Extra-Normal Perks
AX.C.09.03 (Odd Talent-based)Overview
Extra-Normal Perks govern access to Odd Talents, the supernatural, super-human, syonic, technological or any otherwise unexplained power systems that exist beyond the normal Talent library. Extra-Normal Perks essentially operate as gateways. They define whether a character has access to and can improve a specific category of power.
The Odd Talent itself, its mechanics, dice pool, and application, is governed elsewhere (AX.C.04 in the source material's numbering scheme; see ingest note above).
A Genre Catalog creates a fiction-specific application of the Universal Categories, e.g. the Andrus Elemental Traditions, the Hidden World's Power Traditions and the Iron Lattice's Harmonic Traditions. These details will be found in the corresponding Powers section(s) of each Genre Catalog.
This section defines the essential access mechanism and the Universal Category framework.
Quick Reference
Access Rules Summary
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Duplicate access from two sources | Receive the Odd Talent at 1D, no Talent budget cost |
| No access granted | Cannot purchase or use Odd Talent traditions (see note) |
| Genre Catalog downtime access grant | Setting-specific; defined in Genre Catalog |
No Access Caveat: Genre Catalogs may provide methods by which characters can gain access to Odd Talents. Training, rituals, exposure to energies or some other genre specific criteria.
Three Universal Categories
In planning a genre neutral core-rule system we surveyed a large number of extra-normal abilities present in the TTRPG space. As we reviewed the systems, common themes became apparent leading to the adoption of our broad universal category framework. It allows creators to build new systems or adapt existing systems to AxiomRPG with a clear grounding for how the powers apply mechanically.
| Category | Domain | Default Attribute | Backlash Tendency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Force | Energy, information, physical causation | Wit | Energetic, force turns back on practitioner or environment |
| Resonance | Probability, time, consciousness, hidden information | Wit or Speed | Perceptual, overwhelm, confusion, perception trap |
| Form | Physical transformation of biological, material, or constructed subjects | Body or Wit | Structural, lasting physical traces, failed or locked transformations |
Fully Defined Special Abilities
| Ability | Category | Key Mechanic | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danger Sense | Resonance Adjacent | Advantage on the Surprise Round roll; +1D Speed Saves (traps/area/environmental) | Passive |
| True Seeing | Resonance Adjacent | See through active concealment; sincerity detection | Passive / 1×/scene |
| Shapeshifting (Tier 1) | Form | Alter superficial features; Threshold 2 | Short Rest |
| Shapeshifting (Tier 2) | Form | Alter significant structure; Threshold 3 | Long Rest |
| Shapeshifting (Tier 3) | Form | Full form replication; Threshold 4 | Full Rest |
| Shapeshifting (Tier 4) | Form | Mass/state shift; Threshold 5+ | Full Rest |
| Luck | Resonance Adjacent | Reroll entire Challenge once/session | Session |
Extra-Normal Access
The gateway Perk — settled structural home for Odd Talent access
When a Lineage or Profession grants access to an Odd Talent:
- The character can train the granted Odd Talent like any other Talent.
- The character may improve the Odd Talent through normal Advancement (AX.C.12 in the source material's numbering scheme) at the standard cost: current value × 2 XP per die.
- The character may purchase a Focus within the Odd Talent at Focus cost (current Talent value in XP per Focus die, max 3D), following standard Focus rules.
Without Access: A character who has not been granted access to an Odd Talent tradition may not train or use a Tradition, regardless of available XP or training time. Access must be granted by a Lineage, Profession or a specific Progression Track unlock; it cannot be purchased independently.
Multiple Access Grants
At generation, if a character receives access to the same Odd Talent from both their Lineage and their Profession, the duplicate access grants 1D in the tradition (the character begins with 1D at no Talent budget cost).
If a character receives access to two different Odd Talents (one from Lineage, one from Profession, or a Progression Track unlock), they manage both Talents independently. Each is purchased and improved separately.
