News:Abilities

Abilities are special abilities a transformer or human has to help them perform a special task or fulfill their function requirements. For example, a communications expert may have equipment such as extended radio or scrambling technology, while a scout might have stealth or cloaking technology. These abilities aren't easy to get accepted unless they make absolute sense for his/her function. Some abilities for transformers are restricted to the human characters, while certain abilities are easier to aquire as a human such as swim or dive. Over the next few news files the listed abilities are not in rank of cost but rather rank of difficulty to get approved on an OC application.

Abilities                                 Human-Only 1 Swim           6 Extended-Radio         2 Advanced-Driver 1 Hover           7 Forcefield             3 Naval-Pilot 2 Dive           7 Holograms              5 Helicopter-Pilot 3 Space-Pilot    7 Ram                    6 Tank-Driver 3 Flight         8 Enhanced-Hearing       7 Airplane-Pilot 4 Mechanic       8 Stealth 4 Heal           8 Infrared 5 Repair         9 Enhanced-Senses 5 Space-Flight   9 Selfrepair 6 Hide           10 Cloak 6 Jamming        10 Infiltration 6 FTL            10 Interception

Swim - The simple ability to cross large spans of water. This doesn't really apply to taking a dip in your pool, this is more for long-distance or marathon swimming. In effect, the ability to travel across the surface of a lake, river, ocean, or whatever. Hover - Not unlike swim, just a different method of moving across the surface. The major difference is that, rather than sitting on the surface, you're floating above it. This usually caps off at a maximum altitude of 6 to 10 feet, although boosters have been known to provide a jumping effect to clear low obstacles. Dive - Exploring one of Earth's most abundant resources. This involves any method of traveling beneath the surface of the water, from airtight construction to SCUBA gear. Space-Pilot - This ability applies only to Transformers. It involves the knowledge to fly shuttles, as well as any other vehicle equipped for passage through space.

Flight - This one's pretty self-explanatory. It involves any means of sustained flight, be it through anti-gravity boosters, jet engines, propellers, or whatever. It is, however, only available to Transformers. NOTE: This is free for Decepticons in Mode 1.

Mechanic - The knowledge and capability to repair vehicles. Now, what you can repair depends mostly on you as the player. If you're a Transformer, it might be difficult to repair a Boeing 747, unless your character actually specializes in such things. Similarly, an average auto-mechanic isn't going to know how to fix a sublight drive on an Autobot Shuttle.

Heal - The fixing and mending of organic tissue. The kind of work performed by doctors and medics. This is beyond the realm of simple first aid, which is knowledge available to anyone with the proper training. This is the sort of work performed off the battlefield in a hospital, or whatever medical facility is available.

Repair - Similar to Heal, but applicable to Transformer systems. Not common knowledge among humans, but not entirely unheard of. Again, this is not something that's typically performed on the battlefield. It requires a steady hand and ready supplies.

Space-Flight - The ability to travel through a vacuum. Normal aircraft engines cannot attain this feet as they rely on constant propulsion through an atmosphere. This usually implies the use of both propulsion and maneuvering thrusters, and is only available to Transformers.

Hide - This ability entails blending in with one's surroundings while remaining somewhat motionless. In short, the ability to disappear from sight. This can mean adaptive camouflage, disappearing into the shadows, or simply being very small. NOTE: This ability is free to Tape characters (Laserbeak, Rumble, Steeljaw, etc...) in their cassette mode.

Jamming - The various methods of disrupting radio transmissions are covered by this ability. There are several methods that apply to this ability, including flooding the area with static and electromagnetic interference. Please note that this also means you cannot use your faction's IC Radio Channel. The effects of Jamming can also be counteracted by another character with the ability.

FTL - Short for Faster Than Light. This is the ability to travel light-years in a short amount of time. All methods of this travel are strictly theoretical, but TFU embraces all sensible means of using it. (By sensible, we mean non-magical.) This ability is only available to Transformers, and requires a velocity of 10.

