Active Abilities

Active abilities are the primary expression of a character’s Ren. Every active ability is built from a polarity, one or more intents, an awareness substate, and a duration. The polarity is the creative center: it determines what the ability looks like, feels like, and can plausibly do. Everything else classifies how it works.

Creating a new active ability requires 4 practice sessions, each taken during a rest period. Your starting abilities are ones your character already knows before the game begins.

Maximum active abilities: 20. The recommended working set is 5-8.

Construction

1. Choose a Polarity

Every ability is rooted in one of your polarities. The polarity sets the conceptual boundary of what the ability can do. The connection between the polarity and the ability’s effect must be coherent. Heat polarity drawing warmth out of a room is valid. Heat polarity generating shadow is not.

Describe what the ability does in terms of your polarity first. The steps that follow classify what you’ve described.

2. Choose Your Intents

Intents are the mechanical verbs of an ability. Each intent describes one thing the ability does. Every intent adds 1 to the ability’s complexity.

Intent	What It Does	Strain Cost
Cast [X]	Only for created or manifested things. The creation casts this ability on its own.	1
Convince	Influence a mind, persuade, intimidate, deceive	1
Condition [X]	Apply a status condition	Varies
Create	Make something: an object, entity, terrain, or structure from materials	0
Displace	Physically displace target	1
Dodge	Avoid an effect entirely, up to your stride	2
Guard	Protect against an effect, absorb damage	2
Harm	Deal damage	1
Heal	Repair a wound, clear a condition, stabilize	1
Hide	Conceal something, disguise, obscure	1
Know	Gain information, detect, perceive, analyze	1
Manifest	Make something: an object, entity, terrain, or structure without materials	1
Move	Physically displace self, up to your stride	1
Recover	Enhance Strain recovery during rest	3
Seize	Grab, hold, restrain, immobilize	1
Teleport	Instant relocation	2

Conditions

Conditions are the specific effect delivered by the Condition [X] intent.

Condition	Effect	Strain Cost
Weakened	Target’s die steps down on specified rolls	1
Maimed	Disables a number of the target’s abilities	1
Escalating [X]	Target loses Strain equal to the condition value each round	1
Hemorrhaging [X]	Every 2 turns the condition is active, the target takes a wound of severity equal to the condition value	3
Sensory Deprivation [X]	Blocks the named sense; rolls using that sense lose a die	1
Slowed	Target’s Stride is reduced	1
Elevated [X]	One die steps up on the specified roll type	1
Unimpeded	Target ignores terrain effects that reduce Stride	1
Hastened	Target’s movement speed is doubled	1

Lineage Conditions

Lineage conditions are only available on abilities whose polarity matches the associated lineage polarity. Each lineage unlocks one condition no other polarity can access.

Condition	Lineage Polarity	Effect	Strain Cost
Converted	Conversion	Seal one of your own polarities (chosen at play time); while active, complications on your rolls are treated as boons instead.	1
Seal Polarity [X]	Coalescence	Target cannot use the named polarity.	2
Fluidity	Flux	Null hits on your rolls grant +1 success on your next action.	1
Polarity Harmonization [X]	Harmony	Using the designated polarity lets you use the related polarity for free.	3
Rebounding	Elasticity	For every 2 strain taken from outside sources, regain 1 strain.	2
Polarity Empowered	Influence	One polarity die of your choice steps up (chosen at play time).	2
Momentum	Recurrence	A success accumulates from every successful roll and can be spent at any time while this condition is maintained.	1
Unified	Emergence	Gain access to one polarity of your choice (chosen at play time) while this condition is maintained.	4

Abilities can have multiple intents. A single Harm costs 1. Harm + Condition [Weakened] costs 2. Harm + Condition [Weakened] + Move costs 3. Each intent stacked increases the ability’s complexity and cost.

The Condition [X] intent’s cost equals the sum of the strain values of all conditions chosen. Selecting Condition [Weakened] (1) and Condition [Hastened] (1) costs 2. Selecting Condition [Polarity Empowered] (2) costs 2 on its own.

3. Set the Awareness Substate

Your awareness state determines how, where, and what the ability targets, as well as what spatial pattern it takes. Choose an awareness state and a substate. The substate’s complexity covers both range and targeting in one number.

Suppressed

The ability originates from your body. Self, touch, or traveling outward.

Substate	Description	Strain Cost
Touch	Self or direct contact	+0
Arc	Cone or sweep outward from you	+1
Line	Beam from you through targets in its path	+1

Extended

The ability radiates outward from you in all directions. Can filter for allies. Radius scales with Realm. Some intents are harder to conceptualize with Extended awareness.

Substate	Description	Strain Cost
Aura	Radial field around you	+1

Focused

The ability targets or manifests at a specific location, entity, or point at range.

