Meta-characteristics as activated powers?

A rule introduced in 3e was that Nephilim no longer had persistent Meta-Characteristics. Most of the time they used the Simulacrum’s Characteristics, but could apply their Ka as a bonus to rolls of the linked Characteristic. This risked inflicting Khaiba or Narcosis points.

Some fans were disappointed by this and introduced various house rules: e.g. "Release the Meta-Characteristics" and "The Meta-Characteristics, new rules".

Those house rules presented three approaches:

  1. Tying each metamorphosis aspect to a Ka-element and its Characteristic, so that the Meta-Characteristic bonus was based on how developed the aspect was. This was based on a similar rule in The Immortal Gazette #1 p4, which offered an optional rule for metamorphosis applying a modifier to occult sciences.
  2. The Nephilim may substitute mundane test against a secret society initiate with a Ka vs Ka contest instead. E.g. a Phoenix gets into a fist fight with a Templar, but contests his Fire-Ka against the Templar's Solar-Ka instead of comparing their Martial Arts skills.
  3. The Nephilim could use their Ka to perform various Meta-Maneuvers. (For reference, in the third edition a Maneuver was a special action that could be taken during combat.) This was based on a similar rule in The Immortal Gazette #2 p6. 
  4. A combination of #1 and #3, where the Nephilim could use their Metamorphosis Aspects to perform various Meta-Maneuvers. This is loosely comparable to the game effects for Metamorphosis introduced in the US version's Chronicle of the Awakenings.

5e introduced a similar rule named “approaches,” which increased characteristics temporarily but also increased the visibility of metamorphosis. In this edition, metamorphosis features weren't rated. Each metamorphosis had 10 total, gaining each one as their Ka increased.

The closest equivalent to this in the English rules were the rules for directing and fulfilling Emotional Traits from Chronicle of the Awakenings. Directing a trait meant that it gained a +3 bonus in certain situations, potentially having a game effect such as flight or claws. Fulfilling a trait meant that the Nephilim was overcome by the emotion and added the Trait as a bonus to one Ka-element (increasing the corresponding Meta-characteristic and magic spells).

The Ex Oculis fanbook introduced a similar rule labeled “awakened attributes.” Nephilim didn't have boosted attributes by default and had to activate them deliberately. Using an awakened attribute made it easier to detect the Nephilim’s metamorphosis, as did using magic or metamorphosis manifestations. I don’t know if there was cross-pollination (unlikely given the language barrier and availability of the books) or just very similar thought processes.

I leave it up to GMs to decide what to do. I would place any such "maneuvers" under the category of Raw Magic applications, not Occult Sciences or Arcane Techniques.

Hope you enjoyed!

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