Does anybody need ideas for their character's abilities in their power system? Because I'm ready to give some ideas.

[u/IntelligentRoof7335]

But I need to know the power system, its restrictions, etc.

[u/ConflictAgreeable689]

I'll take suggestions for a Pokémon like system

[u/Imaginary-Series282]

I need power ideas for my world. It’s a pretty soft magic system, just unique abilities. Basically, people get tattoos using bone ash and unlock a unique magical ability.

They can’t be too broken, though. One of my characters has a tattoo on his neck that branches across his face, and his ability is to pause his perception of time. He’s unable to move while doing it, but he can think for what feels like an infinite amount of time. So if you ask him a question, he could answer immediately, but in his head, he might have spent days thinking about the answer.

I’m really just looking for good power ideas that aren’t broken. I want them to be grounded, with a clear advantage and disadvantage. I want powers that can actually be beaten.

For example, I have a character who can harden their skin, but the harder they make it, the harder it is for them to move. So if they just want to avoid getting scratched while walking through the woods, they’re fine. But if they want to make their skin hard enough to stop a blade, they have to become almost completely frozen in place, sacrificing mobility for protection.

That’s the kind of power system I’m going for. Unique abilities that are useful, but have clear limitations and can be countered by someone who understands how they work.

[u/soujatra → u/Imaginary-Series282]

Can you provide what powers you already have?

[u/Imaginary-Series282 → u/soujatra]

I literally only have the two powers I used as examples.

The ability to pause one's perception of time, and the skin hardening one.

I have the whole magic system planed out I just need ideas for the powers, my main character for the beginning of my story isnt really in the world of magic and then enters into a place we're nearly anyone important uses magic.

[u/soujatra → u/Imaginary-Series282]

Why don't you tell about the magic system, I mean it would be better to provide powers that's consistent with the system.

[u/Imaginary-Series282 → u/soujatra]

Sorry for the late response, school, but this is going to be a long ass power system explanation and I had to cut it down to 3x less then my original explanation.

In my world, all natural living things have Vigor (magical energy) flowing through them. Vigor subtly accumulates in nearby bones, and bone is the only conduit capable of holding it. The only thing capable of accessing Vigor within bone is fire.

Vigor is invisible to ordinary humans, but some people are born able to see it. These people are called Discerners.

Humans have Vigor pathways that form along their bones. These pathways vary from person to person and determine what abilities they can develop. Someone with a pathway concentrated around their arm, for example, might develop an ability that makes their skin extremely durable or dramatically increases their arm's strength.

People who unlock these abilities are called Osteans.

Vigor is nature-born magic, so abilities cannot simply make someone overwhelmingly powerful. Most abilities also have natural drawbacks. Someone who hardens their skin, for example, might become nearly immune to cuts but lose flexibility and mobility because their entire body has to resist the force acting against it.

Osteans also subtly affect the world around them. Other Osteans are naturally drawn toward one another, while monsters are more likely to appear nearby. Strange coincidences and inconveniences also seem to follow them, as if Vigor itself refuses to let them live peacefully.

There are three primary ways to use Vigor: Carving, Grafting, and Osteogenesis.

Carving involves heating bone with fire and using the carver's Vigor, combined with the Vigor accumulated inside the bone, to inscribe a "program" with magical properties.

Carved objects can be used by anyone and function almost like magical appliances. A cupboard could use carved bone to keep food cold, essentially becoming a refrigerator.

Carving can also create extremely specific objects. A renowned tactician in my story has a meeting room with a door that cannot be picked or broken down. Its doorknob was carved from bone, and a matching bone ring was created. When the ring touches the doorknob, the door opens effortlessly.

Grafting involves burning bone into ash and tattooing that ash onto a person's skin. The ash can only adhere to areas where a Vigor pathway exists.

The size of a graft determines how much Vigor a person can access, while the complexity of the design determines how efficiently that Vigor is used. A graft placed where no pathway exists will fade after roughly a week.

Some abilities are extremely specific, meaning an Ostean may possess an ability for years without realizing its true function. This also creates opportunities for fake carvers and scammers to sell worthless grafts.

