This page of Optional Systems is basically for things that are supposed to give you options for various crunchy bits that add more detail but aren't strictly necessary to errata.

Simplified NPC System

The simplified NPC system alters the method that semi-important NPCs and Extras work, allowing quick NPC statting. Fully important NPCs (major allies and antagonists, etc) should still use the full system.

Attributes and Abilities

A NPC has three (rather than nine) attributes and three (rather than 30+) abilities, which are used to generate his or her dice pools for any task.

Attributes

Physical: A NPC's physical attribute governs his strength, dexterity, and stamina.
Mental: A NPC's mental attribute governs his perception, intelligence, and wits.
Social: A NPC's social attribute governs his charisma, manipulation, and appearance.

Willpower is determined by the higher of Mental or Social attributes. Initiative is the sum of Physical + Mental. Bashing soak is Physical, while Lethal soak is Physical/2, rounded down.

NPCs have differing attribute spreads depending on their rough power level. A "+" represents a specialty in that attribute, which generally covers a single ability (e.g. Physical specialty Firearms) or a Quality (e.g. Social specialty Seductive), and gives a +1d bonus to any roll where it applies.

Unimportant: 2/2/2 (primary/secondary/tertiary)
Newbie: 3/2/2 (primary/secondary/tertiary)
Standard: 3+/3/2 (primary/secondary/tertiary)
Exceptional: 4/3/2 (primary/secondary/tertiary)
Amazing: 4/3+/3 (primary/secondary/tertiary)
World-Class: 4+/3+/3 (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Abilities

Power: A NPC's power attribute applies whenever the NPC is taking an action which uses brute power. Dramatic and impassioned speeches, punching someone in the face, lifting a ton, powering through a math problem with raw brainpower, so on and so forth.
Finesse: Finesse governs less blatant manipulation, such as lockpicking, use of firearms, whispering manipulative advice into someone's ear, hacking a computer, acrobatic grace, and other such feats.
Resistance: Resistance governs withstanding punishment. Lasting for a week without sleep, surviving a four-hour exam, winning an impassioned yelling match where the winner is the one who can argue longer than his opponent, all these acts require Resistance.

NPCs have primary, secondary, and tertiary abilities, which are at various ratings.

Unimportant: 1/1/0
Tyro: 2/1/1
Professional: 2+/1+/1
Veteran: 3/2/1+
Elite: 3+/3/2
World-Class: 4/3+/2

If being extremely simple, assume a character has armor soak equal to his Resistance attribute and does attack damage equal to his (Physical + Power). Note that as a very simplified system, not all characters may have all the abilities that their ability spread may imply, in which case the ST may choose to forgo adding the ability to the dice pool and just roll the attribute, or deny the NPC a roll entirely. They are unimportant NPCs after all.

Simplified Health

A NPC similarly has a simplified health track and suffers no wound penalties (they are simplified, after all). If a NPC's health is unrolled, divide post-soak damage by 2 (round down) and apply it as levels. Automatic damage levels apply normally.

Mooks: 1 Health Level, unrolled.
Extras: 3 Health Levels, unrolled.
Normal: 7 Health Levels

Novas as Simple NPCs

A Nova as a simple NPC provides a somewhat greater challenge due to Mega-attributes and powers. However, mega-attributes can be represented as one rough category, while powers can be dealt with as more generic powers.

Basic Advantages

A Nova's Quantum increases his toughness and ability to absorb damage, adding 2 health levels and 1B/1L/1A soak.

Mega-Attributes

A Nova has mega-attributes in one category depending on his or her power level. Each mega-attribute behaves like a normal one, that is, they add bonus successes to rolls. A "+" represents a specialty in that attribute, which generally covers a single ability (e.g. Physical specialty Firearms) or a Quality (e.g. Social specialty Seductive), and gives +1 success to any roll where it applies.

Merely Incredible: 0+/0/0
Burgeoning Superhuman: 1/0+/0
Superhuman: 1+/1/0
Heroic: 2/1+/0
Legendary: 2+/2/0+
Godlike: 3/2+/1+

Note that each level in Mega-Physical adds 3 health levels to the Nova and +1B/1L/1A soak.

Higher ratings in Mega-Attributes are the purview of more important characters and beyond the scope of this system.

