If more than 50% of the character's hit points are used for overloading, he is afflicted by weakness and fatigue after the time limit of the effect run out. Speed and P.S. are cut by 25%, strength drops one level (supernatural becomes superhuman, superhuman becomes extraordinary, and extraordinary becomes normal), and he also loses a -2 on initiative and one melee action. Invulnerable characters also start to suffer 25% of the normal damage from attacks - some of their invulnerability goes away! If more than 75% of the hit points are used for overloading, the above penalties are suffered plus another -2 on all combat rolls (including initiative - becomes a -4 penalty), -10% on skill rolls, and the loss of another melee action. Using more than 90% of the hit points will double all penalties! Further, invulnerable characters suffer a full 50% of the normal damage from attacks! If the character goes all the way to zero hit points by overloading, he is in no danger of death. He is, however, unconcious for 1d4+2 hours and only a medical doctor can determine that he isn't dead. As soon as the character recovers enough hit points to get above the 50%, 75%, or 90% level, the penalties associated with the special hit point loss dissappear. Note that you do not include hit points lost to damage in the above. If a character has 30 hit points, suffers 14 hit points of damage from a hard blow, and then uses 15 to fuel a super- strong energy blast he is at 1 hit point (down to less than 10% of his hit point base) but suffers the penalties of 50% use (because the 90% of the hit points that are gone weren't used for overloading, just around 50% were). Note that in the weakened state it is easier to be killed.
Increase an Extraordinary Attribute: 1 hit point per +3 bonus, per melee. Thus, boosting one extraordinary attribute by +3 and another by +6 would cost 3 hit points per melee. Valid only for a person with supernatural or extraordinary attributes. Increase Speed: 2 hit points will boost the running or flying speed by 10 mph for one minute. Thus, 8 hit points could boost speed by 40 mph for one minute or by 10 mph for four minutes. Valid only for characters with super fast running or flying speeds. Increase Armor Rating: This is valid only for mutants with an armor rating, usually gained from super- soldier experiments or APS powers. Two hit points will give a +1 to A.R. for one melee. Increase Duration: Each hit point used can add a melee to the duration of a power that is measured in melees, or can add a minute to a power with a duration in minutes, etc. Thus, a power that can last for up to four melees could be extended to eight melees for 4 hit points, while a power that can be maintained for 20 minutes under normal use could be pushed to 25 minutes for 5 hit points. Increase Damage: Add +1 die (usually a 1d6) to the damage of an attack power, per hit point used (four hit point equals +4d6 damage bonus on one attack). The only limit is that the amount of bonus dice cannot exceed the amount of dice the player can normally rolls (can do double damage at most). For attacks that do 1d4x10 or 1d6x10 damage or anything similar, 3 hit points can instead give a +10 damage bonus (and the limit is half the maximum normal damage - 1d4x10 could have up to +20 added for 6 hit points and 1d6x10+30 could have up to +45 added for 15 hit points). An attack that is charged for extra damage suffers a -1 strike penalty per +4d6 or +20 or fraction thereof. That +45 damage bonus would impose a -3 strike penalty! This use of Overload is valid only for characters with some sort of damaging power, whether a minor power or part of a major one. Also see the more focused power of Damage Overloading. Increase Range: One hit point grants a +20% range bonus on visual ranges, and the effect lasts for one minute (limit of +100%). For effect powers, the range of effect or the area of the effect (two different concepts, mind you) can be boosted by +10% per hit point, for one melee (again, a +100% limit). One hit point will also give a +10% bonus to the range of attack powers, but the effect is instantaneous (lasts only for one attack and has no increase limit!) As usual this is possible only for characters with super vision, energy expulsion, ranged attack, or distance effect powers. Increase Senses: For 1 hit point, the accuracy of a heightened sense can be increased by +5% per hit point per melee, or instead the can be boosted by 20% per hit point per melee (limit of +100%). Applicable only for a character with heightened senses or Radar. Increase Numbers: Useful for powers like controlling animals or people. For animal control powers, 20% more animals than normal can be affected for 3 hit points per hour. If the person can control, say, 2d4 or 2d6 animals roll the dice and then add in the extra percentage. For more powerful abilities (like controlling people, creating giant insects, or creating more duplicates than normally possible) the cost is 5 hit points per extra, per hour. In the case of Control Others, paying this cost allows the character to control a person and have it not count towards the save throw bonus - paying 10 hit points to control five people would be possible, and none would get the bonus to break free given for each four people controlled. Increase/Decrease Amount: In the case of Growth, Shrink, and Shapechanger, the player might desire to be a bit taller or smaller than normal. At the cost of one hit point per 10% change, per melee, it is possible to push the abilities beyond the norm. A person who can normally shrink to the size of a minute speck could pay 20 hit points per melee round, decrease their size by 200% (effectively becoming a third of the size of a minute speck) and possibly enter the body of a target! A giant character could push his height to three times the normal amount (!!!) for that same cost.
