The Flux

Characters have a Quantum score that allows them to Inhabit skills, abilities, and powers from other dimensions. Every time a character uses this power, they gain Paradox which can result in a Catastrophe if their roll fails. Characters can also gain Paradox by openly and blatantly contradicting the reality of their current world or altering it in any significant manner. Characters can reduce their Paradox score by Forgetting their time spent traveling the multiverse or details of the multiverse itself. When a Quantum roll fails, instead of their action failing and the character gaining a looming Catastrophe the Game Mediator can allow their action to succeed, but at the cost of a Slippage. Slippages are things that don't belong in the current reality and can cause Paradox to build up if the character remains in its presence.

Every character starts with a Quantum score of 1 which gives them a very limited ability to interact with the multiverse. With Quantum, characters can draw from skills and talents they have in other dimensions as well as powers and abilities. In other words, a samurai from Old Japan can reach into his Quantum and draw skills from a world where he is a spy working for a covert organization known as Olympus 7. Or, a Blooded Ven noble can cross the borders to draw upon abilities from where he is a cat protecting humans from monsters they can’t see.

Quantum provides each character with a few little advantages in this new environment.

Shift

Whenever characters switch between dimensions their genetic code "scrambles" slightly. The higher their Quantum levels the more dramatic the effects are. Whenever a character changes dimensions they may modify a number of things on their character sheets equal to their Quantum score. If they have a Quantum of 3, they can change three things on the character sheet. They can add, subtract, switch or otherwise alter their character sheets, the exact changes should be discussed with the Game Mediator as every game is different and different rules need special considerations.

Inhabit

Characters can reach across the boundaries of the universe to pull memories and abilities from other versions of themselves. Knowledge a character has in another world may prove useful in their current world.

When a character wants to Inhabit a skill or ability from another world, they roll a number of six-sided dice equal to their Quantum Score alongside a number of six-sided dice equal to their Paradox score. Quantum dice are added together separately from Paradox dice and then the two numbers are compared.

If their Quantum total is greater than or equal to their Paradox total then the character successfully draws upon the ability they were channeling from their other self. Their Paradox rating also increased by a point, as the multiverse only tolerates these intrusions for so long...

Because a character is literally breaking the rules of reality to accomplish this goal, if they succeed in their Quantum roll, they succeed in their action roll as well. The Game Mediator narrates the outcome of the roll, as usual, factoring the outside powers into the description.

If their Paradox score is greater than their Quantum score the character's reach exceeds their grasp and the cosmos rebounds upon them. Reality doesn’t like to be broken. And it reacts in very violent ways. This is called Paradox. For more details on these situations and their outcomes, see the Paradox section below.

Contradictions

Sometimes, a character wants to summon an ability or skill that’s so far beyond the rules of the current world that it creates terrible contradictions. A private eye throwing fireballs. A medieval monk building suspension bridges. Those kinds of things.

Whenever a character uses Inhabit to bring an ability or skill that is grossly inappropriate to the current reality, the multiverse takes notice.

If there is not a plausible explanation for the character's actions within the framework of their current dimension's reality, the character gains an additional point of Paradox regardless of the outcome of the Inhabit action.

Characters do not start with any points of Paradox, they have a clean slate... for now.

Every world has its own rules. When those rules are broken, the world notices and attempts to fix the problem. The fix is getting rid of the source of the problem... the characters. This self-healing is called Paradox.

Paradox occurs when the world notices its reality being broken. Characters gain one point of Paradox when:

• Successfully using a skill, talent, power, or ability from another world.

• Openly and blatantly contradicting the reality of their current world.

• Altering the current world in any significant manner.

• Being in the very presence of a Slippage.

Gaining Paradox doesn't carry with it any immediate risk, but the more Paradox a character has the harder time they have reaching across the boundaries of worlds and the higher the risk of failure.

Whenever a character attempts to use their Quantum to Inhabit a skill, talent, power, or ability from another dimension and their Paradox result is greater than their Quantum result (See Quantum: Inhabit for more details) their current reality hits back. This is called a Catastrophe and is a Game Mediators open license to throw stuff at the character.

Catastrophe

The mechanical scope of a Catastrophe is left for the Game Mediator to decide, again every game is different and different rules need special considerations. The Catastrophe should carry a mechanical weight as well as a narrative one. The loss of Hit or Sanity Points is often the most appropriate. In systems with complications, drawbacks, or flaws the character may receive a new one. Or the character may lose something like an irreplaceable piece of equipment or even a character trait.

Narratively, Paradox can come in many forms. A car wreck. A rope snaps while they climb a tall wall. A bomb going off at the very last moment. Losing the one thing that gave the world any meaning at all. In short, Paradox is the world’s effort to get rid of the offending character, once and for all.

Generally, the world tries to remove the cause of its suffering as soon as possible but Paradox does not have to occur immediately. The world can bide its time for the best opportunity to get rid of the character. That may be a moment after they fail an Inhabit roll, it may be an hour later, a day, a month, or a year. Most worlds are long-lived and can wait for the characters to be careless.

After the Catastrophe, their Paradox goes back down to zero.

Forgetting

Quantum allows a character to hold onto their identity when as they slide between worlds... But Paradox wants them to forget. At the moment of Catastrophe, the characters have an opportunity to strengthen their Quantum by giving the multiverse what it wants; them forgetting it exists.

The player and Game Meditor work together to determine what the character forgets about their time spent traveling the multiverse or even details of the multiverse itself. The higher the character's Quantum the more impactful the lost memory should be. Gaining a second or third point of Quantum could mean forgetting something small, like which dimension they originally came from. Gaining a fourth or fifth point should be something more significant to the character like forgetting people they love or their reasons for traversing the multiverse in the first place. Gaining a sixth or more should result in serious memory loss for the character, up to and possibly complete amnesia.

Forgetting is always up to the player. They can always decide to remember everything and retain their current Quantum score. They won't get more powerful, but they will always remember.

Slippage

Some characters don't like taking personal responsibility for their actions, and when those characters are confronted with a Catastrophe the Game Mediator can offer them a Slippage. They get what they want and, instead, the world around them has to suffer.

After a Quantum Inhabit roll fails, instead of their action failing and the character gaining a looming Catastrophe the Game Mediator can allow their action to succeed. The character gets what they want, their Paradox does not reset, and they face no personal consequences for their failed dice roll. They have reached beyond the limits of their current reality to bring over whatever skill, talent, power, or ability they wanted. They also bring over a Slippage.

Slippages are things that don't belong in the current reality. A Slippage can be a creature like a vampire, a lake monster, or a cybernetic assassin. It could be an item like a magic scroll, heirloom katana, or Panzer VIII Maus super-heavy tank. A Slippage can even be a whole location like a kung-fu monastery, a rat-infested alleyway, or an entire data center. This is dangerous on two fronts. First, there is something in the current world that does not belong there. A physically manifested Paradox. Walking contradictions capable of things that make no sense in the current world. Second, there is something missing from the Slippage's former reality. A hole where they should be something. A distinct and unexplained void that can unravel those around it with its absence.

Whenever a character shares a scene with a Slippage they gain a point of Paradox. The longer they remain in its presence the more Paradox they will gain. Eventually, the multiverse will correct itself and destroy the Slippage... and anything around it just to be safe.