You can split off different parts of your body without harm, allowing them to act semi-independently. Their movement abilities tend to be limited to crawling or shuf- fling, but a separated eye can still see and a separated ear can still hear, and so forth.
The power format assumes the ability to make up to eight splits, with each part as a relatively low-cost “agent” (having only a portion of your capabilities) requiring only 1 or perhaps 2 ranks. If your separated parts have more significant capabilities, increase the Summon rank to account for the added cost.
Anatomic Split: Summon Body Part, Controlled, Mental Link,
Multiple Minions 3, Side-Effect (Lose use of the separated part) • 1 point + 8 points per rank
COMBINE
You and one or more other characters can combine to summon a singular being. The components of the com- bined being disappear and cannot act while it exists but the combined form has a full set of actions each turn. The components also suffer whatever conditions the com- bined form does (Feedback) and countering or ending the Summon effect causes the combined form to split back into its components.
At the Gamemaster’s option, the components of the com- bined form can evenly divide the ranks (and cost) of the power amongst themselves. The combined form must still obey any series power level limits, although the GM is free to set different limits for the component characters and the combined form, as appropriate for the series.
This power best suits when a group of characters summons an even more powerful combined agent; for instances where a character has two or more “normal” components, consider an Identity complication and Activation modifier instead.
Combine: Summon Combined Form, Heroic, Feedback, Limited
(requires all components be present), Limited (components vanish while combined form is present) • 1 point per rank
EMPOWER
You grant an otherwise ordinary being power to become your agent. Examples of this power include transform- ing ordinary animals or insects into giant, super-powered monsters, or granting normal human thugs temporary super-human strength and toughness. You might use a mad-science “growth ray” or invest subjects with magical power or divine archetypes. Once the effect lapses, the subjects revert back to their normal form. If you can empower multiple subjects at the same time, apply the Multiple Minions and Horde modifiers, as appropriate. This ability is primarily intended to work on “background” characters, not to further empower other player charac- ters. It is best reserved for concepts such as “summoning” powerful agents from ordinary creatures in the environ-
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SUMMONING POWERS
MUTANTS & MASTERMINDS
POWER PROFILES
ment. For villains, Empowerment is more of a plot device and may be treated as such without worrying about the construction or point allocations of this power.
Empower: Summon Empowered Version, General Type,
Limited to Available Subjects • 2 points per rank
SUMMONING COMPLICATIONS
Calling upon and commanding other beings can create complications; so can relying on summoning to handle certain problems. In addition, summoners also deal with their agents’ complications as well as their own: a demon summoner might have minions unable to enter sacred ground, for example, while a necromancer’s agents only go out at night. This is no more than a plot device for Gamemaster-controlled characters, but player characters dealing with their agents’ complications—essentially lim- iting their summoner in various ways—should receive a hero point award.
ENEMY
Calling up other beings to do your dirty work for you does not necessarily make you any friends. While a lot of sum- moning powers involve mindless and utterly loyal agents, some of which aren’t even real beings at all, it is pos- sible for the power to literally create enemies over time. Imagine an agent which develops free will and a sense of resentment towards the summoner, perhaps managing to escape in order to plot revenge or to find a way to free its summoned “brethren”.
This type of enemy can range from a disgruntled demon to a duplicate with independence convinced it is the “real” person, who must kill the summoner in order to ensure it is the one “true” individual.
POWER LOSS
In addition to countering a Summon effect to banish or remove its agents, summoners may face power loss in dif- ferent ways.
The most common is for the character’s summoning power to require some particular components or ritual: a magic word, a grand gesture, a mystic diagram or circuit, or the like. If the summoner is not able to fulfill this requirement, the power won’t work.
Likewise, there may be circumstances in which the sum- moning power is ineffective, or where the agents them- selves suffer from power loss, reducing their usefulness, and awarding the summoner for the complication.
RELATIONSHIP
Summoning powers mean having an “entourage” of some sort, even if it is just a summoned sidekick or ally. Sum- moners may have various connections with their agents,
especially if the agents are beings in their own right, and this can lead to complications. On the one hand, the sum- moner is responsible for the agents, and may have to deal with them getting into trouble or even going off on their own. A summoner may also have a relationship with a particular agent beyond just “business”. Consider a sum- moner able to invest the power of a legendary hero into various mortal vessels (via Empower) falling in love with that hero, but unable to be with him because he just an incorporeal spirit, except for the rare occasions when he is “borrowing” someone else’s body.
Another unique type of Relationship is for the summoner to be a supporting character while the agent is the actual player character! An example is a genie-type with various powers, who has a mortal “master” who summons and commands the genie but otherwise has no powers and is an ordinary person; in terms of game-play, the player con- trols both characters, but the summoner functions more as a relationship complication for the genie than anything else, similar in some ways to a normal identity but existing simul- taneously (see Identity, Deluxe Hero’s Handbook, page 28).
REPUTATION
Depending on who or what a character summoners, how they are summoned, and how the agents are treated, it’s not difficult for summoners to get a problematic reputa- tion. Nobody is likely to enjoy the idea of having a necro- mancer who animates the dead around, for example, even if his intentions are noble and heroic. Modern people are likely to question summoners about the nature and well- being of their agents: are they calling up mindless autom- atons or enslaving intelligent beings?
WEAKNESS
One of the primary “weaknesses” of many summoners is their reliance on their agents. With a great number of points invested in Summon, they often have less left over for their own traits. This fits the genre, as superhero sum- moners tend to rely most heavily on their agents (super- villain masterminds are another case). This design is not a complication in and of itself, although it often leads to other complications, particularly the summoner being in- capacitated or captured.
Summoners may also have weaknesses based on the source of their power and their agents: a summoner con- nected with hellish netherworlds may be vulnerable to holy or divine powers while a necromancer could be weak- ened or harmed by symbols and powers of life and light. Lastly, there are weaknesses associated with the sum- moned agents rather than the summoner: these can also constitute complications for the summoner, if a weakness prevents agents from accomplishing a task or banishes them prematurely. So, for example, if a cunningly placed wrought-iron fence keeps a faerie summoner’s agents at bay, award the player a hero point for the complication.
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SUMMONING POWERS
There is often a fine line between “powers” and the kinds of amazing talents displayed by comic book characters. With the right training, drive, and discipline, some charac- ters with no true powers can stand with (or against) those with superhuman abilities. This section looks at super- powers that aren’t: Talent Powers.