cast ancient spells when you attack. when you attacks someone. You can spend aaaaa to activate any weapon trait. Even ones your weapon lacks	At the cost of two strain,You can read the thoughts of a nearby person or creature.

Possible Malus

Name	Description
Not The Most Powerful	You cannot increase you Brawn rating above 3 during character creation.
Cold Blooded	Some Hu'zark's Dragon blood isn't strong enough to keep them warm. Without the proper clothes, you will quickly perish in the cold. When in an environment that is too cold, each minute you stay in this environment will cause you to gain 1 wound. During Combat you upgrade all checked by 1 Difficulty. The Clothes needed to protect against this takes up your armor slot, and has the Stats of Padded Clothes.

Garm

Lore Page: Garm

The Garm are one of the first to travel the stars, and are the creators of the Hu'Zark. Large bulky humanoids with grey leathery skin, with the most unique characteristic being their lack of a mouth. You will find many old Labs created during the Age of Experimentation that were made by the Garm.

Garm
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Telepathic	Overcharge
Since you lack a mouth, you have to speak by projecting your thoughts. This allows you to easily sneak messages to select people. You can also send multiple different messages at once, albeit with some difficulty.	Even Garm who are not spell casters know how to tap into their inner supply of energy to give them just a bit more ‘Mmmph’ when they need it.

Possible Malus

Name	Description
Lost in Translation	When performing a social check against Non-Garm Ancestrys. Upgrade your difficulty by 2
Not the Most Agile	You cannot increase your Agility beyond 3 during character creation.

Arakona

Lore Page: Arakona

Arakona are large spider like creatures that mostly stay within their own section of space. Though you can find some drones who will leave the hive, they are far and few. The Arakona are known to be builders of many of the machines that exist, and its rumored they created the Sentient factory.

Arakona
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Poisons Claws	Amazing Climbers
When attacking with your fist. You can use claws instead that do +2 damage, and can spend aa to inflict poison onto a person. This does 2 damage a turn on the enemy for 2 Turns and gives the enemy a j.	You can upgrade a die in your pool when climbing a surface.

Possible Malus

Name	Description
Simple Drone	You cannot increase your Intellect above 3.
Without The Queen	Without the queen your mind seems always a bit jumbled. You always add h to your Dice pool when using a skill that needs Intellect.

Wasie

Lore Page: Wasie

Wasie are shapeshifters and so are not defined by a notable size or shape. Despite being able to replicate other species’ forms, they are unable to replicate coloration. Instead, Wasie have their own unique color patterns.

Wasie
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Change Shape	Unstable Blood
AT the cost of 2 Strain With +1 strain being added for any changes to silhouette, you are able to change your entire shape and size. This change can also be done per limb  to turn them into sharp melee weapons, a tool like a crowbar, or something of similar size and shape.	Your blood is extremely dangerous for others to touch. When attacked you can spend 2 threat to cause your target to be covered in some of your blood. This inflicts Burn 2 on them using your Brawl damage for the base.

Possible Malus

Name	Description
Lost In the Sauce	You have some form of Addiction, this has to be dealt with each In-game Day. You increase the difficulty of each check by the amount of days you have not gotten your Fix. Your drugs are illegal, and are not the easiest thing to find.
Poisoned Blood	Anyone who tends to your wounds must upgrade the difficulty of a medicine check by 2, unless they have medical supplies on hand. Any h can be Spent on dealing damage to the healer

Machine Ancestries

Those who are machines or partial machines have unique rules. Most of this has to do with V Space, but just know that these ancestries have unique rules about them. The first rule is that all Machine Ancestries start with -10 EXP from having these unique talents.

Name	Description
Pre-installed Functions	Built into your body is. -V Scope: Letting you look into Virtual space without connecting to it. -Bridge: Letting you fully connect to Virtual Space, when connected your body is left alone, but you are fully aware of its status. Dropping in and out is a full round action. -PAD: You have a built in Personal Assistant Device (A cellphone). Your Body can hold some amount of software for hacking [Work on hacking rules]
Machine	When in a dangerous environment (Space, extremely temp, toxic air, etc) You do not take any penalty. The exception is for radiation, you are still effected.

