Perks Options

Small Perks (20 Perks)

Small perks provide subtle but essential enhancements. They lay the groundwork for advanced abilities by improving perception, interface connectivity, physical agility, and basic biological functions.

Cognitive & Interface Enhancements

1. AI Companion
   • Description: A linked aetheric digital assistant integrated into the user’s interface. Requires a Mark IV Processing Unit.
   • Mechanics: Levels up alongside the user; at every even level, it unlocks a new minor ability (e.g., tek tweak or monster data at level 2). May reveal hidden system elements once per encounter. Grants a +1 bonus to tactical analysis rolls.
2. Spirit Companion
   • Description: A linked aetheric entity that evolves with the user, offering insights and minor elemental abilities.
   • Mechanics: Levels up alongside the user; at every even level, it unlocks a new minor ability (e.g., elemental tweak or monster data at level 2). May reveal hidden system elements once per encounter.
3. Linguist
   • Description: Accelerates language and code acquisition.
   • Mechanics: Automatically translates in-game languages and coded texts, reducing decoding time by 50% when combined with System Intuition.
4. System Intuition
   • Description: Heightens awareness of hidden system functions and anomalies.
   • Mechanics: Adds a +1 bonus on investigation rolls related to technology or magical glitches.
5. Memory Cache
   • Description: Instantly records details from fleeting encounters or puzzles.
   • Mechanics: Once per session, recall environmental clues without an investigation roll.
6. System Sync
   • Description: Establishes a minor connection with local System networks for real-time status updates.
   • Mechanics: Displays temporary “buff” icons on the UI when environmental anomalies are detected.

Sensory & Stealth Enhancements

7. Subterfuge
   • Description: Improves stealth skills and covert movement.
   • Mechanics: Grants a +2 bonus to Stealth rolls in low-light or crowded conditions and unlocks a “silent step” active ability (usable once per encounter).
8. Adaptive Coloring
   • Description: Skin and clothing subtly shift to blend with ambient light.
   • Mechanics: Provides a +2 bonus to Stealth rolls in environments with variable lighting (note: thermal detection remains effective).
9. Night Vision
   • Description: Enhances ocular abilities for low-light scenarios.
   • Mechanics: See clearly in darkness up to 30 feet and detect hidden mana sources; works well with Aether Sensitivity (Medium).
10. Heightened Hearing
    • Description: Expands auditory range to catch subtle sounds.
    • Mechanics: Offers a +2 bonus to Perception rolls for sound-based cues and alerts the user to off-screen activity once per encounter.
11. Spatial Awareness
    • Description: Improves the internal sense of positioning in 3D space.
    • Mechanics: Reduces disorientation penalties and grants a +1 bonus on Acrobatics or piloting checks.
12. Resonant Perception
    • Description: Attunes the user to nearby aetheric frequencies.
    • Mechanics: Provides visual or audio cues for nearby mana pools or energy surges, adding a +1 bonus on detection rolls.
13. Refined Taste & Smell
    • Description: Enhances chemical and biological detection.
    • Mechanics: Grants advantage on rolls related to detecting toxins, spoiled food, or environmental hazards.
14. Tactile Enhancement
    • Description: Increases sensitivity in the hands for delicate tasks.
    • Mechanics: Provides a +2 bonus on lockpicking, crafting, and trap-disarming checks.

Physical & Reflexive Enhancements

15. Enhanced Coordination
    • Description: Sharpens fine motor skills and reaction precision.
    • Mechanics: Offers a +1 bonus to ranged attack rolls and increases initiative by +1 in combat.
16. Basic Reflex Tuning
    • Description: Slightly accelerates the user’s reflexes.
    • Mechanics: Grants a +1 bonus to reaction speed during surprise attacks and evasion checks.
17. Reactive Instinct
    • Description: Provides an unconscious premonition of danger.
    • Mechanics: Once per combat, automatically generates a minor shield that absorbs 5 damage points when hit unexpectedly.

Biological & Metabolic Adaptations

18. Efficient Metabolism
    • Description: Optimizes cellular energy conversion.
    • Mechanics: Reduces food and water needs by 25% and increases resistance to toxins by 10%.
19. Pain Suppression
    • Description: Alters neural responses to blunt the sensation of pain.
    • Mechanics: Negates 1–2 points of injury pain for up to 10 minutes during combat (with a risk of overlooking serious injuries).

Minor Elemental & Aetheric Affinities

20. Minor Elemental Affinity
    • Description: Develops a subtle connection to a basic element (fire, water, earth, or air).
    • Mechanics: Once per day, add a +1 elemental bonus (e.g., extra damage of the chosen type) to a physical or magical attack checks.

