Mutant

You were born different, your genetics a distinct variation from the norm. This might be blatantly obvious—you might exhibit physical differences like chartreuse skin, unnatural growths, discolored eyes, extra joints, or asymmetrical features—or it may harder to discern.

Regardless of the exact nature of this quirk of appearance, you typically hide it from society at large. Maybe you wear dark sunglasses to hide your entirely black eyes, cover yourself in makeup and wear flesh-colored tights to conceal your skin coloration, or wear voluminous clothing that hides your true nature.

Mutants can be excellent users of Chi, exploring their power to great effect (whether for combat, exploration, or otherwise). They don’t often do well socially, facing hurdles connected to widespread prejudice for being visibly and genetically different.

Statistics

Size: Medium; humanoid (some mutations can change your size)

Attributes: CHI +1

Skill Choices: hardy, intimidate, resistance, survival, [crafting], [trivia], [gaming], stealth, disguise.

Exploits

Mutations

Characters with the Mutant heritage have powers beyond those of normal men and women. Whatever the source of the mutation—post-apocalyptic radiation, bites from mutant insects, a genetic evolution—mutants are still human, albeit … mutated.

Mutants may choose two minor or one major power from the following list. Each power has a ladder of increasing power; during character advancement, Mutants may pay the XP cost of a new exploit to upgrade a minor mutation, and the XP cost of a new grade to upgrade a major mutation. However, once created, mutants cannot normally obtain brand new mutations.

Optionally, your GM may ask you to randomly roll d66 to choose your mutation(s). This can make for a fun, if unpredictable element to character creation. For that reason, the mutations below are listed as d66 entries.

Major Mutations

11) Enhanced Strength. You are stronger than your build and size would suggest. When making a STR check (but not an attack) you may roll d8s instead of d6s. If you take this power a second time, the die type increases to d10s. If you take it a third time, it increases to d12s. Each time you take this mutation, your CARRY increment doubles.

12) Enhanced Agility. You are supernaturally nimble. When making an AGI check (but not an attack) you may roll d8s instead of d6s. If you take this power a second time, the die type increases to d10s. If you take it a third time, it increases to d12s. Each time you take this mutation, your SPEED increases by 2.

13) Enhanced Endurance. You are unusually tough, able to withstand more punishment than most. When making an END check you may roll d8s instead of d6s. If you take this power a second time, the die type increases to d10s. If you take it a third time, it increases to d12s. Each time you take this mutation, your HEALTH increases by +1d6.

14) Enhanced Logic. You have incredible mental acuity and deductive powers. When making a LOG check you may roll d8s instead of d6s. If you take this power a second time, the die type increases to d10s. If you take it a third time, it increases to d12s.

15) Enhanced Intuition. You are incredibly perceptive, with enhanced senses. When making an INT check you may roll d8s instead of d6s. If you take this power a second time, the die type increases to d10s. If you take it a third time, it increases to d12s.

16) Enhanced Charisma. Your charisma is enhanced in some way. When making a CHA check you you may roll d8s instead of d6s. If you take this power a second time, the die type increases to d10s. If you take it a third time, it increases to d12s.

21) Energy Emission. Choose one energy type (fire, cold, electricity, sonic). You can blast that energy from your hands, eyes, or even your mouth. You can make a ranged attack with a range increment equal to your END score, which does 2d6 damage of the appropriate type. You may take this power a second and third time, increasing the damage by +1d6 each time. Alternatively, you may use one of those upgrades to change the shape of your energy emission to a 15' cone.

22) Danger Sense. You always know of impending danger, and cannot be flanked or subject to a crossfire. You gain 1d6 INITIATIVE. If you take this mutation a second and third time, your INITIATIVE bonus increases by +1d6 each time.

23) Regeneration. You recover quickly from damage. Once per day you may spend one minute healing 2d6 HEALTH. If you take this mutation a second time, you may heal half your maximum HEALTH. If you take it a third time, you may heal up to your normal maximum HEALTH.