Progression Track Access
A Profession's Progression Track may grant access to a specialized Odd Talent or Special Ability in place of a standard Earned Perk (see Earned & Trained Perks, AX.C.09.02). The details of the Stage Perk provides details on how the Odd Talent or Special Ability applies in play.
Universal Tradition Categories
Odd Talents in AxiomRPG fall into one of three universal categories. These categories define the domain of reality the Talent manipulates, its default Attribute tendency and its design scope.
The three categories are Force, Resonance, and Form.
Genre Catalog Odd Talents are defined by one of these three categories. The category does not restrict mechanics; it provides a familiar reference point and ensures cross-catalog compatibility if characters from different settings interact.
Genre Catalog Special Ability Reference List
The following abilities require setting-specific fiction or mechanics to be fully defined. Genre Catalogs should specify the full mechanical entry using the format established in the source material's referenced 07.1/07.2 sections (see ingest note above) when implementing these. Brief descriptions are provided for reference.
| Ability | Category | Brief Description |
|---|---|---|
| Astral Projection | Resonance | Separate consciousness from body; interact with a non-physical layer of reality. Mechanics depend on what that layer is in the setting (astral plane, Silicon Demi-Plane, etc.) |
| Time Dilation | Force/Resonance | Alter personal temporal experience relative to environment. Requires setting definition of how time manipulation works and its limits |
| Phasing | Form | Pass through solid matter. Requires definition of what "solid" means, energy cost, and interaction with solid-matter combat |
| Energy Conversion | Force | Absorb one energy type and re-emit it as another. Requires setting definition of available energy types and conversion limits |
| Perfect Memory | Resonance | Total recall of experienced events. Primarily a narrative ability; mechanical application depends on how information works in the setting |
| Aura Reading | Resonance | Perceive the Odd Talent activity, emotional state, or alignment of a creature. Requires setting definition of what "aura" contains |
| Immortal | Form | Cannot die of age; may be immune to some or all lethal damage types. Requires setting definition of what kills an Immortal and what the social/narrative cost is |
| Clone Network | Form | Maintain multiple simultaneous physical bodies. Requires setting definition of consciousness distribution and what happens when a clone is destroyed |
| Quantum Existence | Form/Resonance | Exist in multiple probability states simultaneously. Requires setting definition of how quantum states interact with standard physical reality |
| Void Walking | Force/Form | Move through dimensional space between locations. Requires setting definition of what "void" or dimensional space is |
| Beast/Spirit/Machine Speech | Resonance | Communicate with non-sapient category of entity. Mechanic is simple (Wit + Attunement vs variable Threshold); what entities are available depends entirely on setting |
| Hive Mind | Resonance | Share consciousness with a networked group. Requires setting definition of network size, privacy, and what shared perception means mechanically |
| Curse/Blessing Immunity | Resonance | Cannot be targeted by specific power type. Requires setting definition of what constitutes a Curse or Blessing in that genre |
| Wild Shape | Form | Transform into a specific category of creature (animals, machines, constructs). Sub-type of Shapeshifting, use Shapeshifting tiers with Genre Catalog creature list |
Design Notes
Special Abilities vs Traditions: A Tradition (like Temporal Harmonics or Arcane) generates many effects from a small set of Disciplines. A Special Ability does one specific thing. If a power system is generating more than five or six distinct named abilities, it is probably a Tradition and should be defined as such. If it does one specific, powerful, narrow thing, it is a Special Ability.
Balancing Special Abilities: Every Special Ability assigned to a player character should carry a meaningful limit: usage frequency (once/session, once/rest), scope restriction (self only, Near range maximum), activation cost (Primary Action, Full Round), or setting/social consequence. The Genre Catalog is responsible for defining this balance for setting-specific Special Abilities. The four Fully Defined abilities above have their limits built in, do not remove them when implementing.
The Genre Catalog's responsibility: This section defines the framework. Genre Catalogs define the content within it. A Fantasy Genre Catalog fills in Force Traditions with Arcane Philosophies, defines Celestial/Infernal as sub-types, and implements Wild Shape as a Form Tradition Special Ability. A Sci-Fi Genre Catalog fills in Force Traditions with energy-type manipulation and psitech, defines Clone Network mechanically, and may have no Faith-labeled traditions at all. Both are using the same three-category scaffold correctly.