Substate	Description	Strain Cost
Single	One target at range	+1
Ricochet	Hits a total of 2 targets	+2
Chain	Hits a total of 3 targets	+3
Narrow	Around a point at range (radius 1)	+2
Wide	Around a point at range (radius 3)	+3
Massive	Around a point at range (radius 5)	+4

4. Set Duration

Duration determines how long the ability lasts.

Duration	Relative Timeline	Strain Cost
Instant	Resolves immediately. One round of action, a single swing, a single moment.	+0
Charged	Lies dormant until triggered, activates once, then disappears.	+1
Sustained	Lasts a frame. A tavern negotiation, a battle, a chase through the streets. Drops if your awareness state changes.	+2
Persistent	Lasts across multiple scenes, a stretch of travel, or longer. Strategic investment.	+3
Permanent	Until destroyed or dispelled. Outlasts the caster. Requires Create or Manifest.	+4

5. Add Restrictions (Optional)

A restriction is a specific limitation on when the ability can be activated. Each restriction reduces the final Strain cost by 1, to a minimum of 0.

Restrictions are activation conditions imposed on the caster, not triggers that fire the ability. They narrow the circumstances under which you can choose to use it.

Example Restriction	What It Means
Target must have at least one condition	You can only use this ability against an already-affected target
You must have taken a wound	Requires you to be wounded before activating
Must be used during the opening round	Locks the ability to a narrow tactical window
Requires physical contact with water	A terrain or positioning constraint

An ability can have any number of restrictions. Each one reduces cost by 1.

6. Calculate Strain Cost

Add up the Strain cost from each component, then subtract one for each restriction.

Strain Cost = Intents + Awareness Substate + Duration - Restrictions (minimum 0)

That total is what you pay to activate the ability. If the total is less than your Realm, the ability costs 0 Strain.

Additional Strain can be spent at cast time to increase the ability’s power (see Power Scaling below).

Power Scaling

The base Strain cost gets the ability off. Power is dependent on your roll, how much strain was spent, and scales by investing additional Strain at cast time.

Resisted effects (Harm, Seize, Convince, and similar): each extra Strain spent adds another polarity die to the roll. More dice means a bigger pool and better odds of overcoming the target.

Unresisted effects (Heal, Create, and similar): each extra Strain spent directly increases the magnitude of the effect. By default, the magnitude is 1 unless you add more.

Creation Abilities

The Create intent covers objects, entities, terrain, and structures. What you can create and how powerful it is depends on the method:

With materials (forging a sword, raising a corpse, building a wall from stone): the creation’s power equals the Realm of the materials used. Better materials hold more Ren.

From pure Ren (conjuring a spectral tool, summoning an entity from nothing): the creation’s power equals your Realm. The entity or object is a projection of your own will.

The scale of the creation (how large it is) is determined by the extra Strain invested at cast time, following the unresisted power scaling rule. The GM determines what is plausible given the polarity and the Strain invested.

Creation intents are part of the ability. If a created entity or object is meant to do something on its own, the intents for what it does must be included in the ability’s construction. A summoned guardian that can Harm on its own requires both Create (or Manifest) and Harm as intents. A conjured trap that applies a Condition requires Create and Condition. The Cast[X] intent allows a creation to use a specific ability independently. All of these intents add to the ability’s total Strain cost.

Examples

Ash Step (teleport self, touch)

Touch a pile of ash, bone, or remains and dissolve into it. Reform instantly at another source of remains you are aware of within your vicinity.
Polarity: Remains
Intents: Teleport (2)
Awareness: Suppressed-Touch (+0)
Duration: Instant (+0)
Strain Cost: 2. Free at Realm 3+.

Ash Step, Focused (teleport self, ranged)

Dissolve into ash and reform at any source of remains you can perceive within your Focused awareness range. Does not require contact with remains at origin.
Polarity: Remains
Intents: Teleport (2)
Awareness: Focused-Single (+1)
Duration: Instant (+0)
Strain Cost: 3. Free at Realm 4+.

Fire Bolt (ranged single-target damage)

Hurl a compact bolt of superheated flame at a target you can perceive.
Polarity: Heat
Intents: Harm (1)
Awareness: Focused-Single (+1)
Duration: Instant (+0)
Strain Cost: 2. Free at Realm 3+.

Healing Touch (close a wound)

Press your hands against a wound and push vitality directly into the tissue, knitting flesh and clearing the wound condition. Does not restore Strain; the body must recover that on its own.
Polarity: Life
Intents: Heal (1)
Awareness: Suppressed-Touch (+0)
Duration: Instant (+0)
Strain Cost: 1. Free at Realm 2+.

