Character abilities in Primis as of now feel a little too complicated for a small paragraph on the character page, so here you can read about powers, nuances, how they can develop, and more.
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For the most part, character powers are bound by their own creativity & imagination, but as with any series there needs to be clearly defined limits. In Primis, this is done with control authority. Read about it here.
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In Primis there are two types of powers you can have. Imaginary Arts and Executive Control. Both of which have pros and cons.
This is very similar to conventional magic you might see anywhere. The user is required to focus and perform an incantation to use their power. And their power will be a much more abstract concept such as offense, defense, destruction, seeing, hot & cold, etc.
Imaginary Powers are much more loosey-goosey with how they’re used, as it is almost solely bound by the user’s understanding of things.
However, this extremely powerful versatility comes with a gimmick, the user’s subconscious is used to determine the effect of any incantation. In other words, they have to lawyer their incantations to make spells, a poorly done incantation is subject to whatever the user would think it would do at a minimum. Ergo, the way an Imaginary Power is used will always make sense to the user. (Comparable to JJK’s binding vow system, except I came up with this before that.)
This is a version of power much more akin to chemistry. The user is given the ability to freely command an idea but they are bound by the nature of that idea, rather than their imagination. Their creativity will tie in with how they command their concept. Executive Control powers would center around concepts like luck, thermal energy, kinetic energy, atoms, or time. More often than not, you may find that Executive Control powers tend to have overlap. (Thermal energy is just internal molecular kinetic energy, so a kinetic energy ability would be able to do thermal energy things as well.)
Unlike Imaginary Arts, Executive Control powers are much more natural to the user, they can be used with very minimal psychological intensity. For example, if you wanted to grab something far away and you have an ability that allows you to do it, it would just naturally let you grab it without you really knowing you can do it.
It is also important to note that for the most part, Executive Control abilities won’t manifest naturally in a way the user didn’t intend, making them much safer than Imaginary Arts. Once the user is aware though, they will start to command the ability based on what they want it to do, rather than intended effect.
Executive Control abilities are also tied to user experience and fathomability. In other words you’ll never do something you don’t understand or think is impossible.