Here are the steps to activating qualities:
Step 1: In your post, you let me know that you're activating a quality by including it in the body of your narrative and underlining it. The underline will make sure that I'm keyed to what you're doing. (page 29 of Icons Assembled)
For Example::
He met Unstoppable Girl's eyes and gestured at Graviton... his energy form hand turning green. Putting himself not exactly beside Dr. Arctic, Star Phoenix addressed Graviton, "That's enough Graviton, neither you nor I are Judge, Jury and Executioner... if Dr. Arctic has committed crimes of public vandalism, and property damage... he will pay for such, but you do not have ANY authority to murder him! If he is trying to stop injustice as ALWAYS ~ The light of Truth shall burn away the Darkness! Stand down Now!"
Step 2: Activate the quality by one of these means to gain advantage (page 30 of Icons Assembled):
- Determination: Spend a Determination Point.
- Maneuver: Take an action and make a test with a suitable ability, either against the appropriate ability of a target or a difficulty set by me. With a moderate or better success, you gain advantage. (page 135 of Icons Assembled)
- Tactics: A character can choose to accept trouble for the ability to activate a quality, such as accepting increased difficulty in defending against attacks in exchange for activating a quality to gain improved effort in making attacks (an “all-out attack” tactic).
- Free: In some instances, activation of a quality is free, requiring no DP, action, or trade-off on the player’s part. Players activating a quality to create trouble for their own characters may do so automatically, earning a Determination Point for the trouble.
Step 3: Once you activate a quality, you can gain an advantage from the following list. If you activate multiple qualities, you can gain multiple advantages, including multiple instances of the same advantage, but only one advantage per quality per page. (page 33 of Icons Assembled)
- Improved Effort: Increase the effort of your test by +2.
- Insight: Get a clue or hint from the Game Master about a subject of your choice.
- Push Ability: Increase an ability (attribute or power) of your choice by 1 level for one page.
- Recover: Regain Stamina equal to the higher of your Strength or Willpower or eliminate the ongoing effects of a power, as specified in the power description.
- Retcon: An advantage lets you retroactively change some element of the story in an explainable way, such as adding details (“happening” to have a useful item at hand, for example, or knowing an “old friend” who can help you out) or revising them (“I know it looked like I plunged into that bottomless abyss, but here’s what really happened ...”). I must approve all retcons, since I have to integrate them into the story. If the
I veto one, it doesn’t happen, but you retain the advantage and can use it elsewhere. - Stunt: You can perform a stunt. See below for stunts.
Stunts are unusual applications of characters’ abilities, using them to do things they don’t normally, but that fit in with the overall nature of the ability. Think of a stunt as a special type of action, with specific requirements. (page 35 of Icons Assembled)
- Attribute stunts are only available to characters with a superhuman level (7 or greater) in an attribute or a master specialty (and then only for stunts related to that specialty). A Science Master can perform stunts related to Science, a Martial Arts Master can perform stunts related to Martial Arts, and so forth. The same is true for a hero with Strength 7+ performing stunts related to Strength, or a hero with Intellect 7+ performing stunts related to Intellect.
- Power stunts are available to powers regardless of level, since powers are unusual abilities to begin with. Like all stunts, a power stunt must reasonably fall within the power’s parameters, as defined by me. Some powers may be more usable for stunts than others; powers not under a character’s conscious control—Resistance, for example—tend to be less useful for stunts, but can still be used for a suitable stunt if the player is imaginative and I agree.
For Example::
Star Phoenix who can control light has only blast as his power. Wishing to blind his opponent, Star Phoenix activates a quality to create an advantage which he uses to gain the temporary use of dazzle as an extra of energy control.
To perform a stunt, a character must have an advantage, acquired through a maneuver or tactic or using Determination. Performing the stunt uses the advantage. You can use separate advantages to improve tests for a stunt, just like any other test.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:58, Thu 03 June 2021.