Using FATE for Scion: Epic Knacks

A few weeks ago I mentioned I'd started to think about how to use FATE to handle Scion (Using FATE for Scion: Starting Thoughts). I've done some further work on that, figuring out the skill list and how I plan to handle damage (borrowing from Dresden Files plus the Collateral Damage mechanics from Mike Olson's Kerberos Club). I've started to work on how to handle the system of Epics from Scion. In particular I've put together the knacks associated with each Epic. Here's what I have so far.

EPIC STRENGTH

Each dot doubles the Scion’s lift. Each dot adds +1 to damage dealt with muscle-powered weapons.

Chain Breaker: With a simple flex, you may snap any but magical or the strongest mundane restraints upon you. You gain +1 to all check to escape grapples.

Crushing Grip: You do +1 damage when grappling. When grappling you may choose to grapple one handed or add an additional +1 to the damage. You may grapple two opponents simultaneously with a single hand each.

Feet Planted Firmly: When you set yourself, you’re nearly impossible to move. You cannot be tagged with ‘unbalance’ effects. You effectively double your strength to stop anything.

Holy Rampage: When you strike an inanimate object or surface, you may freely add a persistent tag like cracked or bent.

Hurl to the Horizon: Baseballs, beer kegs and other thrown objects become tiny specks in the distance when you throw them. This doubles the distance you can throw unresisting objects.

Knockback Attack: You may opt to do a physical attack which does no damage, but sends the target flying back, possibly taking damage from the landing. If you get spin, opponent gains a negative tag in addition to usual spin effects.

Making It Look Easy: Even when you push your strength to the limits, to others, it looks as if it takes you no effort what-so-ever. You might yawn as you lift a horse over your head. You never break a sweat or look strained.

One Inch Punch: You can exert full strength through even a single finger, the tip of a toe, a crooked elbow – any single point of contact with your body. You could head-butt a car down the street if you had the strength to push a car that far.

Shockwave: Spend a Fate point and make a Might test, if successful, all persons in a radius around you gain a sticky Unbalanced Tag.

Smash On Through: If you try to move through a barrier (fence, door, crowd) that you could reasonably smash through, you may keep going as if was nothing- splinters flying in all directions and sometimes even a person-shaped hole left in your wake..

Titanium Tools: When the character uses equipment or devices with their strength, those items maintain their integrity and will not crumple or break.

Uplifting Might: Characters with Epic Strength can always lift a silly amount; this doubles that again!

EPIC STAMINA

Each dot adds one additional Physical Stress box. Each dot after the first acts as +1 Armor (not cumulative with worn armor).

Body Armor: The character may parry weapons bare-handed. He gains an additional +1 Armor.

Damage Conversion: By spending a Fate point, you may select any box on your Physical Stress track to mark for damage.

Doin’ Fine: Even when you’ve been battered, bruised and beaten, you always look fine. Your clothes may be in tatters but you look ready for round two.

Holy Fortitude: You may freely go without sleep for a number of days equal to double your Epic Stamina +1.

Inner Furnace: The Scion can survive by eating or drinking even the most inedible substances. Poisons or drugs swallowed by the character get burned away before affecting them.

Invulnerable Nail: By concentrating for some time (a couple of actions in combat), the character may render a small portion of their body invulnerable- a toe, a fingertip, an earlobe, an eyeball.

Raging Bull: Add +1 to Physical damage for each Physical Consequence you have taken (up to +3).

Self-Healing: At any moment, the Scion may spend a Fate Point to clear one marked box of Physical Stress or one modest physical consequence. Outside of combat this can clear three boxes or one moderate consequence.

Solipsistic Self: For an attack with the Scion did not see, hear or know was coming, you may spend a Fate point to ignore the damage or other effects. Can only be used once per scene.

Tough: Gain an additional Physical Stress box.

Under Pressure: You can hold your breath for a frighteningly long time. As well, crushing pressures like cave ins or water depth do not affect you.

Unyielding: You may take an additional major Physical Consequence. 

EPIC PERCEPTION

Acts as a bonus to all senses checks.

Broad Spectrum: Your Scion can see energies like wi-fi, magnetism, radio waves, heat, etc. Interpretation may require a check. Shifting vision to this and back requires a round of concentration or spending a Fate point.

Double Vision: Your senses are protected, making it nearly impossible to blind or deafen you with an attack.

In Your Dreams: Even when sleeping, you continue to sense things. You will recall everything that happened around you while you slept.

