Power

Everyone has some amount of power; from the mightiest demon, to the lowliest shoe shiner on the streets of Peterloo, all things have power. Some have a great deal, most have very little.

An average person might have two power (total) and then only in the areas they’re ‘good’ at. A trained rank and file soldier is likely to have somewhat more and most player characters significantly more again.

Power can take many forms and is a somewhat abstract notion. It represents the various strengths each and every being has and how potently they can draw on their own personal reserves and reality. This might be a stubborn determination never to give up (willpower), calling on inner reserves of strength and stamina (body) or perhaps a deep understanding and connection to the world and the mystical (essence).

Conceptually all people draw subconsciously on the power of reality (though nobody perceives it as such). Some people can do this far more strongly than others, for whatever reason. Player characters, as wastelanders, are examples of such individuals.

The greeblies of the wasteland, by contrast, draw on the power of entropy. These two opposing forces form the underpinning of the FR game world.

IC, characters don’t talk about or perceive the use of power. When someone is low on power for example, they will merely feel tired or distracted or similar.

Roleplay should reflect this and not refer to numerical power or the types of power using OOC terms. It is perfectly fine to ask for a ‘mage tonic’ (restores essence), to complain about not being able to think straight (low on knowledge) or to ask for a ‘dreamer refreshed’ ritual (restores psyche). So long as something fits IC then it is likely fine and appropriate.

Players are always aware of what power they have of what types. It will be written on their prompt sheet, which they carry and are free to refer to as they need to. Many people carry reminders of their abilities as well, just in-case they need to check from time to time. Try and be discrete when doing so.

Characters are not aware of how much power they have left: they merely feel tired or trained. Such distinctions are important for role-play purposes.

Using Power
Using any sort of power takes some effort by the person concerned and an effort should be made by all players to role-play in some way the use of any type of power (this could simply be clear vocals when casting a spell or binding elementals, spending a moment to think to use a lore skill, a grunt and stagger when soaking a blow, concentrating on crafting a mosaic, or anything similar - it very much depends on what the power is being spent on).

Using power is always an out of character choice. You are free to try and do something and fail, even if you had the power to do it, without any out of character criticism being levelled against you. In game terms, a player with surgery abilities could choose to fail to sew up wounds even though he had the power left to do so. Similarly a soldier could choose to fail to soak if surrounded or overwhelmed.

This ooc choice not to use power could extend, for example, to choosing to forgo spend power because it would result in using an awful lot in one short period leaving you empty for the rest of the day. Sometimes this might be fantastic fun - the barbarian standing up to a horde of rampaging greeblies alone, but being totally exhausted afterwards. Sometimes you might decide to fall over and save some power to fight with later, because it might be more fun for you and you decide that your barbarian can’t possibly manage to fight the horde alone. Both these choices are absolutely fine. You decide what your character does.

Power Types
The game uses the types of power below. Player characters have far more power than most normal people.

Skill
While everyone has some innate skill they are reasonably sure they can perform all the time, everyone has no doubt experienced times when they were ‘in the zone’, really ‘on the ball’ or generally smoking. People in this state are spending skill.

Useful for Arms, Armour Use, Agility and Crafter

Knowledge
People are often ‘sure they remember something about this’; sometimes they do, sometimes it alludes them. When they do, they are spending knowledge. Likewise, when someone performs some intellectual task that requires concentration and might be done wrongly, then they are using knowledge.

Useful for all Lore Skills, Scrivener, Herbalism, Mechanic, Galvanism, Apothecary, Physician and Crafter

Body
Some people can sometimes call on greater reserves or strength or fortitude than others. Body represent this.

Useful for Fitness, Strength and Toughness.

Faith
Some people exhibit such belief in the essential benevolence of the divine that that benevolence becomes manifest. Usually such benevolence is channelled through a priest. In Frail Realities there are only two  true gods: Mithras and Isis. Faith always applies to the channelling of their powers. Other, more pantheistic faiths, tend to use shamanism, ritualism or other abilities which do not rely on faith.

Useful for Exorcism, Miraculous Healing and Sanctification.

Will
When everyone else flees from the ghost, but one man of courage stands firm, he channels the power of will. Some people have arts which allow them to change the nature of reality through application of force of will.

Useful for Mathematics, Ritualism, Necromancy and Demonology

Psyche
The ‘sixth sense’ that some people have is a prime example of the power of psyche. The person who can instinctive sense the emotions of others and judge a person on a dime, is also likely spending psyche.

Useful for Empath, Mesmerism, Sensitive, Divination, Visionary, Shamanism and Medium

Essence
The supernatural power of magic flows through the earth and through all living things. This is essence, the mystical power of the world.

