Perseverance is a world grounded in grit, scarcity, and raw survival. Most characters live by their wits, their iron, and the truths written in dust and blood. But every now and then, something strange cuts through the familiar. A prophet who dreams of things yet to pass. A canyon that whispers secrets back to those who listen. A relic that burns cold to the touch, but triggers visions in the mind.

These are not ordinary events. They fall outside what most people would call credible. And that’s why they need a framework.

You Don’t Need Powers to Play Perseverance

Let’s make one thing clear: you absolutely do not need incredible powers or supernatural elements to enjoy Perseverance. The setting is fully playable as a grounded space western, where drama, danger, and intrigue come from human choices, moral gray zones, and the harsh beauty of the frontier.

But if your group enjoys a touch of the uncanny – the inexplicable or mythic woven into a hard world – then this optional framework is for you.

What Are "Incredible Powers"?

In QuestWorlds terms, an "incredible power" is any ability or tactic that stretches genre credibility. They are unusual, mysterious, and potentially world-altering. The Core Rulebook suggests using an Incredible Powers Framework in your genre pack to manage them, and that's exactly what we’re doing here.

In Perseverance, incredible powers might come from:

• Echo Caves that resonate with past trauma or future possibility
• Dustborn Prophets who seem to channel more than superstition
• Precursor relics left behind by those who walked Perseverance before us
• Trawl-sensitive minds touched by strange frequencies from underground or orbit

Why Include Them?

Adding incredible powers is a way to deepen mystery, expand narrative tools, and emphasize the themes of isolation and unknowable history. They allow GMs to introduce eerie tension or moral dilemmas without turning the setting into a superhero story.

They’re also a great way to:

• Highlight belief vs. reality conflicts
• Foreshadow events without exposition
• Give players unique and narrative-driven hooks

Just remember: the more strange you introduce, the more it matters that the world reacts to it.

How to Use Incredible Powers in Play

If you choose to include these elements, keep the following principles in mind:

For GMs:

• Use them rarely; less is more
• Ground them in community belief, suspicion, or awe
• Never let them bypass story stakes – if anything, they should complicate them

For players:

• Take no more than one ability tied to powers, unless explicitly allowed
• Expect social consequences: fear, reverence, or ridicule
• Lean into the narrative costs

Incredible powers are tags on your story, not cheat codes for bypassing it.

Representing Powers Mechanically

In QuestWorlds, abilities are flexible, and powers can be represented in several ways:

• As a breakout ability under a keyword like "Dustborn Prophet" or "Echo-Touched"
• As a standalone ability, such as "Trawl Dreams" or "See the Past Unfold"
• With a special keyword like "Touched by the Echo," which might suggest a host of related breakouts

You can also treat powers like situational tags that activate when relevant, granting a +5 (benefit) or –5 (hindrance), depending on context – especially if the ability is unstable, unreliable, or emotionally overwhelming.

Pioneer-Born Adapted

Generations of survival in the harshest conditions have changed the bodies and minds of some settlers. Some call it evolution. Others call it a gift from the planet – or a curse. These people might breathe thin air with ease, see in near-total darkness, or resist deadly heat. Locals respect them. Outsiders often don’t believe them… until they see it firsthand.

Keyword: Pioneer-Born Adapted

Breakouts:

• Desert-Hardened – Resistant to dehydration, sunstroke, and dust inhalation
• Mountain-Bred Lungs – Function at high altitude and thin oxygen with ease
• Keen Night Vision – See clearly in low light or even complete darkness
• Instinctive Survival – “Feel” danger from storms, predators, or landslides

Suggested Flaw: Othered – Outsiders distrust or mythologize you

Example in Play: Dust Runner Blues

Jace "Burn" Halloran touches a shard of black glass recovered from a collapsed vault. Suddenly, he sees his own crew ambushed in a canyon – an ambush that hasn’t happened yet.

Burn now carries a +5 tag: Vision of Betrayal. It can augment his rolls to avoid that outcome, but it may also trigger a -5 Paranoia Spiral if misused. The GM doesn’t need to roll for the vision – just frame it as a revelation that escalates stakes and choices.

Final Thoughts: Use Sparingly, Narrate Deeply

Incredible powers are best used like rare minerals: valuable, evocative, and easy to poison a story with if overused. They are always optional, and tables should discuss ahead of time how much weirdness they want to include.

But when used thoughtfully? They add layers of dread, wonder, and awe to the Perseverance frontier.

And on this world, that might just make the difference between a bullet and a belief.