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

[servomotor]

You mean-- [Tony's a touch confused, but interested. It's different to being a genius born to a household and family of geniuses, of course. He had always known he was gifted, but the gift did not come with blue skin, a long tail. The smell of sulfur. It was seen as superlative, rather than abnormal.] You mean you didn't look blue the first couple times you teleported?

[He digs something out of his pocket, then. A little distracted. When he brings it out, it's a crystal, gleaming dully but pale against the flesh of his hand. He grips it tight.]

Your mom wasn't around for your first teleport? How do you even know about it?

[shadowblends]

No, no, I was absolutely blue when I teleported. We simply weren't aware that this particular gift came with the demonic look. [not all teleporters are blue and even fewer are gifted with the smoke and brimstone kind of appearance.] See, most mutants don't develop abilities until puberty, but mine's been around since birth.

[his attention flickers between tony's face and his hands, head tipping absently when the gemstone catches his eye.]

My biological parents have never been around. Margali — my adoptive mother — told me.

[servomotor]

Oh.

[A beat. And then, in the classic Tony Stark, deeply sentimental, sensitive style, he adds,]

Tough break, kid.

[But he glances up at Kurt and does watch him for a moment longer, checking that the mutant is not unduly wigged out by the act of remembrance. That would not be super helpful considering we already have one MCU fella in here 'unduly' wigging out.]

How long did it take you before you mastered it? Worst incident. Maybe focus on funnies instead of potential moribidity, just given the circumstances.

[He takes a ginger step. Then two.]

[shadowblends]

[he manages as casual a shrug as possible.] It's not so bad, [kurt admits.] I'm sure there are other mutants that have had harder lives.

[meeting tony's gaze with ease, he flashes prominent canines in a grin then slowly withdraws his arm, silent for the moment while he watches the older man take a step and another. his smile widens, eyes lighting up, elation for tony's quick progress. clearly, there's no 'wigging out' on this end.

just to make sure his (newly formed) fellow teleporter stays calm, he'll do all he can to remember good things about his mutation.] A long time. Even now, it hasn't been perfected, but my worst incident? [he ponders, strokes his chin thoughtfully.] Probably when I was practicing an act and got distracted by a stray cat.

Instead of teleporting to my designated platform, I ended up face-first against a wooden pole. [a snort.] Mother was so confused when I came home with my eye blackened.

[servomotor]

Mmmmm. [Tony has to acknowledge that sucks, mostly because it isn't so bad. It's -- funnily enough, often harder for him to pay proper recognition to real pain, worse injuries when they are there. It's not that he can't see it. It's that talking about it-- well. People like the ones who raised him never were the type to be open and honest about any of that, not with each other, never mind with strangers who are trying to help them.]

Most kids run away to join the circus, but your mom sent you, eh? That's. An interesting decision.

[An abrupt shutter of breath. Tony Stark closes his eyes. And abruptly, BAMF. He reappears on the other side of the room. Slowly, he reopens his left one, kind of slow. Then his right. Blinks hard. Well, damn.]

[shadowblends]

[while kurt simply chuckles at the memory, reaching a hand to smooth his bangs atop his head, pinning them up and out of his face for the moment. he is high on the empathy scale, wearing his heart on his sleeve where it can be hurt like a silly, naive teenager. which seems funny, but only in the ironic sense that it's worked out for him.]

Something like that, yes. [admitting it means he doesn't have to go into detail.] It worked out fine. I'm a natural acrobat, but now, I can use the skills I learned for training with the X-Men.

[this time, he moves both arms as far away as he can (just in case) when tony teleports, breaking out into an exuberant grin once he returns on the opposite side of the kitchen.] You did it! [little blue exclaims.] Now, take a moment to gather yourself, close your eyes and focus on coming back toward me.

[servomotor]

[Tony's eyebrows climb his head. Although he admittedly has never heard of the X-Men, he knows a Special Group Name for Special People when he hears it. See: the Avengers. The Howling Commandos. 'The X-Men,' those fit right in, don't they?

Intellectual curiosity always helps Tony focus. Well, 'focus.' It admittedly functions in part just like a distraction, but any reduction in anxiety is bound to help as well.

bamfBAMF.

He reappears beside Kurt, faltering slightly to catch his balance.] X-who? [he says.] Are there lady members who give you shit about the name?

[shadowblends]

[worry is bursting like a dam in part of his brain, but he has faith and knows tony will have some semblance of control during the teleport by now. at least, enough where he won't put himself into the solidity of his kitchen wall or something.

nightcrawler holds his breath as soon as the other man disappears, eyes briefly wincing shut, lips moving with silent prayer before he dares to look again. out of instinct, he reaches and clasps tony's shoulder, making sure he stays upright.]

Sometimes, [kurt admits.] Although, we've never discussed changing it.