Teleportation
From "here" to "there" with no intermediate continuity
This is a physical power that falls into the subcategory of "travel powers".
Disambiguation: TP vs Warp
Whether an inherent Power or a Gadget, this is the superhuman experience of abruptly being in a different location without having to travel through the realspace between. It is rooted in the being who does the moving; if a separate aperture opens, and people or things pass through this hole in reality, that is the Warp Power instead. A tesseract from Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time is teleportation as an inherent Power; a Star Trek transporter pad is a Gadget that has Teleportation built into it with some rather awkward Power Limitations and Special Effects.
This
and these
- and all the stories that make up the Hugo-winning and Nebula Award-winning Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire
are definitely Warp, not Teleportation. They require passageway markers, they must be entered and exited, they are meant to be used by people and objects away from the Power user, and they are at least as likely to involve transit through an alternate reality.
Effect
All Teleportation begins at the Self.
Automatic Action
The Power User, their worn Costumes and Equipment and Gadgets, and anything else in their uncontested physical immediate custody, will all travel from the starting point to the arrival point of the teleport. All, every time.
Can I not teleport something away from myself?
commission for Jarissa by Chai
Right now, the answer is "no".
And even once we have finished testing out a homebrewed Power Bonus to allow an Adversarial Focus, use of the Teleportation Power without purchasing that Power Bonus will still require that the Power-owning Character travel as part of that teleportation.
Grimalkin by Jarissa
I have seen this done! I have, I have!
In that particular case, that was a Gadgeteer who made Gadgets that had single-use Teleport functions. The Gadget teleported itself and the person it was touching, using the rules below about taking along an unwilling passenger.
The amount of total stuff teleported will always be limited by total mass -- the teleporter can bring up to the total assigned power APs in weight along with the teleporter's own physical body, so long as they were within Zero APs of distance from the teleporter's starting point.
(Please note: an attempt to teleport away something being worn without the wearer, or a component of an object without the whole object, is a Take Away Maneuver. It must be declared before the teleport begins, before any dice are rolled, and in plenty of time for the GM to determine whether the target can be Taken Away In Combat.)
Teleports that include something in addition to the Power User are always "all or nothing" deals. A teleporter might be able to carry along an entire door, but not "half a wall". A character with Teleportation at 6 APs could teleport along an entire sedan to a location fifteen miles away, but could not teleport only the car's windshield even as little as 10 feet away.
Dice Action
A die roll may become necessary for use of this Travel Power under hazardous conditions:
- attempts to teleport from a car in one moving train of a roller coaster to a car on another train headed in the opposite direction,
- transit out of an area with a dangerous energy field active around it,
- starting point or arrival point (or both!) have an Area Effect attack already in progress,
- teleporting into the middle of a milling crowd,
- panic teleportations without being clear about a destination,
- repeated teleports in an extremely short time frame,
or
or
or
or
or
or
any other circumstance where the landing point may not be stable and clear for arrival.
A die roll will absolutely be involved if this Travel Power is substituted for OV/RV to resist a Restrictive Power.
Additionally, the Power User has the option of attempting to teleport a Character who does not wish to go. This requires the Power User to make an Action Check as their next eligible Dice Action, which must be within 6 seconds of time -- the Power User is making this Action Check this same combat phase.
For this roll, the AV/EV of this check will equal the APs of the Teleportation Power. The OV will be the uncooperative target's Intelligence and the RV will be the target's Mind, possibly augmented by abilities such as Mind Field or Mind Shield which aid resistance against Mental Attacks. Powers such as Gravity Increase (to increase the target's subjective weight past the teleporter's capacity to move) or anti-movement Powers such as Cling and Joined could also be used as the OV/RV for this Action Check by someone who resists being teleported.
If the teleporter earns greater RAPs than the resistant Character's Mind, even if something other than Mind was used for the RV, then the resistant person did indeed get teleported to the new destination! For anything equal to or less than that number of RAPs, the resistant Character remains put while the teleporter moves to the new destination.
How does this rule apply to us?—Dawn by Jarissa
When the Frenchman got involved in our demonstration, it was my Gadget doing the restricting. I was not willing for that teleportation to work!—Dusk by Jarissa
This is true!
However.
It was not you that I wished to relocate, non. Blackjack was plenty happy to let Mesdames be alone for the next while.
