N-matter bonds with the minds and bodies of those who accumulate it in sufficient density, warping their forms to reflect the evolutionary pressures surrounding them, guided in part by the host’s subrational, intuitive comprehension of an alien scientific system embedded in N-matter’s code, and the host’s personal will and desires. To lose oneself to N-matter’s promise of endless evolution is to have your ego dissolve into a formless algorithmic ghost animated by a bottomless hunger. To use it well is to do with mere thought what a hundred logicians require supercomputers to emulate.

A given ability will be written as such (NAME)_SEV_#_(TARGET TYPE)

The NAME is its actual designation, the function it performs.

The SEV is severity, the maximum possible effect it can have.

The TARGET TYPE refers to range and the amount of individuals that can be targeted. SELF targets only the user, MELEE requires contact, RANGED line of sight, FIELD up to 10 touchable targets, SPREAD 10 line of sight targets, and TOTAL up to 100 targets within line of sight.

Efficacy of an Art is primarily reliant on Affinity, a rating which can be found in a given creature’s description. In general, a higher Affinity means more powerful abilities will be more easily obtainable. For example, if a creature with a Digital Affinity rating of 3 learns a severity 1 digital ability, it will automatically gain the severity 3 version. This means that teaching digital arts to this creature is cheaper than it would otherwise be, and incentivizes turning your citizens into them to take advantage of this.

For attacks that automatically target an enemy, with no chance of dodging, Affinity dictates the ability of a target to resist the effects of a given attack. If a creature’s Affinity is 3, for example, and a severity 4 attack is used, 3 severity levels are subtracted from the final effect.

Healing methods have their affinity ratings inverted. For example, if a healing ability is Severity 1, it can only target Severity 6 creatures of its affinity. If it has Severity 5, it can target Affinity 5 and 6, and so on, with Severity 6 healing programs being able to heal even normal humans.

If a creature with a low affinity learns a low-severity ability, and becomes a high-affinity creature, it loses access to that low-level skill. For example, an Digital Affinity 1 creature learns a Severity 1 Digital technique, and then becomes an Affinity 3 creature. It can no longer access the Severity 1 ability, and must "re-train" to learn an ability at its affinity level. Thus, one should choose their body first, and then train their techniques for optimal results.

When an ability is activated, it will only become accessible after a short delay. Move or wait to gain access to it, and then use it. If the ability deactivates before you can use it, you will need to activate it again and endure the delay. 

There are three main forms of N-matter techniques:

Digital arts draw from the Datasphere, the electronic ocean of insane, predatory malware that renders a true internet impossible. However, it can be briefly tapped into to direct its power, inflicting terrible maluses on victims or granting potent boons to allies or the user. However, they have no means of direct attack, and as such can be blocked by a sufficiently powerful foe with few options available to handle them.

Energy arts draw from N-matter’s impossible energy density, allowing users to warp and distort the laws of space and time. They can weaken or reinforce matter, or just direct powerful shockwaves at foes. It is a powerful school relying on cunning and brute force, capable of direct and indirect effects, but lacks nuance or sophistication, relying on raw space-warping power to instantiate a simple but powerful change.

Nanite arts refer to the use of nanomachines to construct weapon systems or temporarily augment one’s body, along with using them to heal or repair others. While highly adaptable, nanite arts are some of the most complex, and rarely possess TOTAL or FIELD type attacks. While they can apply bonuses to others, they require physical contact due to the nuance required.