Apartment

 
Some teenage poetry from the eighties.

Special Reef Not For You
The reefs of space have an astounding effect on those who come to see
How the wonderful things that happen should not be revealed by me.
Though, I know you are curious about the reefs of space,
I can even see the entire expression of wonder on your face,
It seem to me you don't deserve the special vision that I've gleaned,
Simply because of the fact that all humans are just too much a fiend.


Pets
Teachers, Teachers, and their books
To them we're nothing but little crooks.
Except one I have not mentioned yet,
And he or she is branded "Teacher's pet."
Helping, doing, and all that stuff
Do teaches know it's just a bluff
They get their way in the class room
Even if they have to vacuum.


Black and Gold
If I were a creature of black and gold
and I were a thing to never grow old
I would show the world a strange sight to see
and all the world would be looking at me
They would wonder about me all the time
wonder about me in legend and rhyme

 
Swampy Vacation
Walking down the concrete stairs of my old backyard, the fist thing I noticed is the black body of water resting like an old corpse in its coffin. It is a laked, I supposed, but it looked more like a river that stood still. Its longer length runs for miles, and its width is only forty yards across. Glistening off the surface, I can see a whole rainbow of chemicals just waiting to sing their teeth into something living. Speaking of which, there were turtles sitting on a dead tree branch out in the middle. Sort of an organic island resort in the middle of a chemical wasteland. If I moved too swiftly the little guys would scare and jump into the abyss. That might have ruined their vacation.
I turned my head to the left toward the overpowering smell of some lifeless animal. The tall grass, no longer green, tried to hide the creature from me. The black, brown and gray colors surrounded the bloated body. I hardly recognized it to be a cat. Its disproportioned size must mean it's about to explode. I will avoid that area for a while.
I didn't trust the water, not anymore, not since I was a child. It was ugly back then, but I was a kid and didn't know any better. I would swim in it and have only a partial fear of what lurked underneath. I can remember accidentally swallowing some of that foul water. Tasted like laundry soap mixed in bug spray. My brother had gotten sick from it once, and we stayed clear of it since.
The late afternoon sky was hard to see what all the cloud cover, making this gloomy place all the more unpleasant. I remember it always being cold, too, shadows everywhere ready to jump on my behind every corner. the air had a solidity to it and felt rough like the hands of a brutal stone god. Now, the air was gritty and still had the same cruel quality. Cold and uncaring, the air bit with teeth as sharp as razors.
Cypress trees grew all along the side of the lake. When the wind blew through them I could hear them cry. Only one grew here in my backyard. Its limbs were slumped over as though it were decrepit, gray moss and faded gray-green leaves hanged like the bearded of an old man. i could almost see the weeping of its tears of pain. The almost non-existent life of this place provides little company. The bugs are no company at all.
The noise of the locust send throbbing pulsed of pain in my ears. I can feel their siren alarm steadily hitting me with each wave of attack. At the same time a swarm of mesquitos bombarded my exposed flesh like shots fired from a machines gun. Standing there swatting at the flies, I could not hold my balance. Stumbling for the tall dead grass, I smell the mistake I made in going in the direction. I back off only to trip over a piece of wood with a nail in it, scratching deep in my lower left leg across the bone. the I land on a piece broken bottle. the glass cutting as clean as rusty scalpel into my left cheek. After being here a while, I learned to ignore the torture these insects cause. After being here a while, I learned to ignore the agony of everything.

 
Super What?
Warming arms feel the rays of the sun shining though my bedroom windows while I lay there on my bed already awake. The room is a mess, as usual. Clothes, books and papers blot the floor like an unattractive pattern of floor tile. Various discarded plastic, metal, and wooden items line the design on my dresser. Assorted posters and games run the length of the walls and shelves. should I clean my room today? Maybe. I sometimes find lost monty and other valuable items during the process of cleaning, which only happen about once every two months. My bed is the one thing in the room I do keep clean and made. It is much more comfortable than sleeping on dice and newspaper.
Looking at the clock sitting on the night stand, it reads 8:02. The calendar says, July 10, 1986. Just another day to pass by. It is time to get up and see what is going on in the world. Sitting up is moderately difficult task. It feels as though the earth sways like the rock of a sailboat in a turbulent storm. And, BOY!, do I have a headache. Now, I remember. Eric's party last night. It was one of his good ones, where anyone caught not having a good time was dipped into the punch bowel and thrown into the pool. As I recall, there were strip dancers in portions of the house for, ah, entertainment. I drank and drank and drank all night long. I had every right to drink after the day I had. It started with that damned dog. It just kept barking...
I was in th eprocess of moving, and I needed some boxes. So, I began a journey to the supermarket, and on my way there I had to pass this fenced yard. I call it a journey because it was the beginning of a rather bizarre enlightening experience. I walked this way every day to and from work. Each time I passed, there were these tow dogs that came running up and barking, the German shepard first, then the large mutt. The German shepart was a beautiful gray color. It had a snow white chest outlined in black and dark dress shoes for paws. It gave me the impression of a wolfman in a tux. The other animal was a huge black and orange creature. It looked like an over-sized Halloween ornament with pointed ears. Its eyes were noticeable only because I could not see them. They blended in with the short body hair so well that I had took for a moment to catch the light reflecting from its glare.
This time, as I passed the enclosed yard, the terrible twosome came running from behind the house, quickly dodging the pale metal garbage cans that lay against the chopped wood pile and panting their way up the small grassy hill. Finally making that precise turn around the rose bush, conveniently used as a scare tactic, the dogs barked at me through the metal fence. Normally, I would have jumped, but mind mind was preoccupied with the barking of the German shepherd. Not just preoccupied, my attention was demanded. The sound pierced my eardrums. Pain shot into the ear canal and stung deep in my head. Then, to my amazement, the barking became an actual voice. I heard the hateful things the dog was saying to the familiar stranger, me. I felt its anger toward me and heard the words it was trying to say. At that moment, it was not a dog. It was someone who hated me just because I was too close to his territory.
I became blind. I could see nothing except blackness. But in the dark of my eyes, I knew that dog was there. I could not see it. Though, I knew where it was by its voice. Maybe it was some supernatural instinct. Maybe it was from all the books I had read. Whatever caused this next thing to happen was unforgettable.
I began to look for this animal's mind. Nothing else mattered to me anymore. My sole purpose in life at that point was to locate the source of all that hatred. I kept thinking to myself, "Find Dog. Find Dog. Find Dog." Through my tunnel vision thoughts, I searched with my mind's eye, and like a radar scope searching for lost planes, I found him. Right then, I knew the exact distance the dog was from me.
Anger filled inside of me. Hatred I have never felt before. So strong, I could take it no more. Mentally, I pictured the dogs mind and struck out against it. I thought, "Rip Mind." My sight had not returned, yet, but what I did see took all the strength out of me. The screen in my mind turned even darker. Black as I had ever known it to be. And with the thought of tearing into that beast who so brutally assaulted my soul, I saw a rip in the screen of my mind.
All as quiet. The barking stopped, and light came to my eyes again. I was surprised to see I was not facing the fence where the dogs stood behind. I was still walking forward, parallel to the yard, looking out into the horizon. The sound of dirt and soil being scratched in a random panic and the whimper of a helpless living thing brought my head turning to witness the German shepherd's actions. The poor creatures twisted its body left and right, unrhythmically dancing its anguish, trying to cast away the terrible feeling that had just come over it. The other big dog stood with its head to one side watching his companion's suffering as if he were a child puzzled about why his older brother had suddenly quit playing their game and started to cry.
Feeling I had committed a mortal sin, I picked up the pace and hurried to get my boxes. Everything was a blur for a while. The experience lingered for a long time in a mist of mixed emotions and thoughts. The emanating scent of clean floor and the ringing of cash registers, brought me their attention. next thing I realized, I was at the supermarket, and the checker was asking, "can I help you?"
I jumped. "Oh. Ah - yes," I replied, questioning my sanity. "Do you have any boxes?"
She proceeded to speak into the microphone and call for some assistance. "Would someone from the stocking depart-"
"Never mind," I interrupted. the realization of what I had just done flooded me with a sense of disbelief and a longing to verify what had occurred. Leaving the bewildered lady's look of confusion, I dashed to the slowly opening automatic door, pushing against the its resistance to open faster, and headed back for the scene of the crime. Quickly, I ran, desperate to see and know what actually did transpire. I crossed the final street, almost out of breath, and stopped. This put me about twenty feet from the stat of the fenced yard. Calmly, I walked, pacing myself to make it look like an inconspicuous stroll. A few sweat drops from y forehead trickled down my cheeks causing an itch to erupt and my trembling hand to scratch clumsily. I wondered why I was so nervous. Seeing the yard once more answered that question. Did it really happen? If such a thing did, how can I know it is true? What would I do if something like that happens again? Ha. Do I have a wild imagination or what? i tried to convince myself that people could not do things like mentally hurt other creatures directly, mind to mind.
The dogs were already in the front yard, lying othe think patch of grass behind the rose bush. Five feet from the yard they noticed me and began their barking. Neither did I hear the voice, nor did it sound so painfully loud. I thought things were back to normal. It as only my imagination getting away with me. and just to make sure, I concentrated and whispered, "shut up." They did, with one last yelp. That was not the outcome I wanted, and it confused me as much as it had the dogs.
It was only the beginning of a series of events that were to come for me yesterday. All very similar to the animal's. Each one alone is enough to make drinking as vital as the blood circulating in my veins.


