8 Methods of Modern Fiction Empowerment that isn't just "Cybernetics" or "Magic"

Maybe private security for the world's elites, your order of John Wick assassins, tacticool operators who you want to be slightly more plausible then action-movie heroes in how they survive and thrive in multiple firefights? You want your only-slightly paranormal investigators to be able to survive battles with the crocodile-sewer-people? How do you do that in a way that fits a modern setting and is something you could work towards a player character, or something that a secret organization or high-level group could give to their field agents to give them some kind of edge? 

This question was also somewhat built out of the idea of adding new enemy types for modern shooter games; similar to something like FEAR or a Call of Duty game. Obviously enemy types can be programmed to do whatever you want; but the silhouette and general weapons, tactics, animations, etc. are all going to be similar. Real life humans can't take a face full of bullets. So barring equipment, some fantastical upgrades are needed. So what's the answer to add some enemy variety and power levels in modern stuff? The answer always seems to be cybernetics or magic. But that's boring. Let's think of some more.

Quick note: The table is also roughly in order of unrealistic and gonzo. You can use smaller dice to represent more "grounded" methods based on your desired level of "fantasy" in modern fantasy-fiction. 

8 Methods of Modern Fantasy Empowerment
[1] It's all in the genes. Some people are just born better then others, sorry! But even if you aren't especially gifted; modern technology has allowed you to gain some of these gifts with platelet-rich blood transfusions on a twice monthly basis. If you miss one? You not only lose your powers, but probably get anemia or something.

[2] Tantric meditation, mindfulness, mental discipline, and lucid dreaming techniques to gain complete and total control of the subconscious, instinct, and psyche. Lets you resist pain & torture, not flinch even around explosions, control body heat, hold your breath for extended periods, lessen bleeding or the effects of shock, control your heart rate, and so on. May include references to Tibetan Monks.

[3] Far eastern herbal supplements, raw milk, and probiotics cultured from a private stash. Grants poison resistance, rapid healing, improved strength and so on. None of the active ingredients are present in any performance enhancing drugs nor can be traced to any specific chemical; but something about the whole is greater then the sum of its parts. You think this one is bullshit until you actually eat probiotic yogurts in real life regularly and maybe go walk outside for an hour holy shit it's crazy. Also I'm including "kung fu but actually works in a real fight and is overpowered" here even if it's a little basic. Like not punches and kicks but Jason Borne stuff, you get it.

[4] Memetic patterns and symbols stitched onto clothing or even tattooed on that do things like draw the eyes towards or away to act as natural stealth, induce vertigo from the swirling designs, cause double vision and loss of accuracy, or disperse impact force or heat along the ink acting as a sort of armor mesh drawn directly on skin or clothing. It's not magic because it triggers an instinctual psychosomatic response, or something. I didn't make up the vertigo tattoo idea unfortunately; I stole it from this shitty YA kid's book I haven't thought about in like 15 years.

[5] Vibrational attunement and bioresonance frequencies. Using specialized headphones or internal body-speakers to emit a performance enhancing sound that grants addition strength, healing, focus, recovery, etc. To avoid it just being a consequence of the noise itself, and therefore usable by anyone, it requires some kind of attunement or acclimation process to maximize the effects. Maybe instead of requiring a device to make the sound you can train your vocal chords to make a "hum" that mimics the effects, or even create a sort of loud drone that weakens nearby organisms but you remain unaffected. 

[6] Additional limbs grafted on, fully controlled, capable of using and handling more weapons at once and has much more weight to throw around in melee. People are born like this all the time actually so the only unrealistic part is being able to fully control these extra limbs and your "secret agent badass" is going to be really obvious going about in public with a mass of flesh attached. You could also do this with just adding extra internal organs or domesticated cancers for redundant hearts, extra lungs for more oxygen, grafted liver for poison immunity or whatever but I like the flesh monster approach more.

[7] Spliced with animal DNA. You can take this in as legit or hackneyed as you want. Like everything from "I spliced myself with cheetah DNA so I can run fast even though my legs haven't mutated and I don't have any of the same spinal or square-cube considerations" or some other trite shit like that or you could just have straight up furries. Despite an excuse for the fetish potential I just think it'd be cool if you were playing Max Payne or SWAT 4 or something and a bad guy walked up to you able to handle the recoil of a full-auto shotgun in one hand while clawing at you with the other and he's got weird skin patches all over his body and then your realize he's been genetically modified with a fucking leopard just so he can do crime better.

[8] Supercharged Bioelectric Field. Exposure to very special magnets (or just radiation) enhance and empower a person's bioelectric magnetic/energy field granting a small amount of psychokinetic control. This includes being able to levitate, minor shielding, discharging electrical shocks, and moving objects with ones mind. Basically just Control powers. Because it's using the body's innate magnetic field, only requires a high calorie diet to power and maintain. If too immersion breaking then may require implants to generate the field oh shit we're back at cybernetics again fuck

Player Skill Lockpicking

While running an experimental one/two/three shot dungeon crawler with some new players who had limited experience in TTRPGs; I decided to forgo normal game mechanics in favor of a more streamlined OSR-ish experience. No skills or classes, just basic character stats and most importantly, items. Starting as nobodies with limited starting gold; the players had to make tough choices early on like to enter the dungeon without armor in favor of healing items, balance encumbrance with how many specific tools they wanted to bring versus how likely those tools would actually need to be used, and a good range of ammunition or specific weapon types. Without telling them anything and simply presenting the list of equipment they could buy with starting gold, they correctly deduced that multiple damage types may be useful and light sources would be crucial. We even got some character and group progression via purchasing new items in the shop after each delve and loot found in the dungeon. However one tool a player absolutely made sure to get and tell the others not to waste their gold on? The humble lockpick.

