Effect: Array (Damage)
Action: Standard (active)
Range: Ranged
Duration: Instant
Saving Throw: Toughness
Cost: 2 points per rank
You can generate and project a mystical energy called “hellfire,” which appears flame-like, although it is not actual fire. You choose the color and style descriptors of your hellfire when you acquire this power. Typical examples include white, black, red, or green flames. Note that by simply changing the “Hell” descriptor, you can also change the feel of this power, making it into “Holy Fire” or “Mystic Fire,” for example. You can project a blast of hellfire, a Ranged Damage effect equal to your power rank (see the Blast power for details).
COUNTERING
Hellfire Control may be able to counter itself, depending on the circumstances (such as using one Hellfire blast to counter another). It could potentially counter some powers with divine or good descriptors as well. As the range of effects expands with additional Alternate Powers, Hellfire Control becomes more useful for countering certain other effects: the ability to generate heat, for example, may counter some cold-related powers, just as the ability to influence emotions may counter emotional powers.
Divine or holy powers may counter Hellfire Control and powers like Magic may be able to do the same, given Hellfire’s supernatural origins. At the GM’s discretion, certain especially “holy” or hallowed places may weaken or counter some effects of Hellfire Control.
ALTERNATE POWERS
Suitable Alternate Powers for a Hellfire Control Array include the following:
• Create Object: You can form solid objects out of hellfire. These things usually appear to be formed out of non-damaging flames. Common hellfire objects may include things like cages, solid barriers, or makeshift thrones and the like.
• Dazzle: A blazing burst of hellfire can temporarily blind a target (either due to the light or a baleful supernatural influence). A Burst Area Dazzle is also an option as well as a Hellfire Dazzle that specifically targets supernatural senses, such as Detect Evil or Magical Awareness.
• Emotion Control: You can “attune” hellfire to influence emotions, particularly despair, fear, and hate, although Hellfire with different descriptors may affect different emotions. The somewhat limited range of emotions isn’t sufficient for a power flaw; it’s just in-line with the power’s descriptors.
• Environmental Control: Your hellfire can affect the surrounding environment, typically creating extreme (one might say hellish) heat, although light and even
cold are possible alternatives (or additional Alternate Powers).
• Healing: Seemingly unusual for a hell-spawned power, some users of Hellfire possess the ability to heal, although this is more common for other descriptors like Holy Fire. You can use the Healing effect at your Hellfire Control rank.
• Nauseate: Rather than damage, hellfire might inflict terrible pain or nausea, either by touch (a Nauseate effect at your Hellfire Control rank) or at a distance, adding the Ranged extra and lowering the Nauseate effect’s rank to two-thirds of your Hellfire rank, unless other modifiers are applied to the Nauseate power configuration.
• Obscure: Your hellfire can block out a particular sense or senses, using supernatural darkness, sulfurous smoke, or perhaps even a “pall of evil” to obscure
special senses like Infernal or Magical Awareness or Detect Evil.
• Soul Blast: Your hellfire can “burn” a target’s mind or spirit rather than just the body; this is a Ranged Will Damage effect at two-thirds of your Hellfire Control rank.
• Strike: You can form melee weapons out of hellfire such as swords, whips, or tridents, inflicting damage equal to your power rank as a melee attack. Since this power costs 1 point per rank, but is limited by power level, the GM may allow such hellfire weapons to have extras like Penetrating.
• Summon Fiends: You can summon up infernal minions to serve you. These may be the imp or warrior demon archetypes (see M&M, page 233); either requires
Hellfire Control 6. A group of five such minions requires an additional 4 ranks, for a total of 10 (to apply Progression 2 and the Horde extra). Another typical sort of summoning is a flaming chariot drawn by two flying infernal horses. Use the horse archetype (see M&M, page 231), adding Flight 4 (Affects Others), Immunity 40 (fire damage, Fortitude effects), and Protection 3, for a total cost of 82 points. It requires 10 ranks of Hellfire Control to summon
this set of fiends (two rank 6 minions at once).
• Teleport: You can transport yourself (and perhaps others) in a burst of hellfire and brimstone, possibly traveling through some sort of hellish dimension to “bypass” normal space. At a default, this gives you Teleport equal to your Hellfire Control rank (more or less depending on any modifiers you choose to apply).
POWER FEATS
• Affects Insubstantial: Given its supernatural nature, this is a common power feat for Hellfire Control effects.
• Dimensional: This power feat is also fairly common for Hellfire Control, particularly at the second rank, allowing the power to extend into various fiendish or infernal dimensions (or from those dimensions to the setting’s home dimension).
• Incurable: Supernatural, infernal damage inflicted by Hellfire Control may be Incurable by normal powers.
• Subtle: Hellfire Control is rarely, if ever, Subtle in nature.
ASSOCIATED EFFECTS
• Hellfire Aura: Your can surround yourself with an aura of damaging hellfire, inflicting damage on anyone touching you (see the Energy Aura power for details).
• Hellfire Field: An aura of hellfire protects you against harm(see the Force Field power for details).
• Immunity: Hellfire-wielders may be immune to certain mortal concerns, having ranks of Immunity, ranging from Immunity to Hellfire (1 rank) to life support and more extensive Immunity like life support or Fortitude effects.
• Regeneration: Along with Hellfire Control, demonic or infernal powers may include Regeneration, particularly from lethal damage, and possibly with Persistent, Regrowth, and Resurrection. The later may involve the character’s spirit returning from some hellish netherworld to inhabit a newly reconstituted body.
• Super-Movement (dimensional): A Hellfire-wielder may be able to travel to one or more infernal dimensions, possibly with the ability to take others along.
• Super-Senses: Keenly attuned to the moral spectrum, a Hellfire-wielder may have Super-Senses like Detect Good or Evil, Detect Life, or Divine, Infernal, or Magical Awareness.