Blackjack by C.B. Ash
As it happened, Fenrir was agreeable to being teleported by Blackjack. If he had told the GM that he meant to resist, I would have had to resolve an Action Check by Blackjack with Fenrir's OV/RV -- not at all assisted by the Restrictive Power, unless Fenrir and Dusk agreed to use Team Defense -- before I moved on to Blackjack's Action Check of his Teleportation against the existing pool of RAPs from that Mental Freeze.
I probably would have felt a smidgen cranky about it.
Fenrir by Jarissa Venters
I sure was not going to do that!
Neither was I!
Glad to hear it! You have a nice time someplace away from us, now.
Blackjack by C.B. Ash
GM notes for tomorrow's writing
Things Still To Do:
1. Finish explaining the Visualization Special Effect. Explain how it's different (less debilitating, for one thing) than the Power Limitation "Line of Sight".
2. Go back to the Self Only limitation. Insert a demonstration, probably starring Loki Orinson, who points out that he can stick his arms through the straps of the black medical bag belonging to Baby Brother Donald Blake Merasson. He can wear it like a baby sling. So he can teleport away with it, right? No. Not even if it is under the weight limit. "But I'm wearing it!" You're also trying to loophole your way out of a Power Limitation actually being, you know, limiting. Don: "Gimme back my bag!"
3. Maybe go back to the top of the Power Modifications section and somehow punch up a little harder how we have finished talking about how Teleportation exists as "standard installation", now we are going to discuss customizations?
4. Go to private world, insert pictures of Portal Corps gate, give them alt text et cetera, insert up top where they ought to be.
2. Go back to the Self Only limitation. Insert a demonstration, probably starring Loki Orinson, who points out that he can stick his arms through the straps of the black medical bag belonging to Baby Brother Donald Blake Merasson. He can wear it like a baby sling. So he can teleport away with it, right? No. Not even if it is under the weight limit. "But I'm wearing it!" You're also trying to loophole your way out of a Power Limitation actually being, you know, limiting. Don: "Gimme back my bag!"
3. Maybe go back to the top of the Power Modifications section and somehow punch up a little harder how we have finished talking about how Teleportation exists as "standard installation", now we are going to discuss customizations?
4. Go to private world, insert pictures of Portal Corps gate, give them alt text et cetera, insert up top where they ought to be.
Teleportation
Link: Will
Range: +7
Type: Auto/Dice
Base
Cost: 50
Cost: 50
Factor Cost: 4
Power Bonus Options!
+1 to Factor Cost above
+2 to Factor Cost above
Power Limitation Options!
-2 to Factor Cost above
-1 to Factor Cost above
-1 to Factor Cost above
-1 to Factor Cost above
-1 to -3 to Factor Cost above
-1 to Factor Cost above
Special Effects!
No change to Factor Cost above
No change to Factor Cost above
No change to Factor Cost above
No change to Factor Cost above
Effect Duration
Instantaneous
Range
Start within 0 AP of Power user, travel with Power User up to APs+7
Applied Restriction
Every teleport after the first within a single combat phase of 4 seconds will count as a "Multi-Attack" instead of a Move.
Further Reading
This Travel Power can substitute for Strength in an Opposed Check to break free of physical restraints. Refer to Grappling Attack for a detailed guide to the game mechanics of resolving an attempt to break free.
This Travel Power, since it is a Mental Power, can substitute for Will in an Opposed Check to break free of mental restraints. Refer to the article for the mental power in question, for a detailed guide to the game mechanics -- most of which will be very similar to the way breaking free of a physical Grappling Attack works.
Power Modifications
While this Power has plenty of customization available as a Character defines how they experience the standard model of Teleportation, some will prefer to make important adjustments. If they are important enough to be noted on the character sheet, their names come from this list:
We will have to come back to this one -- it is a House Rule under development.
To sum up: Adversarial Focus will be a Power Bonus that replaces the base Power with a hostile Usable on Others attack version. If a Character wants to be able to teleport themselves (with or without passengers) and also to teleport another without the Power User moving as part of the teleportation, they will need to purchase the Teleportation Power twice: once without this Bonus, once with it.Fatiguing
For some Power Users, teleportation is exhausting. The Power can be used to move up to full APs of weight or mass, from within 10 feet of the starting point up to full APs+7 of distance away, but when the Power User arrives they have to make a separate Action Check to check for fatigue. Any RAPs that result from this Fatiguing Action Check will apply to the Power User's Current Mind, not to the Current APs of Teleportation! These RAPs cannot be bought off with Last Ditch Defense, and a Recovery Check cannot be made until at least 1 hour after the final RAP of Teleportation Fatigue or any other Mental damage is acquired.
