✨ Powers guide for game masters

How to steward custom magic at your table — creative freedom for players, campaign tone for you. This is not a spell list and not a competitive point economy. It is a toolkit for fantasy flavor.

What powers are for

Powers give a hero a signature way to touch the supernatural. RpgMeister is not built for player-versus-player superpower battles — keep powers interesting, not an arms race.

Shared philosophy (no spell list, start low, four approval questions, cost guardrails): Powers for players. Below is the GM stewarding job.

Nothing derails faster than unchecked magic

When one power solves every obstacle — every lock, every fight, every social scene — the campaign loses mystery, threat, and pacing. Doors stop mattering. Villains become puzzles with one obvious answer. Players who built non-casters feel like spectators.

Unchecked magic is the fastest route from "epic fantasy" to "why are we rolling dice at all?" You are allowed to notice that early and push back. You do not need to apologise for protecting the game everyone signed up for.

Your actual job

Steward the fiction. That usually means:

  • Talk before points are spent. A five-minute conversation at character creation beats a forty-minute argument mid-session.
  • Approve concepts, not just numbers. "What does it look like?" and "what does it not do?" matter as much as the level field.
  • Say "rework that" early. Before the player saves and falls in love with the build.
  • Narrate limits in play. Range, materials, witnesses, holy ground, iron, silence — the world pushes back; you describe how.

Players are told the same thing on the Powers page. Your expectations should match theirs.

Start low, add later

Same habit we ask of players: a few narrow powers at creation; skip Charge / Store / Permanence early; grow between sessions via character-point awards. It is far easier to grant a fireball later than to claw one back.

Heavy spellcasters are built across a campaign, not on character-creation day.

When to add constraints

Do not wait until the campaign is on fire. Useful moments to set boundaries:

  • Session zero. Tone, power level, whether mind-control on PCs is on the table.
  • Before save. While the character is still in Creating status — rework is cheap.
  • First time a power appears in play. Establish how it looks and what it cannot do.
  • When the fiction demands it. A temple forbids teleportation; a storm disrupts mental effects.

If something is already broken in play, fix it by mutual agreement: adjust a modifier, add a fitting disadvantage, raise reserve cost, or rewrite the description. Prefer tightening the next power over punishing retroactively. When you must nerf, explain why and offer a path forward (a replacement effect, bonus points, a story beat).

Approval checklist

Start from the same four questions players bring (Powers), then add three GM checks:

  • Does this bypass the adventure? If it makes locks, chases, or mysteries irrelevant, narrow it.
  • Does this work on other PCs? Mind control and forced behaviour need explicit consent.
  • Is this "on" forever? Stays-On powers need upkeep pain; see Powers in play.

Red flags to watch

Not automatic vetoes — just reasons to pause and ask questions:

  • High Blast or Heal levels at creation — damage and healing scale fast.
  • Teleport or Telekinesis used as a skeleton-key for every obstacle.
  • Stays-On without meaningful reserve upkeep or fiction cost.
  • Charge, Store, or Permanence on a first character — enchantment math is punishing for a reason; see Building a power.
  • Compel or Bind aimed at allies or with no counterplay.

At the table

Powers roll like skills (3d6 ≤ target). Reserve is spent on the attempt, pass or fail. The app tracks pool, reserve, Stays-On upkeep, and enchantment behaviour — you track whether the effect makes the scene better.

During a campaign session, players roll from the Player Game screen; you run the world from Play at the table. Reserve recovery pacing is on Powers in play.

Importing party members

When a player exports a character into your campaign, their powers arrive in the JSON whether you read them or not. Before the first session with a caster, skim their powers in the import preview or ask them to walk you through each one aloud.

Workflow: Parties in the Campaign Guide.

See also

← Back to GM overview