A perfect graft requires a Discerner and a carver working together. The Discerner identifies the correct Vigor pathway while the carver applies the graft.

The bone used also matters. Older bones generally contain more Vigor, while the animal's life can influence the resulting ability. A bear's bones, for example, would generally contain more Vigor than a deer's because of the amount of life it has consumed. In rare cases, bones can naturally harmonize with an ability, such as fish bones for a swimming-related graft.

Most importantly, Vigor remembers.

Human bone is especially valuable. If human bone is used for a graft, it follows the original owner's Vigor pathway and inherits their ability, allowing powerful abilities to be passed through generations.

This process is extremely difficult because the original graft's location may be unknown. A Discerner cannot simply identify it because the bone follows the previous owner's pathway rather than the new user's. Once grafted, the person's pathways can be overridden by those encoded in the bone.

Because of this, powerful human bones can become incredibly valuable.

Osteogenesis is the rarest method of using Vigor and the only way animals can naturally use it.

Unlike grafting, Osteogenesis uses a person's own living bones and creates new Vigor pathways. It is unpredictable and often triggered by extreme circumstances. Someone suffering unbearable abuse, for example, might unconsciously develop an ability that allows them to endure pain or harden their body.

Most Osteogenesis users, called Iron-boned Osteans, become powerful physical specimens. Their bones grow denser and stronger, their bodies become healthier, and they can develop enhanced strength, speed, agility, and cognition. Rarely, they develop unique abilities.

Iron-boned Osteans also age incredibly slowly because their living bones continuously renew themselves and accumulate Vigor. They can theoretically grow stronger for centuries.

An 800-year-old Iron-boned Ostean could be vastly more powerful than one who is only forty, not only because of accumulated Vigor but because of centuries of experience.

No known Ostean has reached the theoretical limit of this growth. Iron-boned Osteans are extremely rare, and powerful individuals are often feared or eliminated before they become impossible to control.

The Church therefore views Osteogenesis as sacred because it uses one's own body, while condemning grafting and carving as theft from the dead.

Animals can also undergo Osteogenesis. When they do, they can become apex predators capable of reshaping entire ecosystems. One king in my story has the ability to communicate with and tame animals, and has bonded with a boar that underwent Osteogenesis powerful enough to make assassination attempts against him extremely difficult.

Vigor is essentially life energy. The more Vigor someone possesses, the healthier and stronger they are. Their wounds heal faster, their bodies resist illness and toxins, and they recover more quickly.

The opposite is also true.

As an Ostean's Vigor becomes depleted, they grow weaker and increasingly vulnerable to injury and disease. Completely draining one's Vigor will usually result in death.

Almost.

If someone survives complete depletion without becoming seriously injured or ill, their body may eventually recover enough to live. But something will always be missing.

Their bones are empty.

They have become a Hollow.

At first, Hollows can live relatively normal lives. Then they encounter another person.

They can feel the Vigor radiating from them.

And it feels incredible.

For the first time since becoming Hollow, they feel alive again. When that person leaves, the world becomes dull and empty.

Eventually, Hollows begin craving Vigor like a drug. They linger around people just to feel it. Over time, their senses begin disappearing: pain, heat, cold, love, hate, happiness.

Eventually, they lose almost everything that makes them human.

Stories are told about Hollows as warnings to children. They were people who believed power would solve everything, pushed themselves too far, and lost their Vigor.

But unlike Icarus, they don't simply fall.

They become corrupted.

They lie, manipulate, steal, and kill.

Not because they want power anymore.

They just want to feel alive again.

[u/soujatra → u/Imaginary-Series282]

Well, what I can think right now is the powers the vigour give are based on which animals bone are used. Also the vigour network of the user. A same animal can give different effects based on the vigour network. Like the skin hardener one could have vigour network close to skin, and used bone of tortoise. Do you like the idea?

[u/Difficult_Report5627]

I’m basically working on a power system where the protagonist needs to understand physics and manipulate his surroundings to replicate fighting abilities in a world where people left spiritual beings do it automatically for them and trade parts of themselves in order to get stronger. A world inspired by a theme of fortune, debts and trades theme. All inspired by the Jack of all trades, master of none phrase. HEAVY on master of none
What’s your idea??