Major Powers in the Sable Game

While Sable PCs are as a rule non-Family, there are exceptions, and there will occasionally come a point where those individuals are given the opportunity to initiate to one of the Major Powers.  Like the other arcane abilities in the Sable game (see basic Character Creation), Major Powers can be bought in stages. The following partial powers system is used in those cases.

Pattern

Pattern is administered as per the ADRPG, with the difference that the full 50pt is not required at the outset. To walk the Pattern, the character needs to have the Blood of Sable. Costs are as follows:

Item Cost Comments
Basic Shadow Walk and Defence (“Walked It”) 25 This is the power which results from one’s first Pattern walk. It is necessary to have bought this before any other abilities can be bought, and as part of the package you gain the basic ability to walk in Shadow (albeit not too quickly) and use the Pattern as an active defence.
Find Objects & Places of Desire +5 The ability to search for something in shadow, the exact location of which is not yet known.
Follow Trail through Shadow +5 This lets you follow someone who has been moving through shadow.
Hellriding +5 It takes that bit of extra ability to manage to Hellride, but allows for faster travel through Shadow than simple walking. You have to be careful not to lose anyone travelling with you.
Lead Others Through Shadow +5 If you try and take more than two or three people with you when you walk through shadow, you will eventually lose them, unless you have this ability.
Manipulate Local Probability +5 That handy knack of being able to make things happen the way you want in Shadow: the right horse, the right small change, the convenient turning in the road, etc.
Timesense +5 This is the ability to sense the time flow of shadows. Without it, fast or slow time shadows cannot be found.

To buy all the options costs 55pt, but once you have bought the basic Shadow walk you can choose to take any or all of the rest, in any order.

To buy full basic Pattern in one go costs the standard 50pt.

Nexus

The Nexus is the Power of the Technocracy. There are both general and Blood levels of Nexus initiation, although the the former require certain stat minimums as well. Those levels of initiation that are available to new characters are detailed on the Character Creation page. The following are the restricted levels that can only be obtained in play.

Additional PIA Abilities

Item Cost Comments
Technocrat Assisted (TA)

This is the minimum level of initiation required to potentially become a full Nexus initiate. The specific assistance of Andrew de Lacy or Helena-Maria Latz is required to help a non-Blooded character to initiate  at TA level

 35 For TA initiation, magical training is unnecessary (although that doesn’t preclude magically trained interfaces from becoming TAs), as the initiation process forces the specific knowledge of magical communications with the Core (but not a full magical education) into the mind of the candidate.
Successful initiation gives the TA the equivalent of AMI abilities wtih instantaneous access to the Datastream, as well as additional control over Nexus-based systems and access to further levels of information. It also instils the ability to “Edge- Walk” through Shadow without a vehicle: a transport method akin to using the Broken Pattern. It can also be used as a defence.
Stat minimums: Amber in Psyche and C+5 Endurance
Calculating and Affecting Probability +5 Slightly more complex than normal Pattern-based probability manipulation, as it also gives the PIA the opportunity to calculate the probability of something occurring.
Locating Items in Shadow +5 Allows the PIA to locate generic places, items or a kind of person, but does not allow you to find a specific person unless you know them very well, or have some other focus (e.g. you could find a decent general but not specifically the Duke of Wellington).
Top-level data access +5 Permanent access to the Datastream for data retrieval and processing, etc.
New Oceania/Darkstream Recognition, and  Temporal Sense +5 An inherent knowledge of where and when the Darkstream may have been active in a location, or the Machine may have affected (and infected!) a location or item.
An inherent knowledge of temporal inconsistencies (but not the ability to affect or travel in time) in close proximity, and the ability to find them.

To achieve the equivalent of full Basic Nexus therefore costs 55pt if bought in segments (or 50pt for full Basic Initiation if bought on its own), but once you have bought TA you can choose to take any or all of the rest.

Logrus

On the Inside, walking the Aurellian Logrus – comes with strings. You have to be a descendant of Roland Helgram, or be assisted by one of the Gods of Aurellis. Moreover, to walk it means you become one of the Aurellian Gods, with work and responsibilities.

It is possible to walk the Thelbane Logrus if you can get Outside, but if you then try to use it Inside, it acts like Piloting, rather than full Logrus. Therefore, Basic Logrus is the equivalent of Courier Pilot, and Advanced Logrus of Master Pilot.