Oct. 17, 1989

 
To Walk Upon the Ruins of Time
Is that my old home upon the ancient hill of long ago? The living room feels as dead now, my old bedroom so cold. The kitchen is bare with webs and dead spiders. Must I go further?
The sun is shining red upon my dry backyard. The decayed arden look so lonlely dispite the feeble fence that accompanies it. The animals have died off. My dog, Lady, is gone. My farm has withered. Can we stop now? The water hose is full of sand and pebbles. My tree-house is fallen, half-burried in the ground. No wind. No rain. No clouds. Only the sun. The red sky was not always so. The blue skys, green grass, tall trees, happy animals, lovely home, cool water, fresh garden, lively world, but that's all gone now. Who started the war? Did anyone win? If so, what did they win? I must have lost. I have lost everything. Will I get to fight in the war? If I win, will everything be alright again? Where is everyone? Is there anyone left to fight? I'm as dead as the things around me. Take me back to rest, and maybe when I wake up I can see something pretty and alive ...

 
Tick
I couldn't tell you how relieved I was to finally get away from the old blind man. He stood tall with along aged beard and wrinkles of travel. The eyes started red-lined white, and burned at the slightest glance. No one knows whether or not he could see, but I've felt their touch.
I am Roni. Some call me little Thief. Some call me bug. My close friends call me Tick. It was my small size survive. Yet with all my art, cunning, and speed, I still find it hard to escape the old blind man. His trinket was worth no more than three copper, and he looked well fed. I thought I deserved to eat that evening. It was as though he could see without eyes. It is said the ancient art has been lost and gone forever. Mystics worked day and night to discover the mind power of long ago. I could not think an old blind man would possess such knowledge.
It was mid-morn in the slums of Goshtar. The morning I woke to the bangs of a woman chasing rats or some other viral rodent that roamed our neighborhood. The smell of poverty was a faintly scent to all of use in the Goshtar slums. Only, I was ready to get away. I did not like to see my petty life slipping into nothingness. I had to see more. I'd make trips to the city and collect what I could, bringing the many home and stash it in my own secret rock-box. Soon, then, I would have been able to get a legal name, our land, travel, or whatever I wished. My dreams were special dreams I would make come true.
Hot days had a way of getting people very thirsty. This day was one of those days. You had to pay for water you drank at noon. I used up all my funds by late afternoon. that's when I say the old blind man. I guessed he was just passing through, lost or something. He paid for a drink of water at the Toll Well, after looking, oh, feeling around for about ten minutes. As he was drinking I saw my chance to get that piece of jewelry dangling from his belt. I moved swift as a robot. Though people under a cart over some boxes. I tried to grab it as I passed the old blind man. I grabbed it alright. But a withheld long hand stopped my very next step. I froze. I could not move to save my life. Believe me, I tried. The old man turned to force him by turning my head with one hand on top of my dusty hat. I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine, or rather, he looked through my eyes.
Tht day changed my life. I don' t know what he did, but the old man helped me out of the slums. Though, he still scares me.

 
Dorothay Wordsworth kept a journal for sentimental reasons. Her memory seemed to overlook times of events, and kept things out of chronological order. She didn't want to loose time. She enjoyed life and wanted it remembered as best it could be remembered. Through her eyes I could actually see the shine of a sunny day, feel the cool earth below my feat, even smell the sweet morning rains she described. Her negitive outlook always seemed to be shadowed by the beauty of the before and after in her words. In the Grasmere Journans, Tuesday 10th of June, she wrote:
"A cold, yet sun shinny morning... cold showers with hail and rain, but at half-past five after a heavy rain, the lake became calm - and very beautiful."
Dorothy continued to speak of the perfection and beauty of her environment. The weather was an important factor every day of her life, and apparently, Dorothy made the best of it.
Her journal is not precise and skips over day, even months at a time. The journal would jump back over times she'd just remembered after a period of time, that she thought important. This journal could be looked at as though as little girl wrote it. I don't know much about Dorothy Wordsworth, but maybe she was just a happy little girl discovering the life around her.

 
Adventures of Mara
Mara stood tall on Hermesa overlooking the Flatlands below. To the right of the Flatlands was the Familiar forest. Familiar to these last few dreams, anyway. The only thing that hasn't changed in their never ending nightmare place was the forest. Misted over with clouds hanging high and low over it.
A harsh wind began to blow. It carried the scent of people in a city. From this vantage, Mara could see the buildings on her left rise up over the horizon. She could find some answers there. Cities always had answers for her.
Suddenly the picture of the city began to fade. "Crap! I've got to stay focused," Mara scolded herself, trying to hold on to this dream element. Desperately pushing herself to remember the city. She leaped from the mesa and took flight. The air was thin and it was hard to breath. Then she spoke aloud, "By the mystic flame of Matii, I am at the city!"
Instantly Mara found herself at the bottom of a cement staircase. They lead to an apartment building with double doors with an old fashioned gargoyle knockers. Cars were parked in the street cramped together like sardines. It had the effect of a wall baring passage to crossing. Down the side walk were small tires lined all in a row, city style. At the end of the trees the forest began. Its mist pulsing in and out of the edge trying to escape to the forests grasp.
"I'm not going in there." Mara said to herself. "Not yet."
By this time the doors to the apartment building had become a cave entrance. The torches lit the way she knew she had to continue.

 
When the Wind Blows - The Cradle Will Fall
Psychic Adventure Scenario

(*Initial Setup
Players are in a crowded area. Faint and brief flashes of normal psychic activity can be felt by those who can sense it. Then out of nowhere a woman comes plowing through the crowd, and jerks forward in a comical act of falling forward. Whether the PCs catch her from the fall or not, she says, "don't let them have it." her dieing breath is spent handing a plastic card to the players. Panic will start to errupt in the crowd as people try to get out of the way. This will delay the officers slightly, giving the PCs a chance to assess the situation.

(*Psychics Feelings
Precognition will alert the player that a young woman will e shot by uniformed officers that wink out of the vision.
Postcognition will reveal the woman surprised that she could not use her powers on the officers. The officers wink out of the image the vision brings.
Empaths will fell dread and then nothing. But then a curiosity from the card flashes and then nothing.
Telepath will sense the woman expire, perhaps a name, Sherry, is given. Then almost a thought of "What?" coming from the card. Then nothing.
Psychic artist wor anyone with psychic sense will feel the presence of something in the card.
Psychoelectronics will sense an active computer in the card.
Etherialist will sense a presence of some kind in the card.

(*Actions
The PCs must act quickly, as the uniformed officers push their way to get at the woman. Any psychic activity around the officers are suppressed by 5 Ranks, effectively reducing powers to Poor[-2] or less. If powers are used and exceed the threshold even after the -5 Ranks, then an alarm will sound on any of the officers that would be affected. The device will simply alert them, but not give a direction.

The officers are military agents specially trained to deal with psychics. They were sent to retrieve this woman and her possessions. Their detector targets something on her possession. The team is in intermittent radio contact with their superiors. Dressed in dark fatigues, mirrored sun glasses, bullet proof vests, and an assortment of concealed weapons, this small team of agents will be difficult to take out, if attempted. All four of these officers are in top physical condition. They are profoundly dedicated to the force. They have all received training in blocking mental contact, and resisting psychic attacks. They've been trained in the use of Null Psi devices, psychic tracers, and psi alarms. They were not told what they were looking for specifically, but the detectors they carry would be able to find it when they get close.

(*Team One
Johnny Dell is the lead officer, dark hair bordering auburn, round baby face, and freckles to match. He was under orders to get in and get out. If things got too messy, then get out and send in the 2nd team.
Tactical Specialist Expert[+4].
Born Leader Good[+2].
Must Follow Orders Poor[-2].
Null Psi Training Expert[+4].
Soldier Master[+6].
Prone to Depression Poor[-2].