Microscopic Senses: By concentrating, you can see incredibly fine detail. You can perform forensic observations without equipment and the like.

Parallel Attention: When surrounded by multiple information inputs- several radios, people talking in a crowd, a bank of TVs- you can hear & see everything simultaneously and process it.

Real McCoy: You immediately see through normal disguises. You have a +2 bonus to detect Shapeshifted persons.

Refined Palate: You may sniff out or taste specific ingredients or components with a test. You can list out all the elements of something easily.

Sense Fatebound: By concentrating, you can sense if a person has been Fatebound. A check may reveal additional information.

Spatial Attunement: By concentrating for a round, you can map the space around you, allowing you to act easily blind or in darkness. You can also see 360 degrees around n that state.

Subliminal Warning: You cannot be surprised. On a surprise round, you act first, then the attackers, then your fellow ambush-ees.

Telescopic Senses: By taking a moment to concentrate, you can extend any of your senses (sight, smell, hearing) to an extreme distance.

Unfailing Recognition: If you have seen someone before, you can immediately pick out their face in a crowd, regardless of other difficulties. 

EPIC ACCURACY

Acts as a bonus to all attack rolls.

Absolute: Your character instinctively knows which way is north, what time of day it is and how long it has been since X happened.

Crippling Blow: Instead of applying Physical Damage, you may spend a Fate Point to instead cause a Physical Consequence. This does not work if the target has already taken all of their Major Consequences.

Find Weakness: When doing damage, your opponent has an armor value of -1, minimum of 0.

Forger: You gain a +2 to all attempts to forge anything- documents, relics, jewels- provided you have access to the right materials. Your bonus applies to disguise attempts as well.

Microscopic Precision: You can manipulate at the finest levels with absolute steadiness. You still need the right tools and have to be able to see the details to do this.

Perfect Pitch: You can echo exactly any sound you have heard. If you know an instrument, you can replay any song you’ve heard. You gain a +2 to all attempts at mimicry, in addition to the Epic Accuracy bonus.

Photographic Assessment: By observation, you can accurately estimate the weight, size or number of objects in an area.

Photographic Penmanship: You can reproduce an image from memory in any medium with the clarity of a photograph.

Precise: When firing into combat, you can never hit anyone but your intended target.

Ricochet Symphony: You can bounce your ranged attacks, allowing you to ignore cover or concealment.

Striker: You may use Epic Accuracy instead of Strength for damage bonuses. In this case each dot adds +1 to damage dealt with muscle-powered weapons.

Trick Shooter: By taking an Aim action, you gain a +4 on your attack roll on the following round. Additionally, your Aim tags last until you take the shot, regardless of movement or actions. 

EPIC MOVEMENT

Acts as a bonus to all dodge rolls.

Each dot of Epic Movement doubles your pace out of combat. If using zones, then it allows you on your action to shift one zone per dot without rolling. If using hexes, then it adds +2 hexes to each half move.

And the Crowd Goes Wild: Gain a +2 bonus for any athletics or physical performance test, like football or ballet.

Blur: If you gain spin on attack roll, you make immediately move within a zone or to an adjacent zone. If using hexes, you gain a free half-move.

Cat Steps: You leave no tracks and may walk on semi-solid surfaces (sand, quicksand, thin ice) without worry.

Escape Artist: Spend a Fate point to get out of any restraints quietly- from strait jackets, to handcuffs, to locked boxes.

Freedom: You suffer no movement or action penalties for dense or buffeting environments, such as underwater or in a tornado.

Holy Bound: Your character doubles his leaping distance- both running and standing. Combined with Epic Movement dots, this can get crazy.

Lightning Sprinter: You move as if you had an additional dot of Epic Movement. You ignore movement penalties for uneven or rough terrain.

Monkey Climb: You can climb surfaces at a steady walking pace. You only need to make checks for super-smooth surfaces, difficult environments or trying to go fast.

Safe Fall: When you fall besides a vertical surface like a wall, a rope, or something of the sort, you divide the distance by your # of Epic Movement dots.

Spooky: You can enter or exit a room without being seen…just like Batman. You just pop up and startle people.

Stay on Task: Rote or mundane tasks involving movement and concentration (assembling furniture, reading, cleaning) take half the time.

Unruffled: When moving- running, evading attacks, spinning like a top- you always look composed and in control. 

EPIC REFLEXES

Acts as a bonus to all parry & block rolls.

