COMMON FANTASY POWER SOURCES
Some ideas on making magic and powers more interesting by varying related spellcasting abilities and effects of local conditions. Maybe “Hard” increases the required spell slot (cantrips require first level slots, 1st level spells need 2nd level spell slots), while “Extreme” requires two higher slots. Or, each spell requires a spellcasting roll (1d20 + ability modifier + proficiency if with focus) of DC 5 for “Easy,” DC 15 for “Hard,” and DC 25 for “Extreme.”
Spellcasting Magic: Uses Charisma (spirits of sorcerers, bardic song, and pact warlocks), Intelligence (arcane formulae or wizards), or Wisdom (divine grace of clerics and paladins). Magic adapts to belief. Where the unseen is accepted, spellcasting thrives; where dismissed, its potency falters.
* Easy: Classic fantasy realms, mythic lands, places saturated with mana.
* Hard: Early modern worlds with lingering mysticism or magical traditions.
* Extreme: Highly rational, technological, or skeptical worlds; magic-hostile realities.
Primal Magic: Uses Wisdom (harmony with nature), as per druids and rangers. The more living, untamed ecology present, the easier Primal Magic flows. Concrete and circuitry choke it.
* Easy: Wilderness realms, deep forests, elemental wilds, druidic sanctuaries.
* Hard: Rural lands, farmland, small villages, lightly developed regions.
* Extreme: Urban centers, heavy industrial zones, sterile labs, worlds dominated by steel and silicon.
Psionics: Uses Charisma (presence), Intelligence (resonance), or Wisdom (will). Psionics respond to consciousness. Where minds are open, they flourish; where minds are dull, they strain.
* Easy: Astral, dream, psychic, or higher-dimensional realms.
* Hard: Postmodern settings with growing psychic awareness.
* Extreme: Mundane physical worlds, worlds dominated by materialism or psychic shielding technology.
TECH AND SCIENCE POWERS:
Android/Robot: Uses Intelligence (processing), Constitution (durability), or Dexterity (servo precision). Robots excel where circuitry thrives; fail where magic bends technology.
* Easy: High-tech sectors, repair bays, machine worlds, digital environments.
* Hard: Modern cities with reliable power and wireless networks.
* Extreme: Magic realms, primal wilds, EMP zones, or worlds lacking electromagnetic compatibility.
Powered Armor/Battlesuit: Uses Intelligence (systems mastery), Dexterity (maneuvering), or Strength (exosuit amplification). Suits thrive where there’s power, manufacturing, and stable physics. They break down in magic-heavy zones.
* Easy: High-tech or sci-fi realms with abundant energy cells and repair bays.
* Hard: Modern industrial worlds with electrical infrastructure.
* Extreme: Low-tech or magic-saturated realms where the suit malfunctions or lacks compatible materials.
Cybernetics/Bionics: Uses Constitution (bio-integration) or Intelligence (system interface). Cybernetics rely on stable electricity, clean environments, and predictable biology.
* Easy: Transhumanist futures, cyberpunk cities, medical-tech hubs.
* Hard: Modern worlds with hospitals and industrial fabrication.
* Extreme: Fantasy worlds or anti-tech regions where implants become unstable or rejected.
Weird Science: Uses Intelligence (invention), Dexterity (fine-tuning), or Charisma (mad-science bravado). Weird Science bends the rules, unless the rules shift beneath it.
* Easy: Pulp adventure realms, steampunk worlds, superscience dimensions.
* Hard: Any world with tools, labs, and improvisational materials.
* Extreme: Primitive, post-apocalyptic, or magic-dominant realms that disrupt physics.
BIOLOGICAL AND MUTATION POWERS
Mutations: Uses Constitution (adaptation), Charisma (energy projection), or Strength (physical alterations). Mutations thrive where energy is unstable or evolution is rapid.
* Easy: Post-apocalypse, radioactive zones, evolutionary hotspots.
* Hard: Modern worlds where mutation is a known phenomenon.
* Extreme: Fantastical or magical realms that override or suppress genetic expression.
Alien: Uses varies by species (typically Strength, Intelligence, or Charisma). Alien biology responds to physics, radiation, and cultural significance.
* Easy: Homeworld environments, planets with similar atmospheric/stellar conditions.
* Hard: Earth-like or generic habitable worlds.
* Extreme: Magic-heavy realms, wildly different gravity, toxic atmospheres, or dimensional shifts.
SUPERNATURAL, SPIRITUAL, EXTRATERRESTIAL POWERS
Faerie Magic: Uses Charisma (glamour), Wisdom (wild intuition), or Dexterity (quick-ritual finesse). Iron hinders faerie power; nature and liminality amplify it.
* Easy: Forest crossings, Feywild realms, moonlit glades, dreamlike environments.
* Hard: Rural lands with folklore, old pathways, ancient trees.
* Extreme: Steel cities, industrial wastelands, sterile environments, iron fortresses.
Corruption (Vampires, Demons, Undead): Uses Charisma (domination), Constitution (undeath), or Wisdom (dark insight). Corruption grows strongest in darkness and weakest under holy radiance.
* Easy: Shadow realms, necrotic zones, cursed lands, places of death or decay.
* Hard: Nighttime settlements, gothic cities, graveyards.
* Extreme: Sacred zones, holy temples, radiant realms, or places devoted to healing.
Runecasting: Uses Intelligence (symbolic precision), Wisdom (insight), or Strength (carving power). Runes work best on old materials with memory—stone, bone, metal.
* Easy: Ancient sites, ley lines, dwarven halls, historic stonework.
* Hard: Natural rock formations, old ruins, artisan workshops.
* Extreme: Plastic, concrete, and futuristic alloys that reject runic resonance.
Spirit Pact: Uses Charisma (bargaining), Wisdom (reverence), or Intelligence (ritual knowledge). Pacts depend on relationship; spirits grow faint in sterile or faithless places.
* Easy: Ancestral realms, spirit-haunted places, shamanic lands.
* Hard: Rural areas with strong tradition.
* Extreme: Technological or spiritually barren worlds where spirits are absent or distant.
Supernatural Heritage (Demigods, Chosen Bloodlines, Elemental Children):
Uses Charisma (inheritance of presence), Strength (mythic vigor), or Wisdom (ancestral memory). Heritage powers resonate with story and lineage, not physics.
* Easy: Mythic realms, divine planes, ancestral lands.
* Hard: Fantasy worlds or modern worlds with strong myths.
* Extreme: Anti-magic dimensions, high-tech antimatter universes.