Android

Lore Page: Androids

Androids come in many shapes and sizes. They can come from a large range of backgrounds. Some were created by the Arakona while others seem to appear at random. They are humanoid in form, most typically resembling humans. It is common for androids to be obviously robotic but not unheard of for them to pass as human.

Android
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Made of Sturdier Stuff	[NO TALENT]
Unlike the meatbags of the world, a couple of stabs isn’t going to put you down so quickly. When rolling for Critical wounds, your roll takes a -10 to the total.	Contact me about this. Still working on this.

Possible Malus

Name	Description
Made by The Imperfect	When you break your strain threshold. You suffer a Non-Permanent critical injury. This injury can be fixed by performing a Full Reboot, which takes a full round of combat. Requires: Your Ancestry to be a Machine or Construct.
Machine in Mind and Body	When you perform a Social related check. You always add jj to your pool.

Personal Artificial Intelligence

Personal Artificial Intelligence
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Jacked in	Flexible Assistant
Your real body is a small Card that can be inserted into a special slot built into most robots and even some PADs. When inserted into another body, you inherent its WT, ST, Talents, and Physical Stats (Brawn and Agility,) The WT of this shell is seperate from your own, and when you break the shells WT, any excess damage is dealt to your WT. You can always deploy a Hard Light Shell that takes a form of your choosing that is at Size 1. When you break your WT in this form, it instantly breaks and can only be used again once the scene ends. IN an emergency you can spend 5 Strain to instantly recharge it, or request someone else do a hard Mechanics to fix it.	You are a fully functional Bridge, Lens and Deck. When in Virt space, you are represented by an avatar of your choosing. You can hack objects in virtual space to affect things in physical space.

PAI Shells

NOT OF THIS UNIVERSE

Occasionally creatures from another reality make their way into our own. There are a couple ways to arrive here, as listed below. Choosing one of these backgrounds does not allot your character any particular bonuses, but gives you an idea of their past and placement in the world. You can also pick races from Star of Solestine and Gears in the Machine.

A complete list of all extra ancestries can be found here Complete Ancestries

When it comes to being from another land, you generally should talk to your GM about why you are here. Below are some common examples for EOP on how you got here.

Name	Description
Void Refugee	You were rescued from the void. Either your original universe was thrown into the void or you were cast there by yourself. Due to this your introduction to your current universe was Kol-No.
Misplaced	A spell that went wrong, an old artifact that supposedly removes people, or maybe you were in the wrong place. Either way you were misplaced and somehow landed in this universe.
Reclaimers Experiment	A mysterious faction of people who claim to be researching the ‘Abyss’. You were living a normal life when they brought you here against your will. They might have given you a job, or maybe you are a part of one of their experiments.

Goblin

A humanlike species that is short with green skin.

Extra: Silhouette 0 (maybe Remove)

Goblin
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Anythings Food if You're Brave enough	Love for Fire
Goblins are able to consume a good amount of things that most races can’t. When rolling a resistance check to resist the effects of something you ate, you can add a Bonus Die to the roll. You can also add a Bonus Die to survival checks when looking for food. Though the stuff you find might not be edible for everyone else.	Something about your kind is drawn to the aspect of fire. When attacking a target you can 2 strain to add Burn 1 to your weapon. You can spend multiple amounts of stain to increase the rating. This doesn't require a to trigger.

Dwarf

A humanlike species that is shorter, thicker, and hairier. Most dwarves sport beards of some length. Many dwarven societies put a focus on mining and blacksmithing.

Dwarf
{{{RaceDesc}}}
The Power of Beard	Stout and Sturdy
Your Beard doesn’t just serve the purpose of being cool. You can use that beard of yours to detect vibrations. When it's pressed against a surface, you can feel any vibrations going on. Pressing  your beard against a door lets you feel if anyone is talking. Or against the floor gives you a vague idea of where people are up to medium range.	dd 1 to your soak, and you can add a Bonus Die To any Resilience checks related to poison or disease.

Paziki

Humanoid rat creature with Digitigrade legs. Used to be apart of a hivemind, but some giant tree's decided to try something new.