Powers

Simple NPC Novas have no Quantum pools-they are assumed to be capable of using their powers as much as they want, and should generally not have power ratings greater than 3 (they are relatively unimportant after all). Generally, as a simple NPC should have a fairly solid and identifiable theme, their "powers" should be considered a single Mastery-like suite power, and treated as such, with the caveat that they may have more techniques than power dots.

This makes them overall weaker but makes their theme more visible and makes it slightly easier to keep track of dice pools.

Combat Systems

Compressed Combat

This is a system used for simple fights, compressing the effect of a fight into one roll.

Mass Combat

These mass combat rules are enhancements which allow people to use extras and other things in large scale combat.

Henchmen

Henchmen are irrelevant, faceless mooks who don't even have the status of an extra. They are used as enhancements to the actions of a leader figure, who may benefit from up to (Charisma + Command) * 2 henchmen at a time during most situations. Certain situations (wide open battlefields with no cover) may increase the number of henchmen that can be effectively used, while tight quarters may reduce or even eliminate the option of using henchmen.

Dice Pool: Each henchman adds to the commander's pool for attacks and defenses (the defensive bonus is generally represented by suppressive fire, fire and overwatch tactics, and other options that allow for increased survival rates). This bonus is generally +1d, but increases to +2d if the henchman in question has an attribute and ability total in that area over 7d. If the henchmen have Psi or Quantum powers (generally only for sub-aberrants and universally psi-capable aliens like Chromatics), this bonus is given to Psi usage as well, or adds to the dice pool for Quantum powers that both parties have.
Damage: Each henchman adds +1 to the damage of the commander's weapon. Henchmen with bigger guns than the commander are considered to have Support Weapons, and have their own rules. In normal operation, they simply add to damage, firing their light weapons.
Support Weapons: Instead of attacking himself, a commander can use a henchman's heavy weapon. This could be anything from molotov cocktails and AK-47s for the leader of a rioting mob armed with clubs and knives, to pulse cannons and plasma guns for a Trinity-era Legion strike team. This attack is made at full dice pool with henchmen accuracy/damage bonuses. Weapons capable of firing bursts are assumed to fire the largest possible burst they can. This attack can only be done once per combat per henchman equipped with a heavy weapon. The rest of the time, the henchman is assumed to be missing dramatically.
Damage Soak: Until all henchmen are eliminated, the leader cannot be targeted. When targeting a squad with henchmen in it, the squad's soak is assumed to be the representative soak of the most numerous henchman type. Each point of damage dealt incapacitates or kills one of these henchmen (depending if it's bashing or lethal/aggravated), until only the commander is left and can be engaged normally. Some squads may be all-henchmen, which means the commander himself is eliminated like a henchman.
Area Vulnerability: Area attacks have increased effect on squads. Generally, all post-soak damage is doubled for area attacks, although particularly large ones may triple or even quadruple post-soak effects on henchman squads.

Warfare

The Warfare rules roughly model that there is a war going on around you, and that you are not the only participants in this battle.

Force Attributes

All forces have three attributes generally rated from 1-10:

Size: Size represents the size of a fighting force, and roughly how much firepower they can bring to bear. Every level of Size represents roughly 2 times the number of people above it, with Size 1 being roughly platoon-level (~40 men). Size 5 is therefore a roughly battalion sized unit while Size 10 is ~20,000 combat personnel, or roughly an entire Corps. Size grants numerous advantages.
Firepower: How much firepower a force can bring to bear and how good it is at surviving it. Firepower is the lethal damage that a successful attack on the party by an opposing armed force deals, ignoring soak. Soak is ignored because higher priority targets get more firepower-a tank or Nova gets engaged by RPGs and artillery, while infantry are generally not hit by things like mass 155mm howitzer bombardment or the like.
Skill: A unit's skill is how well it handles its weapons. This is its base dice pool for most purposes. The unit's skill rating is used for attacks of opportunity. Skill is an average of personal combat skill, tactical acumen, and organizational efficiency.