Now this came up to be quite a challenge for me. At the time, I didn't really know how I wanted the lockpicking to work. With no Rogue or Thief class, no desire to add a skill system, I didn't really consider using roll-under-Dex even though it work fine simply because of the annoyance of a player wanting to lockpick but being "stat deficient" to do it, plus the added annoyance and simple fact that the players would never interface with the mechanic anyway; since you aren't lockpicking in combat it's always just going to be the highest Dex character performing the check. This is boring. Given my desire to run a fairly OSR experience; involving feeling around for traps and pressure plates, careful "puzzles" that can be solved by studying the environment, and rewarding out of the box thinking; I decided to say screw it and make lockpicking an interactive and simulated element. Like the rest of the "game".

Player Skill Lockpicking
When you approach a locked door or chest, you will be told its basic size, shape, and other features. Some locks can't be picked (like gemstone locks or magic "metal shape in hole" locks, though you could probably make a forgery in town with a chance to break upon use and seal you in as soon as you pass through the opening), but for a traditional pin-and-tumbler lock you can pick it. Also we know these locks were not invented in the roughly middle age time period and technology most fantasy games are set in but Ward locks are boring so ignore that and roll with it.

Whenever you want to pick a lock, you have to say what tools you're using for the job. Lockpickers (usually) only have two hands, and most locks only have enough space for two tools inside at a time anyway. These tools are in order from most common and inexpensive, to specialized and only able to be made by master craftsmen (or as loot).

Tension Wrench is a thin but much stronger and broad piece of metal meant to go in along with a lockpick to help turn the lock once the tumblers are past the shear line. While it can't pick the lock on its own; allows you to open heavy duty locks (which regular lockpicks are too thin to turn) and also prevents your lockpick from breaking when trying to turn a rusted lock. I'm not sure if it should help with springlocks because I think the idea of having to find a more interesting solution (like putting a tiny stick inside to be broken instead) is more interesting. 

Probes are the second most basic tool. They are a long and very thin metal rod with no hook on the end. They are primarily used for getting information on the lock and "scouting" it out before attempting any moves to open it. You can probably bend a probe into a lockpick or vice-versa with a hammer but this has a chance to break it (1 in 6) and the resulting pick or probe will be structurally much weaker and have a 2 in 6 chance to break every time it's used or always breaks in a springlock mechanism.

When a probe is inserted into a lock, you can get a hint on what is inside. This is based on the noise and sensation it gives.

Under tension or has some give : Tension lock. Will snap your lockpick if you try to open it by itself; the intended key is beefier and won't break apart. You can prevent this by putting a thicker piece of metal in the lock (like a thin stiletto, or a specialized tension wrench)

Strange groves along the side : Carvings inside the lock that line up into a magic symbol or rune when fully rotated into open position. Can be any spell, but usually Fireball or a Death spell for a Wizard more serious about his security. 

Hard roughness and a "Click" : Tiny lodestone hidden inside the mechanism. When you pick this lock, will snag onto one of your tools randomly and won't let go. That tool is just stuck in the lock under extreme magnetic force; breaking if you try to yank it free. Intended for a nonmetallic key.

Hard smoothness and a "Click" : Tiny crystal prism inside the lock. Likely has a spell enchanted to activate when the lock is opened without the cancelling crystal on the end of the intended wizard key. Or maybe shoots a laser.

Hard smoothness, a "click", and faint light inside the lock : Mirror magic light trap. Harder to detect then others, maybe the probe feels different since it hits a flat smooth surface instead of bouncing off the facets of the crystal. 100% shoots a laser when opened. You can destroy this by breaking it; you can hit it hard with a probe (but has a 1 in 6 chance to break the probe off in the lock) or with a Springpick.

Hard and a "Tink" :  Glass vial of acid or poison; acid vial melts the lock into uselessness making it unable to be picked again, and probably takes your pick too. Pretty similar to below; but I think the cork is more interesting.

Soft with some give : Cork of a tiny bottle. Maybe used in special locks that release a rust cloud to degrade all your equipment (but the lock's mechanisms are all made of bismuth or something so they're immune) or a cloud of gas erupts from the lock-hole when you try to open it without its intended key.

Something flutters and/or light chiming sounds : Noise trap. Musical chimes may attract monsters, or ghosts. You can stuff a small amount of clay or cloth down the lock with a probe to silence this trap.

Soft with a rustling sound : Dried grasses and tinder for a firetrap. Don't ask how the lock still functions with that deep in; there's like a special metal compartment or something. If you turn the lock without the intended key, it sparks the tinder and lights the chest on fire or maybe explodes.

Light tugging or muffled swearing : There's a gremlin in the lock. Gremlins love to break things and cause misfortune; and was probably waiting to grind down the teeth of the intended key to this lock the next time it got put in. You can beat it by putting in a fake key in the lock (will confuse it with the real one and bite it) or by shoving a very thin and small sword into the lock to kill the little bastard.

Wet and Squishy : That's a mimic, dude. Extra comedy points if the chest starts purring and getting really warm while you're playing around in there. It only attacks when you stop.