Paziki
Humanoid rat creature with Digitigrade legs. Used to be apart of a hivemind, but some giant tree's decided to try something new.
The Old Collective	Strange Sense
As a maneuver you can form a connection with another person. While connected, You upgrade any checks related to a target that both you and your bond are attacking. Out of combat this connection allows you to upgrade any check you are helping the bonded with. You also can suffer strain in place of the bonded, this will end the connection. You must either rest or take make an Average Discipline check before you can make another connection	Paziki have an innate sense of smell for aether or mana in general. You upgrade any check related to finding items with magical properties. You also can identify magical items by smell.

Possible Malus

Name	Description
Hole in Your Head	Increase the Difficulty twice for any check for resisting Mental Effects. EX: Spells that influences your thoughts, someone attempting to read your mind, resisting urges to do something.
Missing The Connection	Requires: "The Old Collective" You don't feel right without being connected to another person. When you do not have a Connection to another person via "The Old Collective", Increase the Difficulty of all checks.

Kobold

Small lizard looking creatures with dragon features. Known most for their diminutive stature.

Extra: Silhouette 0 (Maybe Remove)

Kobold
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Shake it Off	Dragon's Breathe
You can make a Hard (kkk) Discipline Check to negate any strain you might take while in a social encounter.	You always have a breath weapon...well unless you can’t open your mouth. You can pick a scale color below to change your Breath weapon. This can only be done during character creation. Bronze Scales: Instead of Fire breath; You can breathe out a cloud of gas. Instead of Burn you weapon has "Stun Damage" Gold: instead of Fire Breath; you release a bolt of energy You lose Blast and Burn, instead it gains "Weaken" Silver: Instead of Fire Breath; You release a cloud of gas. Instead of burn Your breath weapon now has Concussive 1. Copper: Instead of Fire Breath; You spit up a sticky liquid. Instead of Burn. Your breath weapon now has Ensnare 1

Name	Skill	DAM	CRIT	RANGE	SPECIAL
Breath, Fire	Ranged (Light)	3	2	Short	Blast 2, Burn 1

Weaken: Spend aa to sap 1 Attribute of your choice. This last for 1 hour.

Salamanders

(Salamander-like Humanoids)

Salamanders
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Regenerative Limbs	Toxic Spit
Once per Session you can spend a story point to instantly recover from any critical wound. This can be done as an Action while in a structured encounter.	You can spit  a ball of poison at your enemies, unless you can’t open your mouth.

Name	Skill	DAM	CRIT	RANGE	SPECIAL
Spit, Poison	Ranged (Light)	4	5	Short	'Burn' 2

Burn: You can spend two Advantages to inflict poison on your foe. Causing them to take poison damage 4 for 2 turns

A Fragment

Lore Page: Fragement

You are nothing more than a fragmented memory of someone, split by a powerful force, you only remember flashes of your former life. You appear as a humanoid blob, with two glowing eyes.

Fragment
{{{RaceDesc}}}
Connected to the Universe	A Moment Remembered
You can spend One Story Point to cast a Meta spell with no strain cost. You do not choose what spell is cast, and you treat it as if you gained 1 Success. This can only happen once per encounter.	At the cost of 2 Strain, you may use any Skill as if you had 2 ranks in it.

In addition to the above. You can regain shards of yourself. How you get these are left up to your DM. Though it doesn't have to be your goal. Doing this lets you 'Return to your Former self'. Both of these are really something you should talk to your DM about ahead of time due to the effect these shards can have.

When acquiring shards you can choose to embrace them or forget them. Embracing gives you some small bonus. While Leaving behind gets you nothing. No matter what you gain a hint of who you were. The only exception is on the 4th fragment, where you are given back all your memories and can choose to embrace fully or forget. If you Embrace the 4th your character is replaced with your original form. Keeping only some skills, while Leaving the 4th behind will let you keep the memories, but you will stay as you are.

A Shard can take on any form, but in most cases it takes on the form of something related to the character. They can spread anywhere, but do move around from time to time.

Fragment	Embraced	Leave Behind
1	You gain a concrete memory from your former life. This can be plot relevant or just a random memory	You gain a concrete memory from your former life. This can be plot relevant or just a random memory
2	You gain 1 Career Skill from your Previous Life, and another memory hinting at who you were	You remember another memory hinting at who you were
3	You gain 1 Racial Talent from your Previous Life, and a fact about your previous life	You remember a fact about your previous life
4	You are Whole once again. You lose your racial talents in favor of your original Races. Your skills are replaced with your Original forms skill list. You can keep 2 Skills from your fragmented form.	You Know fully who you once were. But for your own reasons decide to let go of this former life.