Dwain Howard is next in line, brown stringy hair, high forehead, and a goofy smile that seemed etched into his features. Dwain is slightly out of his mind. In fact, he has a grudge against psychics. He used to be one. He was niced. He is a powder ceg ready to blow when it comes to tracking down psychics.
Demolitions Expert[+4].
Hatred of Psychics Good[+2].
Null Psi Training Expert[+4].
Soldier Expert[+4].
Prone to Depression Poor[-2].

Melissa Mahoney is a veteran soldier, sandy blond hair, tough as nails, but with a surprisingly soft voice. She was recruited a year ago after discovering the secret about psychics. She was clever enough to follow the leads that were left like a trail of crumbs to potential recruits.
Investigator Expert[+4].
Tough Good[+2].
Null Psi Training Expert[+4].
Soldier Expert[+4].
Curious Poor[-2].

Melody Erics was the perfect recruit, long golden blond hair, fast as lightning, and smarter than most rocket scientists, and this is her first official assignment. She performs everything she does flawlessly, bordering on psychic intuition. She has an extreme soft spot for children, which may be her undoing one of these days.
Honed Reflexes Good[+2].
Improviser Expert[+2].
Brilliant Good[+2].
Null Psi Training Good[+2].
Soldier Master[+6].
Protect Children Poor[-2].

(*Dead Woman
If any attempt is made to psychically revive the young woman, a psi granade will go off. It will feel like a psychic scream in everyones head, causing 4 failure ranks, and 1 damage rank to a psychic power.

(*Messy Option
If things get messy and the 2nd team is called in then the following:
The second team consists of brute force numbers spread throughout the crowd. If the PCs are not members of the Seishin faction, the second team will also encounter Seishin agents soon after. With great effort the Seishin will attempt to overcome the soldiers by overloading their Null Psi devices. This will be the opportunity for the PCs to either leave the situation, fight the Team One officers and/or then face the Seishin. If it looks as though the PCs will attempt to stick around, one of them will sense a psychic power being used on them. A Seishin agent will be headed in their direction with a blank look on his face. The PCs again will have one last opportunity to leave the scene, because a child's balloons will cut loose distracting the agent and others visually with one of the balloons popping loudly.

(*No So Messy
If things do not get messy and the 2nd team is not called in then the officers, during any confrontation, will briefly switch their attention to a baby's whaling. This will grab the specific attention of Officer Melody Erics. She will quickly move to the baby's location. Officer Melissa Mahoney will keep a careful eye on her, unless otherwise ordered to do something else. Officer Johnny Dell will call out to Melody and be promptly be ignored. With an assortment of people scrambling too and fro, the PCs may make a run for it. Dwain will be the one that launches any Psi grenades.

(*Easy Cleanup Option
For a less messy scene, and when powers are not displayed, Shadow agents will move in and start fixing peoples memories and altering records as needed to indicated a terrorist plot or some other domestic disturbance. Careful to make sure their accounts do not match.

(*Messy Cleanup Option
If too many psychic powers are displayed in public view, then precogs in the party will start to have flashes of news reports about psychics, the public in danger, and witch hunts for wiping out psychics, bombing cities, and other horrific scenes of humans destroying humans. Sense precogs would have seen this coming, members of various factions will be nearby to fix the memories and records of the events.

If the PCs find the security center, they will find it locked. Again a Null Psi field of -5 Ranks will be in place. If the PCs manage to get inside, the PCs find more officers erasing recordings of the happenings.

 
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Kaygen began his speech. "We all know how this works."

The crowd screamed, and cheered. His speech had barely begun, and they obviously couldn't help themselves. I was thinking the masses were so easy in this state.

Kaygen raised his hands to ask for a little quiet. "My candidate doesn't have your interests at heart. He has only self interest. He will never be the kind of President that I can be."

More cheering interrupted what was supposed to be a short speaking engagement. A college campus rally, small engagement, and a quick in and out, but it had since developed into a full forum. Kaygen kept his hands up and this time pulsed them outward, "wait, wait. Hold on a minute. Fellow Americans, I have something to show you."

The screen behind the podium lit up bright gray, then white, and then adjusted as digital pixels flashed about until an image resolved.

They had decided to show this little clip in place of repeating the same regurgitating rhetoric. Pictures worked so well when it's your competitor that is making the mistakes. It was time these eight years were put behind us, but it wasn't over for us. We just had to get someone in that was a clone of the current President. We had found him. Kaygen was going to be it. Only, it didn't turn out quite like we planned.

This was when it happened. It was so quick, no one could believe it. In fact, only two men knew what was happening. We couldn't predict the future, but if we knew then what we know now... Well, you know the saying.

Kaygen grabbed his heart right after the first words came from the picture screen. His microphone had been muted for the short take. We didn't want anything he said during off camera to show up in the news. That's happened too many times in the past.

However, this heart wrenching moment was not Kaygen showing any emotion toward what was on screen. His clinched fists were for the sharp pain he felt in his chest. He was having a heart attack.

The dart used to induce the onset was small and unnoticed for a few hours

The accused is here before the court to stand trial.

Alternicam Digital Playback shows what happened in the past. Clearly the criminal you see before you is shown here with the concealed weapon. Here you see him pulling the trigger. We've switched to dual view and you can see the dart has impacted in the small of Kaygen's back. We even have the confession.

Now, the following event did happened shortly after. These things are significant in showing the result of Darwin's actions. Not only has he terminated the life of Kaygen, but he also forever altered the lives of those closest to Kaygen.

However, I have playback to show you that may convince the court that Darwin's actions were in the best interest of humanity. If the dart had not found it's target and simply burst into the platform, as you can see no one would be the wiser. As I fast forward through the cascading effect of this one change in the time line, you can see the ultimate result of Kaygen's continued existence. His life means deaths for millions within a month of his taking office.

 
A mix of writing notes


Writings



Story1

"Tayron, come over here. I want you to take a look at this."
Tayron goes over to Maychif and looks into the microscope. "What is that?" He muttered under his breath.
"It's a sample from the weather balloon we recovered earlier. And the seal on this slide has not been broken." Maychif stares at Tayron expectantly.
"Does this play right into Jenny's theory?" Maychif could hear Tayron's uncertainty and was already nodding. "Crap!"
"Let's get some samples from other sites," Maychif said. "I know Professor Larry has a few in her lab. We'll verify it's not some sort of mixup. Then we've got to let Jenny know what we've got here."
Tayron quickly left the room toward the othe rlab, and Maychif went to the shelf and grabbed another slide. Putting it under the microscope, he could see similar strains were growing in the slide. "They seem to be mutations," he murmered to himself. How can they survive with no food?

That evening Jenny gets a call. "Hello."
"Jenny, it's Maychif."
"Oh, hay. What's up? It's kind of late you know."
"Yeya, I know, but this can't wait. I can't tell you over the phone, but could you come to the lab."
"Right now?"
"Right now." Maychif's voice communicated a hint of fear.
"Aahhmm, I'm on my way." Then added, "5 minutes."
Click.

"Jenny you can't keep spreading it around what you know." Tayron paused, "everyone pretty much thinks you a nutcase. Now, I know you're not."
"Gee. Thanks!" she said indignant.
Maychif interjected, "come on, Jenny. You're talking about an alien invasion or some crap like that and people are going to talk."
Tayron continued, "But now we have a bigger problem than invading aliens."
"What could be worse?" Jenny asked.
"They are not coming to us. They are sending these microbes. They are floating around in the atmosphere, and the microbes are mutating. They are learning to eat ozone."



Story2

I find myself back in time. I lay in a ditch, not really understanding what has happened. I can see cars traveling fast on the highway. It's 2 lanes. No one has noticed me. I'm scared. Very scared, sure, but this is facinating. How can I refuse this odd place I'm in? This odd time? A quick spell releases me to the wind. I feel the wind under and through me. I'm headed into the city. I can see buildings. They are taller than I imagined them. Had I ever really imagined them? Yes, I think so. The spells almost over. I can feel myself drifting down to the ground. The ground is hard. It's a blacktop. My feet are touching the cold ground. Where are my clothing? I cast another spell, and this time I am water. Oh, this is nasty. The blacktop feels so grimy, slick with oil and specks of garbage. How will I ever clean this off me? The bird dung is so thick. These splatters are like vermin. Perhaps I would be better off as a stone, but I think I'll wait until I find a suitable spot. I need clothes. I take off and then up the side of a building. I see clothes hanging from a window. I hope they don't mind. I'll bring them something in return for these. These clothes are so absorbant. They smell nice, but I'm afraid I have wiped grime on them. I can't see the water falls from here. The hot springs are nowhere to be found. I don't see any mountains. Where are my mountains? I am lost. Now, I'm falling from the window. The clothes pins are unable to hold the weight of me and these jeans. Once I hit the ground, I'll be able to reform. Oh, splat! I hit the roof of a cab. Now, I'm leaking all over the windshield. His wiper is splattering me eveywhere. This is going to take me for ever to get it together. I roll off the cab. The blacktop is still nasty. My drops are coming together. I'm complete, but someone has picked up the pants. Good, they've dropped me. The wetness is too much for them. This is going to scare them, but too bad. My life is at stake. Just in time, the spell is wearing off.