Lockpicks are the basic tool required to pick all locks. They are long and thin metal rods with a hook on the end to pick tumblers. Standard lockpicks require an exploration turn to open a regular lock. If a random encounter is rolled, you have a 1 in 6 chance to break the lock off when ambushed in the surprise. Broken lockpicks get stuck in the lock and mean you can't pick it open anymore; meaning you'll either have to bust it open (making noise) or leave it for later. You can have a 1 in 6 chance to break a lockpick when you attempt opening a rusty lock (locks in wet places) from the friction and rust. Calling every standard lockpick a "lockpick" seems a bit basic but in the way that players are incentivized to carry more then one of them; you can still have the fantasy of a master thief with a whole set of tools. 

Rakes are lockpicks with a wave pattern, used to hit multiple tumblers at once. Unlike in real life and within the confines of this simplistic setup, we'll be changing their function to let you pick simple locks in a hurry (no longer need to roll a wandering monster check) OR prevent you from breaking a lockpick or losing progress when surprised by monsters while picking. Also if inserted in the lockpick of a complex, clockwork clock that resets its pins every turn; prevents this.

Moon Picks are shaped like a thin crescent moon on the end of the pick. Used to catch poison needle traps that come out of the keyhole and prevent them from stabbing you in the hand and cut any strings inside the lock. You can also use it as a double headed lockpick in a pinch, but will be bent out of shape more likely then a regular lockpick (2 in 6 chance).

Ward Picks have a smooth metal circle at the far end of the tip inscribed with a holy word or magic symbol of luck. Used to disarm or weaken magical curses and effect when the chest is opened. Much be inside the lock when the lockpicking is finished; cancels out one spell level or die worth of effect.

Corkscrew Pick is a type of lockpick with a sharp corkscrew on the end. Designed to counter Labyrinth locks; a type of lock with multiple false tunnels and tumblers that only the real key is supposed to spin into the correct position. Trying to pick one without a Corkscrew pick increases the time it takes to open this lock to an hour instead of a 10 minute turn. They can also be used to unplug the cork of a bottle trap, letting you siphon out or expose the solution to air gently before it can be fully activated by picking the lock open. In the thieves cant, they are called "Duck Dicks".

Pincers are not lockpicks but are extremely useful for the trade. Let you pull out small objects from the lock you're working on like tiny venomous spiders, flammable tinder, or broken lockpick parts.

Eye Pick is a long and thin pick with a very small metal loop on the end. Used to put things inside the lock like a small bit of cotton (to soak up oils or poisons), pull a tiny switch inside, or tie a string to it and place inside the lock to act as a wick for a fuse (to explode the trap at a safe distance) or maybe a metal wire put inside and redirected so you can ground an electric trap before it zaps you.

Windup Pick is a lockpick with a thin but flat edge that can be wound up and thrust forward to deliver a small kick of force. Can be used to wind up clocks with timers in them (which will activate a nasty trap if not finished in time), break a mirror or a weakened glass vial inside a lock, or knock out an annoying gremlin living in a lock without killing it (like if you want it to keep protecting the lock for future people).

Lightning Pick is like a little miniature lightning rod with a glass vial at the opposite end of the handle. If you prick an electrical trap with this, it gets stored inside and prevents it from zapping you when you pick the lock. You can also use it as a probe. However once it has a charge, it will discharge the next time it touches someone; so if you disarm a lock with it you could stab somebody like a little mini wand of Shocking Grasp or something like that; always dealing a minimum damage roll.

Water Picks are little metal straws with a tube attached and a crank. You have to connected the tube to a water source and have an extra set of hands to turn the crank and squirt the liquid inside. Can be used to wash out fine powders (that would get kicked up by picking the lock, usually choking or poison), or retard fire/explosive traps and reduce the maximum amount of damage they can deal to 1 per die (ie; 4d6 becomes 4 damage). However will ruin anything inside the chest that can't handle water (paintings, spell scrolls, spices, gunpowder, etc.) and create a huge puddle that would make any electrical traps that discharge hit everybody in the room instead of just the guy picking the lock. Usually more trouble then its worth to carry around. 

Crystal Picks have a tiny magic crystal on the end; used specifically for countering magical traps or curses placed on the lock. Can also deliver a light charge more discretely then a lantern. Crystal picks are unlike other picks in that they have limited uses before needing to be mystically recharged again. Crystal picks are very fragile however and any trap that breaks picks or has a chance to destroy your tools will always break the crystal on the end and spoil the magic.

Skeleton Keys can open any type of lock. That sounds extremely cool but that doesn't mean they can't be broken, protect you from traps or curses, won't lock in place, etc. You have other tools for that.

The main idea behind this system is to add interesting decisions and a more engaging system for lockpicking. While each individual part is simple; combining them creates some interesting mechanics. It also creates a slight bit more engagement in the world and connects what the players are doing in the setting. I just thematically really like the idea of a player bringing along extra lockpicks and tension wrenches when exploring the Dwarven Tombs, since their locks are going to be heavy duty and prone to being mechanically trapped, where as ancient Elvish strongholds might have thin gold plated locks that seem easy to open but are layered in magical wards and traps. In the same way you should have to bring different weapons to deal with different enemies; you should have to bring different tools to pick different locks. 