Item Cost Comments
Basic Logrus Initiation and Defence (“Walked It”) 15 You have walked into the Logrus, had the particularly individual experience that was your initiation, and survived to find your way back out again. Doing this confers the ability to use the Logrus as an active defence, and enables you to learn the abilities below. In the case of the Aurellian Logrus, it is also your ticket to join the Pantheon. This is not optional.
Arcane Shield +5 The Logrus can be used as a shield against all kinds of
arcane attack (e.g. Sorcery, Trump, other Logrus or Pattern), with the amount of damage the shield can take is limited by the wielder’s endurance. Relative psyches and endurance of the wielders are the key factors in a Pattern/Logrus clash.
Combat Tendrils +5 The ability to make physical attacks in proximity to your current position, using Logrus tendrils. The resulting attacks are as though made with a strength equal to the initiate’s psyche, and such attacks may be kept up for a time governed by the initiate’s endurance.
Locate in Shadow +5 A tendril of the Logrus can be sent forth through Shadow to locate a person, item or place which is specified by the initiate, in a similar way to casting a fishing line. When it finds its target, the initiate will feel a tug on the line.
Physical Shield +5 The Logrus can also be used as a shield against physical attacks. This can be flat, curved, even spherical, but its overall size is limited by the psyche of the wielder, and its eventual toughness by the endurance of the wielder.
Transport Tendrils +5 When the initiate has sent a tendril to some place or thing, using this ability he has the option to either transport the thing to  himself, or to transport himself to it.If the initiate brings an item to himself, or sends an item away, without going with it, the mass limit is 50lb.If the initiate wishes to go with his cargo, he can transport up to 10 tonnes mass of materiel with him, as long as it is all in a contiguous unit (eg inside a vehicle or shipping container) and he is touching it. The limit includes the weight of the container.
Vision Tendrils +5 The initiate can bring the Logrus to mind and extend forth a tendril of it through which he can see. The tendril can go forth across shadow boundaries, but cannot instantly jump to a point. It must travel out over the distance.

Once you have bought the basic initiation you can choose to take any or all of the rest. It should be noted that Logrus users can use more than one of these abilities at once, although – of course – this is more tiring. Also, dividing your effort like that means that the psyche power behind any one action is less. To buy it all at once costs 45pt.

Elementis

Elementis, is a Neutral Power, and thus contains elements of both Order and Chaos. There is also a significant ritual magic element to it, which can be accessed by its initiates. There does not appear to be a Bloodline element to initiating to it. The Power comprises four different but linked Iterations. Each can be walked individually, and all give their initiates some abilities. Walking them isn’t necessarily as easy as it sounds, however, as for all but the Earth Iteration, the geography around them is challenging, so at least four-forms shapeshifting is required to walk them.

For further details of what the individual Elemental initiations confer, click here.

Item Cost Comments
Single Element Inititation 10 Requires at least Chaos Psyche and Chaos Endurance.
If the single element is not Earth, then at least ICM + four forms shapeshift (15pt) is also required.
For the Second Element +5 Requires at least C+5 for both Psyche and Endurance.
At least ICM + four forms shapeshift (15pt) is also required.
For the Third Element +10 Requires at least Amber for both Psyche and Endurance.
At least ICM + four forms shapeshift (15pt) is also required.
For the Fourth Element +10 This gives the initiate access to all the Individual Elemental Initiations, and is a prerequisite for going on to take a full Basic Elementis Initiation.
Requires at least A+5 in both Psyche and Endurance.
At least ICM + four forms shapeshift (15pt) is also required.
Basic Elementis Intiation +20 This brings the initiate to the equivalent of Full Basic Elementis Initiation and is approximately equivalent to the Sable Pattern and the Aurellis Logrus.
Requires at least A+10 in both Psyche and Endurance
Full shapeshift is also required

To buy the individual elements over an extended period of time, allowing for gaining the stat and shifting prerequisites gradually, and then make the jump to Basic level costs 55pt. To buy it all at once costs 50pt.

The Symphony

Of the Powers listed here, Symphony is the odd one out, as it is located on the Outside, rather than the Inside.

Item Cost Comments
Basic Symphony Initiation and Defence (“Walked it”) 15 You have walked the Symphony, and have learned to use it as an active
defence. The basic intiation is a requirement before you can learn the  abilities below.
Vision Tendrils +5 The initiate can bring the Symphony to mind and extend forth a tendril of it through which they can see. The tendril can go forth across Shadow boundaries but cannot instantly jump to a point. It must travel out over the distance.
Location Tendrils +5 A tendril can be sent forth through Shadow to locate a generic item or place, or a person known to the caster. It does not allow the initiate to seek for an unknown, but specific, person or concept.
Internal Transport Tendrils +5 When the initiate has sent a tendril to some place or thing within the same continuum (Inside or Outside), using this ability he has the option to either transport the thing to himself, or to transport himself to it.If the initiate brings an item to himself, or sends an item away, without going with it, the mass limit is 50lb.If the initiate wishes to go with his cargo, he can transport up to 10 tonnes mass of materiel with him, as long as it is all in a contiguous unit (eg inside a vehicle or shipping container) and he is touching it. The limit includes the weight of the container.
External Transport Tendrils +5 This allows the initiate to transfer between continuums with the abilities and restrictions of an Aurellis Courier Pilot.
Manipulate Local Probability +5 That handy knack of being able to make things happen the way you want in Shadow: the right horse, the right small change, the convenient turning in the road, etc.
Timesense +5 The ability to sense the time flow
of shadows. Without it, fast or slow time shadows cannot be found.
Weave Shadow Elements +5 This allows you to build somewhere which pulls elements from different Shadows together, much like a Chaos Ways. An Amber psyche is required, which will allow you to bring together elements from up to three Shadows. Thereafter, you can add one additional element per point of psyche above Amber.

Once you have bought the basic initiation you can choose to take any or all of the other elements. To buy it all at once costs 50pt.