FudgeFactor1


Speed - An augmenter.

While choosing a rule set for a psychic based campaign, I ran into an issue I've had before; how to represent faster characters. Some nice solutions from various gaming systems have been great at capturing much of the feel for the speed of characters, but the more accurate systems tend to be a bit too crunchy for my taste. Here is my attempt at applying Speed to Fudge.

Going on the premise that just because someone is fast at doing one thing doesn't necessarily mean they are fast at doing all things. Also, I will consider the time it takes to do a single combat action for whatever length of time is appropriate as a single "round".

Speed is the measure of a character's quickness at attempting actions. Speed shows up in combat maneuvers and when reading a book. If speed is broken down into what it does for a character, having a higher speed simply allows a character to do more stuff in an allotted amount of time. An initiative attribute would only determine who goes first and is narrow in scope. Instead of using a generic Speed or Quickness Attribute to cover all a characters actions, I propose using an expanded skill description. Speed would be a complimentary skill that applies to one other skill. By adding Speed Level as either a complimentary skill or adding speed to skill descriptions, the results would be the same. In a nutshell, Speed Levels are used to offset penalties for attempting multiple actions.

In a typical combat round, one maneuver can be performed in a single round time frame. However, a character may choose to do multiple actions within the same time frame. To do more things in the time allotted, you must perform each action faster. The faster you attempt to use a skill within that time frame, the more difficult it becomes to perform the skills successfully. In game terms this can be expressed by applying penalties to a character's actions. Each extra action a character takes in a single round requires a penalty to be applied to each action. The penalty to the skill roll is equal to the number of actions being attempted. Firing off two shots from a gun to hit one or two targets in one round requires two skill rolls. Each skill roll would be at -2 to hit. If three shots were fired, then each skill would be at a -3 per skill roll. These penalties reflect the urgency of rushed actions and the potential for making mistakes when acting too quickly. This is assuming the skills in question have a Fair (+0) Speed.

The Speed of a skill is considered Fair (+0) by default and need never be developed beyond that. In fact, it doesn't need to be considered until a character decides to do more actions in shorter periods of time. The Speed of a skill is developed separately as if it were a separate trait. During the course of character development, taking a skill beyond Superb can be very difficult, and increasing the speed of a skill is one way to enhance a skill without having to become more accurate. This would allow a Fair Dart Thrower to develop a knack for tossing off 2 darts with the same accuracy of throwing one dart by developing a Great Speed in Dart Throwing. A martial artist's skill in Superb hand-to-hand combat can be made more effective by increasing the characters speed in hand-to-hand combat. Giving the character reductions in penalties for performing multiple actions in a single round, and the ability to take on more than one opponent at a time.

Applying Speed Levels in game is simple. A higher speed in a skill reverses the negative effects of doing multiple actions in a single round. For each level of Speed above Fair, simply reduce the multiple-actions penalty by one. Having a Good (+1) Speed in Hand-to-hand Combat would allow a character to strike 2 targets, and be at only a -1 for each skill roll. With a Superb Speed in Hand-to-hand Combat a character could strike 3 targets with no penalty for multiple actions in a single round.

The same rules are applied when using completely different skills in the same round, such as, Throwing Darts Speed Great and Acrobatics Speed Great. What happens when you are fast at one skill, but not as fast in another skill? Applying different skills with different Speed Levels is just as easy. Remember, each extra action taken requires an increase in the skill roll's penalty. Any action that does not have Speed Levels takes the full penalty, while the other speedier skills get the reductions based on their individual speeds.

As an extreme example, Marty the private investigator and paranormal exterminator has a Superb (+3) Street Fighting Skill with a Superb (+3) Street Fighting Speed. Marty also has a Great (+2) Ballroom Dancing skill with no extra speed. Finally, Marty has a Fair (+0) Detective's Perception Skill with a Good (+1) Detective's Perception. During his routine P.I. work, Marty finds himself in a hair-raising situation. He has entered a great hall with dozens of spectral entities that are engaged in an old-fashioned ballroom party. The specters are dancing, and Marty is compelled to join them. Ensnared in a spell, he begins to dance with the deceased. Marty's Ball Room Dancing Skill has come in very handy. However, he forgot a step and as punishment he got a nasty scratch across his back. Oh, no! The ballroom dancers have daggers. Marty decides it is time to leave the room, but he must figure out a way to do it as part of the dance and without getting chopped to bits. Marty decides to take some chances and attempt to Dance, Fight, and Search for clues all in the same round. He is at a -3 penalty for performing 3 actions. Each skill action will have a -3 multiple-action penalty applied to the roll. However, his Street Fighting Speed is Superb (+3), so he will have no penalty for Street Fighting when they attack him again. Also, his Detective's Perception Speed is Good (+1), so he will be at only a -2 penalty while looking for clues to get out of his situation.

The above example with Marty the P.I. has come up in a game I recently played.

Of course, one could speed up a single attack at the cost of a penalty. Someone attempting to be quick on the draw could attempt to fire one shot very quickly - someone attempting to "go first". With higher Speed Levels faster shots may be obtained without penalty. Gunfights, pistols at 20 paces, and spell slinging can be quickened in this way. Since it is only one action the penalty starts at -1, but for a greater penalty a character can get off a faster shot.

Quick Draw Sally and her sidekick Molass find themselves in an old warehouse. A bad tip has just landed them in a bad situation, and the double-barreled team find themselves surrounded by mechanical thugs. Quick Draw Sally has her guns and begins to fire. She only has one target that she cares about hitting, but she needs to hit it before the bullets come raining down on her. With her Legendary (+4) Shooting Speed, she is able to knock out the Master Control Computer before a single shot leaves the robot thugs. At the same time Molass uses her Great (+2) Dodging Speed to get out of any line of fire before the robots switch to their independent defenders program.

Speed Levels are obtained separately for each skill, whether broad or narrow based skills. During character advancement, Speed Levels should be treated as separate skills with the same scope as the skill they are augmenting. If a skill costs 12 XP to get from Good to Great, that same skill's Speed Level should also cost 12 XP to get from Good to Great.

You don't need Speed Levels to go fast. You need them to be successful when you are attempting to be fast.




Psychic Powers

Mind-Over-Matter
Telekinesis - Move whole objects -4
TK Fine Manipulation - Move and manipulate parts of objects -4
Heat - Accelerate atoms to cause a temperature change -1
Cool - Decellerate atoms to cause a temperature change -1
TK Missile - Cause a touched object to shoot like a bullet toward a target 0
TK Shield - Armor value to deflect physical attacks 0
TK Attack - Cause a physical attack or punch or pressure 0
Energy Shield - Armor value to deflect energy attacks, such as fire -0

Photokinesis - based on TK, similar to pyro
Iluminate - Create light, must be maintained -3
Color change - make an object a desired color -3
Distort - Cause color to shift, making it hard to target psychic -3
Light Invisibility - Make light bend around an object, will cast no shadow -1
Flash - Bright burst of light to reduce vision -1
Light attack - Focused photons to damage 0
Holographic projection - Suspend photons in a pattern that creates shapes, images, and lighting effects -1

Phonokinesis - related to TK
Create sound - cause vibrations in the air to make sounds -2
Sonar sense - "See" sound bouncing off objects, works in darkness & underwater -2
Sonic attack - Physical damage from vibration on person 0
White Noise - Create white noise that drowns out other sounds -1

Pyrokinesis - Fire powers related to TK
Heat object - Allows a psychic to add temperature to an object from warmth to white hot -3
Create Fire - Allows a psychic to start cumbustable material or force material to combust -1
Heat Shield - Allows to psychic to surround himself with heat, causing air to become superheated, providing an armor value verses objects that enter the shield area as the heat attempts to destory the object 0
Fire Ball - Allows a psychic to heat air or combustable material in a spherical shape that is propelled by its own heat, damage has an extra area effect and duration 0
Fire Attack - Causes physical burn damage to target 0

Cryokinesis - Freezing powers somewhat related to TK
Cool object - Allows a psychic to remove the temparture from an object from cool to ice cold -3
Create Ice - Allows a psychic to cool the air so rapidly that ice forms, moisture and power level determines volume of ice -1
Cold Shield - Allows a psychic to surround himself with a cold barrier, causing the air to become supercooled, providing an armor value verses objects that enter the shield area as the cold attempts to make brittle and destory the object 0
Cool attack - Causes physical cold damage to target 0