Medium Perks (20 Perks)

Medium perks offer significant boosts that affect combat performance, energy manipulation, and overall survivability. They often introduce active abilities or situational bonuses.

Physical & Reflex Enhancements

1. Enhanced Reflexes
   • Description: Sharply accelerates reaction times.
   • Mechanics: Provides a +2 bonus to initiative and a once-per-encounter ability to automatically dodge one non-magical attack.
2. Agile Combatant
   • Description: Improves mobility and evasive maneuvers.
   • Mechanics: Allows one free movement action per round (dodge or reposition) and adds a +2 bonus to Acrobatics rolls.
3. Lightning Reflexes
   • Description: Greatly quickens physical responses.
   • Mechanics: Grants an extra reaction per combat round, usable for an immediate dodge or counterattack.
4. Evasive Maneuvers
   • Description: Enhances the ability to sidestep incoming attacks.
   • Mechanics: Once per combat, trigger an evasive roll that negates an incoming attack (requires a successful Reflex check).
5. Honed Instinct
   • Description: Refines innate instincts to avoid danger.
   • Mechanics: Provides a passive +2 bonus to Dodge and Parry checks during melee combat.

Aetheric & Energy Manipulation

6. Mana Efficiency
   • Description: Optimizes mana usage for spells and abilities.
   • Mechanics: Reduces mana costs by 15% and improves mana regeneration by 10% per round.
7. Aether Sensitivity
   • Description: Enhances the ability to sense and interact with raw aetheric energies.
   • Mechanics: Reveals hidden mana sources and ley lines on the UI; adds a +2 bonus on energy manipulation rolls.
8. Spirit Walker
   • Description: Allows a brief phase shift out of the physical realm.
   • Mechanics: Once per encounter, phase-shift for up to 3 seconds to reduce non-magical damage by 10%.
9. Quantum Imprint
   • Description: Leaves a temporary marker in space-time to aid navigation.
   • Mechanics: Mark a location that can be revisited within 10 minutes; grants a +2 bonus on navigation checks related to that marker.
10. Aether Echo
    • Description: Causes a brief burst of aetheric energy after casting a spell.
    • Mechanics: The next spell or ability within 10 seconds gains an extra 5% bonus damage or effect strength.

Tactical & Cognitive Calibrations

11. Battle Awareness
    • Description: Instills a near-preternatural sense of incoming threats.
    • Mechanics: Automatically detect hostiles within 15 feet and add a +2 bonus to combat-related Perception checks.
12. Tactical Retrospection
    • Description: Quickly learns from combat mistakes.
    • Mechanics: After taking damage, once per combat you may re-roll a failed defense check.
13. Temporal Acceleration
    • Description: Briefly speeds up the user’s perception of time.
    • Mechanics: Activatable for 3 seconds per encounter, effectively doubling action points for that turn (once per encounter).
14. Arcane Control
    • Description: Refines control over low-level magical energies.
    • Mechanics: Allows chaining two minor spells together with a 10% bonus effect once per combat.
15. System Calibration
    • Description: Fine-tunes the interface with ambient System energies.
    • Mechanics: Increases all System-based perception checks by +1 and reduces the chance of critical misreads on tech checks.

Regeneration & Resilience

16. Regenerative Core
    • Description: Accelerates natural healing processes.
    • Mechanics: Regenerates 5% of maximum health per combat round and speeds recovery outside of combat.
17. Mental Fortress
    • Description: Bolsters resistance against psychic and illusionary attacks.
    • Mechanics: Provides a +3 bonus on Willpower and Resistance rolls against mental manipulations.
18. Adaptive Resilience
    • Description: Increases tolerance to environmental extremes and toxins.
    • Mechanics: Reduces damage from toxins, extreme temperatures, and radiation by 15%.
19. Mana Buffer
    • Description: Creates a reserve of mana to prevent ability interruptions.
    • Mechanics: Once per long rest, tap into an extra 10% of your mana pool for critical actions.
20. Critical Strike
    • Description: Heightens the chance for devastating attacks.
    • Mechanics: Increases the critical hit chance by 5% and adds a bonus equal to 10% of the attack’s power on a critical hit.

Large Perks (20 Perks)

Large perks bring game-changing enhancements that transform combat strategies, aether manipulation, and even the user’s physical form.