Extended-Radio - Communicating across the vast reaches of Space. Need to contact somebody on Mars, or for that matter in another star system? This is the ability for you!

Forcefield - This includes any sort of energy field projection. It is typically used for protective means, and involves any sort of solid energy barrier or general absorption field. If your character has similar technology that only effects a certain type of weapon, you may want to look into a Resistance instead (see News Resistance). Forcefields can also be projected on other characters or objects.

Holograms - This is the ability to project realistic, three-dimensional images. These images are not solid, can be effected by electromagnetic interference, and will be immediately detected by Infrared, Enhanced-Hearing, or other advanced sensors. Characters who are very skilled with them can even use them as disguises. However, an inanimate object moving around will look suspicious.

Ram - Whether it means reinforced armor, some sort of forcefield, or just a really good eye for playing Chicken, this is the ability to plow right into somebody without taking damage. You may use the Ram command (+ram = ) without taking damage from the attack.

Infrared - Advanced heat signature recognition is what falls under this category. This does not include low-light imaging or night vision. This is an active scan for heat signatures to detect individuals using Stealth.

Enhanced-Hearing - Heightened audio sensors or finely tuned ears are what this ability applies to. The ability to hear things that no one else can see. This is a passive ability that can detect Cloaked individuals. It can also pick up on whispers and mutters.

Stealth - The kind of ability that was made popular by ninjas and assassins. The ability to move through the shadows, making as little sound as possible. Individuals using this can still be seen, they are just less likely to be noticed by others. This ability can be defeated by Infrared or Enhanced Senses.

Selfrepair - This is a rare ability among Cybertronians: the ability to patch oneself up in the middle of a battle. This usually entails some sort of inherent design fluke or an advanced regeneration technology. Unlike repair, which involves rebuilding and reworking systems in a time-consuming manner, Selfrepair is a quick fix that can be used in combat. This ability is only available to Transformers. NOTE: Selfrepair is free to Junkions in Mode 1.

Enhanced-Senses - This is a passive ability that reflects finely tuned senses (or sensors in the case of a Transformer.) Better seeing, better hearing, better smelling, whatever you want to call it. This is a passive ability that can see through Stealth and Cloak. As such, it is a rare ability.

Interception - This is the ability to listen in on other people's radio transmissions and other factions' radio channels. This is a very powerful ability that can be easily abused, so using this to listen in on a faction channel requires permission from that faction's commander.

Cloak - This is more of a technological ability than a skill. This is the ability to literally turn invisible. This can be achieved through adaptive camouflage, active cloaking fields, or other systems that render one invisible to the naked eye. This ability can be defeated by Enhanced Hearing and Enhanced Senses.

Infiltration - This is a rare talent indeed. It encompasses the knowledge, skill, and technology needed to bypass the security of an enemy base and get inside. Since this is a powerful skill, it requires both the permission of TP Staff and a Faction Head, not to mention a good excuse to do so.

Finally, we have the Driver abilities. These abilities are only available to humans and allow them to operate vehicles, such as tanks and jets. Some vehicles can be piloted by those of lesser skill, but these will not operate at maximum efficiency. For example, a GI Joe could drive a Wolverine (a missile tank) with Advanced-Driver, but would not do as well as someone with Tank-Driver.

Advanced-Driver - In short, this is a step up from normal street driving. It allows one to drive more complex vehicles, mostly in a militaristic capacity.

Naval-Pilot - Fairly self-explanatory, it entails the training to pilot naval vehicles.

Helicopter-Pilot - This is fairly complicated pilot training, but not as intense as flying a jet. It is necessary to fly any sort of helicopter.

Tank-Driver - his is the official training necessary to operate as a crewman on a heavy vehicle, such as tanks and artillery trucks. It is absolutely essential in order to operate a Main Battle Tank.

Airplane-Pilot - Advanced flight training that allows the individual to pilot various aircraft. Some advanced vehicle training will allow characters to operate jets, but this is necessary to pull off complex maneuvers.