Between Raindrops: When a non-aimed group of objects flies at you, you can avoid them (falling rocks, raindrops) easily. For combat effects, like automated pitching machines or robot guns, you must spend a Fate point.

Bodyguard: You can parry or block for adjacent targets. May not be combined with Untouchable Opponent.

Cat’s Grace: You always land on your feet. When knocked down you automatically get up.

Gambler: For any gambling contest where you control the movement (rolling dice, shuffling cards, flipping a coin) you automatically determine the result.

In My Hand: If you have something you’re carrying, you can declare you have it in hand- in the blink of any eye. If it is on someone near you and controlled (say a gun) you must make a check.

Omnidexterity: You can use either hand with equal ease, even simultaneously (for example, texting with two phones).

Perfect Balance: You can balance along extremely or absurdly thin ledges or lines without having to make a roll.

Pickpocket: Gain a +3 to all attempts to pickpocket or place something upon another person. You’re absurdly goodat this, defying physics and logic.

Rabbit Reflexes: You go first. If more people have this, compare Epic Reflexes dots.

Untouchable Opponent: If you take no aggressive or offensive actions in a round, you gain a +2 to all defense checks. If you take a full defense action, you gain a +4 to all defenses and reactions.

Wheelman: Gain a +2 to any driving or piloting checks. In a chase, you may add one aspect freely to the environment at the start.

Whirlwind Shield: You may parry projectiles, even bullets. You can catch low velocity projectiles (knives, arrows) with a successful parry. 

EPIC CHARM

Dots act as damage value for social conflicts.

Benefit of the Doubt: When speaking with someone you wish to convince, you may spend a Fate point to have them give you the benefit of the doubt for the moment. This can change, depending on later events or evidence.

Blame James: When avoiding blame (either through “Boys Will Be Boys” or persuasion) you may spend a Fate point to subtly pin the blame on another target.

Blessing of Importance: By sticking up for a person in public, you can heal them of Mental Stress (1-3) or a minor Mental Consequence immediately. On non-mortals, this requires spending a Fate point.

Boys Will Be Boys: When you get into trouble with an angry witness or authority figure—you need only shrug haplessly, grin foolishly and spend a Fate point. The offended party decides that whatever you did wasn’t that bad.

Center of Attention: By spending a point of fate you can draw the attention of everyone in an area (or watching an area). Useful for making a spectacular entrance, this lasts # of minutes = to Epic Charm. Scions/Titans may resist.

Charmer: By spending a Fate point, you can suppress a reaction of panic, suspicion or utter hatred directed at you for one scene. The feeling will remain, but beneath the surface- giving your Scion time to ease or get around it.

Come Hither: By sending a message- a gesture, a text, a letter- you may force a target to come to you. The message must include an image of yourself. Scions & others with Epic Charm or Presence may resist.

Crowd Control: With a check and a Fate point, you can quell the energies of even the largest crowd for a moment, enough time to put your case forward or make an escape.

God’s Honest: By making a swear gesture and spending a Fate point, you can convince one mortal target what you’re saying is the absolute truth- no questions asked. This lasts until they’re faced with incontrovertible proof.

Grin and Bear It: Gain an additional Social Stress box.

Hapless Cool: Your character is always cool, regardless of what they’re doing. They set the trends or are simply seen as far above whatever mundane activity they’re engaged in.

Never Say Die: After your character takes a Physical Consequence, you may spend an action to pop up and show you’re OK. Your fellow players who see this gain one Fate point. This may only be done once per scene.

Not in the Face: You may use Empathy or Fast Talk instead of Dodge for checks against intelligent targets. You may apply Epic Charm as a bonus.

Pied Piper: By spending a Fate point, you make your character the person to be around. Mortals nearby flock and become groupies and hangers on. This effect lasts an evening (or day) and can be resisted. 

EPIC PRESENCE

Each dot adds a box to your Social Stress track.

Advantageous Circumstance: You set up groups like a machine, knocking the first domino over and watching them fall. Your intended effect can’t take more than a scene and can’t be more than a personal, temporal gain for you.

Blurt it Out: In a conversation, you may spend a Fate point to have a target reveal information about a subject of your choice. A test determines how much and how embarrassing or private that information is.

Damage Control: You may take an additional major Social Consequence.

Dreadful Mein: For Scions with a hidden hideous appearance (often children of Death gods). You may spend a Fate point reveal yourself to a mortal, forcing them to run and flee.