Combat & Offensive Enhancements

1. Prodigy
   • Description: Dramatically accelerates skill acquisition in a chosen field.
   • Mechanics: Increases experience gain in one skill category by 50% and awards a bonus skill point upon acquisition.
2. Kinetic Mastery
   • Description: Redirects incoming kinetic energy into counterattacks.
   • Mechanics: Absorb 10% of physical damage and convert it into a counterattack bonus once per combat round.
3. Neural Overclocking
   • Description: Temporarily boosts cognitive processing and reaction speed.
   • Mechanics: For 10 seconds, grant a +3 bonus to reaction and intelligence-based rolls (usable every 3 minutes).
4. Overclocked Reflex
   • Description: Pushes reflexes beyond normal limits.
   • Mechanics: Grants an extra action segment for 3 rounds (usable once per encounter). Grants passive +1 bonus to Agility based attack rolls.
5. Battle Trance
   • Description: Enters a focused combat state that enhances both offense and defense.
   • Mechanics: When below 50% health, automatically trigger a state that increases damage output by 20% and reduces incoming damage by 10% for 15 seconds (once per combat).
6. Phantom Strike
   • Description: Executes an attack that phases through defenses.
   • Mechanics: Active ability that ignores 50% of the target’s armor for one strike (20-second cooldown).

Aetheric & Energy Augmentation

7. Aether Infusion
   • Description: Channels aetheric energy into physical attacks.
   • Mechanics: Temporarily boosts melee/ranged attack damage by 15% and adds a minor elemental effect once per encounter.
8. Aetheric Core Stabilization
   • Description: Shields against magical corruption and reality distortions.
   • Mechanics: Grants a flat +20 bonus against magical anomalies and reduces the duration of system debuffs by 25%.
9. Elemental Conduit
   • Description: Channels elemental energy directly into attacks.
   • Mechanics: Once per combat, imbue an attack with extra elemental damage equal to 10% of its base value; the element is chosen on activation.
10. Mana Surge
    • Description: Releases a burst of raw mana in critical situations.
    • Mechanics: Instantly restores 25% of mana once per long rest and boosts spell power by 10% for the next three casts.
11. Exo-Muscle Weave
    • Description: Infuses muscles with System energy to increase strength.
    • Mechanics: Boosts physical strength and endurance by 20%, adding a flat bonus to lifting and melee damage rolls.

Defensive & Resilience Enhancements

12. Force Adaptation
    • Description: Reinforces the body automatically when struck.
    • Mechanics: After receiving a hit, reduce subsequent physical damage by 15% for 5 seconds (30-second cooldown).
13. Combat Regeneration
    • Description: Rapidly heals minor wounds during combat.
    • Mechanics: Regenerates 2–3 hit points per combat round and can stack to provide up to a 15% damage mitigation bonus for low-damage hits.
14. Enhanced Durability
    • Description: Increases overall physical resilience.
    • Mechanics: Raises maximum hit points by 15% and adds a +10 bonus on physical defense rolls.
15. Siphon Vitality
    • Description: Drains enemy health to form a temporary shield.
    • Mechanics: On a successful hit, restore health equal to 5% of damage dealt; the shield absorbs damage for 10 seconds.

Temporal & Dimensional Manipulation

16. Dimensional Displacement
    • Description: Creates distracting afterimages to confuse foes.
    • Mechanics: For 5 seconds after activation, enemies suffer a 20% miss chance on attacks against you.
17. Quantum Stealth Manipulator (QSM)
    • Description: Shifts into an adjacent dimension for short-term intangibility and invisibility.
    • Mechanics: Become untargetable and invisible for up to 5 minutes (ends on offense; 15-minute cooldown).
18. Temporal Rift
    • Description: Slows time in a localized area, hindering enemy actions.
    • Mechanics: For 6 seconds, all enemies within a 10-foot radius have their movement and attack speed reduced by 20% (usable once every 3 minutes).

Tactical & System Manipulation

19. Reality Perception
    • Description: Reveals hidden layers of reality.
    • Mechanics: For 10 seconds, display invisible traps, secret doors, and cloaked enemies on the UI; adds a +2 bonus on environmental perception checks.
20. System Hacker
    • Description: Gains limited control over in-game system functions.
    • Mechanics: Once per encounter, override a minor system function (such as disabling enemy sensors for 10 seconds or boosting an ally’s interface abilities).

Greater Perks (20 Perks)

Greater perks represent transformative enhancements that reshape a character’s identity and mastery over the System. They often unlock elite classes, near-divine abilities, or advanced control over reality and energy.

