The manifestation of ontometric abilities is in constant study. The nature of those effects follows their own rules and seldom follows the rules of what is considered base reality.

Wyrding and Ontometry

Ontometrics is a collective term for a variety of seemingly supernatural phenomena. The actual source and mechanisms are unknown, and it is still not totally understood why some develop the abilities, why some don’t, and why there are entire worlds and species that exhibit wyrding powers and some who are very resistant to them. What is known is their ability to manipulate basic reality to great effect and those that can perform those acts are commonly called wyrds.

The few things that are known are that ontometric abilities vary and only manifest naturally in living beings. Some objects can have ontometric abilities imprinted upon them; however, very few if any non-living objects seem to naturally have abilities or at least the ability to actively use them.

Manifestation Overview

All manifestations follow a basic set of rules.

α Tag

Abilities and effects with an α (alpha) tag means that ability is a reality altering ontometric effect.

Alpha and the Ontometric

Throughout this book and the others, anything that is ontometric or is otherwise supernatural has the alpha (α) tag to help identify it faster.

Manifestation Types

Manifestations come in five general types, even though some abilities will have similar effects.

Bioturgy refers to the ability to manipulate biomatter, increasing their ability to heal or even generate new functions. In some cases, bioturgy effects can even hamper normal biological functions by altering hormones and the like. While Thaumaturgy is similar, these effects restructure the matter itself into more useful forms. Kinetic manifestations manipulate energy over matter, the very forces that bind the universe including space and time.

Hypercognition is one’s ability to make connections and become aware of things that the normal person shouldn’t, be it knowledge of possible future events or the current goings on kilometers away. Telepathy enters the psychoscape of living beings to alter the way to see the world or to glean information from them.

Manifestation Class

Manifestations can vary in extent and effect; however, they all fall into a simple set of classes. These classes determine the overall breadth of how reality has been altered, known as its Ontological Rectification. The greater the effect, more reality had to be altered to generate it.

Fracture Ontological Rectifications are weak and short lived. Most of the time, they can occur without any notice. Break rectifications tend to have some lingering effects and are a bit flashier. It is easy to notice their manifestations as they typically cannot be explained without heavy use of technology for the similar effects.

Shatter Ontological Rectifications are rarely used, but their effects are long lasting and can completely alter the laws of physics as they are understood. Seldom do the effects of this class go unnoticed and are just as seldom easy to explain.

Area Stress

Sometimes an area is already highly stressed for whatever reason. Because of that, while currently stable, can be destabilized with the use of ontometric manifestations, these areas have bonus stress that is added to determine if recoil happens. The stress cannot naturally return to 0 but will return to the bonus level.

Conversely, some areas are naturally more stable. Similar to stressed areas, the naturally stable areas add a deduction to the recoil check.

Manifesting

While the actual mechanism of how an ability manifests is generally unknown, one thing is for sure is that it is caused by altering local reality in some manner.

These localized manipulations of local reality do follow some of the same rules however, allowing them to be studied.

W

When wyrd die is being rolled, it is annotated as “W”. This is similar to when another die is noted such as XdX.

So XdW is up to X wyrd die of your choice in your pool.

Wyrd pool and Wyrd die

When determining the Wyrd pool for a manifestation, you determine it before the wyrd die is used for that manifestation.

You must have at least one wyrd die to manifest any ability.

Expense: Manifested abilities that require wyrd die expends those die after the end of the manifestation; While those die are in use, those die do not count as part of your wyrd die pool.

Rolling: If wyrd die is rolled as part of a manifestation, the number and type of die that is to be used must be determined before the manifestation is used.

Recovery: When a used wyrd die rolls its maximum result the die returns to your pool at the end of the effect.

Shared Manifestations

If multiple people can manifest the same ability, they may add their wyrd die together for the purposes of the manifested ability. If the ability requires exertion die to expend, then it’s divided among the participants starting with the lead manifester.

Challenges

Many manifestations requires the target to succeed on challenges (see page 228). The skill they are challenging is dependent on the source of the manifestation. The feature that grants you access to manifestations will note the skill to use.

Action

Using a manifestation usually requires a type of action as described by the manifestation itself.

Action: This requires the use of a base-action.

Long: This requires a long-action.

Quick: This requires a quick-action or greater.

Move: This requires the use of a move-action or greater.

Passive X: Passive manifestations are always active as long as you have the specified number of stress counters or more. Once you no longer have enough stress, the ability becomes inactive until you do. While a passive effect is active, the area has the appropriate stress counters; however, assuming the passive manifestation didn’t just activate, there is no need to check for recoil.

Reaction: These manifestations can be performed as a reaction to a specific trigger.

Time: Some manifestations require some effort to do, requiring minutes or even hours to perform.

Target

Manifestations can target an area or a specific item.

Area: The manifestation targets a general area and no individual specifically.

Individual: The manifestation targets or is centered on someone or something including yourself.

Entity: The target must be an entity.

Living: The target cannot be reanimated or a synthetic.