23) Elemental Resistance. You gain SOAK 10 to one energy type (fire, cold, electricity, sonic). You may take this a second and third time, gaining an additional +5 SOAK to that energy type each time.

24) Flight. Once per round you can fly your SPEED, but you must land at the end of the movement. If you take this mutation a second time, you may fly with both your actions, landing only at the end of the second (effectively doubling your flight distance). Taking it a third time allows you to fly any distance without landing. You may choose whether this gives you wings or some kind of self-telekinesis.

25) Mutant Healing. With a mere touch you can heal another creature 2d6 HEALTH. If you take this mutation a second time, you may heal half their maximum HEALTH. If you take it a third time, you may heal up to their normal maximum HEALTH. Remember that no creature can benefit from the same source of healing more than once per day.

26) Invisibility. Once per day you can turn invisible for up to one minute. If you take this mutation a second time, you can turn invisible for up to five minutes; if you take it a third time, you can turn invisible for up to one hour.

31) Toughness. You gain natural SOAK 5. If you take this a second time, your natural SOAK increases to 10. If you take it a third time, it increases to 15.

32) Drain Life. You can drain the very life from another creature. This may be a bite like that of the vampire, or it may be an icy touch which draws out their very essence— how you describe it is up to you. This melee attack requires two actions and causes 1d6 damage; you gain the amount of HEALTH you cause, up to your normal maximum HEALTH. If you take this a second time, the drain becomes 2d6, and a third time makes it 3d6. However, you cannot reduce any creature below half HEALTH using this power.

33) Poison Bite. Your sharp teeth deliver poison. Your natural damage increases by +1d6 and becomes piercing/poison. If you take this a second time, your bite inflicts one of the following conditions (chosen when you first gain this ability): Poisoned, Sick, or Sleeping. If you take it a third time, your bite inflicts a disease of your choice.

34) Shapechange. You are able to alter your form. You cannot make yourself look like a specific person, but you can make yourself generally taller, shorter, fatter, thinner, older, younger, or of a different ethnicity or gender. This changes none of your attributes or skills in any way. If you take this power a second time, you are also able to change your voice to match the form you have adopted. A third time allows you to take the form of specific people; however, you will need to make a CHA check against the INT of anybody who knows the person being mimicked.

35) Spiderclimb. You can climb your normal SPEED. If you take this a second time, climbing becomes a natural movement mode for you, meaning that you do not need to make checks to climb. Taking it a third time makes you able to literally walk on walls and ceilings as though they were the floor.

36) Internal Combustion Engine. Simply put, you are on fire. You have managed to convert your radiation into a boiling inferno. The inferno can be unleashed from your body for up to one minute per day by spending two actions, covering your skin in raging flames. You are immune to fire damage. While you are aflame, any creatures starting their turn adjacent to you take 1d6 fire damage. If you take this a second time, you may set yourself aflame three times per day. If you take it a third time, you may turn your flames on and off at will.

41) Living Weapon. You can transform parts of your body, usually hands or feet, into sharp blades. This is often done by extruding the bone from underneath the skin, and thanks to the mutation the bone is as strong as steel, sometimes stronger. You can manifest any standard quality medium-sized or smaller one-handed bladed melee weapon by spending two actions.

42) Rubberized Body. You have stretchy skin and bone. No one’s quite sure how you do it, but you can elongate parts of your body. You take half damage from falling, half damage from attacks which do blunt damage. If you take this a second time, your reach increases by +5', and your SPEED increases by +2. A third time makes you immune to falling and blunt damage.

43) Ice Cold. You are freezing cold. You are immune to cold damage, and Vulnerable (1d6) to fire damage. Your touch does cold damage and inflicts the Restrained condition. If you take this a second time, your touch does +1d6 damage and freezes liquids within 5'. A third time increases the damage by another +1d6, and allows you to freeze solid objects (but not creatures) up to one 5' square in size and make them brittle so that any SOAK they have no longer applies.