Advanced Class & Divine Transformation

1. Advanced Class: Erethran Honor Guard
   • Description: Transforms the user into an elite guardian with soul-bound weaponry.
   • Mechanics: Grants significant boosts (+50 to defense, +30 to magic resistance) and unlocks multi-device linking for coordinated combat.
2. Advanced Class: Dragon Knight
   • Description: Merges raw power with elemental fury, unlocking dragon-based combat techniques.
   • Mechanics: Increases strength, agility, and endurance by 40% and grants a once-per-encounter elemental ability (e.g., flame breath).
3. Epic Class: Demigod
   • Description: Transforms the user into a near-divine being with permanent attribute boosts.
   • Mechanics: Permanently increases all primary attributes by 100 points and unlocks highest-tier elemental affinities plus enhanced social interactions (“Super Sexiness”).
4. Divine Ascendancy
   • Description: Elevates the user to near-divine status, massively enhancing all attributes.
   • Mechanics: Permanently increases all primary stats by 25% and renders the user immune to minor curses and status effects.

Dimensional & Reality Manipulation

5. Dimensional Lab
   • Description: Provides a private pocket dimension for crafting, healing, or experimentation.
   • Mechanics: Once per long rest, access a safe, time-independent space for crafting unique upgrades or healing.
6. Reality Anchor
   • Description: Stabilizes the user against forced teleportation and spatial distortions.
   • Mechanics: Grants immunity to forced movement effects and halves the duration of any reality distortions.
7. Reality Weaver
   • Description: Grants limited control over the fabric of reality.
   • Mechanics: Once per encounter, alter one environmental factor (lighting, terrain, etc.) for 30 seconds, modifying related rolls by ±2.
8. Voidwalker’s Path
   • Description: Enables brief phasing between the physical realm and the void.
   • Mechanics: Become untouchable for up to 10 seconds once per encounter (with a brief cooldown after of 1 minute).

System & Interface Mastery

9. Quantum Engine Integration
   • Description: Interfaces directly with advanced, energy-based technologies.
   • Mechanics: Grants remote control over certain in-game devices (e.g., disable enemy turrets or boost ally shields).
10. System Architect
    • Description: Unlocks hidden System functions and interface customization.
    • Mechanics: Once per session, reconfigure your UI to reveal secret options or override enemy hacks.
11. System Overload
    • Description: Temporarily forces the System into a state of overload, granting godlike power.
    • Mechanics: For 15 seconds, double all damage output and defense; afterward, make a stabilization roll or suffer brief vulnerability.

Aetheric & Elemental Mastery

12. Primordial Aether Core
    • Description: Doubles mana efficiency and supercharges energy-based abilities.
    • Mechanics: Permanently reduces mana costs by an additional 50% and boosts spell potency by 20%.
13. Resonant Soul
    • Description: Passively absorbs ambient aetheric energy for rapid regeneration.
    • Mechanics: Regenerates mana and stamina at ten times the normal rate; surplus energy can form a temporary shield.
14. Ethereal Dominion
    • Description: Commands minor spirit entities and ethereal forces.
    • Mechanics: Once per combat, summon allied spirits that provide flanking bonuses or minor healing for 3 rounds. Gain +2 bonus to rolls for Commanding spirits.
15. Elemental Mastery
    • Description: Grants command over all elemental forces, enabling fluid affinity switching.
    • Mechanics: Choose an elemental affinity at the start of each combat encounter and add 10–15% bonus elemental damage to all attacks.

Cosmic & Temporal Enhancements

16. Omniscient Nexus
    • Description: Briefly reveals potential futures to guide decisions.
    • Mechanics: Once per combat, preview the outcome of a tactical decision (via a dice roll modifier) and select the most favorable option.
17. Cosmic Resonance
    • Description: Channels cosmic energy to bolster offense and defense simultaneously.
    • Mechanics: For 20 seconds, increases all damage and resistance stats by 15% (usable once per long rest).
18. Quantum Godspeed
    • Description: Grants near-instantaneous movement and reaction capabilities.
    • Mechanics: For 10 seconds, gain a +3 bonus on speed-related checks and effectively “slow down time” for your actions (2-minute cooldown).
19. Absolute Nullifier
    • Description: Temporarily negates incoming magical effects.
    • Mechanics: Once per day, create a 5-second bubble during which spells cast against you are halved or completely nullified (roll-dependent).
20. Celestial Architect
    • Description: Empowers the user to create a personal domain within the System.
    • Mechanics: Construct a “safe zone” for safe rest from a Blueprint plan you create, advantage on rolls for crafting or strategic planning; within this domain, healing is 50% faster and equipment crafted gains minor System upgrades based on Crafted Level of item.

Advanced Classes Perks Options