Force Traditions
AX.C.09.03.01
The manipulation of energy, information and physical effects.
Force Traditions act on the world directly; they produce, direct, or transform energy; encode and decode information; and alter physical cause-and-effect chains. Effects are typically visible, measurable and immediate.
Default Attribute tendency: Wit (analytical, directed intention), though Body and Speed expressions exist and are equally valid per the Odd Talent flexibility defined in Talents (AX.C.04 in the source material's numbering scheme).
Design scope for Genre Catalogs: Force Traditions should define what types of energy or information the practitioner can produce and control, at what scale, and with what precision. Recovery costs (rest requirements) should reflect the magnitude of the output, minor energy effects at Short Rest; significant physical alterations at Long or Full Rest.
Common Genre Labels
| Setting Type | Force Tradition Labels |
|---|---|
| Fantasy | Arcane Magic, Elemental Sorcery, Runic Artifice, Alchemy |
| Modern/Hard Fantasy | Technomancy, Digital Alchemy, Tectonic Harmonics |
| Sci-Fi | Psitech, Energy Manipulation, Quantum Field Control |
| Horror | Chaos Magic, Entropic Touch, Reality Flux |
Defining Characteristics
- Effects are typically directed; they require a target or area
- Output is measurable (damage dealt, area affected, duration)
- Backlash tends to be energetic, the force turns back on the practitioner or environment
- Non-practitioners can usually detect Force Tradition use (light, sound, physical effect)
Resonance Traditions
AX.C.09.03.02
The perception of, attunement to, and influence on probability, time, consciousness, and hidden information.
Resonance Traditions do not act on the world directly; they read it, manipulate it, or communicate through layers that Force Traditions cannot reach. Effects are often subtle, deniable or invisible to standard observation. Where Force Traditions transform, Resonance Traditions perceive and nudge.
Default Attribute tendency: Wit (perceptive, interpretive) or Speed (reactive, intuitive), the least common governing Attribute is Body, though it exists for traditions emphasizing somatic grounding or physical presence as a Resonance anchor.
Design scope for Genre Catalogs: Resonance Traditions should define what the practitioner can access (past, future, hidden, emotional) and what influence they can exert on probability or mental states. Thresholds should scale with the significance of the information or the magnitude of the influence, trivial readings are Easy; future-shaping probability manipulation is Epic.
Common Genre Labels
| Setting Type | Resonance Tradition Labels |
|---|---|
| Fantasy | Faith Magic, Divination, Nature Communion, Temporal Sorcery |
| Modern/Hard Fantasy | Temporal Harmonics, Marginal Harmonics, Probability Engineering |
| Sci-Fi | Quantum Sensing, Neural Link, Precognitive Algorithm |
| Horror | Spirit Communion, Curse Weaving, Memory Drain |
Defining Characteristics
- Effects are typically passive or subtle, the practitioner often appears to be doing nothing
- Output is informational or probabilistic rather than directly physical
- Backlash tends to be perceptual or cognitive, the practitioner is overwhelmed, confused, or trapped in what they were sensing
- Non-practitioners frequently cannot detect Resonance Tradition use; it looks like luck, intuition, or coincidence
Form Traditions
AX.C.09.03.03
The transformation of physical structure, biological, material or constructed.
Form Traditions alter what things are at a fundamental level: their shape, their composition, their living state, their relationship to a category of existence. This includes shapeshifting, biological modification, construct animation and the manipulation of the threshold between life and non-life.
Default Attribute tendency: Body (physical transformation) for biological Form Traditions; Wit (design, inscription, programming) for constructed or animated Form Traditions. Both are equally valid expressions of the same category.
Design scope for Genre Catalogs: Form Traditions should define what can be transformed (self, others, objects, materials, living state), how permanent transformations are, what the cost of maintaining an altered form is, and what the limits of transformation are (mass conservation, energy requirements, complexity ceiling). Permanent or large-scale Form effects should require High or Epic Thresholds with Full Rest recovery.