All forces also have at least two tracks and possibly three rated from 0-10:

Morale: A unit's morale is essentially a unit's willpower track. A unit may spend 1 Morale to add 1 success to all actions the unit takes in that round.
Support: How much "off-board" firepower a unit possesses. A unit with Support 0 has no actual support and has to make do. A unit with Support 5+ is generally a first world military with more than enough firepower to throw at any issue it wants to. 1 point of this track can be spent to add the permanent support track size to the Skill dice pool, and add 1 automatic success to firepower rolls. Certain types of support may have additional effects such as tactical nuclear weapons turning damage aggravated or tactical recon assets adding +1 to accuracy for all enemy attacks on the turn.
Power: Certain forces are predominantly made up of creatures with Psi or Quantum-based powers. These forces have an attribute, roughly representative of their rating in that ability. A horde of sub-Aberrants has Power 1, while an all-Doyen force would have Power 10.

Attacks of Opportunity

The military setup above is not intended for high-level conflict resolutions-it is intended to modify the low-level situation around the party. As such, the first thing the larger war does is add attacks of opportunity.

A unit gets as many attacks of opportunity as its Size, representing the hordes of men and materiel found in a battle and how they often can engage important targets, but only up to (Intelligence + Command) attacks of opportunity can be used on the battlefield. Other attacks tend to be wasted on lower-priority targets, bogged down by clever enemy feints, or fired off but used ineffectively.

These attacks use a unit's Skill + Size + Support (if support is used) versus the enemy's Wits + Tactics as a defense. Success deals post-soak damage dice equal to Firepower + Size, ignoring soak or other factors (the rationale for such is given above). Note that against squads, these attacks are always considered Area attacks, with an x3 multiplier.

For ease of resolution, the attack/damage pools can be divided by 3, then rounded up.

Power Overwhelming

Some units have a Power track. The Power track is an abstraction of the force's ability to alter the battlefield via psionic or quantum means. This track has various uses.

Boost: A commander can spend 1 point from the Power track and roll its permanent rating. Successes temporarily increase the effectiveness of all units with the same powers, adding a temporary +1 Psi for 1 turn for Psions. For Quantum users, this instead adds +1 to power rating and +1 to Quantum for the same turn.
Recharge: A commander can spend 1 point from the power track to add 1 Quantum or Psi to all his soldiers. This is a narrative fiat. The soldiers under his command aren't actually recharged-it's just that with others to assist in the fight, they never had to push quite as hard in the first place.
Firepower: A commander can use his force's noetic or quantum ability as support, with identical rules, save replacing Support for Power. The combined actions of dozens of Psions or Novas can be incredible. High-magnitude storms, rains of fire or lightning, suddenly overcharging everyone's weapons beyond normal abilities, summoned giant robot attacks, so on and so forth. This can be used alongside Support as well, for truly awe-inspiring levels of carnage.

Quantity is Quality

The larger a unit is, the deadlier it is, even if outdated and poorly led, numbers can be effective. The net difference in size can add several complications on the tactical scale.

Reduced Defense: Even on the tactical scale, the sheer number of threats arrayed by a numerically superior foe can be a deadly distraction. Most of them might not even be engaging, but they are still potential threats. The net size difference inflicts a +1 difficulty penalty per point to any defensive or awareness rolls. It's not so hard for a group of commandos to sneak past you when you're a platoon surrounded by 20,000 men.
Reduced Morale: A horde of foes is a very visceral threat, an unending swarm of foes heading down like locusts. Each point of size may be used to reduce the smaller unit's Morale track by 1. This affects temporary and permanent Morale.
Attacks of Opportunity: As seen above, a unit's size plays a significant role in the lethality of attacks of opportunity. Large numbers of even poorly trained combatants can rapidly attrition small, elite units to nothingness.

Skill Mastery

An optional system for high abilities. Any character may buy a Skill Mastery for an ability at 4, 5, or above. An ability at 4 may have 1 skill mastery, an ability at 5 may have 2, and an ability at 6 (only possible for Daredevils/Paramorphs) may have up to 4. Each mastery costs 10 XP or 3 BP, and allows one to do some pretty incredible things with the skill.

Skill masteries allow baselines to do some incredible feats of skill, or allow Novas to take things to 11 and do absolutely insane things when combined with Nova powers.