You can also still have the classic masterwork lock you can't pick (by making an alternate form of lock, like a magic gemstone) to gate progression, or the slightly artificial super-hard lock you aren't supposed to pick now and come back to later but instead of it being because your characters progress their skills instead you progress your equipment. I also quite like the idea of this implied setting's "master locks" to not be one lock at all but multiple build in to a single item; like a chest with three keyholes requiring all three of its original shared owners to be present with their plot-important keys to open up; this way you can still include locks that take longer to open, but done with an in-universe reason (multiple keys) instead of an arbitrary "this lock is extra complex".

TF2 Mercenary Generator

In this episode of "I thought I wrote this blogpost like 5 times over the past decade this blog has been around", I could have sworn I made this before. But time and time again I realize I never actually did. Time to amend that.

Team Fortress Mercenary Generator -
 (Roll Once per category unless otherwise stated)

Combat Role (Roll 1d10)
[1] Reconnaissance
[2] Mobile Infantry
[3] Shock-Troop / Terror Weapon
[4] Demolition
[5] Heavy Weapons
[6] Combat-Engineering
[7] Medic
[8] Long Range Specialist
[9] Espionage
[10] New Role. Roll again for general category (1-3 Offensive, 4-6 Defensive, 7-9 Support, 10 for an irregular) If you can't think of anything, make a Generalist.

Primary Weapon (Roll 1d8)
[1] Explosive
[2] Projectile (Non-Explosive)
[3] Shotgun
[4] Rifle
[5] Machine Gun
[6] Liquid / Gas "Thrower" Weapon
[7] Actually, their Melee is their main weapon. No primary weapon, secondary for ranged.
[8] Crucial gadget, tool, or piece of apparel that defines their Role. Roll 1d6 on the Secondary table for their main weapon they actually use to fight with.

Secondary Weapon (Roll 1d8)
[1] Sidearm (Pistol)
[2] Shotgun
[3] SMG
[4] Throwable
[5] Explosive
[6] Mobility or Escape Tool that accents their Role.
[7] Deployable Trap / Gadget that accents their Role.
[8] Roll again on Primary table and they just straight up get another one; because their "role" is to be overpowered and they just get two strong weapons, like Demoman.

Melee Weapon (Roll 1d6)
[1] Non-combat tool related to their Role
[2] Non-combat tool related to their Nationality
[3] Weapon related or often paired to their Role
[4] Traditional/Historical/Iconic weapon related to their Nationality
[5] Scavenged or Improvised
[6] Impracticable or Gag Weapon (or bare hands)

Class Gameplay Gimmick (Roll 1d8)
[1] Have innate immunity to something related to their role; like fall damage, drowning, fire, etc.
[2] Have an innate ability related to movement. (Double jump, slide, going prone, etc.)
[3] Tanky class or has an innate mechanic improving survivability.
[4] Have a powerful ability related to their role that has to charge up. Ubercharge.
[5] MAIN weapon has a very useful and/or interesting alt-fire.
[6] Class has to gather a resource for optimal play. (Metal, organs, heads, etc.)
[7] One or more of their items have a strong sci-fi twist. "Spytech".
[8] Has a subclass-defining unlockable for one of their weapon slots that totally changes how the class plays. If you can't think of anything, then they have a really funny taunt kill instead.

Art @Valve obviously. Check out the released concept art if you haven't!

Nationality / Stereotype Table (Roll 1d50)
[1] Russian.
[2] Unknown, but seem rich & old money. Transatlantic accent, like an old movie.
[3] American. Southern. (Cowboy)
[4] American. Southern. (Cajun or Redneck)
[5] American. Boston.
[6] American. Chicago.
[7] American. Northern; Minnesota accent.
[8] American. New Yorker.
[9] American. California. Hippy.
[10] Native American. Yes with the "How" and the feather. Stereotypical but it's TF2.
[11] Canadian.
[12] Quebecois. Their only joke is getting offended by being called Canadian.
[13] Mexican. Desperado type. Poncho and sombrero, all that.
[14] Mexican. The exotic, passionate revolutionary type.
[15] Hawaiian.
[16] British. Posh.
[17] British. Cockney or "chav".
[18] Welsh. Their only joke is nobody understands what they're saying.
[19] Scottish.
[20] Irish, but mystical and Celtic and might be a Tuatha fairy person.
[21] Irish, but normal.
[22] French.
[23] Spanish.
[24] German.
[25] Italian; roll 1d2 for spicy meatball type or cool mafioso type.
[26] Swiss. Only joke is "not so neutral now, huh?"
[27] Brazilian.
[28] Polish.
[29] Finnish or other European micronation. Only joke; "nobody knows my country exists"
[30] Turkish.
[31] Egyptian. Has the kohl eyepaint and everything.
[32] Romani or "Gypsy" stereotype
[33] Arabic.
[34] Israeli.
[35] Greek.
[36] Sicilian.
[37] North African. 
[38] South African.
[39] Indian.
[40] Chinese. If you roll this a second time make the 2nd Merc from Taiwan for the banter.
[41] Australian.
[42] Mongolian. Has to have at least one taunt with throat singing.
[43] Korean. Might be North Korean spy.
[44] Japanese.
[45] Japanese. "Honorable Samurai" type and still pissed at WW2 given TF2's time period.
[46] Malaysia, Papua New Guinea or Sentinelese Islander. Only joke is cannibal.
[47] Swedish.
[48] Norwegian.
[49] Danish.
[50] Roll on Special Background Table.