Point: The target is a specific point or is centered on a point in space and not a specific object or entity.

Self: The manifestation targets you specifically or is otherwise centered on you.

Sight: This requires the target to be within line-of-sight.

Willing: A target that agrees to being affected by the effect. Once the target chooses not to be affected, the manifestation is dismissed.

Object

Some manifestations affect target objects rather than entities. If the object is currently in the possession of an entity, any checks the object needs to make is based on the entity’s skill; otherwise, the object automatically fails the check.

Range

Ontometric manifestations have a range of effect that is modified by the amount of stress the manifester has when they manifest.

Range

Per Stress Counter

Close

1.5 meters

Medium

3 meters

Long

6 meters

Far

9 meters

Range in other Spaces

If a manifestation has a range in meters but is used outside real-space, the range properties change slightly. In surreal-space, the range is double; however, the range is ten times what it was in real-space if it was manifested in irreal-space.

Shape

If the range has a special effect shape, it will be noted here.

Duration

Not all manifestations are permanent, nor do all of them just disappear after the source ends.

Rounds: The manifestation will accumulate duration counters. As long as there is a duration counter for that effect, the effect continues. During upkeep, remove a duration counter.

Time: Some manifestations can last for minutes, others for hours.

Instant: The manifested effect only happens briefly before ending.

Stress: Once activated, it lasts as long as the manifester possesses a stress counter.

Dismissing

Any ability that doesn’t have an instant duration can be dismissed by the manifester as a quick-action.

Stress

Fracture, Break, Shatter

A way to remember the power class of a manifestation is to think of its effect on reality. Weak effects fractures reality, a moderate effect breaks reality, while a strong effect shatters reality.

When an ontometric manifestation is used, it stresses local reality around the user.

Weight

Stress Gained

Minimum Stress

Fracture

2

0

Break

4

2

Shatter

8

4

Gaining Stress

When a manifestation is used, the manifester gains stress counters depending the manifestation. They gain this stress before the manifestation is fully manifested.

While the player will track the amount of stress the Freelancer has individually, the Gamemaster tracks the total number of stress counters currently in the encounter and when a manifestation is used, a recoil check is made (see page 278).

Minimum Stress

Depending on the manifestation weight, the manifestation requires local reality to be more pliable to manipulate. This is the minimum stress the manifester possesses when manifesting.

Recovery

During upkeep, if an entity didn’t add to the stress, then they remove a stress counter.

Ontometric Rectification Event

Recoil occurs when reality is stressed beyond its limit. When this happens, it snaps back in an Ontometric Rectification Event as reality functionally breaks down in that spot.

The class of manifestation determines the amount of stress it inflicts.

Recoil Check

After a manifestation is manifested, a recoil check is made by rolling a d100 and adding the stress of the encounter to the roll and rolling under 100 (see page 275 for more details).

If the recoil check rolls over the number of stress counters, an Ontological Rectification Event occurs, and you roll on the following table for the event.

Reality Strength

Sometimes local reality is stronger or weaker than normal, making the check threshold higher or lower.

Event Duration

The event lasts until there is no more stress counters. Stress counters are removed like normal.

Zone

The zone is the area of the event.

Zone Center

The center of the zone is the entity or object that caused the event. If the entity or object moves, the zone moves with them.

Zone Radius

The radius of the zone is 1.5 meters per stress counter in the encounter. As more manifestations are manifested and stress is added, the zone size will increase, but as the stress reduces, the zone will shrink.

Event Stacking

Even while an event is occurring, stress counters and recoil checks will occur as normal.

If another Ontological Rectification Event occurs, and the source is different, a new zone is created. However, if it happens to be from the same source, they will roll again on the table and add to the current event.

Event zones will overlap.

Ontological Rectification Event

d100

Event

1 – 12

Ground Warp: The zone becomes difficult terrain. All unequipped solid objects become like hard clay and

 will take on the impressions of whatever is touching it.

13 – 25

Thicken Space: All movement through the zone requires double movement.

This does not stack with difficult terrain.

26 – 38

Silence: No sound is within the zone. Nothing can make sound and sound cannot be heard.

Everyone is affected as though they are deafened.

39 – 51

Twilight: Within the zone, decrease the light level increasing the obscure rating by 1.

52 – 64

Singularity: Within the zone, each hex of distance while moving away from the center is 3 meters;

however, it is two hexes for every 1.5 meters when moving towards the center.

65 – 78

Erratic Time: On Upkeep within the zone, everyone must roll a d6. 1 to 2, they can only take a move-action,

3 to 4, they can take a base-action, 5 they act like normal, 6 they do nothing.

79 – 90

Reshuffle: For each entity in the zone, they are functionally teleported to a new, unoccupied space in a

random direction 1d10 × 1.5m.

91 – 100

Phase Out: When an entity begins their turn within the zone, they have a 50% chance of blinking out of

existence for the duration of the event.

If the manifester phases out, the origin of the zone remains in that space.