Supernatural Powers

It'd be forgivable to think that the world is ruled entirely by industrial machinery. The truth, though, is that the world is old, complicated, and far more magical than a casual observer might realize. The following are some of the most notable types of supernatural power in the world, including their possessors.

Bloodlines

Here and there, bloodlines with great spiritual power exist. This is essentially the extent of IC knowledge on the topic, and even knowing that much is... surprising, at least.

On an OOC level, however, there's a little more information available. These bloodlines generally point backward some ten thousand years, and someone with a significant amount of spiritual power therefrom is a vanishing rarity for obvious reasons. (That's a lot of time for things to drift!) Generally power of this type allows the ability to interface with one or more specific relics from that era. Very few full-on "relic mecha" exist; usually the mode of development involves finding a single component, such as a weapon or power source, and wrapping a more modern construct around it.

This is a type of supernatural power available to OCs as well as FCs; Tsubaki Tamashiro from Kotetsushin Jeeg is a clear example of a character with this background. This type of power will not be reflected in a character's species field.

Chi Users

It is possible for a martial artist of considerable ability to possess sufficient self-mastery to achieve perceptible physical effects on a large scale. It is wholly possible for a human to reach speeds previously thought superhuman, throw fireballs, and hurl vehicles.

In the modern era, however, this is a power that is honestly something of a novelty. This level of self-mastery is impressive, certainly, but has little military application; even for those who could theoretically take down surplus-quality mobile weapons with their personal abilities, it's simply easier to leverage that level of skill by getting in a mobile fighter or similar piece of hardware and using it that way. Likewise, this level of physical ability does not presuppose total invulnerability to very physically skilled opponents who do not have it; an expert swordsman who cannot perform cool air-cutting attacks is not inherently lesser than one who can.

This is a type of supernatural power available to OCs as well as FCs; many Gundam Fighters from Future Century Gundam are good examples of this type of ability. This type of power will not be reflected in a character's species field.

Please note that we are not in the business of providing "on foot" modes. This is a blanket statement that could potentially gain one or two exceptions for Feature Characters with literally no other options for combat; however, none of these potential characters are in themes that would be approved during Phase 1.

Crests

The Shuffle Alliance's crests have been passed down from holder to holder for thousands of years, bringing with them an obligation to watch over the world's wars. They have a variety of powers related to the removal of unnatural influences both physical and spiritual, and when working in concert, can also accomplish major physical effects that can be channeled through a mobile weapon. These powers can also be used to some extent when not used in concert, but the cost is great; the purification of four Gundam Fighters during the previous Gundam Fight took the lives of the previous possessors of the Crests.

This is a type of supernatural power available to a handful of specific FCs. Domon Kasshu, Chibodee Crocket, George de Sand, Argo Gulskii, and Sai Saici possess all of the Shuffle Crests in the known universe. This type of power will not be reflected in a character's species field.

Dimensional Science

Some science is essentially indistinguishable from magic. Most things of this nature rely on a high-level understanding of super dimension space and similar physical constructs. There may also be other layers to reality.

At this time, few humans or near-humans in the Earth Sphere has a sufficiently high understanding of dimensional science to achieve such effects at any level of serious reliability; abilities like these, however, do power much of what is done by the Great Jama Empire of Kotetsushin Jeeg and its monsters. Creatures like the Protodeviln of the Macross Series also fall into this category.

Geass

A Geass is a power of unknown origin which has existed for thousands of years. The bearer of a Code can grant a Geass to a potential user; some experiments have been made in the hopes of inducing Geasses and Geass-like powers artificially.

All known Geass abilities affect the minds of perceiving, sapient beings of biological origin in some way, either by allowing alterations to a target's perception or by providing access to information the user might not otherwise have. A Geass does not work on a robot or AI, nor does one that affects perception have any effect on cameras and other similar apparatuses.

A natural Geass manifests, during use, as a birdlike sigil in the user's left eye; an artificially-induced Geass manifests in the right. A natural Geass will eventually spread to both eyes with overuse, and can enter a "runaway" state in which it is essentially always on, and the user cannot control its effects. It is possible to stop a runaway state, at which point the Geass becomes "perfected." An artificial Geass, at similar use thresholds, will generally kill the user.

