Potentials are supernatural powers — not spells or traditional magic, but potential realities brought into existence. They warp reality, defy physics, or channel domain essence, fueled by Reverie.
“A Potential is not magic. It is a reality that should have been, demanding to exist.”
Awakening Methods
How Potentials Are Gained
| Method | Requirement | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Blessing Accumulation | 3 Blessings from a single domain (or Paradigm Shift at 5) | Domain Potential tied to that domain |
| Pacts with Entities | Service, debt, or sacrifice to Genii, spirits, or The Count | Granted Potential with strings attached |
| Trauma / Enlightenment | Near-death, paradox, spiritual breakthrough → Anima TN 20 | Universal Potential |
| Study / Ritual | Arcane Resonance +7 or higher + 1 month → AR TN 20 | Universal Potential (Trickster's choice) |
| Cursed Awakening | Dark ritual, sacrifice, or forbidden knowledge | Tainted Potential |
Activation Rules
Using Potentials
Action: 1 action (unless specified otherwise)
Cost: Spend Reverie as listed (typically 1–3)
Check: Some require a test (usually Arcane Resonance or relevant skill)
Failure: Reverie is still spent, but effect doesn’t occur (or misfires at Trickster’s discretion)
Limits: Each Potential once per scene unless specified; some are once per session or once per arc
Domain Potentials
Work only in their home domain or within 1 mile of its portals. Outside this range, the power fades.
Teleport between plants within 60 ft (both must be Large+). Fail: 10 ft off-target.
Check: AR TN 8
20 ft radius whirlwind of flame, 3 Wounds to all inside (you immune). Fail: backlash 1 Wound.
Check: AR TN 12
Freeze one creature for 1 min — can't move, act, or perceive time. Lose: they resist.
Check: Contested AR vs Anima
Incorporeal for 1 min — pass through solids, invisible in darkness. Can't attack or be attacked.
Check: AR TN 8
Speak to domain's Willpower, ask one yes/no question. Fail: cryptic or misleading answer.
Check: DW TN = WP×4
Amplify one Blessing by +2 levels for one scene.
Check: Auto
Universal Potentials
Work anywhere — real world, Nowhere Land, inside any domain. Rarer, often tied to personal enlightenment or The Count’s gifts.
Teleport up to 30 ft to a visible location. Fail: 10 ft off-target, possibly into walls (1 Wound).
Check: AR TN 8
Enter The Null safely for 1 hour — traverse between domains bypassing portals. Fail: 1 Fracture.
Check: Anima TN 12
See threads of reality for 10 min — Blessings, Curses, exaltations, portals, domain boundaries glow.
Check: Auto
Perfectly recall any memory. Or share a memory by touch (requires consent or contested Anima).
Check: Auto (sharing: contested Anima)
Sever supernatural connection — break attunement, end Blessing/Curse, close portal for 24 hrs. Fail: partial or backlash (1 Fracture).
Check: AR TN = power × 4
Stabilize reality in 30 ft radius for 1 hour. Domain shifts, reality tears, portals suppressed. High-WP domains (4–5) contest.
Check: Auto (high-WP domains resist)
Tainted Potentials
Corrupted powers with severe drawbacks — more powerful but destructive over time.
How Potentials Become Tainted
- Overuse: Using the same Potential 3+ times per session without rest
- Pact Betrayal: Breaking a pact with the entity that granted it
- 5+ Fractures: Accumulating corruption while possessing a Potential
- Cursed Awakening: Gaining a Potential through dark means
Attacks deal +2 Wounds (fire) for 1 min. Glow with crimson flame — can't hide, enemies prioritize you.
Taint: Each use scars skin with permanent burns. At 10 uses: unrecognizable, Disposition −2 with strangers.
Touch creature, deal 5 Wounds (ignores armor). Target tests Anima TN 16 or gains 2 Fractures.
Taint: Eyes turn black. NPCs with Insight sense soul magic — Disposition −3. Hear whispers of victims.
Reshape flesh: heal 1d6 Wounds, change appearance, or grow claws (+1 damage).