Camp Recovery (enhance rest)

Suffuse a resting ally with restorative energy, accelerating the rate at which their body replenishes Strain overnight.
Polarity: Life
Intents: Recover (3)
Awareness: Suppressed-Touch (+0)
Duration: Persistent (+3)
Strain Cost: 6. Free at Realm 7+.

Bonfire Aura (sustained damage field around you)

Radiate waves of searing heat in all directions. Everything nearby burns for as long as you maintain focus.
Polarity: Heat
Intents: Harm (1)
Awareness: Extended-Aura (+1)
Duration: Sustained (+2)
Strain Cost: 4. Free at Realm 5+.

Iron Cage (restrain a distant target)

Metal erupts from the ground or ambient material at a target’s location, forming bands that lock them in place.
Polarity: Metal
Intents: Seize (1)
Awareness: Focused-Single (+1)
Duration: Sustained (+2)
Strain Cost: 4. Free at Realm 5+.

Lightning Chain (damage arcing between enemies)

A bolt of electromagnetic force strikes one target and arcs to two others nearby, jumping between conductive bodies.
Polarity: Electromagnetism
Intents: Harm (1)
Awareness: Focused-Chain (+3)
Duration: Instant (+0)
Strain Cost: 4. Free at Realm 5+.

Silver Tongue (shift someone’s opinion in conversation)

Weave subtle distortions into your words. The target’s perception of the conversation shifts toward the meaning you intend, not the one you spoke.
Polarity: Deceit
Intents: Convince (1)
Awareness: Suppressed-Touch (+0)
Duration: Sustained (+2)
Strain Cost: 3. Free at Realm 4+.

Firestorm (massive area damage)

Ignite a massive region of air and material at a distant point. Everything within the zone burns.
Polarity: Heat
Intents: Harm (1)
Awareness: Focused-Wide (+3)
Duration: Instant (+0)
Strain Cost: 4. Free at Realm 5+.

Flame Wall (sustained fire zone at range)

Raise a sustained column of fire around a point at range, blocking passage and burning anything that crosses it.
Polarity: Heat
Intents: Guard + Harm (3)
Awareness: Focused-Narrow (+2)
Duration: Sustained (+2)
Strain Cost: 7. Free at Realm 8+.

Burning Shackles (damage + restrain, single target)

Bands of molten metal form around a target at range, locking their limbs and searing their flesh as long as you maintain focus.
Polarity: Heat
Intents: Harm + Seize (2)
Awareness: Focused-Single (+1)
Duration: Sustained (+2)
Strain Cost: 5. Free at Realm 6+.

Spectral Lockpick (conjure a small tool from Ren)

Shape a sliver of pure Ren into a functional tool: a lockpick, a pry bar, a needle. It holds its form for hours before dissolving.
Polarity: Spirit
Intents: Manifest (1)
Awareness: Suppressed-Touch (+0)
Duration: Persistent (+3)
Strain Cost: 4. Free at Realm 5+.

Enchanted Sword (permanently imbue a real blade with fire)

Heat a physical blade in your hands and bind your Ren into the metal. The weapon permanently carries the essence of flame, dealing fire damage on contact.
Polarity: Heat
Intents: Create + Harm (1)
Awareness: Suppressed-Touch (+0)
Duration: Permanent (+4)
Strain Cost: 5. Free at Realm 6+.

Skeleton Soldier (raise a lasting undead from a corpse)

Pour Ren into a corpse, binding death-aspected energy into its bones. The skeleton rises as a permanent servant capable of fighting, defending itself, moving independently, and perceiving threats on its own.
Polarity: Death
Intents: Create + Harm + Guard + Move + Know (5)
Awareness: Focused-Single (+1)
Duration: Permanent (+4)
Strain Cost: 10.

Earthquake (reshape a wide area of terrain)

Drive Ren into the ground at a distant point. The earth buckles, splits, and heaves across a massive area, throwing everyone in the zone to the ground.
Polarity: Earth
Intents: Displace + Condition[Prone] (2)
Awareness: Focused-Wide (+3)
Duration: Instant (+0)
Strain Cost: 5. Free at Realm 6+.

Bone Claymore (trap, placed at your feet)

Rig a bundle of inscribed bone fragments with Ren-laced tripwire. When something steps close, the bones detonate in a burst of splintering force. Single use.
Polarity: Ruin
Intents: Cast[Harm] (1)
Awareness: Suppressed-Touch (+0)
Duration: Charged (+1)
Strain Cost: 2. Free at Realm 3+.

Spectral Claymore (trap, placed at range)

Project a knot of unstable Ren at a distant point. It hangs invisible until something passes through its detection range, then detonates. Single use.
Polarity: Ruin
Intents: Cast[Harm] (1)
Awareness: Focused-Single (+1)
Duration: Charged (+1)
Strain Cost: 3. Free at Realm 4+.

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