Special Background Table (Roll 1d8)
[1] From the lost underwater nation of New Zealand.
[2] Wears a total body-concealing suit related to their role. True origin is a mystery.
[3] Unfrozen caveman. Go unga bunga. (or maybe the last yeti Saxon missed?)
[4] Very obvious vampire.
[5] Not so obvious time traveler. Gets confused about the TF2 time period, reveals future events in voicelines, but in a subtle and cool way. Spytech is just "normaltech" to them.
[6] Roll again on the Nationality table, but with a widely unexpected race, age, or phenotype.
[7] Roll again on the Nationality table, but this time... they're a woman!!! If you were planning on doing female Mercs anyway, then add some kind of disability like being blind, prosthetic, etc. instead.
[8] Roll again on the Nationality table, but they are even more stereotypical and have an even more outrageous accent. Are actually a spy for another Mercenary company undercover; poorly.

Character Personality Gimmick (Roll 1d10)
[1] Has a stable family, romantic interest, and mentally healthy. Extremely weird for TF2 Mercs.
[2] Has a little pet related to their Nationality or Role, carried in a special cage or pocket.
[3] Has a budding bromance with another class.
[4] Has an unhealthy obsession & rivalry with another class.
[5] Has a verbal tic or stutter or talk with a robot voice or whatever.
[6] Complains about an old war wound or is heavily scarred/burned.
[7] Has an artistic hobby unrelated to their work. Flipflops between terrible and really good.
[8] Extra substance abuse OR irrational phobia of something dumb like clowns or axe-wielding headless horsemen with flaming pumpkins for a head.
[9] Class gameplay gimmick is integral to the character's background, lore, or motivation. For example, their abilities are from a cursed bloodline, or they invented their Spytech gadget, etc.
[10] Obsessed with a food item related to their Nationality or cultural background. One of their unlocks is that food item, which provides appropriate buffs or benefits.

Example Generations- 

Russian Medic with Shotgun primary, explosive secondary,  Cossack shashka melee sword. Spytech gimmick. Phobia of spiders(?)
Throws healing bombs that blow up to burst heal. Radiation shotgun unlockable called "Kovarex Process" which shoots healing radiation bullets in a vertical spread sci-fi gun. Pinecone jelly unlockable which grants overheal and regular heal at the same time but much less. Stock shotgun. Klevet warhammer deals crit damage to those launched by healing bombs into the air like a reverse Market Gardener?

Chicagoan Long-Range Specialist with explosive primary, throwable secondary, gag weapon (pizza spatula), with an innate movement ability. Obsessed with foot (pizza) pizza unlockable regens.
Mortar bomber with metal implants in spine, can go into ragdoll when in the air to become immune to fall damage and fly faster ie; mortar jumping. Secondary undecided, probably an M79.

Cannibal Mobile-Infantry with Melee primary, mobility secondary, and impracticable/gag-weapon/barehands melee, spytech gimmick. Food obsession gimmick is people of course lmao.
Flies around with techno claws that rend opponents and give dash attacks like Psylocke from Marvel Rivals. Focus as "infantry" means frontline so probably needs some lifesteal or something but the dash and some free overheal can help.

Unknown Armies- Algomancer

In the mystic underground; Magick changes with the times. Because of the nature of post-modern magick being hand in hand with popular culture and the human experience, the changes that come upon society are reflected back into the world of the weird. For Adept schools, people who are obsessed with a singular magickal idea or paradox and can gain power from it, this can hit especially hard. With today's social media and total divorcement from legacy broadcast; the Videomancers have completed lost the power of their paradox and have all but died out. Instead of watching television bringing millions of people together; content has become custom coded, algorithmically sorted, served fresh on demand all of the time. This has regressed Videomancy into a minor school, if not spelled its total extinction. But surely this new massive social change has brought magickal potential? 

Not sure of image source; but it may very appropriately
be @GetClearSpace

Algomancers interface with social media and content-distribution platforms not merely for entertainment, or as an addiction, but as a spiritual pursuit. To define themselves based on the characters, media, and advice found on bite sized, vacant content. Algomancers usually use phones; but they don't have to. You could use a laptop, a pair of google glasses; but whatever it is it must have a screen and must have an internet connection. The ultimate paradox of the Algomancer is that everything you consume is custom tailored for you; based on what you watch. You're trying to find enlightenment by looking in a mirror. If you don't have it already; then you can't get out more then what you put in.

Minor Charge- Spend a day or significant portion of a day scrolling and consuming content. Breaks can be taken, but no more then 10 or 15 minutes between sessions of screen time. Mechanically, you can't do anything useful for that day such as working a 9-5 job or training a useful skill.
Significant Charge- Make a serious personal decision based on the recommendations or attitudes found in the Algorithm. Such as removing your child from public school after watching a clip about how public schools are actually made to make people stupid, or taking an expensive trip to northern Iran to investigate claims of giants in the mountains. These decisions can ultimately be good in the long term, but all are ultimately risks based on nothing.
Major Charge- Become immortalized in a viral internet clip. You do not necessarily have to the one to record it, but you do have to see it after it is posted, watching very cuts and edits of your 15 minutes of fame. The ultimate form of self recursion; wasting time viewing yourself through an algorithm designed to engage you.