Implacable: Your dots of Epic Presence act as an Armor Value for Social Damage.

Knowing Glance: You can use Epic Presence for your Social Damage value.

Lasting Impression: You may spend a Fate point to add a persistent aspect to a target- lasting a day. Lovely Scions can add an uplifting sense; hideous Scions may add a debilitating one, unsettling the target.

My Eyes Are Up Here: By spending a Fate point, you can make yourself forgettable to all mortals for one scene.

Overt Order: By spending a Fate point, you can make a victim perform in a single, simple action- like Freeze! Drop It! Shoot Him!

Perfect Actor: By spending a Fate point you can place an emotional aspect on all viewers for the duration of a scene.

Rumor Mill: Your skills and contacts allow you to spread rumors and hearsay with lightning speed.

Secondhand Persuasion: You may use your Epic Presence bonus to manipulate someone through writing, drawings or text messages.

Self Esteem: By spending a Fate point, you may select any box on your Social Stress track to mark for damage.

Serpent’s Gaze: By spending a point of Fate you can lock eyes with a target and hold their gaze. The target’s rendering inactive until you break the gaze. Any actions you take while locking eyes is at a -2 penalty.

Unimpeachable Reference: You can lend someone a portion of your authority. By spending a point of fate and vouching for someone (in person or with a token), you force the target to give your agent the benefit of the doubt. 

EPIC KNOWLEDGE

Each dot adds one dot to Mental Stress track.

Blockade of Reason: You may use an appropriate knowledge skill in place of Fast Talk or Intimidation for social interactions.

Certainty: You may take an additional major Mental Consequence.

Cipher: You can encode or decode a message freely. You can create a cipher which will only be decodable by a target who has been given a key.

Fast Learner: You may freely switch the values of two skills at the beginning of each session. Once per session you may spend a Fate point to make this switch, before dice are rolled. These changes remain between sessions.

Know-It-All: When making declarations, you may add two aspects.

Language Master: After hearing a language for a short time, you may speak it with some fluency. You will borrow the accent you’ve heard. This does not apply to written languages.

Math Genius: You can perform on the fly high level calculations in your head. This provides a +2 bonus to any check relying on Math and allows you to check other people’s calculations rapidly.

Perfect Memory: Your character has photographic memory and may ask the GM to fill in details of past events you character witnessed. Once per session, you may make a retroactive assessment.

Social Chameleon: You possess an instinctive knowledge of foreign customs. This gives you a +1 on interactions in those situations. You may spend a Fate point to stop a faux pas from happening.

Specialist: For each dot of Epic Knowledge you possess, you may choose one “specialty” for a skill, a narrow use in which you gain +2 to tests.

Speed Reader: You can read through written or visually presented material in 1/10^th the time.

Telepathy: By concentrating and spending a Fate point you can send a simple message into the mind of someone a short distance away. If you can see them, the distance is further. 

EPIC WITS

Each dot acts as armor value for Mental conflicts.

Adaptive Fighting: When engaged in single battle, you may add a bonus each round after the first: +1 to attack, +1 to damage, +1 to armor, +1 to dodge or +1 to parry. You may add a # equal to Epic Wits; each may be applied once.

Don’t Read the Manual: You suffer no penalties to working with unfamiliar equipment. You may make a check (or spend a Fate point) to figure out instantly the purpose of any machine.

Insight: When engaged in a battle of wills, your Epic Wits acts as a damage bonus.

Instant Investigation: You can look at a scene and immediately may a forensics-style reading of the scene, like a CSI machine.

Iron Will: You gain an additional Mental Stress box.

Jack of All Trades: For each dot of Epic Wits you possess, you may choose one “specialty” for a skill, a narrow use in which you gain +2 to tests. You may declare this during play by spending a Fate point.

Jerry-Rig: With a check, you may rewire and realign a machine to a new and bizarre purpose.

Meditative Focus: The character never suffers penalties or checks for distractions due to noise, explosions, riots or the like.

Multitasking: You may perform a number of separate mental tasks simultaneously equal to your refresh pool (play chess while composing a poem in your head and announcing the results of a baseball game).

Opening Salvo: On the opening round of a conflict, you gain a +2 to all checks.

Perfect Imposter: You gain a +2 to all checks (disguise, mimicry, acting) when disguised as another persona you’ve researched. This may be a specific person or a general figure (like Mall Cop).

Tactical Planning: When a conflict breaks out you may immediately add two aspects to the scene.