Dark Power - and what it means for you...

Glossary of terms:

Dark Power - name given to the symbiote creature/shadow demon royalty that has joined with certain members of the Vanguard (to date, Stormwarden (Gen. Wynn, NPC), Frostbite, Anyman, Silver Sentinel, Sky Eagle and Nowhere Boy. Kitten is MIA (player left game, though always open to return, as is Kendal/Stormwarden) after sacrificing herself so that the Nazis would not get an artifact of great power). They have been exiled from their realm of shadow and seek to stop their former subjects through the heroic actions of the Vanguard. Their power is near unlimited, after eons of feeding from the misery and negative emotions Earth and other worlds provided. As Royalty, and the elite of their kind, they were far better able to process the dark emotions and turn it into raw power!

Dark Power level - term given to the Vanguard members' control/experience with using and controlling the dark power. New Characters start with level 0.5 basically. This makes it dangerous to call on and use the Dark power as they use only half of their Ego score when seeing if they can control the Dark Power. After 5 successful callings, that rises to level 1 where they can call on their full Ego. After 5 more successful uses the level rises to 2, which multiplies Dark Power points by 2 and the duration the Dark Power points last before draining at the rate of 1d10/round (if spent, the Dark Powers last 1 round x Dark power level). Level 3 is attained by using the Dark Power a further 10 times, level four by using the Dark Power a further 15 times.

Dark Power Ego - The player must overcome this in order to use the Dark power. They choose a number from 1-20 which represents the Dark power ego and the number of D10 they roll for Dark Power points.Then a check is made with Characters EGO + 2D10 vs Dark Power Ego + 2D10. If the player gets a higher total, they can spend the Dark Power points. If the Dark Power gets higher, the GM controls the character as an NPC and lays waste to everything around for several miles, not dissimilar to a Thermonuclear explosion of 100 megatons. When all life has died a horrible/painful death for miles around (enough to wipe out a city the size of London) the Dark Power recedes, sated, and leaves the character knelt in a crater, naked, steaming and contemplating what they have just unleashed...

Dark Power Points - Rolling 1d10 per Dark power Ego gives the player Dark Power points to spend. This is further multiplied by the Dark Power level of the Vanguardian (level 0.5 acts as level 1 for this purpose). The points can be spent on obtaining new powers, boosting existing ones, healing wounds, firing a potent magic blast or several other effects. Powers last for 1 round multiplied by the Characters Dark Power Level. Unspent points drain by 1d10/round after 1 round x Dark Power level (so level 3 means unspent points start to drain after 3 rounds and powers last rounds before dissipating). Hero points cannot be used when rolling for Dark Power points.

Exploding Dice - When a double 2-10 is rolled, add the dice up and roll again, adding to the total. Rolling double 1 is an instant failure and a disaster if checking against the Dark Power Ego. If the Dark Power ego rolls double 1 they fail instead, and the player can double all Dark Power points they receive (this is after they are multiplied by their Dark Power level, so can net a hefty bonus for characters with level 2 or more). In theory if the dice keep rolling double 2-10, the result can be infinite. When rolling the Dark Power points a 10 nets a free bonus die to add to the total, and a 1 cancels out a bonus die. If you rolled 10,10,10,1,1 the three 10s would give three additional dice to add to the total and the two 1s would remove two of those dice, leaving only 1 extra die to roll.

Dark Power Growth - using the Dark Power multiple times in a short space of time makes it harder to gain control. Every time you use the Dark Power, the Dark Power Growth score goes up by 1 (it starts at zero). When the character uses the Dark Power again, they add the current Dark Power Growth score to the Ego check. This does not increase the number of D10 the player rolls for Dark Power points. For example if the player uses the Dark Power, then again in 10 minutes, and again after 5 minutes, the Dark Power Growth goes from zero to 1, then 2, then 3. Each time they check the Ego the Dark Power adds the current Dark power Growth level. If the player were testing for 5 Dark Power Ego (thus 5d10 to roll for Dark Power points) and had a Dark Power Growth score of 3, the check would be made against Ego 8, but they only get 5d10 to roll for Dark Power points. A Dark Growth score drops by 1 point for every hour the Dark Power is not called upon, until it drops to zero again.

To use the Dark Power:

• Choose a number from 1-20. This is the Dark Power ego you are trying to beat.
  
  
• Roll 2D10+ Characters Ego vs Dark Power Ego + 2D10 + Current Dark Power Growth. Highest wins. You can use a single Hero point if need be to add 2D10 to your total.
  
  
• Roll 1d10 per point of Dark power ego to see how many dark power points you can spend on new powers/upgrades. Multiply that by the characters Dark Power level
  
  
• The points last for 1 round per Dark power level of the character. Points start to drain if not spent at the rate of 1d10/round for unspent points. Powers last 1 round times Dark Power level.

Dark Power Point Usage:

Spending the Dark Power points goes as follows:

• Increase the Grade of an existing power for one round: 15 points.
  
• Buy Grade 1 of a power you don't have for one round: 20 points.
  
• For a power that normally requires 2 power rolls, double the cost.
  
• Absorb HTC or HTK damage (from yourself or anyone you touch, so you heal them): 1 for 1 basis.
  
• Increase Ego to protect against external attack: 1 for 1 basis for that attack only.
  
• Buy an extra Frame for the round: 15 per frame

If gaining a power or upgrade that requires a roll of some kind (e.g. Strength grade 2 gives 1d6+6 extra) always assume the best/maximum result. For example energy blast grade 2 gives 25 (normally 15+1d10) dice to use over 5 rounds. If a player needs to roll to obtain some power or effect (e.g. magic) they can instead choose.

The player can also use a Dark Power blast that has the following effect (this has been revised):

Dark Power Blast

• Points spent on the Dark Power Blast are expended immediately and have no duration - it may be cheaper therefore to buy grade 1 Energy Blast which at least will last 1 round and have potentially four shots (using Quick Blast). That said the Dark power blast is more powerful than energy blast with no upper limits.
  
  
• For 10 points they can use a blast of energy with a range of 20m that does x2 damage, reduces dividers by -1, has WC2 and cause either Htk or Htc damage (players choice). If Htk is caused against living sentient beings half of the damage caused is refunded as Dark Power points for the player to spend (with the normal rules applying about duration). Therefore a blast that has a high roll can possibly nett more points back to the character than they spent on the roll itself! If this happens, add one to the current Dark Power Growth score of the character.
  
  
• For every further 10 points the energy blast increases multiplier by 1, dividers increase by -1, the WC goes up by 1 (with no upper limit!)
  
  
• If a player needs a longer range to the blast this costs 5 points to extend to line of sight
  
  
• A Dark Power blast takes 1 action to use. For 10 points this time can be reduced to 1 frame.
  
  
• To affect everything in an area the Dark Power blast makes an attack against DC10. Everything within 2m takes damage (reduced by their dividers as usual) and it affects friend or foe. An area attack blast costs an extra 10 points. To increase the area of effect costs 5 points for every doubling. So 4m (x2) costs 15 points extra (10 for the area effect and 5 for the extra 2m radius), 8m (x4) costs 20, 16m (x8) costs 25, 32m (x16) costs 30 and so on.
  
  
• The Dark Power blast does not affect non-living objects or characters. It is a 'soul blast'. To affect non living using Energy Blast power.

OOC Dark power blast - I need to jiggle the mechanics around on this. It has changed quite a lot, and may need some tweaking.