Project NEMESIS

Here are some more spells. Instant duration, combative casting time, no attunement for each unless otherwise noted. Most are low intensity. Many are (I'm afraid) D&D adaptations.

The monks of the Resplendent Willow monastery practice a strange form of pacifistic self-defense which they claim helps center the mind and body. The monks say that excessive effort in one's actions degrades the self, and that one should strive to achieve a state of "effortless effort" in all things. Though the philosophy escapes many, the efficacy of the techniques is undeniable. Their regimen combines intense studies of body language and spatial awareness, meditative exercises, and the occasional surprise beating to train students to avoid blows by the barest of degrees. Practitioners learn to avoid strikes without the frantic capering of the Insouciant Monkey school, but instead through measured and well-timed avoidance, never moving more than they have to.

The jungles of Helluso and Milonda are home to several species of big cats, which are viewed, depending on the person doing the viewing, as symbols of fortune both good and bad. Regardless of personal views, however, these creatures are universally respected as consummate stalkers and hunters.

For gunfights with semiautomatic weapons, I use the lowest loose die as the number of shots actually fired. Higher skill levels result in a greater chance of that lowest loose die being a 1, so you're more efficient with your killing. Untrained characters throw around tons of ammo to get a single hit.

I also have a "roll with the blow" rule - if you get hit, you drop ALL remaining sets (assuming you had at least one), fall over, and can roll Body + Vigor and get Width + 1 in light armor. Your next action must be defensive (run, parry, dodge, take cover).

You can take an Assist action, and throw Width in dice to someone else next round, or take it yourself. Wild Talents has this as a function of powers, but I like the general utility of it, so if players do it creatively they can use anything they like for an assist.

My players really dig it, and it gives them something to do when there's a mismatch between their characters' capabilities and the current menace. They can assist the guy who's making an impact.

Similarly, defending other people.

A few credulous hero-worshippers claim mutation every time a myth describes someone of unusual strength or unnatural prowess. But between the research of Charles Fort (which earned him the post of U.S. Secretary for Unusual Humanity) and a few well-publicized corpses preserved with obvious traits off the baseline, it seems clear that there were superpowered mutants in the past, even if Napoleon and Ghengis Khan weren’t among their number.