Life Powers
Heal - Repair damage to a living organism 0
Harm - Cause wounds on a living organism 0
Harm Essence - Cause damage to the Essence of another 0
Heal Essence - Repair damage done to the Essence of another 0
Restore Fatigue - Repairs Fatigue damage 0
Cause Fatigue - Cause damage to Fatigue 0
Cure Ailment - Cure minor bacterial infections, temporary relief of alergies and asthma -2
Cure Desease - Cure viral infections, Longer relief from alergies and asthma, eject foriegn harmful organisms -1
Reverse Afliction - Remove alergies, asthma, fixes cromosomal damage, and cancers 0
Aflict - Cause blindness, hearing loss, cancer, asthma, alergies, premature aging 0
Stop Syndrome - Remove multiple Afflictions from a body 1
Rebuild Body - Remake, renew or rebuild the body based on the bodies DNA and reverse the aging process 2
Wither - causes an area of the body to start to shrivel and become inoperative over the course of a week 2
Restore Life - Bring a target back to life, the body must be whole enough to restart all the organs, it gets more difficult to Restore life to a body as each day passes 3

Mental Communication Powers
Telepathy - Send and recieve messages (similar to a chat session, where you send the thought you want to send) -1
Read Thoughts - Read the surface thoughts of someone -2
Send thoughts - Send thoughts (similar to email, where entire paragraphs of information can be sent at once) -2
Probe Thoughts - Read the surface and sub-surface, speculative thoughts, along with other senses -1
Use Senses - Read the sensations of others as if you are there seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting -2
Send Senses - Send the sensations you feel to others -1
Send Images - Send pictures and concepts to others -1

Thought Surgery Powers
Send Scream - "Loud" thoughts can be sent as an attack causing disorientation (or wake someone from sleep) -1
Scan Memory - Read through someone's memory as if reading through a book or watching a movie 0
Send Nightmare - Project a nightmare into the mind of a victim. This can cause a mental disorder, essence loss, loss of willpower, or coma 1
Hide Memory - By rerouting neuro pathways, the attacker can restrict access to memories 0
Erase Memory - Remove a memory from a target by overwriting, can be unerased 1
Destory Memory - Remove a memory from a target by killing the cells that contained the memory 2
Send Pain - Causes pain that is a distraction to the target and may cause loss of Will -1
Correct Mental Disorder - Cures minor mental problems such as ticks and mild depression 0
Cause Mental Disorder - Causes mental problems to surface in the victim 0
Implant Memory - Place a false memory of the attackers choosing into the mind of the victim 1
Correct Memory - Undo a false memory place into the mind of a victim by hypnosis or Implant Memory power 1

Telepathic Control Powers
Control Target - Give control of target, treat as an attack with temporary damage to Will, treat damage of 10+ as complete control and mearly a suggestion of control for 1 damage, This attack upon the mind requires Will damage equal to the severity of the control 0
Mental Illusion - This attack upon the mind requires Will damage equal to the severity of the illusion, treat as attack -2
Confuse - This attack upon the mind requires Will damage equal to the severity of the confusion, treat as attack -1
Pause - This attack upon the mind requires Will damage equal to the length of the pause, treat as attack 0
Mental Invisibility - Allows a psychic to become invisible in the mind of a target, the target does not believe someone is there -1

Emotional Powers (A lower level of mental communication)
Sense Emotion - Allows a psychic to detect a specified emotion nearby -4
Read Emotions - Know what emotional state the target is in -3
Send Emotions - Give an emotional state to a target, possibly overriding another emotion -1
Empathic Attack - Overwhelming emotion causes willpower damage 0
Supress Emotion - Dimininishes emotion, must be maintained (Suppress Fear, Supress Bravery) -2
Enhance Emotion - Intensify an existing emotin, must be maintained (Enhance Fear, Enhance Bravery) -2

Emotional Surgery Powers
Cause Depression - Reduces Willpower by causing damage and increasing Dispair 0
Remove Emotion - Causes damage to an emotion (create an emotion track for that specific emotion and have it heal like wounds) so the target does not have that emotion or that emotion is diminished by the amount of damage caused (like remove fear might make the target unafraid to take great risks to their person) 0
Heal Empathicly - Causes damage that is on a target to be tansfered to the empath -1
Empathic Transfer - Causes damage of an empath to be transferred to a target exactly as if the target has suffered the damage, be it broken bone or lascerated flesh 0

Senses
Precog - see future events 1
Combat precog - enhance combat skill by anticipating the very near future -1
Send vision - give someone a glimps of future 1
Postcog - see events from the past 0
Clairvoyance - Project your senses and see things from a different point of view, as if in another location -1
Clairaudiance - Project your senses and hear things from the point of view of another location -1
Clairsentiance - Project your senses and use them as if you were in another location, if the target location is not know, time may be taken to "search" for the location, Clairsentiance is detectable as "that feeling someone is watching", and may be subject to psychic scanning and tracing, and is practically indistinguishable from Astral Projection 0
Understand Weakness - Allows a psychic to instinctively know exactly how to hit a target to cause the most damage, similar to Combat Precog -1
Find Way - Pose a question to see the results if a particular path is chosen,


Communion Powers - psychic patterns give information
Understand Object - Allows a psychic to get into an object and gain information about its properties 0
Understand Mechanical Device - Allows a psychic to get into machinery and gain insite into its workings 0
Understand Technological Device - Allows a psychic to get into computers and electronic devices and gain insight into its workings 0
TK Touch - Allows a psychic to feel an object, similar to clairvoyance, giving texture and temperature information -1
Psychometry - Allows a psychic to get some history of events associated with the object or owner of the object -2
Augury - Allows a psychic to get a one word answer to a question, complex and conditional answers may yield no information 0
Divination - Allows a psychic to get vague information based upon advice from the spirit realm, what is written in the stars, in tea leaves, etc.. -4

Psychoelectronics - powers associated with technology
Radio Hearing - Allows a psychic to tune into radio frequencies and listen to broadcasts -1
Scan device - Allows a psychic to read active electronic devices and interpret signals -1
Control device - Allows a psychic to intercept commands, change commands, and send signals to electronic devices 0
Device Meld - Allows a psychic to link his mind with an electronic device to gain complete control of the electronic device, but it also makes him vulnerable to electronic attacks -1
Harm device - Causes damage to electronic devices through shorting of circuts and reversing electron flow -2
Heal device - Allows a psychic to fix an electronic device based on its psychic pattern (if recently damaged), or with an electronics skill 1
Acclerate device - Causes a device to perform more operations than it is normally able to perform -2
Slow device - Causes a device to perform fewer operations than it is normally able to perform -2

Meta Psi
Enhance attribute - Increase attribute such as strength, endurance, reasoning 0
Reduce attribute - Decrease attribute such as strength, endurance, reasoning 1
Mental shield - Shield mental attacks, acts as armor -4
Essence shield - Sheilds against attacks on Essense, acts as armor -4
Psi Shield - Shields against psionic attacks -4
Psi attack - Attacks Essence or Fatigue 1
Mind Meld - Combining two or more minds to acomplish a task with combined effort and skill. Unwilling targets may resist and/or attempt to take control of Mind Meld. All powers, energy reserves, and thoughts are shared during a Mind Meld. What is done to one member of the Meld is done to all members of the Meld. Damage to one will transfer at least shock damage to the others. Healing one will transfer healing to others one degree lower than the intended target. Mind Meld has the sideffect of amplifying many powers as well as drawbacks. 1
Sense Psychic - Allows a psychic to detect if someone has psi powers -1
Sense Psionicist - Allows a psychic to detect if someone has psychic skills 0
Sense Psychic Strength - Allows a psychic to detect the strength of if psi powers when actively used -1
Amplify Psionic Power - Allows a psychic to increase a targets power level 0
Null Psi Power - Allows a psychic to counter psychic energy, thereby decrease psionic activity, cancel psionic powers 0
Hide Psi Power - make psionic activity invisible to detection -2
Ghosting - Allows the psychic to alter himself (and his possessions, if desired) in a way that lets him go between the psychic and the physical universe, giving him the ability to walk through walls or even completly vanish into the psychic stream (astral plane) and bypass non-psychic barriers 1
Creating Matter - The amount of energy it would take to create the equilivant mass of lead in a pencil head would be greater than any bomb humans have yet produced, so attempting to do so would be impossible at best 180,000,000
Astral Projection - Similar to Clairsentiance, a psychic can project his essence into the astral plane or manifest as an energy form in the material world. psychic skills may be used wherever the psychic is projected. Projectors move at the speed of thought. However, they leave their physical bodies behind. 0
Poltergeist - allows a psychic to call random spirits to come and disrupt the environment, the psychic has no control over what the poltergeists do -2
Psi Invisibility - Allows a psychic to reduce his psychic presence so as to not be discovered by psychic means -1
Psi Blast - allows a psychic to project raw psychic energy to assalt a target 0
Genius - enhanses a psychic's reasoning 0