Fuzzy Elf
The nature of this Power User's ability implies access to another physical space, which "leaks" into the starting location as the Power User departs and again upon arrival at the destination to create a special effect not necessarily universal to all Teleportation Power Uses. This might be a particle residue, an odor, a burst of light, a momentary energy pattern, a sharp or out-of-place signature sound. Other than serving as a potential information point for a Perception Check, the evidence of Transportation usage has no meaningful impact on the environment. It cannot cause an area to become more or less flammable, for example; it does not by its own nature harm anyone at either destination.
Glimmer Trail
The nature of this Power User's ability has the functional result of relocating the teleporter and all passengers from a starting point to a destination with no presence at any locations between. If Teleportation has this special effect, however, a barely perceptible trail of light specks seem to travel along a possible path from the starting point to the destination, making the journey in the same four second period as the Teleportation itself. Hops over a short distance create glimmering trails that a bystander might observe. Teleportation over a single mile would have the light specks move at a speed of nine hundred miles per hour -- to notice that is going to require the observer to either know where and when to look, or to have Superspeed.
Line of Sight
The Teleportation Power User must be able to see the destination to which they plan to teleport. They can use enhancements to the distance at which they can see, whether those are optical magnification Gadgets or a mirror, but they cannot teleport to a place they cannot directly perceive in realtime.
If the Power User attempts to use electronic images of a supposedly "live feed" camera transmission, they will be misplaced by half the APs of total distance between starting point and destination, and it will always be a displacement in the worst possible direction for the Power User's own goals.
Moving Day
The Range at the starting point for items and people that can teleport with the Power User increases to Normal: up to a distance equal to the APs of this Power.
The weight or mass restriction will not increase!
In the White Book, this special Power Bonus is instead labeled "can Teleport Targets In Normal Range", and adds only +1 to Factor Cost. We have increased the FC to +2. We also allow the teleporter to be much more adroit in their choice of what (or who) will come along with them. Teleportation can bring along one person within starting Range but not the person between that passenger and the teleporter!
Newton's Laws
This user of Teleportation is absolutely aware of the tendency for objects in motion to continue their motion. If they were moving in any way when they began the teleportation, they arrive at the destination still moving at that speed and in that direction.
Fun fact: Any person or thing on Planet Earth is in motion! All the time!
Further fun fact: Everything at one latitude on Planet Earth is moving at a different velocity, in a different direction, and may be under additional momentum effects based on elevation and tidal forces!
Not So Much
This Power User does not have the +7AP Bonus to Range. Their starting point and destination can be up to the APs of Teleportation Power in distance, nothing more.
OSHA
In addition to the mass/weight limitation of the standard Teleportation Power, this Power User is limited by their own personal Strength. A Character with Teleportation 8 APs (Limitation: OSHA) and Strength 5 APs can only transport 1500 lbs, or more likely 5 colleagues all crowded very close together.
This Limitation comes with a severity established when the Limitation was first applied to the Power. If a Teleportation-related Action Check die roll totals the value of the severity or less before using the Doubles law, Teleportation has burned out! Its AP value drops to 0 APs without transporting anyone anywhere. It cannot be used again until it has been Recovered.
Self Only
A Power User with this Limitation cannot transport passengers or additional materials. They can move only themselves and the negligible amount of weight on their person: less than 50 lbs total of weight, including clothes, armor, and any items loaded into pockets or maybe a backpack worn on the Power User. They cannot carry a pet petunia. They cannot carry a sack of loot. They cannot move Gadgets, Weapons, or Plot Devices unless those are worn so securely that they pay the increased Hero Point cost for "cannot be Taken Away in combat" and had their names switched to an all-capital-letters variation.
For example, I could not teleport Mindcraft's armor away from her!
commission for Jarissa by Chai
Mindcraft closeup by Jarissa Venters
Not if I'm already wearing it, no!
Visualization
this is about having a perfect mental picture, not like Line of Sight necessarily
For some Power Users, teleportation is exhausting. The Power can be used to move up to full APs of weight or mass, from within 10 feet of the starting point up to full APs+7 of distance away, but when the Power User arrives they have to make a separate Action Check to check for fatigue. Any RAPs that result from this Fatiguing Action Check will apply to the Power User's Current Mind, not to the Current APs of Teleportation! These RAPs cannot be bought off with Last Ditch Defense, and a Recovery Check cannot be made until at least 1 hour after the final RAP of Teleportation Fatigue or any other Mental damage is acquired.
