Super Speed develops rapidly.

Each Rank includes the abilities of all previous Ranks unless specifically stated otherwise.

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Rank 1: Enhanced Velocity

Emerging Potential

The mutant has developed clearly superhuman speed and reflexes.

The character can already outrun any ordinary human with ease and perform bursts of movement that appear startlingly fast to observers.

Movement

Increase the character's normal Movement by:

+60 feet

This replaces any standard Speedster Archetype movement bonus rather than stacking with it.

Accelerated Reflexes

Gain:

+2 Initiative

+2 Reflex saves

Rapid Movement

The character may draw or retrieve a readily accessible object as part of their Movement without spending an additional Action.

Running Speed

At full sprint, the mutant can reach approximately:

50 mph

Examples

• Outrun a bicycle.
• Catch someone before they fall from a nearby ledge.
• Cross a room almost instantaneously.
• Dodge suddenly falling debris.
• Snatch an object before it hits the ground.

At this stage the mutant is unquestionably superhuman, but still operating within something vaguely resembling terrestrial physics.

That courtesy will not last.

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Rank 2: Accelerated Motion

Trained Control

The mutant's speed has increased dramatically, and their brain has begun adapting to process information at the same accelerated rate.

Movement

Increase total ground Movement to:

240 feet

Running Speed

The mutant can reach approximately:

200 mph

Accelerated Perception

Gain:

+4 Initiative

+4 Reflex saves

These replace the Rank 1 bonuses rather than stacking with them.

Wall Running

The character may run across vertical surfaces provided they continue moving.

If they end their turn on a surface incapable of supporting them, gravity remembers its job.

Water Running

The mutant may cross liquid surfaces at speed without sinking.

They must move at least half their Movement during the round to remain on the surface.

Speed Blur

If the character moves at least 60 feet during their turn, they gain:

+2 Defence

until the beginning of their next turn.

Examples

• Run across a lake.
• Race along the side of a building.
• Evacuate several people from a burning room in seconds.
• Dodge rapidly moving hazards.
• Search a building extraordinarily quickly.

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Rank 3: Supersonic

Established Hero

The speedster can now break the sound barrier.

To observers, the mutant may appear only as a blur followed by displaced air, dust and the unfortunate paperwork of anyone standing nearby.

Maximum Speed

Approximately:

Mach 1

For tactical combat, the character retains their normal battlefield Movement unless deliberately entering high-speed movement.

Hyper-Reflexes

Gain:

+6 Initiative

+6 Reflex saves

These replace previous Rank bonuses.

Rapid Action

Once per round, the character gains one additional Move Action.

This can be used for:

• Movement
• Drawing equipment
• Manipulating an object
• Standing from Prone
• Other non-attack actions approved by the GM

It cannot normally be used to make an additional attack.

Momentum Strike

If the speedster moves at least 60 feet immediately before making a melee attack, the attack deals:

+2d6 damage

The speedster may choose to convert this bonus damage into Knockback instead.

Cyclone

By running rapidly in a tight circle, the character can create powerful air currents.

As an Action, choose a point within Movement range.

Creatures within 10 feet make a Fortitude save. (DC 18)

Failure:

• Pushed 10 feet
• Knocked Prone

The speedster can also use this ability creatively to disperse smoke, gas, flames or similar environmental effects.

Examples

• Break the sound barrier.
• Run around an entire building in seconds.
• Create powerful wind currents.
• Deliver devastating momentum-enhanced attacks.
• Perform simple physical tasks almost instantaneously.

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Rank 4: Hypersonic

Extraordinary Power

At Rank 4, the mutant becomes one of the fastest living beings on Earth.

Maximum Speed

Approximately:

Mach 5

Greater speeds may be possible during short bursts.

Temporal Perception

The speedster can deliberately accelerate their perception.

Once per round, as a Free Action, they may enter Speed Perception until the beginning of their next turn.

While active:

• Gain +10 Initiative
• Gain +8 Reflex
• Cannot normally be caught Flat-Footed
• Gain +5 Perception against visible events
• Ordinary moving objects appear dramatically slowed

These bonuses replace lower Rank Initiative and Reflex bonuses while active.

Vibration

The character can vibrate their molecules at extraordinary frequency.

Once per encounter, they may pass through:

Up to 10 feet of non-living solid material.

They cannot end their Movement inside an object.

That would be educational for several milliseconds.

Sonic Boom

As an Action, the speedster may accelerate past opponents and deliberately create a concussive shockwave.

Creatures within 15 feet of their path make a Fortitude save. (DC 20)

Failure:

4d6 sonic damage + knocked Prone

Success:

Half damage and remain standing

Speed Rescue

The character may carry willing or helpless characters during high-speed Movement.