Common Genre Labels
| Setting Type | Form Tradition Labels |
|---|---|
| Fantasy | Shapeshifting, Lycanthropy, Golem-Binding, Necromancy |
| Modern/Hard Fantasy | Biohacking, Construct Animation, Song-Smithing |
| Sci-Fi | Nanoform, Synthetic Rebuild, Genetic Rewriting, Drone Control |
| Horror | Mutation, Corruption, Parasite Cultivation |
Defining Characteristics
- Effects alter the category or composition of the subject, not just its behavior
- Transformation effects are often the most difficult to reverse (Form Backlash frequently leaves lasting physical traces)
- Permanent Form alterations require Epic Thresholds; temporary ones scale normally
- Form Traditions frequently carry the strongest ethical and social weight in a setting, what it means to permanently alter a living being is culturally significant in most Genre Catalogs
Expressions to Categories
AX.C.09.03.04
The following table illustrates how to map the three universal categories to more common expressions of extra-normal powers.
| Previous Label | Maps To | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arcane Magic | Force | Core label retained; sub-types (Ritual, Artifice, Alchemy, Runecraft) are Discipline labels within a Force Tradition |
| Faith Magic | Resonance | Core label retained; faith expression of Resonance Tradition |
| Syonic Powers | Resonance (perception/influence) + Force (telekinesis/pyrokinesis) | Syonic is a delivery method, not a category, telekinesis is Force, telepathy is Resonance. Genre Catalogs should split Syonic power lists accordingly |
| Technomancy | Force (primary) + Resonance (Network Presence, Signal-Read) | Already defined in IL as Harmonic Tradition; core label is Force |
| Chaos/Unbound Magic | Force | Sub-type of Arcane/Force, wild or unstabilized Force output. Genre Catalog territory for Fantasy settings |
| Celestial/Infernal Magic | Force (combat/smite) + Resonance (aura/divination) + Form (planar biology) | Genre-specific fantasy category, belongs in Fantasy Genre Catalog, not universal core |
Special Abilities
AX.C.09.03.05
Special Abilities are Extra-Normal capabilities that function as standalone mechanics rather than Tradition applications. Unlike Traditions (which generate many applications from a few Disciplines), each Special Ability does one specific, powerful thing usually within well defined limitations.
Classification
Fully Defined (below): Special Abilities that have a clear mechanical analog in AxiomRPG core and can be specified to table-ready precision regardless of genre. These are universally applicable and may be assigned by any Genre Catalog.
Genre Catalog: Special Abilities that require setting-specific fiction to function, their effect is meaningful only in context of a specific power system, cosmology, or setting premise. These are listed as names with brief descriptions; Genre Catalogs define their full mechanics locally.
Fully Defined Special Abilities
Danger Sense
Resonance Adjacent
A persistent awareness of immediate threats, operating below conscious processing.
Effect: When making the Wit + Notice roll to avoid being Surprised at the start of combat (see AX.C.12.01, Surprise Round), the character rolls with Advantage, dice showing 4, 5, or 6 count as successes. This replaces the character's own roll; it does not remove the roll or the target Threshold (3, or the ambushing character's Stealth Talent value, whichever is higher). Additionally, the character gains +1D on Speed Saves triggered by traps, area effects, and environmental hazards.
Activation: Passive, always active.
Scope: Self.
Design Note: Danger Sense does not grant information about the threat, only the reflexive awareness that it exists. A character with Danger Sense who is ambushed still makes the standard Surprise Round roll (with Advantage); Danger Sense meaningfully improves the odds of acting in the first Turn, it does not guarantee it. This ability does not modify Initiative rolls (AX.C.12.01, Initiative), which are a flat, unmodified 1D6 with no stated way to add dice or thresholds to it; an earlier version of this Perk granted a flat "+1D Initiative" bonus that assumed otherwise and has been corrected here to route through the Surprise Round roll instead, which does support dice/threshold modification.