Internal Psi - powers that affect the self
Shapeshifting Mental Powers
Increase Size - Increase body size by changing density, mass stays the same, range is up to double size -1
Decrease Size - Decrease body size by changing density, mass stays the same, range is down to 1/2 size -1
Alter Shape - Change skintone, move body fat, alter bone structure -1
Mimicry - Change into the exact physical copy of target by modifying your psychic pattern to theirs 0
Animal Assumption - Take on a single animal trait, see Animism, though similar to Mimicry 0
Increase Attribute - psychic may increase his own attributes, other then Psi -1

Self Control
Raise physical attribute - Increase physical attribute such as Stamina or Agility -1
Increase Willpower - Increase willpower 0


Teleportation Powers - moving without passing in between the interviening space, requires 2 ranges (1 to reach object, 1 for distance traveled)
Teleport - Moving from current location to another, destination must be known, seen, or sensed, or it's a blind jump, self and range -1
Teleport others - Move willing target from current to another location, touch and range -1
Teleport object - Move object from current location to another location, touch and range 0
Summon object - Call known object to summoner's current location, location must be known, seen or sensed, range and range 1
Summon others - Call known and willing person to summoner, location must be known, seen or sensed, range and range 1
Translocate others - Move willing subject from some distant location to another distant location, both locations must be known, seen or sensed, range range 1
Translocate objects - Move known object from some distant location to another distant location, both locations must be known, seen or sensed 1
Forced Teleport/Summon/Translocate - Treat as a psychic attack, if damage is enough to kill (10+), treat as successful, all locations must be known, seen or sensed, no actual damage is caused with this power 1
Teleport/Summon/Traslocate partial object - Treat as psychic attack, if damage is enough to destroy object, treat as successful, all locations must be known, seen or sensed, no actual damage is caused, except for the result of the missing part of the object 1
TP Attack - Causes damage to a person or object by disruption of cell or molecular structure, treat as psychic attack with damage 0
Phasing - Allows the psychic to pass through the empty space between atoms of objects giving him the ability to walk through walls and ignore physical attacks, though energy and psychic attacks can still hurt the Phased character, similar to Ghosting 1

Dream Powers - similar to telepathy, but used while a person (or psychic) sleeps
Wake from sleep - Causes target to awaken from slumber, awake and alert -3
Sleep - Causes target to fall asleep or get very sleepy, reduces alertness -1
Watch Dream - Allows psychic to be an observer in someones dream -2
Sense Sleepers - Detects people that are sleeping -2
Sleeping Powers - Allows psychic to use powers while asleep using ambient psychic energy as a power source (Clairvoyance, Astral Projection, healing, teleportation) -2
Grant Sleeping Powers - Allows a psychic to grant an active power to a sleeping target using ambient psychic energy as a power source -1
Cause Dream - Allows psychic to manipulate a targets dream or create a new dream for a target -1
Dream a Nightmare - Allows a psychic to create a nightmare using hostile energy, causing fatigue, essence, or willpower damage 0
Qwell a Nigtmare - Allows a psychic to create a peaseful sleep using postive energy that helps refesh a target for when they awake -1
Waking Dream - Allows a psychic to create a dream for someone who is awake, it might even seem like a vision for the target -2
Dream Shield - Creates a bit of psychic armor that helps protect the target from mental attacks -4
Madness - Causes target to experience a continuous dream while awake, treat as attack, damage to willpower or essence to heal at a normal rate 0
Suppess Dreams - attempts to stop REM sleep and reduces dreams -1

Plant Powers or having a Green Thumb
Heal Plant - Revive a dying plant or repair damaged plants -2
Harm Plant - Kill a plant with a thought -1
Plant Growth - Allows a psychic to coax a plant into growing rapidly, or slow a plants growth down -2
Know Plant - Allows a reading of the psychic pattern of the plant, letting the psychic know the health, damage, and current life cycle of plant -3

Animism - Animal powers
Animal Telepathy - Send and recieve thoughts to animals, alien minds relay information differently, expect very little info -2
Animal Empathy - Send and recieve emotions to animals, only animals capable of specific emotion, sending an unknown emotion to an animal may have unpredictable results, beware -2
Animal Commune - Similar to Mind Meld, but the experience yields a profound understanding of the animal -1
Animal Assumption - Allows a psychic to take on a characteristic of an animal that has been communed with, see shapeshift, giving claws, sight, hearing, scent, strength, agility, coloring, and at very high levels feathers, wings, and drastic reshaping of the human body 0
Affinity - Create a bond with an animal that has been communed with, animal can be taught to use simple psionic powers (within reason - empathy and telepathy most common), animal gains an understanding far above others of its kind and acts more human from the experience -1

Vampyr - Vampiric powers
Drain Essense - Cause damage to target's Essense and add that same amount to the psyhic's Essense, increases Hunger 1 
Drain Willpower - Cause damage to target's Willpower and add that same amount to the psyhic's Willpower, increases Dispair 1 
Drain Stamina - Cause damage to target's Stamina and add that same amount to the psychic's Stamina, increases Fatigue 1 
Drain Health - Cause damage to target's Health and add that same amount to the psychic's Health, increases Wounds 1 
Drain Agility - Cause damage to target's Health and add that same amount to the psychic's Health, increases Stiffness 1 
Drain Psi - Cause damage to target's Psi and add that same amount to the psychic's Psi, increasing Depletion 2

Temporal - Time powers
Combat Time - enhance psychic combat skill by altering the very near future, microseconds ahead of time, similar to combat sense -1
Time Shift Past - psychic may visit the past as a non-corporeal entity unable to change history, similar to postcognition 0
Time Shift Future - psychic may visit the probable future and attempt to change things 2
Suspend Time - allows psychic to suspend time for himself to recover, take in his surroundings, and think things through, but not attack, for time does not stop for anyone 0
Forgotten - allows a psychic to erase his presense from the memoires of those he meets, the targets will forget him after the psychic leaves their presense for the amount of time they were together or after the target gets some sleep 2
Temporal Invisibility - allows a psychic to become invisible by staying one nanosecond before time and light and reality may reflect upon him 1

Permanent Powers
Power that may be turned on all the time, where the psychic is unable to turn off a psychic ability, may be purchased at the cost of one Psi Level. This would mean that a Psi of 0 (Fair) would become a Psi of -1 (Mediocre). Powers made permanent do not require psychic energy to power them, so they will not Deplete a psychic through its continued use.

Area Powers
Powers that affect take a few more points to address



Line of Mind has two sub catagories: mental contact or knowing someone/thing.





Barbarian

Mal'con got a mental message letting him know that he had been found by the Drow. Fortinbras heard from the Dracosus that the "Smelly Ones" were coming. The party then jumped into the portal. But not before Fortinbras asked about his ruby shoes.

Finding themselves in a cylendrical room with no obvious means of an exit. Much experimenting and searching takes place like walking into walls, inspecting floor and cieling, and creating a little ice. After he chased the other party members around the room, Disco granted demon powers to each party member. Keman took the shape of a red wyrm and had the power to create fireballs. Mal'con took the shape of a black wingless Dragon with the power to create ice. Fortinbras took the beautiful shape of a small saphire dragon with the power to pass through solid objects. Disco disquised himself as a sucubus.

Everywhere there seemed to be a faint light that allowed everyone to see.

With his new powers, Fortinbras passed through the floor, cieling, and walls of the palace to survey his surroundings. The party eventually discovered they were in a lava cannon. Keman created his own exit by turing the stone wall into mud in the direction of the library.

In the library, the party picked up some books on all sorts of facinating material - a book on VD and many other interesting books.
Inspecting the neighboring rooms, the party found it very interesting that there was of very little interest on this floor other than the library and a room full of chains. The iron shackles and chains bothered Fortinbras.
On the 2nd floor, Disco attempted to use his ability to sense demon power to track down Altar. The party headed in the direction of the strongest source of demon power.



Pinq

Pinq is a Psychinian (see below)
Pinq is unaware of his true nature, but is beginning to suspect something about himself is hidden and important. His powers manifested after a traumatic event that should have left him dead. A car hit the rear passenger door and knocked him out. He was in a coma for a week. Crushed bones, smashed skull, and punctured lungs caused him to be listed as unrecoverable. While in a coma, Pinq relived moments of his life as if in a dream. At the time of the accident he did not know of the car hitting and injuring him. The reason he survived was because he believed himself to be just fine while dreaming, and his dreaming ended up making his wounds go away. It was during his dreams in the coma that he discovered his powers. He woke up with a new awareness of probabilities waves of particles and energy.

