Empyrean Extension - Powers

Empyrean Powers are a natural extension of the "Surge of Inner Fire" / Empyrean Inspiration / Supremacy mechanic. They are meant to enrich this experience by making it more specific and more diverse, implying that different Empyreans will have access to different powers and not just invoke the benefits of Supremacy for a given type of rolls.

Most Empyrean Powers work in a similar way. They are activated as a minor action by spending 1 Destiny, and they remain active for an entire scene. Their success, magnitude and power are also measured by a Spirit roll made when the Empyrean Power is first invoked. This spirit roll does not benefit from Supremacy. When using the Ability system, the Spirit roll is the Invocation power.

A character can maintain 1 active Empyrean Power at a time, plus an additional Power if they have Spirit Level 4, or three powers at a time, if they have Spirit Level 5. Empyrean Powers can be further developed through the concept of surges (which is also beyond the scope of this post).

Aetherean Edge: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, roll Spirit. You channel your power through your chosen edged weapon (Sword, Axe, Cleaver, Dagger) gaining the power to tear the very fabric of reality. Your melee attacks and dodge rolls gain Supremacy. While Aetherean Edge is active you can use a move or minor action to rend the fabric of reality to teleport yourself in a location within sight for a distance in move units equal to the successes of your Spirit roll. Due to the nature of the attack, Aetherean Edge damage can only be soaked with critical successes.

Aura of the Archon: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You  instantly break most mind-affecting, compelling powers and spells currently affecting you, and grant anyone within 5 meters + 1 meter per success, the ability to reroll relevant failed checks with bonus dice equal to your successes. In addition you create the following effects:

• You provoke the attention of your enemies with your kingly aura. They suffer a -1 dice penalty to any action that does not result to a direct, targeted attack against you.
• Gain Supremacy to all Spirit rolls made to resist mind-affecting, compelling powers, or to soak corruption.
• All your allies regain 1 lost Willpower/Destiny (you don't) when you first activate the aura, or when they first come in contact with it.
• While the Aura is active, you and all allies around you gain 1 bonus dice to all rolls.

Bane: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, roll Spirit. You can shoot 1 ethereal arrow per round, aiming and directing it with your hand, while whispering a curse to afflict your target. You roll Adeptness (or Insight if you have the Eagle Eye talent), and gain Supremacy in that roll. The arrow gains bonus damage equal to the Spirit successes, and it deals up to 1 wound if it hits and the target fails to soak its damage, but the wound is considered grievous. In addition to the grievous wound, the arrow afflicts the target with a terrible curse. The target rolls a Spirit roll to soak the curse attack (which is equal to the arrow's damage). Each point of net damage that passes past the soak roll grants a -1 dice penalty to all dice rolls for the target character. The affliction lasts until the wound is healed. Instead of a curse, you can choose to call upon the doom of your target. In this case the arrow deals double damage, and an additional wound, but this time the wounds are not grievous.

Celestial Panoply: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You are garbed in a bright panoply that directly reduces incoming damage by 1 per success, grants supremacy to all Fortitude rolls made to soak damage, and reduces the number of wounds you can take by a single attack by 1 per success, down to a minimum of 1 wound. (You always suffer a minimum of 1 wound, if you do suffer at least 1 point of damage).

Dream Walk: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, roll Spirit. You can project a spirit-body into the Spirit World, whilst you remain in a deep trance-like state, back into the physical world. While in this state your consciousness flows into your spirit body and you become a spirit, subject to special rules. You can also use this power to enter the dreams of others. The successes in your Spirit roll become the base dice for your rolls inside the Spirit World. Dream Walk grants you Supremacy in all those rolls.

Empyrean Wings: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You gain wings that allow you to fly. The Wings are invisible, but may appear with some ethereal, slightly luminescent color.  Your Movement increases by the number of successes you make. In addition to the power of flight, you gain the following benefits:

• An unlimited number of additional dodge actions that you can use against any attack. You can even attempt to dodge attacks that you already tried to avoid otherwise, but you cannot dodge the same attack twice through the benefit of this power.
• Gain Supremacy to any movement and maneuver roll concerning dodge, evasion, acrobatics, running, chasing etc.
• Break or cancel any movement-limiting powers and effects by rolling Spirit (with the Supremacy bonus).

Eternal Flame: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You are able to manifest the Flame Eternal, which covers your form like an aura, but you are able to shape and direct it at your will. The Flame Eternal has a white-blue color, but it can have any other color that does not look baleful or demonic, including the regular color of fire. The Flame Eternal grants additional protection from all damage that your Inner Fire protects you from. The additional damage reduction is equal to 1 per success. You also gain the ability to regenerate 1 wound per round. You can choose the Flame Eternal to manifest as either fire or frost. Your regular melee or ranged attacks deal additional fire or frost damage equal to your spirit successes. In addition to this, the damage of your attacks becomes Holy.