Useful for Blood Magic, Elemental Magic, Ritualism and Shamanism

Common Power Usage

 * Skill – while most characters can only use simple weapons and cannot use a shield, anyone can try and use such things in extremis. For one skill, you can use any single weapon for a scene. If used very frequently this might result in being asked to buy arms or strength (as appropriate).


 * Knowledge – anyone might remember something pertinent to a particular problem: something have heard or, if literate, read. Use a knowledge point in this way for a ‘remembered fact’ and ask a ref and he will tell you something, though it may or may not be that useful. This is a good way to check background material that you may not be sure of in character or to know things that you ‘should know’ as your character, but do not personally. You can use this whenever you like but without lore skills, scholar specialisms or other abilities that provide significant information you are unlikely to know much more than things which are very common or very appropriate to your background.
 * Body – can be used to heal yourself (one body per wound) and wake up (for one body) within a scene change only. If you were not injured at the scene change (having been healed by someone else most commonly) then you come round for free. This is covered in a lot more detail later.
 * Faith – some miraculous powers allow one to spend some faith to get a better benefit. For example, if you are healed with miraculous healing it heals one wound, but if you spend a point of faith then all your wounds are healed. You may spend a point of faith when praying and, if you do so, Mithras or Isis (depending on who you were praying to) will have heard you. They are very unlikely to be able to help (particularly not directly), but sometimes them hearing can be important in large-scale matters of faith.
 * Will - a whole host of supernatural effects can be shrugged off or lessened by expending a willpower point. You should still role-play this to some extent. For example, if made afraid by a ghost, but you use willpower to shrug it off, you should make some effort to portray steeling yourself, shaking it off, or similar. Many abilities listed in these rules relate the effect of using willpower on it, other effects will be explained by the referees.
 * Psyche – anyone can spend a point of psyche to have a small hunch about something. This use will never tell you very much, in fact it will only tell you something reasonably obvious. As players, we all miss the totally obvious sometimes and this ability can help out when you are totally stuck or confused.
 * Essence – most spells, magical powers, rituals and the like require the user to be able to ‘tune in’ to the magical power flowing through them to use or accept them. Mystical objects also often require the use of essence to tap into the magic and make them function.

Base Power
Base power is the amount you start the event with. This figure comes from your base two power of each type, plus those from your power picks, other abilities. Items and objects can add to your base power total.

When you spend power your current power of that type goes down. It cannot go negative. When you recover power it goes back up again, and cannot exceed your starting max (except when an ability specifically says so).

If you have to spend ‘perm’ or ‘event perm’ power, it comes off your max, not your current.

Free Power
Most characters have some free power, which they can use every scene. Free power works just like any other power, you just get it every scene (and it doesn’t carry over from scene to scene). It might be for a particular power type, of just for a particular ability. When spending power in a scene you generally always want to use free power first.

Unused free power does not carry over between scenes, nor cause you to regain power you may have used. You may, however, within a scene change use free power from the scene just ending, or the scene about to start.

Regaining Power
During an event, players almost always regain power, either by resting over lunch, dinner and overnight, or through their own (or other people’s) abilities and items/objects.

When you regain power, simply increase your current power of the appropriate type by the amount you regained. This cannot exceed your starting maximum.

Rest Scene
During a rest scene you recover one half of the power you have used, rounded down.

Break Scene
Break scenes restore 1/5th of you normal maximum power, rounded down. The limitations on power use are as per extended scene changes.

Extended Scene Change
In such a scene change if a character used no power or free power  during it then they certainly regain 1/10th of their normal maximum power, rounded down (min zero), in each type. The referee may waive this restriction if they choose to.

Sleep Scene
Come the morning after a sleep scene all power is regained.

Keeping Track
Every player will have a prompt sheet*, on which they can keep track of what power they have and what power they’ve expended. It is also a handy place to keep track of consumables, such as tonics, elixirs or other once per day or event abilities (often from patronages). Players carry their own prompt sheets and when they need to make a note of what power they’ve spent (you don’t need to do this every scene, just often enough that you don’t lose track; some players may feel the need to do so very often, others less so). There is room on the bottom and the back to make any other notes you need (for example rules reminders, how many tonics you have, per day abilities or similar). The sheets are there to help you - feel free to write whatever you need to on them.

A referee may ask to check prompt sheets and see what power you’ve spent. This happens rarely and is almost always so they can see how the party is holding up, so they can tweak event flow/stats if appropriate, not as some kind of draconian check on your maths.

In general, updating prompt-sheets should be quick and easy and take very little time. There are very few numbers to remember and largely players will be spending most of their power from a couple of pools, rather than all seven.

When updating your prompt sheet try to do it off to the side and away from the action wherever possible.

* Not all players.