Genre Note: Precognitive reflex, combat-honed survival instinct, proximity sensor implant, predictive combat algorithm, supernatural threat-awareness.
True Seeing
Resonance Adjacent
Perception that cuts through deliberate concealment, magical, technological, or probabilistic.
Effect: The character sees through active illusions, invisibility, optical camouflage, and Obscurement effects (including Marginal Harmonics Obscurement) within Near range. Passive concealment (darkness, fog) is not affected; this ability specifically counters deliberate concealment mechanisms. The character is aware that they are seeing through concealment, not that they would have been fooled by it.
Additionally, the character may make a Wit + Notice check (Threshold 2) as a Minor Action to determine whether a specific statement made in their presence is believed by the speaker to be true (does not detect objective truth, only sincerity).
Activation: Passive for visual concealment penetration. Minor Action for sincerity detection.
Scope: Near range (visual); Close range (sincerity detection, must be able to perceive the speaker directly).
Recovery: Sincerity detection, once per scene.
Genre Note: Divine sight, magical true sight, multi-spectrum imaging implant, probability-layer visual processing, psychometric reading of intent.
Shapeshifting
Form Tradition
The ability to alter your own physical form deliberately and substantially.
Shapeshifting is a Form Tradition Special Ability with variable scope depending on the degree of transformation. The following tiers define the mechanical scope, Genre Catalogs assign specific fictional forms within each tier:
Tier 1
Minor Shift (Threshold 2, Short Rest recovery): Alter superficial physical features, hair color, eye color, skin tone, minor facial structure. Cannot change Size category. Cannot replicate a specific known individual without a successful Wit + Attunement roll vs Threshold 3. Duration: scene.
Tier 2
Partial Shift (Threshold 3, Long Rest recovery): Alter significant physical structure, add or remove Natural Weapon perks (one), change apparent Size by one step, alter limb configuration. Cannot replicate specific individuals at this tier. Duration: scene, or until deliberately reversed.
Tier 3
Full Shift (Threshold 4, Full Rest recovery): Assume a completely different physical form within the same mass range (±50%). May replicate a specific individual if the character has spent at least one scene in close proximity to the target and succeeds on Wit + Attunement vs Threshold 4. Duration: scene, or until deliberately reversed.
Tier 4
Mass Shift (Threshold 5+, Full Rest recovery): Shift to a form dramatically different in mass, Swarm form, elemental matter, gaseous state. GM approval required. Duration: scene.
Maintaining a shifted form beyond its natural duration requires a Body Save vs Threshold 2 each additional scene. Failure ends the shift immediately.
Each Tier is a separate access grant, a character may have Tiers 1–2 without access to Tier 3–4. Genre Catalogs assign which Tiers a Lineage or Profession can grant.
Activation: Primary Action to shift.
Backlash (on Critical Failure): The shift occurs partially or incorrectly, a feature of the target form appears uncontrolled, or the character is locked mid-shift (Stunned, cannot shift or fully revert) until they succeed on a Body Save vs Threshold 3 (attempted each Turn).
Luck
Resonance Adjacent
An innate capacity to influence probability in one's own favor.
Effect: Once per session, the character may reroll any single Challenge, replacing the result entirely with the new roll. Both the original dice pool and any Focuses are rerolled. The new result stands regardless of outcome.
Luck may be declared after seeing the original roll result but before the GM narrates the consequences.
Activation: Free Action, declared immediately after seeing the roll result.
Scope: Self only.
Recovery: Once per session.
Design Note: Distinguish carefully from Marginal Harmonics' Nudge (which forces a re-roll of a single die) and the Human Lineage's Determined perk (which re-rolls the Wild Die on Implosion). Luck replaces the entire roll. A character with both Luck and Nudge/Determined has genuinely distinct tools, Luck is the most powerful but also the most limited.
Genre Note: Innate fortune biology, probability-attuned nervous system, divine favor expression, quantum-luck field, Halfling-lineage passive probability warping at the individual scale.