These are weapons like short bows, shuriken, throwing axes, and throwing knives. The weapon has 20% more range than a normal weapon of its type, is +1 to strike when thrown (+1 more at levels four and eight), and cannot be held for much more than five seconds without dissapating. Whatever form the weapon takes (player's choice) it does 1d6 damage, plus 1d6 more at levels three, six, and nine. These weapons can be used to parry, but no bonus is granted. One melee action is needed to create and throw the weapon, not one to create and a second to use. At level three, it is possible to generate two weapons and fire/ throw them at two different targets. However, the character cannot defend himself when doing so and the total strike bonus is divided evenly between both strike rolls.
These are swords, hand axes, machetes, staves, maces, and all manner of melee weapons. The hand weapon is +1 to strike and parry (for whips, change parry to entangle), +1 more to each at levels three and seven, in addition to whatever weapon proficiency bonuses the character might have. It requires one melee action to generate and can last for up to three minutes per level of experience before requiring re- creation. Others cannot use the weapon. The damage is pretty standard for all weapons, doing 3d6 damage plus 1d6 at levels three, six, and nine. Disarming attacks are useless against the character's weapon (it can never be knocked away) but entanglement is a valid option. Of course, if the weapon is entangled the character can let it vanish and create a new one.
This power allows a character to bond a a hand weapon (such as a knife, small axe, small throwing weapon, short sword, or even a handgun) to his unique bio- signature. This allows him to summon the weapon (or object) at will, teleporting it into his hand - this act requires one melee action. Bonding a weapon permanently costs one hit point and requires ten minutes of concentration (a first level character is assumed to already have one special, bonded weapon whose cost has already been paid). The character can bond one object at level one, plus one more at levels three, six, and nine. Bonding to a new weapon is of course possible if the limit is already possessed, but the cost must be paid again and an old bonded weapon returns to normal. Magic and psionic weapons can be bonded, but the bonding costs two hit points instead of one and the character may or may not be able to use any paranormal powers of such weapons if they require I.S.P.tm or P.P.E.tm The summoning only works if the weapon is in range. The range is 900ft +100ft per level of experience. If it is in range, the character can sense it - and if it isn't in range, the character knows what direction it is in and about how far away. The maximum weight of the weapon is equal to one pound per two points of M.E. (an M.E. of 10 means you can handle up to five pounds, enough for the average handgun). The weapon can be loaned to, taken away, or disarmed by others and snatched right back via the character's minor teleportation power. If the weapon is summoned as the character's first act of a melee the character gains a +2 bonus on initiative for that melee, due to the element of surprise. The weapon is also +1 to strike and parry (for whips change the parry to an entangle, for guns change the bonus to +1 to strike aimed and wild), but only in the hands of the character. It is also physically altered such that it can parry weapons wielded by beings with supernatural strength with no danger of breaking, and can parry mega- damagetm attacks.