Regular Cast Members gain one power for free. They can gain additional powers with the addition of an equivalent weakness, or by expending the required Plot Points.
RCM's gain up to +12 in total bonus in a power - but costs multiply according to category:
Normal Power x1
Extraordinary Power x2
Supernatural Power x3
Fantastic Power x4
So effectively, an RCM has +12 in a normal power; +6 in an unusual power; +4 in a Supernatural power or +3 in a Fantastic Power.
Take the power you want, determine which category it falls under (see below), and that determines what you add when you use the power. The multipliers are listed in case someone wants to divide the bonus among more than one power in more than one category (because they love accounting, apparently).
Powers - for the most part - are their own category, and are not subject to other Fate cost multipliers.
A Power should be related to an appropriate Stat, even if you have to fabricate an optional Stat. The exception would be artifact powers, or any other power somehow granted by an outside source (e.g. – miraculous powers).
It is usually possible to improve use of a power with a skill. Such a skill would be subject to Plops cost multipliers.
A Power might have multiple discreet effects. Fire Control, for example might include creating fire, extinguishing fire and projecting fire. These can be broken down into Special Effects (or SFX). You can create up to four of these for any single power.
Each SFX requires a separate skill to master. Each use of a particular SFX constitutes a separate action (with separate exhaustion). No matter how many SFX are developed, a player only gets 3 Chips. (See Using Powers).
It is the player’s responsibility to justify within plausibility (Rule #3) how all of these SFX come from a single power.
Among the Sample Cast:
· Captain Victory's ST (+4) is at the edge of normal, while Kromag's ST (+7) is extraordinary.
· Princess Moonfire's butterfly wings represent a Supernatural Power while her Meta-magic represents a Fantastic Power.
· Cosmic Kid’s powers break out into four different SFX.
Normal Powers are powers within the scope of (relatively) normal human beings. Characters selecting Normal Powers typically take them in the form of increased Stats, and are often called super-normals. Among the sample cast, Alex Kitt and Valorie Keen are examples of super-normals. It is possible to take this in the form of a Talent or even a Focus (a martial-arts master for example). Any Stat (or other ability) raised above the Core Dice is considered Extraordinary.
But, any Stat (or other ability) raised above the Core Dice is considered Extraordinary (see below).
It is also possible to raise the Core Dice +1 (to +5 dice) as a Normal power – though this would use all of it.
Extraordinary Powers are those within the range of human beings but raised well beyond what they could ordinarily achieve. The numeric test is any Stat or other ability above the Core Dice. If a player wanted to dump all of their power into a single stat, it would be 1/1 up to +4 and then 2/1 thereafter (because past +4 it becomes extraordinary.
If a character developed a Stat to +4 utilizing their regular starting bonuses, and then dumped their power on top of it, they could add six for +10 total. So now the power-gamers know how to do that.
In canon GAFT, artifact-based powers (powers granted by a technologically advanced and/or magical item) can be considered extraordinary. The test is: absent of the artifact - would the character have this power? AND Can this item be plausibly taken away from the character? Items grafted or implanted into a character are considered cybernetic and priced as Supernatural powers below.
Supernatural Powers are those beyond that of normal humans, but still within the scope of the natural world. If you can identify any creature or plant with this ability (winged flight, poisonous touch, hooves, claws, night vision, etc.) - it is Supernatural. Natural armor vs melee damage can be considered Supernatural up to 4 dice so long as it is physically obvious; otherwise it is Fantastic.
In canon GAFT, psionics, cybernetics and spell magic are also hand-waved into Supernatural for even though there is no known precedent for any of that in the natural world, there is enough of it throughout the fiction we are based upon to warrant the lower cost.
Fantastic Powers are those clearly beyond anything in real life: energy control, matter transformation; gravitic flight; teleportation, etc. Any power that affects time (not just speed) is considered Fantastic. Meta-magic is always a Fantastic Power. Rule Exemptions are always Fantastic Powers.
Next: Using Powers