Taboo
The Algomancer cannot ever take advice or face-value social cues from others in person. This doesn't work for obvious things; you can't say "Hey you should keep breathing" and by continuing to breathe they don't taboo, but it does mean that they can't change their plans or learn valuable skills from others. They cannot seek psychological therapy; as they are supposed to be self sufficient from the "nourishment" of their recursive algorithm. You can still make use of any service bought and paid for (like medical care or buying the services of mercenaries, etc.), but accepting medical advice from your friend who is a trained combat medic will cause you to taboo. You'd much rather scroll on your phone to search how to apply a tourniquet while bleeding from a gunshot wound, just to make sure you're "doing it the right way".

Blast
This school's blast works a little different. Instead of performing direct damage, this school curses the target to be beset by fear or anxiety inducing content on social media, tailored for them. This causes minor stress to their gauges; such as short videos which expose their political beliefs at being defeated or inferior, or if they had a rough time in high school their highschool bullies and social-superiors suddenly reach out with their beautiful wife and house, etc. You can avoid this blast by shunning all "devices" for a day for a Minor Blast or a Week for a Significant one.

Algomancer Adept Spells
Wake the Sleep (1 Minor Charge)
This spell can only be cast when you first wake up; either from sleep or the state of being unconscious. If you stare at your phone for at least an hour, you regain +1 hit point or increase your daily healing by a small amount. If you ever perform this spell; the next time you wake up without using it, you cease natural healing for the rest of that entire week.

Search Function (1 Minor Charge)
When presented with any large number of items you can spend a charge to "search" them incredibly fast and find exactly which one you were looking for. This is only Magickally enhanced luck; it does not provide new knowledge or discernment beyond what you already would have had, this simply allows you to compress a longer search time into a shorter one, finding whatever you were looking for in just two or three attempts. For example, instead of spending an hour searching the library for a rare manuscript you know the name of, it only takes you 10 minutes. If you wouldn't be able to find the item within a reasonable human amount of time (massive archive that would take days to search, it's hidden too well, details are too fine for you to discern, etc.) then this spell does nothing and the charge is not returned.

Armor of Ignorance (2 Minor charges)
If you are suddenly thrust into a dangerous situation, such as a mass shooting incident, a natural disaster, or a riot, you can walk while scrolling on your phone. You are given an aura of protection. No crossfiring bullets, random falling objects, or floods of water while strike you; instead miraculously avoiding your path. This effect doesn't work against people trying to target you specifically, but random criminals or muggers will just skip their eyes right over you. This effect ends the moment you stop scrolling to take in your surroundings.

Tunnel Vision (3 Minor Charges)
You can curse anyone whose social media profile you have open to suddenly be afflicted with a sense of visual vertigo. They can only see and react to things directly in front of them, causing panic and stress, and cutting out all of their peripheral vision. This could be extremely useful in a fight or to sneak past someone, but you have to find an online account of theirs in some fashion to use it.

Time to Forget (X Minor or Significant Charge cost)
By standing behind someone and motioning on the back of their skull, you can make them forget events that transpired recently, going back in a linear fashion. Each "event" is a single instance but covers roughly 10 minutes of time or an hour for unimportant or if the person was on "autopilot", such as working at a job or scrolling a phone themselves. You can also remove any stress gathered during this time as they forget these. Every Algomancer has a different motion; from swipping right with their thumb, to scrolling up with an index finger for vertical video feeds, to flicking their middle finger back and forth on the back of your skull like a mouse wheel, scrolling your memories away.

If the target is willingly trying to forget something, this costs Minor charges. If you are using this against someone's will, it costs Significant charges instead. You cannot use this ability on yourself.

Thumb of Power (2 Significant Charges)
You can swipe your thumb across any device to activate, hack, or bypass it; like an electronic security door or time-lock safe, or hotwiring a car. This device must have at least one electronic component; meaning old school padlocks or complex wooden puzzle boxes are totally unfathomable to your abilities.

Filter the Information (3 Significant Charges)
You gain the ability to read and possess a massive amount of information in a short amount of time. For example, flipping through the pages of a book as fast as you can, or rapidly scanning your eyes over a police databank and absorbing all of that knowledge immediately. You have perfect photographic memory and recall and can perfectly replicate the knowledge found within no matter how complex. You can perfectly write down or sketch what you've seen with an uncanny, savant-like level of accuracy. You forget all of this information in exactly eight minutes.

Turning of the Wheel (4 + X Significant Charges)
An obscure Algomancer spell; seemingly invented by an Adept with a high degree of intelligence and craftiness that continued to absorb media while engrossed in crafts or tinkering. This spell requires a specially prepared music box and wind up key, and magickally alters the properties of the box to make it capable of holding its "charge" and playing music for up to a maximum wind up of two hours.

When this spell is cast, any amount of magical charges can be "stored" within the music box, and then it is wound up for the first time. As long as the music box remains wound and continues to play, the charges remain safely within. This means it must be round up occasionally (at least once every 2 hours) by being hand cranked; no machine or automated system can accomplish this, the key must be removed and replaced by human hands each time. Even if the owner of a magic charge breaks taboo, has their magick stolen, or even if some other catastrophe happens; the charges remain safely inside the box. If the box ever fully expends its charge and stops playing, all charges within are lost permanently. Otherwise, you can open the box and willfully regain the charges within as long as you can charge it.

This spell lasts for as long as you keep the box going. Any magic user can store their charges within, regardless of school or type, and regain them even if they break taboo afterwards. The charges stored within could be Minor, Significant, or even Major; which remain safe as long as you keep the box playing.

