Power/Swap Event

[spoofer]

Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: Power fluctuations across Xistentia affect not only the electricity of the city, but also the supernatural abilities of the residents. Will you get caught up in the chaos, or try to help out the next poor bastard who accidentally sprouted telekinesis overnight? Check out the mod announcement!
Date(s): Month of March 2018
Warnings/Notes: Potential violence/accidents

Power/Swap Event

That sing the ecstasy of the soul and senses

Blackouts & Brownouts (March 10-13)

Early Saturday evening, the power goes out across Xistentia. Of course, if you were out in the woods roasting marshmallows or hunting elk, it doesn't make much of a difference until you approach the city and find the twinkle of lights has gone out. However, if you were enjoying some of the city amenities, it's immediately obvious that something is very wrong. Almost all stoves, lights, stereos, and heating systems cease to work. Television is right out. Devices running on indepedent power— such as cars, and cellphones and earpieces that relay the daemon network-- continue to work as long as they have battery power. Fortunately, by now the weather is fairly mild— dropping to a crisp 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 Celsius at the deepest part of the evening, but far from intolerable for most people. While some have fears that D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. may raise its ugly head while Xistentia is defenseless, F.A.T.E.S. issues an assurance that all remaining power is being routed to interdimensional defenses. Mostly, it's the anxiety and boredom that people have to contend with. So maybe you'll be part of the service passing around lanterns and candles, running patrols to prevent theft, or helping to charge up devices from the handful of people who have developed generator technology throughout the town. Some dubious genius even developed specific electric blankets that convert positive affect from cuddling and shared sympathy to heat output that can be calibrated for maximum comfort.

Or maybe you'll take advantage of the rise of community spirit in the nighttime, and come together to drink and tell stories in the one part of Xistentia that seems to continue to offer a little light— the Temple. There, people congregate to play a drinking game of truth or dare, or possibly complain about them millennials and their dependency on technology.

On the third day, residents begin to find that their daemons are malfunctioning a little. Accidental shitposts, distorted audio, and bizarre typographical errors are the least of it. It's as if your sentient personal assistants have gotten terribly drunk, though they reassure you that it's just part of the repair process...

Swaps and Supercharges (March 14-24)

On day four, the power comes back on and the daemons begin to sober up. It's awesome.

Except that that's when everybody's supernatural powers promptly go haywire.

For some, this is a sudden amplification of powers— superstrength or speed suddenly doubling in measure, or stone skin and magic swords will suddenly jolt into activation in the middle of brunch. A couple of werewolves wake up fuzzy on the morning after a new moon, whereas several wizards find themselves casting unintentional, messy spells while mumbling "shit" over something ordinarily innocuous. Arguably worse, a few people find their powers nullified. It's easier to manage, assuming you arranged your life so that a normal person could go about it. You may have to help one of our local giants escape from their seventy foot suburban home through a towering window, though.

And then there are the swaps. You'll hear about it on the network mainly— people squawking in dismay, that not only have they lost their old powers, but now they have something completely new. Keep your eye out— maybe someone will need your help, managing a terrifying set of abilities and weaknesses that you are familiar with.

NPC Swaps

Though many PCs have powers available for swap, several NPCs have also unleashed their abilities into the pool! Brief descriptions are below. Players may choose to handwave some off-screen help or instruction from these NPCs, or try and figure it out with the help of PCs.

1. Telekinesis— 2 tonne maximum left (equivalent of a player vehicle), may throw or catch knives. Special feats, such as flight, may also be available but require study to master.
2. Elemental Control
   • Hydrokinesis— 15 cubic feet of water may be moved at one time, such as the volume of a square room of 'typical' adult bedroom height. This volume may be shaped or hurled around with the force of an ocean wave (for surfing, rather than storm). Water cannot be generated, but with effort and concentration, it may be pulled from the air or smaller bodies at a distance. Bodily transformation into water is an option.
   • Pyrokinesis— the ability to generate and manipulate flames. Fires will start small, such as fireballs the size of a fist, and be fairly easy to maintain. However, with greater effort, larger, shorter-lived fireballs may be summoned for attacks, such as they may destroy 1 normal passenger vehicle in one shot. Bodily transformation into fire is an option.
   • Terrakinesis— shockwaves through stone/earth/sediment or 15 cubic feet of earth may be moved at one time. Characters may raise pillars or shields of earth for offensive purposes, generating enough destructive force to flip or destroy a car in a single shot. With less offensive goals, they may reshape landscapes. Bodily transformation into earth/stone is an option.
3. Touch Telepathy - Characters may read or affect the thoughts of others by coming into physical contact with them, with effect proportional to effort. Weaknesses will include that the target's willpower can overcome the ability, as characters learn to detect intrusion over time; they may also suffer from difficulty 'shutting out' the thoughts of others that they touch. Opt-out/consent pages will be required.

OOC Note: Changes to powers will be temporary, lasting throughout the month of March before reverting. There will however be the opportunity to make them permanent if you desire. For this, please keep an eye out for the next announcement, which will include a signup for long-term ability conversion!

Comments

[disbands]

[Someday, she has to get around to showing him Flubber. More comedies in general, probably. It's not hard at all for her to get him to laugh, but most of the time, the novels he reads are about tall ships and obscure literary man pain. Go figure.

She succeeds in grabbing his arm and flopping it. And right on cue, the wave flutters attractively in their direction, before mushing slightly to the left, when Barclay raises his left eyebrow. Another moment's silence. Yes, maybe it's a little ridiculous that she is so trusting, given her life, but he's learned to rely on her instincts often as counterpoint to his own. They balance each other out.

But there's still occasionally misunderstandings, of course. Take for example: now he's looking down at his feet.] I'm not a mermaid, [he says.] Mer--man. That much, I can reassure you. [Then he waves his hand experimentally, and the slow-churning wave twists in on itself.]

I LEGIT THOUGHT I RESPONDED TO THIS. i found out i didn't while looking for samples I'M SORRY

[moshennik]

[ She snorts when he says he isn't a mermaid because, obviously. ] Except apparently you have water stalker, which is something weird, right? What did you do? Give it a puppy? Some candy? [ She looks utterly amused.] Are you cheating on me with the ocean?

[disbands]

[Maybe it's the nerves. Maybe it's the sheer absurdity of what Barclay is seeing. Maybe it's the fact she's so bold-faced inquisitive in the face of it all. But he finds himself say, dryly,] No. Does the ocean have one of those?

[And his arm snakes around behind her, his pistol-callused fingers finding her buttock to pinch.

—and just like that, abruptly, absurdly, the shape of the water changes. It suddenly torques backward, shimmering, then reshapes itself into an unmistakable, lady-like hourglass figure.]

[moshennik]

A puppy? No. [ She knows what he's asking but she's choosing the more cheeky route just before she lets out a tiny yelp at the ass-pinch.

Of course, the water goes and-- ] Wait, I think it's jealous. [ She wags a finger at the water, looking more amused than anything.] Hey now, back off you watery tart, the hottie's mine.

[disbands]

[There's a moment where the animated wave quivers against the horizon, throwing the sparkle of sunshine off its surface tension. And then Barclay coughs, and it abruptly dissolves, tossing off a shimmer of a splash into the warming air.]

Care you stake your claim? [Barclay asks her. Making a funny, a brow arched. But the truth is, under it all, he's more than a little shook. Powers? She was the one with those. And he seeks solace the way he knows how-- by pretending not to, and looking for it in the sweet kisses of her mouth.]