​Making Rolls: Power Rolls

Power Rolls are not random. The Quality of the Power Roll is the character’s Power Roll with the Power. Most powers have a Performance Time of 20. A combat roll is required to attack with the power, and the combat roll Q can be used to decrease the performance time. The Power Roll can also be used to reduce the Performance Time.

Power Roll PR can be used to reduce EP Cost and to increase any of the power’s Effects the same as Quality for skills. A character can use a power for as many passive actions as desired (as well as one active action). For each specific action, the total of the Q for the action’s effects cannot be greater than the character’s PR. Each action uses EP separately.

Most defensive aspects of a power, such as setting up a power shield, are passive actions. Most mind-based powers (such as telepathy) are also passive. Performance Time for passive power actions are usually halved (which will usually mean a Performance Time of 10).

Maintaining an Attack: Most blast/ray attack powers can be maintained. The Performance Time is divided by 4 (usually meaning 5 segments), and the same Attack is used. There is a penalty of 2 to the Attack for each successive action (that is, -2, -4, -6, etc.), and a penalty of 1 to the EP use row for the blast.

Power Example: Sun-Ruler has a PR of 12 in Fire Coat. He enters combat with Seraph. On segment 1 he starts firing up to increase his Skin Temper. That’s a passive action, so it only has a Performance Time of 10. He’ll be done on Segment 11. He uses 8 PR for that (increasing Skin Temper by 4 rows), using 1 EP per round. Now, on segment 6, he initiates a fire blast, using all 12 PR. He rolls 17, missing (he needed 13 or less: 12 plus his pool of 1). He uses 5 EP for this attack.

Extra Effort: It’s up to the Editor and Player whether a specific character can use Extra Effort (see Ability Rolls) with a specific power, and whether the power returns its PR with the physical healing roll or the mental healing roll.