Pinq has the ability to sense quantum probabilities, but has trouble making out what it all means. He has learned to use the probabilities he senses in interesting ways. He discovered he could adjust the probability of his location to be elsewhere, causing himself to be teleported. He has extra sensory vision that allows him to see in pitch blackness. He can pass through objects and walls by recognizing the space between quantum particles is vast, thereby ignoring particle interaction with his person. He can send and receive radio signals by manipulating the quantum fluctuation of the wave particles. His quantum influence dips into the manipulation of gravitons giving him telekinetic like powers. He can also communicate surface thoughts through quantum entanglement, but he finds this difficult. Pinq is unaware of his potential immortality or his true nature, and his parents left him no clues, but he thinks he is a mutant. Pinq also heals fast while he sleeps, as his thoughts have begun to rebuild his body during downtime.

Pinq (Peenk or Pink) derived his super name from the combination of the nickname his parents gave him, Pin, and his quantum powers denoting the Q. Pinq's real name is Nepal Chambers. Pinq's mother was a Psychinian, but she was also unaware of her true nature. Her powers never manifested strong enough for her to notice, or if they had come up, she ignored it completely. Pinq's father was a closet homosexual up until just after Pinq's mom died. She was killed in the same accident that put Pinq in a coma.

Psychinian: A species of creatures that came into being when one sentient life form figured out that he did not need to inhabit a body to survive. When he discovered his thoughts were simply quantum probabilities along with everything else, he shed his body, or rather converted his body to thought energy, then reside in quantum space. Thus, the first Psychinian came into being as a psychic choice. He discovered he could retake physical form and interact as any being he chose. He eventually fell in love and had a child. Amazed he could have children, he soon discovered the child was also Psychinian and could shed her material body at will. Many Psychinians were born from the first, and some did not find out they were Psychinian. Some died of old age or through accidents. Until a Psychinian learns of their true nature and that they are immortal, they can die just like any other life form. Ignoring one's powers, effectively disbelieving in them, turns those powers off by suppression.
Psychinians mate with whomever and whatever they chose, animate or inanimate objects as well, but I doubt there are any Psychinian rocks laying around. Though a Psychinian computer, droid, or robot might be possible. The child of a Psychinian is of a type specified, or coaxed, by the Psychinian parent consciously or not. Some are born, grow up and have children, never knowing they are Psychinian. However, their children also are always Psychinian. Physically, Psychinians are really pure thought energy made tangible by force of will. In their pure energy form, Psychinians can be seen as a disruption in the space-time they occupy. Visually it's as if space is warped and trying to get out of the Psychinians way.

Psychinians in their truest form roam the universe in exploration and discovery. Some find life on other planets and dedicate themselves to observing the course of life. Some Psychinians develop emotions of a higher order and do not concern themselves with the struggle for survival. However, there are some who do keep their emotions and get involved in every aspect of a planets life. Psychinians have the capacity to manipulate the quantum properties of any matter or energy by just thinking about it. Starting up a nuclear reaction is well within their realm of capabilities, because it is as simple as altering a wave function of a single atom. The creation of life is also within their capabilities. Some find they like to jump start life on a planet. The many that have done so find that they have to give up their own life in the process. It is not known if life on Earth began because a Psychinian made that choice. Dead Psychinians leave no residual trace of their existence as a Psychinian. Their probability of existence in the universe is reduced to zero.

The gods of the many pantheons of myth and religion may have been due to families of Psychinians believing themselves to be such creatures. Their deaths, if any died, may be self-inflicted or by war or by any way in which they believed they could die.

What may seem apparent is that each child of a Psychinian is simply the extension of the original Psychinian. The first Psychinian was a kind being and good at his core. All Psychinians share this basic property. That's not to say he could not get mad, petty, and the whole slew of other emotions. Each Psychinian begins on the side of good. However, with the proper upbringing, an evil Psychinian would be one nasty son-of-a-bitch.



Family

Pinq's father's name is Lee Zeshin Chambers, and Pinq's grandfather was half Japanese and half British cacasion. Pinq's grandmother was half Native American and half native African. Pinq's father, Lee, is a mixture of cultures, and as it turns out, Lee is/was one hot stud. In high school he got a girl pregnant during the last few months of his senior year. Lee thought he would do the right thing and so the two kids got married. Then on December 31st they had a baby boy, Nepal Chambers. Nepal started to talk baby talk while just a few weeks old. His first word that actually could be spelled was a bubbly Bin or Pin. They started calling him Pin after that.

Pinq's mother was an amazing woman who seemed to never get tired and was always full of life. Her name was Diana. She was an orphan, an abandoned Psychinian, and she was moved around many times during her childhood. This would play a major role and influenced in her life choices. Her goal in life was to make a family of her very own. In high school Diana unknowingly used her powers on Lee, the hottest guy in school, to fall in love with her. They went on to live a very happy life. But at some point very early in her marriage to Lee, a few months before Pinq was born, she started to suspect her husband might be gay. Being supportive, and intensely facinated about her husband's desires, she wanted her husband to have what his heart needed. She made it a point to get involved in the gay community. She thought that he might be able to meet a nice fellow, and she could play matchmaker. Being without a family while growing up, Diana realized the value of creating your own family.

However, Lee would have no affair. He remained in the closet. He dedicated himself to the raising of the child and put his personal desires aside. For some reason his own desires didn't seem important, and this did not bother him. Diana and Lee did have one more child a year and a half after Pinq was born. They named him Zeshin after Lee's grandfather, and Diana loved the famous artist Shibata Zeshin.

Diana worked it out in her head that Lee would be the gay father of her children, and somehow she'd get him to pursue a man. However, Diana's charm still held Lee to love her, and so he did. They were happy. She did manage to find a guy Lee really liked. Lee did eventually fall in love with a man of Diana's choosing. His name was Aegis Major. Diana hooked them up a few weeks before the car crash that took her life. Aegis and Lee have been together ever since.

Pinq's brother Zeshin has an intense obsession with art and abstract ideas. He has a talent for music, math, painting, and astronomy. And he is good at anything he obsesses over. Zeshin also turned out to be gay. Often he would go into a dreamy state and "zone" on projects he'd create for himself. Pinq's brother has powers but does not share the details with Pinq. They have that bond of brotherhood, but Zeshin's "zones" last a long time. Not really leaving Pinq much quality time to spend with his brother. Zeshin was not in the car accident, but was being watched by a sitter when the accident took place. Diana's was able to amass a huge fortune, and Lee was the only benificiary.

Lee came out to both his sons and they came out to him a few days after Pinq got out of the hospital. It was all a big gay family reunion, out of the closet and at the park. Pinq was going on 14 at the time. Zeshin was 12.

Zeshin started getting into crystals and new age experimentation. He tried out every known religion and many unknown. He'd be a catholic, tantric, and then a voodoo priest all in the same week. His search continued for years. Zeshin found a couple of guys he seemed to click with. They got in trouble one time, and Pinq loaned them some money. Zeshin said, "Don't tell dad." So, he didn't. Pinq has not heard from Zeshin in over a year.
 
Recently Aegis and Lee got married in Massachusetts. They wanted Zeshin to be there for the wedding, but there was word of him being down in Brazil.



Friends

Soon after Pinq's powers started to emerge, Pinq started to keep a distance from friends. He didn't stay in touch, avoided their phone calls, and generally gave them the brush off. However, there were two exceptions. Marc and Norman were his best pals from grade school. They used to play Bewitched in the school playground. Marc always wanted to be Endora. Norman always wanted to be Tabatha. Pinq loved being Samantha. Of course, they all turned out gay. Many years later, Norman did get into casting real spells. Norman found some academy for advanced wicca and joined that club. So, now they keep in touch by letters and emails. Marc turned out to be a fantastic cook. He never displayed any powers, but a there was always some part of Pinq that felt Marc was hiding something. Marc was a very chubby pre-schooler, and grew out of most of that. Marc now owns a bakery and catering service called "Marc'ed Occasion".



Resonance Counsel

There is an organization that knows of the Psychinians. The Resonance Counsel record and trace the family tree of the Psychinians, wherever they can find them. The Resonance Counsel was formed over 800 years ago. It was during the dark ages and one of the persecuted "witches" discovered her uniqueness at the moment of her capture. She confided in the 5 men that came to take her away, 1 woman in the cell with her, and 3 children who wanted to watch a witch in action. They were helpless before her power. She reshaped their their thoughts and gave them a new purpose. She abruptly left all she knew to find the universe. Aftet she left, those 9 people worked toward the goal of finding Psychinians. They recorded everything they found and hid the information from all eyes. Psychinians are powerful when they know who they are. So, it was thought to best keep the information from everyone. They recruited carefully. They have a few test that will determine if a person is a psychinian, but the tests don't always work. Especially if the Psychinian is in complete denial.

