Designing a superhuman power in String Theory can be hard! What I've discovered is helpful for everyone is building an effort key for your abilities! An effort chart shows how hard it is to use a talent you have, talents being a thing you can do with your overall ability.
Here's what a basic effort key looks like:
| Effort Key | |
|---|---|
| None | Requires no effort and is a part of Robyn's autonomous functions. |
| Low | Requires minimal effort and concentration, like walking, holding a conversation, or reading. |
| Moderate | Requires dedicated concentration. Moderate-effort abilities cannot be used while actively fighting or using another talent with an effort of Moderate or higher. |
| High | Requires undivided concentration. Cannot do anything other than move slowly or talk in short sentences while using a High effort talent and cannot use other talents that have an effort level of Low or higher. |
Now let's take a look at Robyn and Eve for examples of how an effort key lines up with the talents of an ability!
Volatile Phasing (Eve)
Eve possesses the ability to take on an insubstantial form that causes damage to whatever she passes through. This state is Eve's natural form and it is a struggle for her to maintain a corporeal body, let alone maintain her incorporeal one in any controllable state. At rest, Eve is an indistinct cloud of semi-opaque crimson light that causes molecules within to move in an agitated state, much as though affected by microwave emission. At rest, Eve cannot control her shape or move herself, and remains in a fixed place. In this form she cannot communicate, cannot be communicated with by telepaths (though they recognize that the cloud of energy possesses a conscious mind). Eve automatically enters this state whenever she is rendered unconscious or falls asleep. Over time, Eve will be able to learn to control this unfortunate circumstance by controlling the molecular makeup of her form.
Talents
| Talents | Effort | Description | Learned From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volatile Cloud | None | This is Eve's default state. When she is in this form, organic matter within her cloud heats up as though under a low microwave emission. People get mildly sunburned, vegetables slowly cook. She mildly disrupts cell phone reception for those within 3 feet of her cloud and electronics brought into the cloud that aren't shielded from electromagnetic radiation may suffer damage. | Self Taught |
| Corporeal Form | Low | By concentrating, Eve can command her energized molecules to condense into a solid form normal to her state prior to gaining this ability. In this form she is an ordinary human and can be killed, can get sick, and other such effects. Any injury she sustains in her corporeal form (including diseases or other long-term effects) are paused whenever she moves into an incorporeal form or volatile cloud. Eve cannot maintain this ability when unconscious or asleep. | Self Taught |
| Volatile Phasing | Moderate | With considerable concentration, Eve can assume a form halfway between her physical body and her volatile cloud. In this form, she appears like a crackling and ghostly red image of herself. Her molecules are highly agitated in this form, but far apart enough to pass through solid matter. Eve can move through walls and other solid surfaces as fast as she can run or walk. When she phases through solid inanimate objects, Eve causes their molecules to agitate creating friction and heat. Quick contact (such as by passing through an object) causes all electronic devices to cease to function and short circuit, leaves brown or black marks on flammable surfaces like cloth or wood, and leaves harder surfaces like metal and stone warm to the tough. Prolonged contact (such as by intentionally remaining inside a solid object) causes them to rapidly heat up. Organic matter quickly cooks under this effect. People who are phased through get painful sunburns. Prolonged phasing (difficult to manage unless the target is restrained) can kill by cooking a person alive. After a minute, paper and cloth catch fire; after 5 minutes, wood catches fire; after 10 minutes, glass melts, and so on. It would take 15 minutes of continued exposure for Eve to do something like melt a padlock. Should Eve somehow attempt to solidify within a solid object, she could lose a limb or even die, depending on the position of her body when she solidifies. Eve cannot phase through something that is shielded against electromagnetic radiation. Eve cannot speak or be heard by telepaths in this form. | Not Yet Learned (First Possible Upgrade) |
| Vulnerabilities | |
|---|---|
| Magnetokinesis | People able to manipulate electromagnetic radiation treat Eve as part of the background radiation of the universe. She can be harmed or forced in/out of her different states by such individuals. |
| Electromagnetic Radiation | High EM radiation (such as from a solar flare) can disrupt Eve's ability to change form. This raises the effort scale of all of her talents by one step (Low to Moderate, Moderate to High, High to Impossible). This won't come up too much. |
| Electricity | Electricity disrupts Eve's ability to maintain her form. A strong electrical current (such as from an electrokinetic) forces Eve into her volatile cloud state. |
| Effort Key | |
|---|---|
| None | Requires no effort and is a part of Eve's autonomous functions. |
| Low | Requires minimal effort and concentration, like walking, holding a conversation, or reading. |
| Moderate | Requires dedicated concentration. Moderate-effort abilities cannot be used while actively fighting or using another talent with an effort of Moderate or higher. |
| High | Requires undivided concentration. Cannot do anything other than move slowly or talk in short sentences while using a High effort talent and cannot use other talents that have an effort level of Low or higher. |
Photokinesis (Robyn)
Robyn possesses the ability to absorb photons in her body, collecting light within a 30-foot radius around herself. Photons, once absorbed, are stored as electromagnetic energy within Quinn's body and are absorbed by the natural EM field that all SLC-Expressive people emit. All of Robyn's talents with this ability stem from her power to absorb and harness photons. During the events of Arkfall, while under the effects of amphodynamine and Gillian's augmentation, Robyn absorbed photons from a 300-foot radius and overloaded herself, resulting in a long-term ability burn out from which she has only begun to recover. Pushing herself beyond her normal 30-foot limitations by way of augmentation risks similar burnout; normal use does not.
Talents
| Talents | Effort | Description | Learned From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimmer Switch | Low | Robyn is able to lower the ambient light level in an area around herself to a radius of 30 feet. This talent does not have fine control and affects the entire 30-foot radius. In this area Robyn can control the ambient light level, lowering it from whatever its current level of illumination is down to total darkness. Since she is absorbing photons this also dims or completely darkens all light-emitting sources within the area. Robyn's control of light in this manner is absolute, and a photokinetic would be unable to raise the light level as Robyn would continue to absorb any photons brought into the area. | Self Taught |
| Darkvision | None | When using her Dimmer Switch talent Robyn can see perfectly in the dark out to a distance of 30 feet. Beyond this Robyn's vision is hampered by darkness as normal. When using this ability, she can only see in black & white. | Self Taught |
| Photokinetic Negation | Moderate | By touch, Robyn can prevent an SLC-E person from using an ability that manipulates light. She must maintain skin-to-skin contact in order to maintain this negation and anything that breaks her concentration or contact ends this effect immediately. This negation also ends any ongoing photokinetic effect that relies on the manipulation of photons. | Self Taught |
| Effort Key | |
|---|---|
| None | Requires no effort and is a part of Robyn's autonomous functions. |
| Low | Requires minimal effort and concentration, like walking, holding a conversation, or reading. |
| Moderate | Requires dedicated concentration. Moderate-effort abilities cannot be used while actively fighting or using another talent with an effort of Moderate or higher. |
| High | Requires undivided concentration. Cannot do anything other than move slowly or talk in short sentences while using a High effort talent and cannot use other talents that have an effort level of Low or higher. |