Power Sources

The River

The River (short for the River of Dream) is the power source for nearly all human supernatural powers in Vimary, from Synthesis to Technosmithing. As a Power Source, there are only a few requirements:

• The Awakened Advantage is required to purchase any Powers that have The River as their power source.
• Characters with the Dream Affinity Ability must purchase the Equilibrium custom stress track. Technosmithing does not require this.
• Powers that represent working with the The River must be associated with The River Power Source and used in conjunction with either the Dream or Technosmithing affinity ability.
• By default, characters may not have both the Dream and Technosmithing affinity ability at the same time.

Affinity Ability: Dream

The Dream Affinity Ability is used to activate the Synthesis power, as well as associated powers (renamed from Aspects to Rotes to avoid confusion).

Affinity Ability: Technosmithing

Technosmithing is used to activate a number of related Powers that tap into the humanity’s “Collective Memory” within the River of Dream.

The Seed

The Seed is the power source used for any abilities that have their root in the more visceral, physical, destructive side of reality. This includes all Z’bri powers. Powers which use The Seed as their Source have the following requirements:

• The Touched By the Seed Advantage is required to purchase any Powers that have The Seed as their power source.
• All characters that have Powers which use The Seed for their source must purchase the Equilibrium custom stress track.
• Powers that represent The Seed must be associated with The Seed Power Source and used in conjunction with the Sundering Affinity Ability.

Affinity Ability: Sundering

The Sundering Affinity Ability is used to activate all powers that have The Seed as a Power Source.

Equilibrium

Equilibrium is a non-renewable custom stress track. It represents how balanced the character is with regards to their spiritual and physical well-being.  It is determined as follows:

Willpower + Endurance + Affinity Abilities (Dream, Sundering, Technosmithing) + Other Modifiers

When a character takes a consequence from losing Equilibrium, this balance is disrupted. In the case of consequences taken while using a power with The River Power Source, they reflect becoming increasingly lost in the River of Dream. For powers with The Seed Power Source, consequences reflect becoming attached to the physical realm.

Equilibrium stress boxes clear at the end of the scene, but Consequences can only be removed through a combination of meditation, purification and ritual. For each consequence, the character must spend an amount of time and make a Willpower roll against a difficulty determined by the level of consequence.

Consequence	Time Required	Difficulty
Minor	10 minutes	2
Major	1 hour	4
Severe	4 hours	6
Extreme	12 hours	7

Sample Consequences

The River	The Seed
Minor Double Vision Do You Hear That? Who Touched Me? Attracts minor spirits Waking Dreams	Minor Stroke the furry wall Never felt this way that before
Major Large Reality Distortions The Crying of the Lost is Deafening (could be Severe) Haunted Attracts major spirits Walking Nightmares Can’t Sleep, They’ll Get Me Berserk rage	Major Can’t stop doing this Pain and pleasure, indivisible
Severe (P) Sleepwalker How Do I Get Out of Here Unable to Dream Thousand Mile Stare Sundered	Severe (P) Too much pleasure, too much pain Sensory overload
Extreme (P) Cannot Wake Up This Isn’t My Dream Anymore! Too Weak to Fight The Current	Extreme (P) Overtaken by the Seed Endless cycle of pleasure
Defeated (P) Swept Into the Sea of The Lost Lost With No Way Home	Defeated (P) Chained

Defeated results for backlash from a Power that uses The River as a power source mean that the character’s soul has been swept from their physical body into the River of Dream, losing all identity and knowledge of who they were. However, if the character cashes in all of their Fate Points it is possible for others to mount a rescue mission into the River of Dream and recover the character. Otherwise, the character’s physical body will die without being taken care of - once that happens, the character is permanently dead.

Defeated results for backlash from a Power that uses The Seed as a power source mean that the character has been locked in their physical form and is driven mad from the process.  The character becomes a mindless terror, unless another power is used to free it.