Any

Trivia Expert: The character is familiar with a wide variety of tools related to the ability in question, allowing him or her to add the ability to Investigation rolls whenever objects related to the ability factor heavily (such as Trivia Expert(Drive) adding to Investigation rolls for an auto accident or when finding contraband smuggled in a car, Trivia Expert(Firearms) factoring into rolls where someone was killed by guns, Trivia Expert(Medicine) when dealing with drugs, so on and so forth).

Skill Mastery: The character is so skilled with the ability in question that he almost never fails dramatically. A character may pay 1wp to reroll any botched roll.

Superhuman Under Pressure: Once per session, the character may reverse difficulties for a single roll by paying 1 wp-that is to say, any addition to difficulty becomes extra successes instead. This may be taken for multiple skills but may only be used once per session (or per downtime for things like crafting or gadgeteering or R&D).

Savant: A character with this mastery is particularly good in a certain field. If the character spends Willpower to add an automatic success to a roll where his ability specialty would apply, the specialty's dice bonus is converted into successes. A character may only use savant once per scene.

Size Up: With this ability mastery, a character may make a (Perception + [Ability]) roll to learn if a character he can study has this ability and at what rating.

Master's Respect: A character with this mastery displays his mastery on his sleeve, for those who are similarly skilled. When dealing with someone with the ability rated at 3+, the character may use his mastery ability for social rolls in lieu of another ability. This obviously does not apply to social abilities such as Etiquette or Streetwise.

Strength Abilities

Brawl

Lethal Weapon: The character's fists are rated as lethal weapons. Characters with this skill trick may pay 1 WP to deal lethal instead of bashing unarmed damage for a scene.

Fight Dissection: With the skill borne of endless fighting, the character learns how to describe, quickly and brutally, just how outclassed his opponent is. Add the character's Martial Arts to any Intimidation roll made to cause someone to back down, concede a fight, or otherwise avoid violence.

Melee

Bayonet Charge: The character is extremely adept with attacking from a charge, adding his momentum to a blow. Despite its name, it works with all sorts of weapons which can stab. A character adds (Dexterity) to his damage if making a successful charge attack at +1 difficulty-the character may take no other action.

Butcher: The character is horrifically deadly with his blades, dealing maximum tissue damage with even seemingly tiny cuts, cutting through arteries, veins, tendons, and flesh with disturbing ease. A character with this ability adds 1 additional automatic lethal damage level to any melee attack which rolls at least 1 level of damage.

Might

Vise Grip: The character has developed his strength to such a level that his crushing damage is lethal rather than bashing.

Deadlift: A character with this mastery adds 2 to his Might for calculating his lifting capacity. This is only for lifting and carrying, not for throwing or breaking objects.

Pack Mule: A character with this mastery doubles the weight he can carry before being encumbered.

Dexterity Abilities

Athletics

Freerunner: A character with this mastery can clear objects with a height equal to (Athletics) meters without the need for a roll.

Champion Runner: A character with this mastery increases his running speed by (Athletics) meters/turn.

Drive

Crack Driver: A character with this mastery is superhumanly good at driving, and replaces the maneuverability of his vehicle with his Drive rating, making drive rolls (Dexterity + Drive x 2).

Offensive Driving: A character with this mastery has mastered the fine art of vehicular manslaughter, halving all damage done to his vehicle from attacks he initiates.

Speed Demon: This mastery allows the character to push his vehicle's engine to the limit, increasing maximum speed by 25% (round up).

Safe At Any Speed: This mastery eliminates the distinction of safe and maximum speeds: a character may maneuver as if the vehicle was at its safe speed at its maximum speed, with only a +1 difficulty modifier.

Firearms

Double Tap: A character with this can pull the trigger so fast people think she's using an automatic weapon-even when it isn't. A character with this mastery may use the burst rules even if the weapon could not normally use them, as long as the weapon has sufficient RoF and magazine size.

Guns Akimbo: When dual-wielding firearms, the character may make a single attack roll applying to both firearms targeting one enemy, rather than having to take normal multiple actions-although the character can do so as well, becoming a tornado of carnage. The character uses the accuracy of the least accurate weapon he holds. Both firearms do not have to be targeted on the same target. Weapons used akimbo are at -2 accuracy and cannot be aimed, however.

Lead Dispenser: The character adds (Firearms) to the actual (not effective, for burst weapons) rate of fire of any firearm the character uses. Although not significant for high-RoF automatic weapons, this allows a character to do serious damage with a pump action shotgun or bolt-action rifle, especially combined with multiple action penalty reducers and other tricks.