MAJOR CHARGE EFFECTS
Insert a new idea, piece of disinformation, or useful tip into the public unconscious. People are free to ignore or build upon this idea, but it will worm its way into the public sphere forever and be impossible to fully get rid of. This can also be used to improve an existing idea, causing it to reach more people.

Force every single screen in the entire world to play a single video clip for exactly 60 seconds.

Some Algomancers also speak of the power for one to fully embrace their madness; retreating into themselves and disappearing into a world entirely made only for them. This self recursive mirror world would be an Otherspace with an almost Godlike entity ruling it; but only able to recognize and act upon its own vision and ideas endlessly repeated until the end of the world.

First Aid & Healing System but with Resident Evil Herbs instead

So while recently running a campaign for newer players; I came onto a problem my own First Aid Rules caused. Truthfully, it's been something I've thought about for a while. I really like the healing system; allowing players to do plenty of out-of-combat healing allows you to keep individual combats dangerous (since you can balance them around being vs a full strength party instead of an HP tax), gives scholarly/smart characters something beneficial to do during downtime besides magic stuff, adds risk-reward to the time management minigame (you can heal during an exploration turn, but you will get a wandering monster roll- if you get a random encounter, you may lose more health/resources then you'd gain from the break, so it's always a balancing act), and finally improve the resource-management depth of the game. 

I've used the healing system in multiple dungeon crawls and it hasn't really upset the balance as much as I once thought; PCs can still die, and making a tactical retreat out of the dungeon once you get enough treasure is still a priority given the strict time pressure I like to add to the game. But the different types of healing items I was never quite satisfied with. I never found the players actually debating what kinds of items to bring with, no make the strategic decision to prioritize certain items over others. The idea of bandages being the best and most useful (as well as most "realistic") stuck out constantly. To simplify this system somewhat for a group of newer players, and as an experiment, I changed it so simple bandages were the primary healing item. This felt like it fit the fiction and was simple and easy to understand. Almost immediately, the players began trying to abuse it a bit. While I like the idea of player skill being used to stock up on supplies or improvise useful items in a dungeon was appealing and something I approved it, it completely killed the careful planning aspect and the limited starting gold the players were given to buy equipment, torches, healing items, and so forth.

Side note; I had more thoughts on this basic system, which I decided to outline in this small post.

After just one session of them tearing up every single piece of clothing to make an endless supply of improvised bandages, I already had enough. Then it hit me, just make it healing herbs instead.

Healing Herbs (from Resident Evil)
Healing herbs fulfill the function of bandages (as being a "general purpose" healing item), but with the exclusivity of being something you can't easily scavenge from anywhere. You could still have them found out on an adventure, such as in a dungeon or in the wilderness, but these would be more rare and selective. Maybe even something your Druid or Ranger types can get a bonus to search for. That's a fun mechanic to come out of the concept. It also doesn't deny you to use a more case-sensitive uses for things like improvised healing items or "puzzles" for the players to solve; using bandages for any context specific deep wounds that drain your Hit-Points over time. Plus it also solves a very small issue I had in both games where it came up; explaining to players that you treating the wound may not in fiction actually magically "heal" it, but for the purposes of the game, the wound is cleaned and bandaged and "healed" for purposes of hit points. It's a small issue, but enough that I feel healing herbs would solve, since magical herbs that make wounds less severe is very simple to understand, and could be easily explained as actual accelerated natural healing, making these small breaks in verisimilitude less important.

And on top of all that, it also solves the minor issue of healing items (potions specifically, but bandages fall under this too) of being something that doesn't expire or can be stockpiled. Something complained about before, with other solutions too; but in this case, herbs eventually dry up and go bad! Everyone knows this inherently, especially once you pluck them from the ground and carry them around, so it puts a time pressure on their use. You wanna be the guy carrying around a bunch of potted plant healing herbs with you so they stay healthy until you need them? Bam, instant character concept. Another added benefit? They aren't too mystical or magical like a limited use healing wand or whatever for players to wonder why they can buy them in preparation for an adventure. In the same way you head to the general store to buy rope, the bowyer to buy arrows, and the herbalist for healing herbs.

Another reason why I like the idea? You can make different herbs do different thing; you can just straight up steal it from Resident Evil.

Healing Herbs Rules
Require an exploration turn (10 minutes) to prepare and apply an herb. Herbs are applied to wounds, or eaten. You can combine multiple herbs in a single application to a maximum of 3.

Green Herbs heal 1d6 hit points per Green Herb.
Yellow Herbs restores 1 point of any damaged attribute. (Or +1 Max HP if your attributes are all ok)
Blue Herbs remove poisons you are suffering from, or grants you an one extra save against the effect. If it's not the type of poison cured by "mortal" means, it delays its onset by one hour. (Or alternatively; ignores the healing negative from Aggravated Wounds?)
Red Herbs double the numerical value of any other herb used with it, but does nothing on its own. Burning Red Herb might scare away ghosts. Trying to use two Red Herbs at once will probably make you have a seizure (or grant +1 AC temporarily or something, up to you)

Note: Normally red herbs make a green herb into a full heal, but making it so you can pick and choose what effects you want to boost, from making poison take longer to harm you or restoring attributes, might be more interesting. If you want to make Red Herbs an actual full heal, then be my guest, appropriately priced it isn't that much different then just stacking a bunch of Green Herbs anyway. At least this way you can maximize the value of different curative effects.