44) Acid Blood. Your blood is a strong acid. When you are hit by a slashing weapon, the attacker—if within 5'—takes 1d6 acid damage. If you take this a second time, the damage increases to 2d6 acid damage. A third time makes the acid strong enough to melt through half an inch of steel in one minute; this requires you to do 1d6 damage to yourself to extract enough blood, however.

45) Tentacles. You look part human, part “something else.” Some part of you has been replaced by tentacles rather than hands, or feet. Perhaps your whole lower body has been replaced in this way and you have an unusual form of locomotion. Roll 1d6. On a roll of 1–3, your arms are replaced and you gain +5' reach; on 4–6, your legs are replaced and you become immune to difficult terrain. If you take this a second time, you gain the other benefit. A third time gives you one extra action each round (but you can still not take any given action more than twice).

46) Projectile Spines. Rather like a porcupine, you have quills that you can eject at some force. Your quills have a range increment of 3, and do your natural damage. If you take this a second time, your quills gain +1d6 damage or do poison damage. Taking it a third time allows them to do both.

51) Extra Appendage. You have more than the normal set of appendages—extra arms, legs, more than one nose, or four ears. Arms give you +1d6 STR, legs give you +1d6 AGI, and noses or ears give you +1d6 INT. However, you have a permanent –1d6 CHA.

52) Animal Form. You can change into a medium-sized animal. Choose your alternate form; it takes two actions to change. When you change, you adopt the physical statistics of that animal, but your maximum dice pool does not change. Any damage you take in that form remains when you change back. If you take this a second time, you may change into a large or small animal; taking it a third time means you can change into any animal.

53) Mimic. By touching another mutant, you can “borrow” their power for one minute (the target does not lose their own power—you are merely copying it). You may only borrow one power at a time. If you take this a second time you may borrow up to three powers at a time. A third time allow you to borrow as many powers as you wish. An unwilling target requires a melee attack roll in order to lay your hands on them for long enough to copy the power.

54) Teleportation. You can spend two actions to teleport up to 30' as long as you can see your destination. Your clothing goes with you, as does gear you can carry up to your first CARRY increment, but you cannot take other living creatures with you. If you take this a second time, you can teleport as a single action; a third time allows you to teleport as a reaction to an attack.

55) Probability Fields. You are able to literally influence luck. You can recharge your LUC pool an additional time per day. If you take this a second time, you are able to suppress the ability of another creature within 30' to use its LUC pool. A third time means that you can change the LUC pool of an ally you can see to d8s once per day for one check.

56) Shockwave. You are able to emit a shockwave which attacks everybody within 10' of you. It does your natural damage, but the damage type is force damage. If you take this a second time, those successfully stuck are pushed back 5'. A third time increases the radius to 30' and knocks down medium or smaller creatures.

61) Growth. You can increase your size to large or small for up to one minute. Taking it a second time allows you to change to enormous or tiny. A third time enables you to change size for up to one hour.

62) Multiple Personalities. Create a second Mutant character. At the start of each day you must roll randomly to determine which character your are today. Taking this a second time allows you to create a third character. A third time allows you to choose which character you are each day, although you must remain that character until the next day.

63) Immobile. You cannot be moved against your will for up to one minute per day. If you take this a second time, this lasts for up to one hour. A third time makes it permanent.

64) Energy Absorption. You can absorb impressive amounts of harmful energy. You gain SOAK 5 to two types of energy or SOAK 10 to one type of energy, chosen from the following list: acid, cold, electricity, heat/ fire, or sonic. When you SOAK energy, you gain half that amount (round down) in HEALTH up to your maximum HEALTH. If you take this a second time, your SOAK values double. A third time allows you to gain the full amount absorbed as HEALTH.

65) Power Nullifier. Within 30' of you mutant powers do not work. If you take this a second time, this also applies to psionic powers from N.E.W. A third time makes it apply to magic from O.L.D.

66) Speedy. You gain an extra action each turn, although you cannot attack or move more than twice. If you take  this a second time, you may move or attack three times with your three actions, and if you take it a third time, your SPEED doubles.