One Shot One Kill: A character with this skill trick becomes an expert at dealing horrific damage with firearms even if he can't always live up to its name. Any successful attack with a firearm converts up to (Firearms) dice of post-soak damage into automatic successes. Note that this only affects unsoaked damage and has no effect if the attack is soaked to the 1 die of ping damage.

Sleight of Hand: A character with this Tier 2 Perk reloads in half the time it normally takes to reload. Once per action, reloading a firearm is a reflexive action.

Spray 'n Pray: A character with this mastery is an expert at hosing down areas with fire. When firing medium or long bursts, the character increases the difficulty of dodge or block rolls against his fusillade of gunfire by 1.

Heavy Weapons

Overkill: A character with this ability reduces any penalties a heavy weapon may have for targeting small targets (like say, personnel) by 1.

Fast Load: Normally reloading a heavy weapon is an action that requires at least one full turn and no multiple actions. A character with this ability may reload a weapon preternaturally fast, reducing the reload time of weapons by 1 turn. If a weapon's reload time is already 1 turn, the character may reload as part of a multiple action.

Rocket Jockey: A character with this mastery is amazing with unguided rockets and other launchers, adding +1 to their accuracy and damage due to superior understanding of the characteristics of his weapons.

Legerdemain

Light Fingers: The character may automatically steal small things from others (wallets, credit cards, cell phones) without a roll if they are not in use.

Spot Concealed Weapon: The character can automatically spot concealed weapons with no roll.

Pilot

Ace Pilot: A character with this mastery can make a fighter dance, do near-impossible stunts in a bomber or jumbo jet, and other feats of insanity. A pilot with this replaces the vehicle's maneuverability bonus or penalty with his Pilot skill, turning all Piloting rolls into (Dexterity + Piloting x 2).

Alpha Strike: A character with this mastery halves the multiple action penalties of his actions for the purposes of attacks only with the caveat that the character must use all actions to attack. This mastery only works once per scene and is most typically used for a single, apocalyptic attack from surprise or a position of advantage that fires all of the vehicle's ordinance, an "alpha strike".

Stealth

Assassin: A character with this mastery is particularly expert at taking targets down when undetected. A character with this mastery adds +(Stealth) damage to all attacks she makes when the opponent is unaware, and converts up to (Stealth) levels of post-soak damage into levels of damage instead.

Cloaking: A character with this mastery has an innate mastery of cover so well-honed that he halves all difficulty penalty for poor conditions when making stealth rolls. The character could sneak through a military base, in daytime, while wearing pure white with relatively little difficulty.

Blade in the Crowd: A character with this mastery is particularly good at blending into crowds. The character automatically escapes from pursuit as long as there is a sufficiently large crowd (>20 people) to blend into that the character can jump into without notice.

Infiltrator: A character with this mastery knows how to lurk at the corner of visibility to minimize suspicion on his disguise, adding +(Stealth) bonus dice to disguise rolls as he moves in such a way to minimize scrutiny.

Stamina Abilities

Endurance

Dead Man Walking: Most characters are Incapacitated when their Incapacitated level is filled with damage. A character with this ability is just getting started. Characters with this ability may pay 1 WP per turn to act while Incapacitated until they run out of WP or finally die.

Marathon Man: The character has increased his endurance to near-superhuman levels and can do strenuous activity for hours without tiring. Halve (round down) the difficulty of all endurance rolls for strenuous activity.

Resistance

Made of Iron: The character is ridiculously tough and can survive a lot more punishment than he should. The character gains a number of -4 health levels equal to his (Resistance - 2).

Pain Don't Hurt: A character with this ability not only ignores wound penalties, but fights harder when wounded worse. A character with this mastery ignores wound penalties, and can reverse wound penalties for a scene at the cost of 1 willpower (that is to say, he gains dice rather than losing them).

Intelligence Abilities

Intrusion

All Doors Open: The character may either pick a lock without a roll or open them without proper tools with no penalty (not both), as long as the lock's difficulty is less than the character's Instrusion. This applies to all forms of lock.

Called Shots

Aberrant 2.0 Optional Rules