Once per round they may collect or deposit one adjacent willing character as a Free Action.

Examples

• Cross Emerald City in moments.
• Run vertically up skyscrapers.
• Pass through locked doors by vibration.
• Remove civilians from an explosion zone before detonation.
• Generate deliberate sonic booms.
• React to projectiles after they have been fired.

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Rank 5: Velocity Incarnate

Omega Speed

The speedster has reached a level where ordinary measurements of human movement become increasingly meaningless.

Their nervous system, metabolism and physical structure operate at extraordinary speeds without destroying themselves through friction, acceleration or impact.

Maximum Speed

Mach 20+

At the GM's discretion, brief bursts may reach considerably greater velocities.

Travel across enormous distances can now occur in minutes rather than hours.

World in Stillness

Once per encounter, the speedster may activate World in Stillness.

The character immediately takes:

One complete additional turn.

During this turn:

• Other creatures cannot make Attacks of Opportunity against the speedster.
• The speedster gains +10 Defence against reactions or triggered attacks.
• Movement is doubled.
• They may interact with multiple unattended objects during Movement.
• They may make attacks normally.

To everyone else, these actions appear to occur almost simultaneously.

Impossible Reflexes

The character gains:

+10 Initiative

+10 Reflex saves

They cannot be caught Flat-Footed by conventional means.

Vibrational Mastery

The speedster may now phase through non-living matter without the once-per-encounter restriction.

Passing through exceptionally dense, technologically shielded or Power-generated materials may still require a check.

Speedstorm

Once per encounter, the mutant may attack numerous opponents while moving at tremendous velocity.

Move up to the character's normal Movement and select up to:

One target per two Character Levels

Make a separate melee attack against each target.

Each successful attack deals normal melee damage.

The speedster may not attack the same target more than once with Speedstorm.

Kinetic Cataclysm

The speedster can channel extraordinary momentum into a single attack.

Once per encounter, after moving at least 120 feet, make a melee attack.

On a hit:

Normal Damage + 10d6 kinetic damage

The target must also make a Fortitude save or be hurled 30 feet and knocked Prone.

After using Kinetic Cataclysm, the speedster becomes Fatigued.

Examples

• Cross vast portions of the country in minutes.
• Search an entire complex while others barely move.
• Evacuate dozens of people from a disaster.
• Phase repeatedly through solid barriers.
• Strike numerous opponents before they can react.
• Perform complicated physical tasks in fractions of a second.
• Experience brief moments in which the rest of the world appears virtually frozen.

Only the most extraordinary speedsters ever reach this level.

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THE SPEEDSTER'S METABOLISM

Super Speed comes with an important biological consideration.

Speedsters eat. A lot.

Their mutation allows their body to survive the forces involved in extreme movement, but it still requires enormous quantities of energy.

At Rank 1 this may simply mean a large appetite.

At Rank 3, a speedster may consume several times the calories required by an ordinary person.

At Rank 5, specialised high-calorie nutritional supplements developed by the Arcadian Institute may be essential after prolonged high-speed activity.

This creates a useful limitation without constantly punishing the player mechanically.

A speedster who has been deprived of food for an extended period may suffer Fatigue at the GM's discretion.

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SUPER SPEED AND COMBAT

Super Speed should make a character extraordinarily mobile without automatically giving them dozens of attacks every round.

This distinction is important for game balance.

Higher Ranks therefore provide specific abilities such as:

Rapid Action

Momentum Strike

Speedstorm

and

World in Stillness

rather than simply saying:

"You're twenty times faster, therefore you attack twenty times."

Nobody at the table needs that particular headache.

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SUPER SPEED AND THE SPEEDSTER ARCHETYPE

The Super Speed Power and Speedster Archetype remain separate.

The Power determines how fast you actually are and what superhuman speed abilities you possess.

The Archetype represents specialised training in using speed effectively.

This means a character could possess Super Speed without selecting the Speedster Archetype, although the two naturally complement one another.

A dedicated Speedster who combines high Super Speed Ranks with the Velocity or Reflex Archetype Feat Paths becomes genuinely terrifying.

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POWER DEVELOPMENT

A Rank 1 speedster is superhumanly fast.

A Rank 2 speedster begins performing feats impossible through conventional movement.

A Rank 3 speedster breaks the sound barrier.

A Rank 4 speedster experiences combat on an entirely different timescale.

A Rank 5 speedster can make the rest of the world seem almost stationary.

Speed begins as movement.

It becomes reflex.

Then perception.

And eventually, the speedster discovers that the real question is no longer:

"How fast can I run?"

It is:

"How much can I accomplish before anyone else realises I've moved?"