Minor Mutations

11) Darksight. You are able to see in the dark as though it were daylight. If you take this mutation a second time, you gain truesight, able to see through illusions and disguises, and to see the invisible. A third time allows you to see through solid objects and ignore concealment.

12) Immune to Disease. You are completely immune to all non-magical diseases. If you take this mutation a second time, you are also immune to magical diseases. Taking it a third time makes you immune to radiation and poison.

13) Self-Subsistent. You do not need to eat or drink. If you take this a second time, you also do not need to sleep. A third time means you do not need to breathe.

14) Empathic Telepath. You can automatically send strong emotions within 30' of you. If you take this a second time, the range becomes as far as you can see. If you take it a third time, you are able to hear surface thoughts (although these are easily hidden by those aware enough to do so).

15) Gills. You are able to breathe underwater. If you take this a second time, swimming becomes a natural movement mode for you, allowing your to swim your normal SPEED and to swim without making any attribute checks. If you take it a third time, you can talk to fish, although this does not imbue them with knowledge that they would not ordinarily have.

16) Steel Teeth. Your unarmed damage becomes piercing damage. If you take this a second time, your teeth ignore 5 points of SOAK. A third time allows them to ignore 10 points of SOAK.

21) Bone Spikes. You are covered in a layer of spikes which protrude through it from your bones. Your natural damage becomes piercing, and anybody who attempts to attack you unarmed takes 1d6 damage each time they strike. If you take this a second time, your natural damage increases by +1d6 and unarmed attackers take 2d6 damage when they strike. A third time means that armed melee attackers take 1d6 damage, while unarmed melee attackers take 2d6 damage.

22) Chameleon. Your skin has an unusual pigmentation which enables your to change your skin like to that of a chameleon. You gain +1d6 to stealth checks. You can take this a second and third time, gaining an additional +1d6 each time.

23) Displaced Organs. You might look human (or not), but your internal organs are in different places. You gain 2 natural SOAK, and you are immune to any exploits which rely on the attacker targeting your anatomy for extra damage. However, anybody attempting medical assistance on you suffers a –2d6 to their check. If you take this a second time, your SOAK increases to 4 and you are immune to critical hits. A third time increases your SOAK to 6 and allows you to ignore damage from an attack by spending one LUC die.

24) Taller than Normal. Your height is greater than normal, even taller than the tallest member of the human race. Roll 1d6+6 to determine your height in feet. You are considered large-sized.

25) Tiny. You are incredibly small, well below the human range of heights. You are size small, and stand about 1-foot in height. You gain +4 MELEE and RANGED DEFENSE, and -2 VITAL DEFENSE.

26) Linguist. You are able to converse in any language.

31) Atmosphere Processor. You can breathe in a variety of gaseous atmospheres, surviving in areas that would normally kill humans. You are immune to all gases. If you take this a second time, you can also breathe in any liquid. A third time means you do not need to breathe at all.

32) Animal Affinity. You have an affinity with one animal type, such as cats, dogs, bears, or Tyrannosaurus rexes. If you take this a second time, you have affinity with one animal class, such as mammal, reptile, bird, fish, or dinosaur. A third time gives you affinity with all animals. While you do not gain the ability to talk to these animals, they will naturally regard you with friendship unless you give them a reason not to. They will not put themselves in danger for you, however.

33) Longevity. You double the normal age categories. If you take this second time, you do not age, and remain in your current age category forever.

34) Weather Control. You can influence the local weather within 30'. If you take this a second time, you can influence the weather within 100'. A third time lets you control it within one mile. The weather you create is not so intense that it can be used to directly attack another creature.

35) Mutant Sense. You can detect the presence of mutants within 30'. Taking this a second time increases the range to line-of-sight. A third time enables you to determine their mutant powers (assuming they are not immediately visible).

36) Levitation. You can hover above the ground at a height of up to 3 feet. This does not give you the ability to move horizontally, however. Taking it a second time allows you to hover up to 10' high, and a third time means you can hover up to 30' high.