Malus

When you pick your ancestry, you may have noticed some take a penalty. Due to the power of either their talents, or having an increased threshold. To offset these cost you can take a Malus.

Malus comes in two forms, Negative Talents or balancing your Thresholds

Balancing Your Threshold

You can take points from one threshold to convert into +5 EXP Mod. So if you have 12 Wounds and 10 Strain, you can bring your stain down to 8 to give yourself a +10 to your starting Modifier. Which would offset the -10 you got from have 12 Wounds Threshold.

Negative Talents

These are flaws that create issues when your character performs certain actions, or when certain events happen. Taking these gives you a +10 to your starting EXP modifier. You can find possible Malus Talents related to each ancestry, underneath each ancestries stat block. You can ask about taking Malus Talents from other ancestries, but you should stick to your ancestries Malus Talents. If your Ancestry has no Malus Talents, you are free to pick a Malus from other Ancestries or ask me about possible Ideas.

Here is a full list of Malus Talents: Malus Talents

Armor, Weapons, Gear

EOP:Gear

Talents

Talents

Meta Magic

Lore Page: Meta

Meta spells are a list of powerful spells that those with the Meta skill can cast, unlike normal magic these have a unique cost that changes depending on your ranks in Meta.

Meta magic are spells that mimic certain unseen functions of the universe. Using these spells takes a large amount of energy at first, but as a caster gets more experience with these spells the cost decreases.

Anyone can learn these spells but it's not common for someone to learn about them by themselves. It can happen but most of the time the knowledge is passed on from someone who has already figured it out.  You can only put ranks into Meta If you have at least 3 rank in either Arcana or Spellcrafting.

No matter what the cost of Meta magic starts at 7 and goes down by 1 per rank in Meta.

To cast a spell you make a Hard (kkk) Meta Check. Every success makes the spell stronger. If the check is a wash or failure then the spell fizzles out and you take the strain cost, plus any additional gained from Threat.

Structured Encounters

Spell	Effect
Sight	For some turn equal to your Success. Any attacked targeting the caster increases its Difficulty by 2.
Revert	When cast, each success lets you cancel out the action of 1 target.
Pause	Every Success gives you a bonus action or Maneuver. If Successfully cast you may ignore the Maneuver limit. You cannot Spend strain to get additional actions while using this spell

Meta spells can cancel each other out, in a simple rock, paper, scissors way.

Sight counters Revert, Revert counters Pause, and Pause counters Sight.

Any Meta caster can cast a Meta spell as a reaction to another caster. Both losing Strain but neither gains the bonus effects of the spell.

Narrative Encounters

Meta spells generally function the same in both structural and narrative encounters, they still have the same cost. With each rank the effect should be a bit stronger. Example,

Meta Descriptions

Spell	Effect
Sight	The caster gets a hint of some event about to happen. How useful the hint is depends on the dice pool.
Revert	The Caster is able to return to a previous moment in time they have marked. Every hour increases the Strain cost by 1, this is canceled out by the amount of success the caster has in their pool.
Pause	The Caster is able to stop the flow of time around them. The caster can move freely for a minute per each success.

Spending Threat and Despair on Meta rolls

With the power these bring, there is also a chance it will backfire. While threats might make the spell cost a bit more, it could do other things depending on the spell cast.

Cost	Result Options
h Or d	The spark inside the character fizzles a bit. For one round the caster adds jj to all magical checks for 2 rounds
h h Or d	The Strain cost of the spell is Doubled.
h h h Or d	Something goes wrong while they are casting, until their next turn the caster upgrades all magical checks by 2. As if the universe is actively trying to make them fail.
d	The caster is overwhelmed by the spell. The spell increases their wounds instead of their strain. The Caster falters during the casting and the spell backfires. Pause freezes them in time for one turn. Sight increases the difficulty of all checks by 2 for a turn, and Revert misplaces the caster into a dangerous spot.
ddd	The caster is unable to control the spell and the energy blast back. Fragmenting them slightly. Until they are able to reform, all skills and Attributes are capped at 2. This can be reverting through the story (The caster is able to find their fragment) or via a Formidable Arcane check. Do not do this unless the player is ok with it.