Mythic Science // Power, Cost, Consequence
Turn abilities into plot engines with a 3-column ledger you can reuse forever.
You don’t need “bigger powers.” You need priced powers.
— Tyr Jackson
The bridge point hums tonight.
Half lab. Half temple.
A waveform trembles across the scope. A copper prayer wheel turns once, deliberate. I lower a new module into the device: a calibrated meter with three illuminated gates.
Rule. Cost. Failure.
Not to make powers louder.
To make them accountable.
Because escalation without price is noise.
And noise is not drama.
The Law
The Priced Power Law
A power stops being plot armor when it has:
One clear rule (what it does + limits)
One visible cost (what it burns)
A mapped failure path (what breaks first, second, third)
If the reader can track those three things, “overpowered” becomes operational.
Escalation reads like inevitability — not mood.
GATE 1 — The House Line (The Rule)
Lecture
Cool is not a system.
A system has constraints.
Constraints create tension.
Tension creates story.
When you feel tempted to “just give them a bigger form,” what you’re really feeling is structural weakness.
Instead, you write one sentence:
“This power does X under Y limits.”
That limit is the meter.
No limit? No meter.
No meter? No tension.
Example
Reignas (condensed model):
“This kinetic manipulation allows hard-light constructs under thermal and EM bandwidth limits.”
Notice what matters:
Not what it can do — but what caps it.
Thermal.
EM bandwidth.
Those are story levers.
Command Task
Write one House Line for one character.
Does X
Under Y limits
If the limit cannot fail or strain, it’s not a limit. Rewrite it.
GATE 2 — Cost Units (What the Universe Charges)
Lecture
No bill, no drama.
Cost must be:
Personal
Trackable
Visible
Choose 1–3 cost currencies readers can feel:
Heat / calories
Time / tempo
Psyche / will
Gear wear
Social capital
Lifespan / debt
Then choose how it charges:
Up-front
Per-use
Per-second
Maintenance
Backlash
Cost timing shapes tension.
Per-second burn = rising anxiety.
Up-front cost = gravity before action.
Backlash = universe stamps “PAST DUE.”
Example
Reignas:
Per-second thermal burn
Visible heat shimmer
Hair hue shifts at 50%
Now readers see the meter rising before collapse.
They don’t need exposition.
Command Task
Choose:
1–3 cost units
1 charge model
2 visible tells
If readers cannot see the cost climb, it does not exist.
GATE 3 — Visible Tells (Make the Meter Legible)
Lecture
Readers believe what they can see.
Cost that lives only in narration feels fake.
Every power needs consistent tells.
If you repeat them enough, fans begin tracking your gauge for you.
Example
Visible tells might include:
Breath shortening
Micro tremor
HUD amber shift
Pressure drop
Voice fracture
Aura distortion
Reignas crossing 50% → hair hue intensifies.
Readers learn that before he does.
Command Task
Pick 2 permanent tells.
Pick 1 pre-failure tell (“uh-oh” moment).
If your character hits catastrophic failure without warning signs, redesign.
GATE 4 — The Failure Ladder
Lecture
Failure must change the fight.
Not “nothing happens.”
Map escalation downward.
Three rungs:
Partial → Lockout → Catastrophic
Each rung includes:
Trigger
Tell
Fallback
Recovery
Failure generates tomorrow’s stakes.
Without it, escalation is cheap.
Example (Condensed Reignas Model)
Partial
Trigger: Sustained thermal overload
Tell: Edge shimmer + tremor
Fallback: Precision constructs only
Recovery: Cooldown + hydration
Lockout
Trigger: Second overclock in 60s
Tell: Input lag + containment alert
Fallback: Hand-to-hand only
Recovery: 10-minute resync
Catastrophic
Trigger: Forced override while desynced
Tell: Construct collapse
Fallback: None
Recovery: Full rest + −10% output for 24h
Now escalation is procedural.
Command Task
Map your three rungs.
If catastrophic has no long-term consequence, deepen it.
The Tool — The 3-Column Power Ledger (10-Minute Install)
Use this on one character.
Column A — Move / Mode
Name the move.
House Line: Does X under Y limits.
Column B — Cost & Tells
Cost unit(s): _____
Charge model: _____
Tells: ____, ____
Context mods: +% / −% (site, weather, prep)
Column C — Failure & Fallback
Primary fail: trigger → tell → fallback → recovery
Lockout: trigger → tell → fallback → recovery
Catastrophic: trigger → tell → fallback → recovery
Success Metric
Run one scene this week using the ledger.
If you can point to:
One visible tell on the page
One cost beat that changes a decision
You’ve installed the meter.
We did not:
Stress escalation gates
Model doctrine conflict
Simulate counterplay ecosystems
Model deferred cost
Test cast lane balance
Today you install the meter.
Then we stress it.
Now…
The bridge hums louder when you move from spectacle to structure.
Because this is where powers stop erasing problems
and start creating plot.
Read the lesson first. Then come back and step into The Signal Layer.
That’s where we turn priced power
into system architecture.