41) Claws. You have sharp claws. Your unarmed damage becomes slashing damage. Taking this a second time increases your unarmed damage by +1d6. A third time increases it by another +1d6.

42) Leaper. You increase your JUMP distances by +10'. If you take this a second time, you instead double your JUMP distances or increase them by +10', whichever is greater. If you take it a third time, you may jump up to 30' horizontally and vertically.

43) Scent. You have an unnaturally sensitive sense of smell. You get +1d6 to INT checks where scent might be a factor. If you take this a second time, the bonus goes up to +2d6, and a third time increases it to +3d6.

44) Tail. You have a thick tail. As a free action you may make an unarmed attack against a foe behind you, within 5'. If you take this a second time, your tail gains a stinger which changes it to piercing/poison damage. A third time gives you a tail-sweep attack which attacks everybody in a 10' cone behind you; this attack does not use the stinger, but it knocks down anybody mediumsized or smaller that you successfully hit.

45) Furry. You are covered in a coat of fur. You gain natural SOAK 5 (cold). If you take this a second time, you gain natural SOAK 5 (all) and SOAK 10 (cold). A third time gives you SOAK 10 (all) and immunity to cold.

46) Horns. You have horns, or a horn. You gain +1d6 unarmed damage, which becomes piercing. If you take this a second time, you gain a gore attack which allows you to move your SPEED and impale a target on your horn, doing +1d6 damage. Taking it a third time allows you to inflict the Restrained condition on an impaled target, which takes your natural damage at the start of each of its turns until it gets free (which requires a melee attack against you).

51) Sticky Tongue. You have a sticky tongue like a frog’s. You can use it to pick up small items within 10' as a free action. If you take this a second time, your tongue can reach 30'. A third time, and it is strong enough to hold medium-sized items.

52) Super-Breath. You can make a melee attack against a target with a 10' range increment. If you hit, the target is pushed back 5'. Taking this a second time increases the push to 10', and a third time increases it to 30'.

53) Ingester. You can consume any type of matter as food (although this does not give you the ability to damage materials you ordinarily could not). If you take this a second time, you become immune to poison.

54) Telescopic Vision. You increase range increments by 50%. If you take it a second time, you double range increments. A third time means you no longer suffer range penalties up to three increments.

55) Innate Skill. Choose a skill. You gain that skill at 10 ranks (4d6). You can take this power multiple times, gaining a new skill each time.

56) Glowing. You are able to glow with bright light, illumination the area within 30' of you. You cannot hide while glowing. If you take this a second time, your glow is so bright that you gain +2 to both MELEE and RANGED DEFENSE. A third time causes anybody who enters or starts their turn in the aura to gain the Blind condition.

61) Plant Control. In natural surroundings you can immobilise a target within 30' with a melee attack; vines and creepers wrap around the victim, rendering him immobilized. The target can shake this off as normal. If you take this a second time, the plants will crush and strangle the victim, causing 2d6 unSOAKable damage at the start of each of his turns. A third time allows you to attack all targets within 30'.

62) Hypnotic Gaze. With a CHA mental attack you can inflict the Charmed condition on an adjacent target once per round. If you take this a second time, you may affect a target who can see you within 30'. A third time extends the power to your voice, so that the target merely needs to be able to hear you.

63) Ventriloquism. You can make your voice appear to emanate from anywhere within 30'. If you take this a second time, you may mimic other voices. A third time allows you to mimic any sound.

64) Fearless. You are completely immune to fear and fear-based conditions, and cannot be intimidated.

65) Bouncy. You ignore falling damage from 20' or less. If you take this a second time, you take half damage from all falling damage. A third time makes you completely immune to falling damage.

66) Double-Jointed. Your joints all bend in both directions. You can spend a LUC die to automatically escape from any restraints. If you take this a second time, you can contort yourself to fit through gaps as small as onefoot in diameter. A third time means that you cannot be immobilized or restrained unless you allow it (although you can be confined in a cell or similar).