I like to imagine different healers (and adventurers) have their own methods of using healing herbs. Primitives throw them into a campfire and just rawdog the smoke into their lungs. If you're healing yourself, chew it up and spit it on the wound. Wizards smoke them in a big hookah. Motherly types add them into a pot with her stew. Horsemen put them in a feed bag and chew on them while watching down a hallway for the telltale yellow eyes of a goblin sneaking up on the party while they take a short rest. If you play a goblin, he probably smokes it in a little crack pipe; fun stuff like that? That's free roleplaying.

Dirt Simple First Aid

Whenever you are in a dungeon, out in the wilderness, or in an adventure location, you can take a short rest (exploration turn) to perform various actions. One of these is healing.

In order to heal another party member, you must expend bandages (or healing herbs) to heal them. You heal them 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier and the healing item is consumed. Your character can also be trained in the arts of healing, either as a class feature or as training that can be purchased in downtime (similar to weapon training, or studying for new spells). Every time you train your healing, you can increase the amount you heal by +1.

Certain hazards, rusted blade-traps, the undead, and complex injuries become aggravated. This means that the injury deals its normal Hit-Points effect of damage, but any healing roll made to heal that character is now made at a minus, and subtracts the amount you heal with your healing action by that amount. For example, a triangular bayonet is very difficult to stitch up, and has a aggravated wound value of -3, the touch of a Wight would be -7. This means that attempting to heal it while unskilled can actually make it worse. (This acts as an incentive to have dedicated healing-focused characters to be able to safely restore health, and reduce healing effectiveness overall).

Additionally, certain items like healing potions and food heal when consumed, which do not trigger aggravated wounds. Regular rations consumed on a short rest restore +1 Hit-Points. This means that even if you're cursed and burned with acids and all other sorts of shit, you can still recover a little bit of HP in a safe if time-inefficient way.

This system is the trimmed down version of this.

Blaster Colors by Noble Gases

Art @Nick Gindraux

I've always been real curious about how blasters from Star Wars are supposed to work. I think they're probably one of the most staple and iconic sci-fi weapons (besides maybe the lightsaber); works as a perfect general energy weapon gun replacer.

But I always felt the element of what color or the exact explanation of how the bolts work was somewhat lacking.  Red for the common or normal bolts, green for good ones, blue for ionized for use against bots, etc. I don't care, I don't know shit about Star Wars, sorry.

Obviously it doesn't matter, given its a movie or whatever, but I like to think of their implementation in setting if you wanted to copy them for something else. This suddenly gave me an idea.

Blaster Colors by Noble Gas
The color of a blaster bolt is based on whatever noble gas is used to fill it; after all, they are energized plasma bolts of gas, so the same principles of neon lights apply here. Pure gases are usually used by matter of convenience and because it looks cooler, even though you could realistically get almost any color by combining them.

Why use noble gases instead of a more common gas? Simple; they don't react to things. This makes them ideal for blaster ammunition, as they won't suddenly oxidize the inside of the gun barrel or try to molecular-bond with each other while being charged.

Now you may think that this means each gas-color is really unique and has some really specific function, but no, I actually think it's cooler if they don't. Instead, their molecular mass is the most important aspect, and greatly influences their properties like flight speed, accuracy, how much heat it produces, and how much energy from the firing mechanism they can store. The more energy is applied to the bolt, the stronger its heat and explosive effects will be.

Helium bolts (yellow) are super lightweight, and as such fly the fastest and are extremely accurate, but do almost no damage. At low power settings they're ideal for training and target shooting; getting hit by one is like a spitball. At high power, they scatter the molecules too fast to be of much explosive use, but rapidly pushing out air can still knock lightweight objects out of the air, meaning they're used for sport shooting and shooting down fast moving targets like drones or small animals for game hunting without destroying the meat or pelt. Continuous beam style blasters also use this because it generates the least waste heat; you can use these for your mining lasers.

Xenon bolts are the opposite, ultra-heavy atomically and slow, most effected by gravity and wind resistance giving them a slight spread, but are very powerful. The blue bolts are synonymous with stun bolts used at low power settings, which is like getting slapped with a ton of wet blankets, but are so slow a skilled human might actually be able to dodge these with a head start and a diving leap. At high power settings? Become explosive and blow the fuck out of fortifications and used against heavily armored vehicles and orbital bombardment; being more synonymous with artillery. Use these for your blaster grenade launchers.

The colors in-between are on this spectrum; Neon (red) are fast and accurate enough to be used for sniping and low power enough to be used for handheld weapons without melting the gun in your hands or blowing a hole through the inside hull of a ship. White-Blue Krypton bolts are used for heavily armored targets and vehicles who might be too fast for a Xenon bolt to hit easily, like aircraft or spaceships. Argon bolts are right in the middle, being a perfect purple middle ground that's most used by scouts, raiders, and player-characters since they have no idea if they're going to be shooting at regular people or a rancor and need options.

In D&D terms? Blasters probably do like 4d6 damage or something. But maybe;

Gas	To-Hit Bonus	Damage Bonus	Color
Helium	+2	-4	Yellow-Orange
Neon	+1	-2	Red
Argon	0	0	Purple
Krypton	-1	+2	White-Blue
Xenon	-2	+4	Blue

Also the colors go top to bottom in order for resolving who hits first. So if two people shoot each other at the same time, the person with the lighter gas hits the other first and throws off their aim and wins the duel.