The magic that helps make up a World has a flavor of its own. For non-Hands from that world, reality is baked into who they are – they can’t generate Resonance because they’re part of the system. It’s only when Hands or Anomalies get involved that Resonance enters the picture.
Resonance is the principal the World builds itself around. It might be a feeling, an abstraction, a goal, a lifeform – anything. And just because a World has a certain Resonance doesn’t mean that opposing principles or concepts violate the laws of that World; it’s just a little harder on a cosmic scale for them to get ahead. A World’s Resonance may not even be obvious once you’re there; only exploration and research can uncover a World’s Resonance.
RESONANCE IS NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD. RESONANCE IS A TOOL.
Fortunately, any Inner World that’s been part of the Cluster for at least a year has been explored enough that CORSAIR has a firm understanding of its Resonance. Going into one of these Worlds will include plenty of information about its Resonance.
ANOMALIES
Some Anomalies, such as Wells and Fractures, possess Resonance of their own. Within those environments, any normal Resonance is overwritten. While these are unknown when you enter them, the strong Resonance governing these Anomalies tends to make them easier to uncover.
GAINING RESONANCE
Any action, combat or otherwise, that falls under a location’s Resonance has two effects:
- The first is a passive bonus that should be added to a relevant roll, should one be called for
- An active effect where the action generates RESONANCE POINTS for both the team and the GM.
EXAMPLE
Hale’s Resonance is BUILD. Coldwater Snake, LH4, helps repair a broken lighting array. Since this action aligns philosophically with Hale’s Resonance, Coldwater lowers the difficulty of the CRAFT roll to repair it and the successful action generates one point of Resonance for the team AND one point for the GM.
If Bungles the Fair, LH3, helps them out, that would generate TWO points of Resonance for the team and two for the GM.
Their teammate, Cabalevsky Omiron, LH4, later blasts a wall apart with lighting. This triggers neither the passive bonus nor generates Resonance since it doesn’t align with BUILD.
SPENDING RESONANCE
Right, yes, time to spend those points you’ve earned. In an environment where you know what the Resonance is, you’ll have access to a list of Resonance abilities and how many points you need to spend to use them. Resonance abilities can be used at any time unless otherwise noted and take an Action to use if used in combat. Non-Hands cannot spend Resonance and thus cannot use Resonance abilities.
These abilities can be very powerful and quite helpful.
The GM also has their own list of Resonance abilities and these almost always differ from what the players can do. You will usually never have access to this list as a player and this is deliberate. These effects might be helpful or…might not. Probably not. The GM will have fun, at least.
LOSING RESONANCE AND OVERLAPPING RESONANCE
Any accumulated Resonance is lost upon leaving the impacted environment. If you destroy an Upwell in Anaesh, all Resonance points for the Upwell are lost, however any points you generated in Anaesh are still around. You cannot spend WORLD Resonance within an Anomaly governed by its own Resonance and vice versa. Your team – and the GM – will only ever have to worry about one set of Resonance and Resonance abilities.