Taint: Flesh becomes unstable, ripples visibly. −1 die on social tests. Fail: permanent monstrous trait.
Legendary Potentials
Campaign-defining powers — usable once per arc or campaign. They reshape reality itself.
Cost: All Reverie + 1 permanent Fracture | Limit: Once per campaign
Rewrite an event from the current session. Undo a death, reverse a choice, change a roll result. Everyone remembers both timelines.
Cost: 5 Rev + 1 month ritual | Limit: Once per arc
Create a new domain from nothing. Define Willpower (max 3), ecosystem, Blessings/Curses. You become its first Genius. Fail: unstable, hostile, or Corrupted domain.
Cost: Sacrifice mortality | Limit: Character retirement
Become a Genius — immortal, bound to a domain, wielding its full Willpower. Gain all Domain Potentials. Can never leave. Part of Nowhere Land forever.
Corruption & Overuse
Corruption Rules
| Trigger | Effect |
|---|---|
| 3+ uses of same Potential in a session | Test Anima (TN = 12 + uses beyond 2). Fail: 1 Fracture |
| 5 Fractures accumulated | Test Anima TN 16 or one Potential becomes Tainted |
| 10 Fractures accumulated | Lost — consumed by Nowhere Land, character becomes NPC |
Managing Corruption
- Rest heals Fractures slowly: 1 per long rest in safe places
- Seek domain healers, The Count’s favor, or rituals to cleanse corruption
- Fractures = mental damage track (capacity based on Anima)
Drift & Potentials
Drift Effects on Potentials
| Drift | Effect |
|---|---|
| 0 | Base cost (no modifier) |
| 1–2 | +1 to all Reverie costs |
| 3–4 | +2 to all costs; Domain Potentials cost −1 (min 1) |
| 5–6 | +3 to all costs; add Drift to TN of Potential checks |
| 9–10 | Potentials become instinctual: no cost, less control |
| Max (Abyss) | No Potentials function at all |
Drift Polarity Modifiers
Metsu (Destruction): Offensive Potentials −1 cost, Defensive +1 cost
Ketsu (Binding): Control/Defense Potentials −1 cost, Offensive +1 cost
Balanced: No modifiers
Complete Potential Index
All Named Potentials
| Name | Type | Cost | Check | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verdant Step | Domain | 1 Rev | AR TN 8 | 1/scene |
| Firestorm | Domain | 2 Rev | AR TN 12 | 1/session |
| Frozen Time | Domain | 3 Rev | vs Anima | 1/session |
| Shadow Walk | Domain | 1 Rev | AR TN 8 | 1/scene |
| Domain Communion | Domain | 2 Rev | DW TN WP×4 | 1/domain/ses. |
| Blessing Surge | Domain | 2 Rev | Auto | 1/scene |
| Traveler's Leap | Universal | 1 Rev | AR TN 8 | 2/scene |
| Null Walk | Universal | 2 Rev | Anima TN 12 | 1/session |
| Resonance Sight | Universal | 1 Rev | Auto | 2/session |
| Mind Palace | Universal | 1 Rev/use | Auto | Unlimited |
| Thread Severance | Universal | 3 Rev | AR TN pwr×4 | 1/session |
| Paradox Anchor | Universal | 1 Rev | Auto | 1/session |
| Bloodfire | Tainted | 1W + 1 Rev | Auto | Unlimited |
| Soul Rend | Tainted | 1F + 2 Rev | vs Anima | 1/session |
| Flesh Weaving | Tainted | 1F + 1 Rev | Forma TN 14 | Unlimited |
| Reality Rewrite | Legendary | All + 1F | Auto | 1/campaign |
| Domain Birth | Legendary | 5 Rev + ritual | AR+DW TN 20 | 1/arc |
| Ascension | Legendary | Mortality | vs WP×4 | Retirement |
AR = Arcane Resonance, DW = Domain Weaving, Rev = Reverie, W = Wound, F = Fracture, WP = Willpower
“Power is never given. It is taken from a reality too exhausted to stop you.”
— The Count, On the Nature of Potentials