The Bridgeworkers were a branch of the Counsel. The Resonance Counsel found it necesary to recruit mutants and mystics to help them with their work. Some of the more skilled ones joined the Bridgeworkers. Their job was to actively find signs of Psychinian activity, report it, the location, and then move on. Follow-ups would be done by the Counsel agents. The Bridgeworkers eventally broke off as an independent entity. The Counsel decided to break off ties with the Bridgeworkers, but they found the Bridgeworkers to be too useful. The Bridgeworkers needed the Counsel as well. So, they sometimes cooperate.
The Bridgeworkers have a new agenda. They are out to find awakening Psychinians and stop them. Some members want to stop them more than others, to varying degrees of severity and lethality.



Supers Fudge

Potentials or Rainbow Fudge is a setting for Supers 4 Color Comics and more!

The modern world is full of Superheros and Supervillans. Normal people know about them. Superheros in general are trusted by all good citizens. Keeping the image of being good is all a matter of PR, good deeds, and a positive message that is in tune with the feelings of the masses. The world feels it needs protection from the forces of evil. The world loves a good Super Hero.

Heroes that have not proven themselves hold no clout, and may be viewed as vigilanties or criminals until the public changes their mind.

There is a World's Supers Registration that was made available to nations 50 years ago. Genetic testing for the predisposition to super-normal powers has been around for the last 20 years, and it has become common practice to test newborns for potental. It is recommended that Potentials be checked every 4 years until puberty. Thereafter, testing every 6 months to a year is encouraged on up until age 16. After 16 the likelihood of powers manifesting through hormonal changes diminishes drastically and once every 2 years is then recommened until age 25. Then getting checked every 8-10 years is advised.

Potentials are rated by degree of the potential likelihood of developing powers and the strength of those powers. Each scale is from 1 to 9.

The World's Supers Registration keeps a database of all humans, espically Potentials. Their information is unerring and is run by a Super who is considered to be unerring. He's a mystery, but the masses have accepted WSRs records and have found no fault in their collection and use. WSR is not an agency that desiminates information for just anybody. Each request for information is examined on a case by case basis.

Super Criminal Courts is an international court system for trying criminals with super powers.




Lowmen

The Clan of the Lowmen began in days gone by as peasants, outcasts, and the depraved, the lowest of the low, even amongst poor folk. A single charismatic human rogue took pity on the few down and outers that he found. He gave them whatever he could, which was not much to begin with. He taught them some of the finer traits that he had learned to scrape by. The rogue was versed in performing on the streets for money. He taught those few to do the same. He became brothers with them and took it upon himself to create a bond that would be everlasting. The few that followed him swore to the bond that the rogue wanted. Within weeks of the oath, one of the rogue's followers, known as Lowen from Glacier Valley, died at the hands of a rich merchant that found Lowen's acting skills to be severely lacking and very offensive. Hearing of the attack, the rogue was minutes too late to do anything but carry the body away. An unfinished casket was stolen from the undertaker. It was the lightest (and turned out cheapest) casket they could grab without being noticed. There was no lid. The rogue and his followers mourned Lowen, for they all knew and loved him. They took him high into the mountain cliffs that overlooked the sea. There they said farewell and pushed his casket over the cliff to plummet into the violent waters. There after the rogue began to call himself Lowmen, because we are the lowest of men. His followers soon began to call themselves the Lowmen Clan.
The rogue Lowmen sought to repay the rich merchant for his misdeed, and within months, he discovered how to do it. The pregnant wife of the rich merchant was in labor. A midwife of Lowmen's choosing helped with the birthing. The mother was given poison merely seconds after the birth. The child's mother went insane. The child which had been born to the rich merchant was stolen from his crib and replaced with a recently dead baby. Lowmen placed a tattoo upon the underside of the baby's right arm. (_____) - the image of Lowen's coffin. Lowmen declared, "I pronounce you first born into the Lowmen Clan." Then one by one the clan members wanted to each get one of these tattoos. Lowmen refused, but at the insistence of his followers, he gave in and placed identical tattoos upon the underside of their left arms. He declared them each as Lowmen, but only those who are babes may be born into the Lowmen Clan.

The clan grew. When their numbers were more than fifty, people started to take notice. The city guards were ordered to disrupt what they saw as "organized criminal activity".
Many were jailed, sold into slavery, and some were killed. The Lowmen Clan was scattered, but some of the followers kept the tradition taught them by Lowmen.

Eventually, the Lowmen Clan formed small groups that bound themselves to each other and traveled the land. They became much like gypsies, but most were bound by oath and tradition and not by blood. Their people had been scattered and their numbers dwindled. This was true for many generations of Lowmen, but within the last hundred years there has been one exception. Tearrock has had Lowmen living in that area for several generations. Many leave the Tearrock, but many of those come back to make or raise their family. Their traditions of art, dance, and story telling stuck with them, and it dies hard when rich traditions are left behind. The Legend of Lowen's Death is known well within this family, but Lowmen do not speak of the legend to outsiders. Each child chosen to become a Lowmen is given a tattoo, Lowen's Casket. New adult members are far fewer, but now and again it happens when a husband or wife is added. Lowmen are still in the practice of stealing babies when they cannot have one on their own, or if they need to settle a score. Also, the lowly peasant rejects are sometimes recruited into the family.

Tearrock lies in a harsh area of an upper valley surrounded by mountains. Tearrock is no more than 5000 acres of livable area including the lake and woods. A lake fed by cold streams from the mountain ice tops provides fresh cold water. Part of the land was cleared for growing crops, but only small farms (more like gardens) can be maintained. The Lowmen number nearly a hundred. They get few travelers, for few need to pass near their land. The founders of Tearrock had among them a member that took up the way of the Druid. This Druid was responsible for the survival of the clan in this area. She walked the land endlessly keeping it plentiful for beast and clan.

At the beginning of each season she consults with the clan on matters. She also looks for potential druids to help with the land. She passes on the responsibility to her successors. So far, each Lowmen Druid of Tearrock has been a female. She is known as Sy Lonna, and each Sy Lonna is regarded highly amongst Lowmen of Tearrock.

Although most Lowmen are of good alignment, rare are the Lawful ones, and rarer still are the Lawful Good Lowmen. The ones that are not of good alignment end up becoming travelers. Whether this is because they are restless or a they desire to not bring harm their Lowmen traditions, each Lowmen travels his own path.

This is where Karden comes in to the picture.

Gossip In Tearrock
He must have done something terrible. I hear Karden is being banished. He seems to have destroyed Old-man Bradar house. He burned it down. I can't believe it myself. Jerridina claims she saw him do it. She doesn't want to give any details, but she has never been known to lie. She stopped talking to me a couple days ago. I hope this week is over and done soon. I think I'm going to follow Karden in a few hours. I don't want to be too suspicious. I think I know where he might go. It's a shame he's got leave his friends. Well, except for that Bridgette girl. Bridgette is real piece. No one can stand being around her. I don't see how Karden could do it. Maybe she did the burning. I know he likes to watch fire, but I've never seen him start one. I don't know, but I want to talk to Karden.
Gossip In Tearrock

"Karden, we have decided you should leave Tearrock. We loathe to have to do this to any kinsman, but you leave us no choice. Your mischief may bring the Dwarfs or the Elves or even the Orcs down upon us." Council Penner looked worried.
Karden looked perplexed, but it was an act. "What will I do, and where will I go?"
"Karden, you know the out lands better than any here, and you have traveled where few in the last several generations have ventured. You are not welcome to live here. Perhaps in a few years you may come back to visit, but we dare not let you stay."
Karden recalled the trouble he caused by playing around with traveling group of 3 Dwarves. They all ended up passing out from his "Drain Vitality". He undressed them and hid their clothes. He was seen, but not very clearly. Some Dwarves came out to Tearrock to find the one who humiliated their kin.
Then there was the time Karden went invisible and sneaked around an Elven camp, taking their weapons and tossing them into the river. His invisibility wavered just before he got completely out of sight. They too came to Tearrock to find the doer.
Recently, Orcs came hot on the trail of Karden. While invisible, Karden started an argument between Orcs. The Orcs started to fight amongst themselves. Karden then caught things on fire and watched them frantically put out the flames. A human was seen just after someone started burning the possessions of a group of 4 Orcs. The Orcs were killed before they got too far into Tearrock. Sy Lonna and her students stopped them.