Godly Ire: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You begin to brim with barely contained divine wrath that channels directly into your melee attacks with terrifying effect. A glowing aura covers you, granting you a menacing, wrathful aspect. Your might temporarily increases by a number equal to the number of your successes. In addition all your melee Attack rolls (regardless of Aspect) gain Supremacy, as do all of your Force aspect rolls and all Intimidation rolls. Your mere presence causes fear to your enemies within melee range, who must roll Spirit to resist the fear, or suffer a 1 dice penalty to all rolls made to attack you. Each strike you deal has devastating effect, causing 1 additional wound per success, or causing your strike to cleave to an additional nearby foe per success. You can choose either one or the other option.

Shroud of Night: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You are covered in a mystical shroud that makes you both impalpable and literally invisible to the senses of those around you. The Shroud of Night grants Supremacy to all Stealth rolls for you, and you can extend the shroud to cover additional targets, (+1 target per success) granting them +1 bonus dice to their stealth rolls. Any enemies you wish to hide from receive a -1 dice penalty to their roll to try and locate you in any way. You become physically invisible, impossible to detect with the sense of vision, including superior vision. You also become spiritually invisible, and thus powers like Second Sight etc. will not automatically reveal you. There are specific powers like True Vision that break illusions which can counter the benefit of invisibility via the Shroud of Night, but these powers do not cancel the bonus and penalties that Shroud of Night otherwise provides.


Soul Blade: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You are able to manifest a Soul Blade, which has the form of an energy sword, or any other melee weapon of your preference. There is a special fighting discipline tied with the power of the Soul Blade, which is called Soul Blade Combat. This is a Spirit-based discipline, that can be taught as a talent. Characters who are trained in Soul Blade Combat may use Spirit for their melee combat roll. Characters who are not trained in Soul Blade Combat can still make an attack with Soul Blade, rolling spirit, but they may trigger an attack of opportunity. Whatever the case, the character gains supremacy in their roll. The Soul Blade deals a base damage equal to the initial Spirit roll successes. Regular armor provides no benefits to the target, as the Soul Blade passes through it with ease. The Soul Blade always attacks spirits and disembodied entities.

Tempest: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate and roll Spirit. You can apply kinetic energy in a form of your choice, being able to move objects and items around you, and push larger creatures or items. The number of successes affect the mass and number of objects you can telekinetically move, as well as the speed you can handle them with. If you use the power to attack your enemies, you gain Supremacy to a new Spirit roll that is the actual telekinetic blast attack. Your blast can affect a number of adjacent enemies equal to the number of successes of your first roll. Any characters wounded by a telekinetic blast are also knocked back a number of meters equal to the number of successes. Instead of the blast attack, the character can opt to focus all kinetic energy into a single powerful lightning bolt, attacking 1 target, dealing bonus damage and wounds equal to the spirit successes. The character can also make a free Spirit roll with supremacy in order to create a kinetic shield that stops incoming missile attacks. A critical success indicates the attack is deflected back to the attacker.

Thundering Wrath: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, roll Spirit. You begin to brim with the power of lightning, and your physical blows, or your hand-held bludgeoning weapon (Mace, Flail, Hammer) become imbued with unnatural force that unleashes thunderclaps in the wake of your attacks. Your melee attacks gain Supremacy. The damage of your attacks is increased by the number of successes in your Spirit roll. Enemies wounded by your attacks are also pushed back by a powerful impact (pushed a number of units equal to your Spirit successes), they fall down and rendered deaf for a number of rounds equal to your Spirit successes (they suffer a -1 dice penalty to all actions, and have additional penalties in specific situations). If you score at least 1 critical success, then the target of your attack must make a secondary Fortitude to soak only your critical successes. If they fail, they are also stunned for a number of rounds equal to your Spirit successes.

True Vision: (Minor Action) Spend 1 Destiny to activate, and roll Spirit. You gain the power to defeat illusions, see invisibility, and detect  others who are being cloaked or concealed from your sight. True Vision acts as a counter to powers like Shroud of Night. This means that a contested roll judges whether or not one power or the other prevails. In addition to the above, True Vision grants Supremacy to all rolls made to spot anyone or anything. It multiplies the viewing distance that someone can see by the number of successes in the spirit roll. And it increases the precision of the character's attacks, boosting their damage by 1 per success.