This is a type of supernatural power available to both FCs and OCs. Lelouch Lamperouge and Bismarck Waldstein from Code Geass, among others, are examples of characters with this power. This type of power will not be reflected in a character's species field.

There are currently two known Code Bearers: C.C. and V.V. C.C. is an appable character, and is permitted to allow or reject character concepts that want a Geass from her (though staff has final approval on such matters, and we'd prefer this to be done sparingly); V.V. is a staff NPC, and will grant Geass powers to characters who make sense for him to grant Geass powers to. (For the most part, at game start, V.V. will grant Geass powers only to characters who would significantly advance his and Charles zi Britannia's plans; accordingly, these PCs will most likely be in the BU Forces, G-Hound, or NERV factions.) The Geass Directorate has not yet had significant success in engineering artificial Geass powers; these are available only to the handful of FCs with them as of launch.

Codes

A Code is a power that intersects with Geass. Only someone who has a Code can grant Geass abilities (though there is research that is likely to upend this in the near future). Code Bearers also cannot be killed by any known means until they pass on their Codes; however, this immortality does not stop the possessor from being crushed, restrained, sedated, mutilated, or otherwise harmed, and being subjected to lethal force is an exhausting and miserable experience that Code Bearers generally prefer to avoid if at all possible.

As mentioned above, there are two known Code Bearers: C.C. and V.V. OC Code Bearers are not available at this time.

"Kaiju User"

Kaiju User, in the sense used here, does not refer to any character who happens to engage the grid using giant monsters. Kaiju Users are humans who exhibit some amount of enhanced empathy/emotional resonance toward both humans and kaiju, and who can use a variety of emotional, "spell-like" powers to act on kaiju (again, in narrow senses of the term).

Kaiju Users' powers are fundamentally emotional and relational in nature. How a Kaiju User desires to relate to others determines how effective a given power is. Canonical sample powers have been listed below. Note that, while any Kaiju User can theoretically use any Instance power they operate at the emotional speed for, an OC Kaiju User will need to pitch their own Instance power and is strongly encouraged to stay in their lane for a while. This is primarily a courtesy for SSSS.DYNAZENON's cast, who open in Phase 2; we don't want their power to become passe before they get a chance to... do it.

• Instance Abreaction - the Kaiju User draws out someone's negative emotions and uses them to "jump-start" the growth of a Kaiju seed into a full-sized Kaiju, then consumes the emotional energy for themselves, leaving behind an 'empty' kaiju that fights until killed and takes limited direction. Instance Abreaction relies on the willingness of the user to emotionally manipulate and parasitize others. This is the signature power of Alexis Kerib.
• Instance Domination - the Kaiju User projects his or her consciousness into a kaiju, overriding its will and effectively driving it. Multiple Kaiju Users can perform Instance Domination on a kaiju simultaneously, but this requires opening one's heart to the other 'driver.' Instance Domination has a somewhat nebulous range of emotional signifiers oriented around both "bonds" and "control." Several SSSS.DYNAZENON characters use this power; several thousand years ago, this was the only explored Kaiju User power on Earth. Each Kaiju User has a shape-preference for a particular type of kaiju; this doesn't necessarily correlate with the kaiju they would raise in their heart, though. (Shapes include: Bipedal/humanoid; quadruped; tailed; other.)

Instance powers are generally four-syllable psychology/hypnosis/relational terms that end in -tion.

A very adept Kaiju User can knowingly or unknowingly "raise a monster in their heart," effectively treating the heart like a Kaiju seed. Any Instance power can be used to summon such a kaiju forth, provided the Kaiju User knows that the heart is 'shaped' in such a way. Note that this is an exceptional power and tends to be tied to a major stage of a character's emotional arc, and is usually not -- at least, to start -- a Kaiju User's "walking around" mode.

This power is reflected in a character's Species field unless another category takes priority.