Serial Immortality
A character with this Power can suffer damage, get sick, age, and even die. None of it is permanent to the character, though. When the hero's body dies from any cause, the unique nature of his life-force enables it to transfer to a new body. He can also transfer some but not all of his Powers to the new body. The hero loses all Karma with the death of the old body.
There are 5 forms of Serial Immortality, each with a different means of rebirth and Power transferral. The player must choose 1 of these methods, either selecting for himself or letting the die decide.
Newborn: The body is that of an infant. The character can enter the body at any point from conception to birth. He is helpless until birth actually occurs. He can accelerate the body's physical development in order to induce birth and quickly regain physical maturity. The rate of accelerated development is a multiplier equal to the Power rank number. A Fb(20) rank ages twice as fast as normal, a Rm(30) rank ages 1 month for each day that passes, and a SZ(500) can age over a year for each real day.
Example: Avengers #200 revealed that Immortus' son Marcus had entered the Earth Dimension by way of an embryo he had implanted in Ms. Marvel's body. He was born within weeks of her discovering she was pregnant and grew into a seeming 20-year-old within a day of his birth.
Mental Powers are immediately transferred to the new body. Physical Powers are regained as the body matures. The Judge can decide how and when the Powers reappear. Powers that are derived externally or result from massive alterations of the hero's original form are not transferred. The hero will have to recover or recreate the source of these Powers in order to regain them.
Premade: The new body is a previously prepared clone or android body that was prepared specifically for this purpose. Such a body is already physically mature and in possession of the full range of the hero's Powers. It is completely mindless and rests in a comatose state until activated by the hero's lifeforce.
The knowledge of how to create these bodies can be learned by characters with Rm or better Reason, provided they are properly trained. Someone with Am Reason can figure it out for himself. A Laboratory or Medical Package of Am cost is required to create these bodies. Each body has a Rm cost. Magically created bodies require an equivalent Resource level.
If a premade body is unavailable at the time the old one dies, the lifeforce drifts in Limbo until such a body becomes available.
Re-animation: The life-force enters and revives a recently deceased but unmutilated corpse, preferably of the same species as the original body. The body must be reasonably intact, although the Power does include a single-use form of Self-healing that repairs the body and restarts bodily functions. The hero can not control which body he enters but rather is drawn to one in the following order of preference:- closest to old body
- most recently dead
- least severe damage
Mental Powers are immediately transferred. Most physical Powers are regained as the hero re-shapes the new body to accommodate the Powers' use. Powers that are external must be recovered or recreated. The amount of time needed to reshape the body is the number of days equal to 100 minus the Power rank number. If the corpse has intrinsic Powers, the hero gains the use of these upon re-animating the corpse. Such Powers are not transferred to subsequent bodies. The re-animated body regains full life within a day of the Power's use.
Spontaneous Creation: This is the most sociably acceptable form of Serial Immortality. The hero creates existing matter and energy into the flesh of a new body. The newly-created body is identical to the previous one and possesses all Powers except externally derived ones. Any Power that is in the hero's self-image can transfer. The time needed to create a new body is the number of days equal to 100 minus the Power rank number.
Parasite: This is the nastiest, least socially acceptable form of Serial Immortality. The character's life-force invades a living, physically mature body and overwhelms the original occupant's mind. Successful invasion is determined by pitting the Power rank against the would-be victim's Psyche. The invader must make a Power FEAT whose intensity is equal to the victim's Psyche. Failure means the invader must choose another victim. If the invasion succeeds, the original mind suffers 1 of 5 possible fates; the player must choose 1 that holds for all victims of this Power. There is an equal random chance for each.Subordination: The victim retains consciousness and individuality but loses all physical control. He is a prisoner in his own body.
Merger: The victim's mind is incorporated into the greater mind of the invader.
Comatose: The victim's mind is rendered unconscious for the duration of the invasion.
Obliteration: The victim's mind is completely destroyed.
Eviction: The victim's mind is driven out of his body and becomes a Free Spirit.
It is incredibly difficult to finally defeat an adversary with any form of Serial Immortality. The best the foe can normally hope for is to defeat the current body and then prepare for the next incarnation. It is possible to stop the infinite progression from body to body by preventing the hero from leaving his current body (suspended animation will do) or entering a new one (stranding the hero in intergalactic space is a good tactic). The life-force can be directly fought or even killed within the Limbo dimension.
Sometimes a character with this Power can be forced out of his current body without that body getting killed in the process. The Judge is free to decide what conditions apply in his campaign; suggested moans revolve around coercion or such Powers as Magic, Power Controls, Force Field vs. Hostiles, Summoning, and Exorcism. Such Powers must exceed the hero's Power rank by 2CS in order to forcibly evict the life-force from the body. If successful, the lifeforce is driven into Limbo or a new body in a more peaceful location. As for the now vacated body, the results vary with the form and variety of Serial Immortality:- Newborn: The body is now occupied by the innocent soul of a newborn infant, regardless of the body's physical age.
- Premade: "He's dead, Jim."
- Re-animation: "She's dead, Jim."
- Spontaneous Creation: The body reverts to its original materials.
- Parasite - Subordination: The victim awakens with full knowledge of his past plight.
- Parasite - Merger: The victim awakes but is temporarily schizoid due to lingering effects of the merger.
- Parasite - Comatose: The victim awakens with no knowledge of the intervening time.
- Parasite - Obliteration: "This one's dead, too."
- Parasite - Eviction: The body is comatose but will revive when the original mind rejoins the body.
The Nemesis is Exorcism.
Range: See Above.