Astral Form

Effect: Communication and ESP

Action: Standard (active)

Range: Extended

Duration: Continuous

Saving Throw: None

Cost: 5 points per rank

You can separate your astral form—your mind, spirit, or life force—from your physical body. Your body sinks into a coma while your astral form is free to move about on its own. Your astral form is invisible and incorporeal, immune to physical effects, and able to pass freely through material objects. Your astral form can move a distance away from your body based on your power rank on the Extended Range Table. You can move anywhere within your range instantly as a move action. Others can sense the presence of your astral form (a general sense of a presence or being watched) with a Notice check (DC 10 + Astral Form rank), unless you have the Subtle power feat (see the Power Feats section, following). Characters with Mental Awareness perceive your astral form as if you were visible unless it is completely Subtle. Your astral form has your normal visual, auditory, and mental senses. While in astral from, you can become visible at will and communicate with others. This is a mental effect, visible only to creatures with mental ability scores. You can apply the Selective feat to make your astral form visible and audible to only some people and not others. Sensory effects work normally on your astral form, and you can use your own mental sensory effects on the physical world while in astral form (but not other sensory effects unless they have the Affects Corporeal extra). Affects

Incorporeal traits work on your astral form and your own effects with the Affects Corporeal extra work on the physical world. Astral forms can affect each other with mental and Affects Incorporeal effects. They can also initiate mental grapples with each other (see Mental Grapple, M&M, page 157), but not with physical beings, unless the physical being uses an effect (like Mind Reading) to initiate the mental grapple. While your astral form is away, you are unaware of your physical body, although you immediately know if your body suffers any damage. You can return to your physical body at any time as a free action. Your astral

form must be adjacent to your body to do so (requiring a move action to return to where your body is, if you are away). If your astral form is prevented from

contacting your body in any way, you cannot return to it. So it’s possible for an Affects Incorporeal effect to “lock you out,” for example.

POWER FEATS

• Affects Insubstantial: Effects with this power feat can affect your astral form as if it were solid (see the Affects Insubstantial power feat description for details).

• Dimensional: Your astral form can travel to other dimensions: one other dimension with one application of this feat, a related group of dimensions with two, and any dimension in the setting with three.

• Selective: You can use this power feat to make your astral form selectively visible and audible to others; communicating with some, remaining undetectable to others.

• Subtle: One rank of this feat makes your astral form undetectable to those without mental senses, two ranks makes your astral form completely undetectable unless you choose to become so (temporarily discontinuing use of this power feat). Gamemasters may wish to carefully monitor completely Subtle Astral Forms

(given how useful they can be for spying and using mental effects at a distance). Note that the effects you use while in Astral Form are not necessarily Subtle and may be detected normally, unless they also have this power feat.

EXTRAS

• Action: It normally requires a standard action to separate your astral form from your physical body; this extra decreases that action, to a minimum of a free action.

• Affects Corporeal: Effects with this extra work normally on the physical world while you are in astral form. You need to apply Affects Corporeal to your Strength score or a Move Object effect to move physical objects or otherwise exert Strength while in astral form.

• Affects Others: You can take others with you into the astral plane, if they are willing and in contact with your physical body. If you can only send out the astral forms of others, but not your own, this is a +0 modifier. If you can bring one other person with you, it is a +1 modifier. Apply the Progression power feat to increase the number of people you can bring with you at the same time.

• Attack: You can force someone’s astral form out of their physical body! You must touch the target (unless you also apply the Range extra) and the target gets a Will saving throw (DC 10 + Astral Attack rank). Success means no effect while failure means the target’s astral form is forced out of their body and cannot return. The Astral Attack is a lasting effect, so the subject gets a new saving throw for each interval on the Time Table to return. The victim also has all the normal benefits of the Astral Form power and can use mental effects or Affects Corporeal powers on the physical world.

FLAWS

• Duration: Astral Form cannot be sustained or instant in duration. Concentration duration is a –1 flaw for it, limiting you to a single move action each round while in astral form, unless you make a Concentration check to maintain the power as a move action for the round, allowing you to take a standard

action. A failed check means you cannot take any actions that round as you maintain the stability of your astral body.

• Permanent: A Permanent Astral Form means you cannot return to your body at all! Your physical body remains comatose and must be cared for (hooked up to life support, preserved by life supporting magic, etc.). You are still affected by damage and other things that affect your body. Astral beings lacking a physical body altogether (a significant advantage) should take a Permanent Alternate Form rather than this power to reflect their nature.

DRAWBACKS

• Action: If it takes longer than a free action to reintegrate your astral form and your physical body, apply this drawback: 1 point for a full-round action, plus an additional point for each step up the Time Table required (one minute, five minutes, etc.); during the required time, your astral form resides inside your physical body and you remain in a deep trance, reintegrating your two selves. During this time you are unconscious and unable to act.