I faced a similar conundrum when I ran it.  We have just restarted the campaign in the aftermath.  I basically had to railroad them a little bit, but I structured it as "you're all forced into the same situation, you may like it, you may not, but that's what you have to do for now"  They will have opportunities to break themselves out of it, but for now they have found that working together is the most useful, as they all try to determine if they really want to be a part of it.  And by that, I mean become Processed and work for the Crows.  Basically, I had Lucanor invite them to meet with him so he could discuss the disappearance of the Lady and offer hospitality in reparation for any ills they may have suffered because of him.  Long story short, he poisoned them, and the only true "cure" is to become Processed.  For now, they have to perform tasks to earn vials of "antidotes" that push off the effects of the poison.  Once they are deemed strong enough, they will be able to become Processed.  Obviously, that replaces their reliance on the antidote with their reliance on the Black Liquid, but I think the party will still have opportunities for escape before and after, so I'm hoping the slight initial railroading opens up.

So, I guess what I'm offering as an idea is have something happen that gives them strong incentive to work together to overcome it.  Maybe they are arrested/interrogated because their survival is suspect.  Maybe they are kidnapped, etc.  I've always found this to work pretty well as an organic way to build a party from people who didn't know each other and don't have strong reason to work together.  As their characters and relationships develop through that arc, you hopefully will see the best way to keep them wanting to work together in the future.  Hope some of that helps!

Adopt us, and you'll be showered with gifts, like the best bread in Farna. 

I can't play with it while I'm at work, but this is a great idea.  I will definitely give it some testing and provide feedback.  Thanks for doing this!  I have 2007, so I'll see how it works there.  Assuming no major issues, do you mind if I incorporate it into the excel character creator (that at this point has had several authors/editors, so it's very much a collaborative effort)?  I think it would be a nice addition.

And really, I would almost say that using a weapon via telekinesis is so specialized that you would need to learn an entire new way of fighting.  I say create a Telekinetic Fighting module that gives one proficiency to use their attack skill while wielding a weapon using telekinesis.  Then give a big penalty for anyone trying it without the module.  I suppose you could also just have there be a big penalty that the module reduces/removes, but that's just semantics.  Since this seems to really get into a certain cinematic look, the module could perhaps also be used to control a shield with telekinesis as well.  With that said, I would argue that trying to do things with your hands at the same time would cause some stiff penalties (beyond the -25 for additional actions) to avoid the possibility for abuse.

I will happily be a player for this one, GMing too many games right now to run it, though.

That's through the implantation of a psychic crystal in the brain of the subject.  It doesn't make them psychic so much as give them a tool to use one power.

I don't have the books in front of me, but my recollection of the fatigue part at least says that if your maximum is below the threshold, you don't have a penalty while at max, but once you lose any, you take the penalty for the level you are at.  I would assume that Ki and Zeon would function the same way.

RAW aside, I generally agree with you Lia.  I just don't think someone who isn't in tune with their Zeon or Ki reserves is going to feel the loss as strongly as someone who is aware and constantly taps into them.  Beyond it feeling right that way, I also think that the other method just leaves room for cheesing your way into giving people AAP by draining something they don't use.  I don't think Drain Ki was built with the idea being a fun way to drop huge penalties on wizards.  It just doesn't feel right.

Hoo-freaking-ray!  I can't wait.

Me too.  Maybe a GM will magically fall from the sky and pick it up.

 

Arikail made some major progress on it before it came into my hands, so I've mostly been cleaning up little things.  I know there lots of little tweaks needed here and there.  I am working on getting it hosted on my site (first time having a personal site since my angelfire days, so figuring out how to get it working as I'd like).  As soon as I get that figured out, it will be available at files.dynaesdarksbane.com.

If you do download and use it, please note any bugs or issues in this thread, and I'll work on cleanup.  At the moment, I know Opposite magic is not calculating correctly when you take the advantage.  That's my next order of business when I have a few minutes to sit down and play with it.

EDIT: files.dynaesdarksbane.com should be up and running.  Download it and play as you wish!

I can send you the most recent one when I get home from work this evening.

I'm glad I didn't take an addiction to fresh bread, then!

It's because you really like bread, right?

(I will perhaps one day grow tired of the bread thing, but it's still funny to me for now, no idea why)

5. Counter attacks are a passive action that require that you can still perform active actions.  That is to say they do not count as an additional active action (or if you only make counter attacks and no regular attacks, they don't use up an active action, I believe) but you can only perform them when you are permitted to take active actions (so you can't make them if you've been successfully hit earlier in the turn).

I'm sure I've seen that confirmed on here, but please correct me if I'm wrong!

Really...I guess I've been doing that bit wrong.   How does that work if say, our Tao wins initiative, has 3 attacks. He punches Evil Ninja once, then Evil Ninja successfully backflips away and runs off.  Can the Tao pursue and use those attacks (assuming enough actions to run, or can reach in 1/4 movement) or is he out of luck?

EDIT: Additional question:  If you get an additional attack for something like an off-hand weapon or tae kwon do, does that follow the same rules as well?