Fuzzy Elf
The nature of this Power User's ability implies access to another physical space, which "leaks" into the starting location as the Power User departs and again upon arrival at the destination to create a special effect not necessarily universal to all Teleportation Power Uses. This might be a particle residue, an odor, a burst of light, a momentary energy pattern, a sharp or out-of-place signature sound. Other than serving as a potential information point for a Perception Check, the evidence of Transportation usage has no meaningful impact on the environment. It cannot cause an area to become more or less flammable, for example; it does not by its own nature harm anyone at either destination.
Glimmer Trail
The nature of this Power User's ability has the functional result of relocating the teleporter and all passengers from a starting point to a destination with no presence at any locations between. If Teleportation has this special effect, however, a barely perceptible trail of light specks seem to travel along a possible path from the starting point to the destination, making the journey in the same four second period as the Teleportation itself. Hops over a short distance create glimmering trails that a bystander might observe. Teleportation over a single mile would have the light specks move at a speed of nine hundred miles per hour -- to notice that is going to require the observer to either know where and when to look, or to have Superspeed.
Line of Sight
The Teleportation Power User must be able to see the destination to which they plan to teleport. They can use enhancements to the distance at which they can see, whether those are optical magnification Gadgets or a mirror, but they cannot teleport to a place they cannot directly perceive in realtime.
If the Power User attempts to use electronic images of a supposedly "live feed" camera transmission, they will be misplaced by half the APs of total distance between starting point and destination, and it will always be a displacement in the worst possible direction for the Power User's own goals.
Moving Day
The Range at the starting point for items and people that can teleport with the Power User increases to Normal: up to a distance equal to the APs of this Power.
The weight or mass restriction will not increase!
In the White Book, this special Power Bonus is instead labeled "can Teleport Targets In Normal Range", and adds only +1 to Factor Cost. We have increased the FC to +2. We also allow the teleporter to be much more adroit in their choice of what (or who) will come along with them. Teleportation can bring along one person within starting Range but not the person between that passenger and the teleporter!
Newton's Laws
This user of Teleportation is absolutely aware of the tendency for objects in motion to continue their motion. If they were moving in any way when they began the teleportation, they arrive at the destination still moving at that speed and in that direction.
Fun fact: Any person or thing on Planet Earth is in motion! All the time!
Further fun fact: Everything at one latitude on Planet Earth is moving at a different velocity, in a different direction, and may be under additional momentum effects based on elevation and tidal forces!
Not So Much
This Power User does not have the +7AP Bonus to Range. Their starting point and destination can be up to the APs of Teleportation Power in distance, nothing more.
OSHA
In addition to the mass/weight limitation of the standard Teleportation Power, this Power User is limited by their own personal Strength. A Character with Teleportation 8 APs (Limitation: OSHA) and Strength 5 APs can only transport 1500 lbs, or more likely 5 colleagues all crowded very close together.
This Limitation comes with a severity established when the Limitation was first applied to the Power. If a Teleportation-related Action Check die roll totals the value of the severity or less before using the Doubles law, Teleportation has burned out! Its AP value drops to 0 APs without transporting anyone anywhere. It cannot be used again until it has been Recovered.
Self Only
A Power User with this Limitation cannot transport passengers or additional materials. They can move only themselves and the negligible amount of weight on their person: less than 50 lbs total of weight, including clothes, armor, and any items loaded into pockets or maybe a backpack worn on the Power User. They cannot carry a pet petunia. They cannot carry a sack of loot. They cannot move Gadgets, Weapons, or Plot Devices unless those are worn so securely that they pay the increased Hero Point cost for "cannot be Taken Away in combat" and had their names switched to an all-capital-letters variation.
For example, I could not teleport Mindcraft's armor away from her!
commission for Jarissa by Chai
Mindcraft closeup by Jarissa Venters
Not if I'm already wearing it, no!
Visualization
this is about having a perfect mental picture, not like Line of Sight necessarily
Tales of Justice is a work of pure, unabashed fiction. In fact, it considers itself rather heroic and quite proud of itself. Names of characters, places, events, organizations, and locations are creations of the author's imagination for this fictitious setting. Some have been inspired by other sources, which will be credited at the top right of the article.
Permission is not granted to use this material to feed a so-called Artificial Intelligence chatbot.
Any resemblance to persons living, dead, or reanimated is coincidental. The opinions expressed are those of the characters and should not be confused with either of the authors, since the characters and authors tend to disagree a lot.
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Original CSS "Comic" theme comes from Oneriwien but has been adapted/modified and expanded by Kummer Wolfe
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