Flesh and Bone

Flesh and Bone (Major) by Senator Cybus

With this freakish ability, the character can separate his flesh from his bones and exist as two beings - one a boneless and impossibly flexible contortionist, the other a walking skeleton!
It takes one full melee round for the two parts of the hero to separate from each other, or merge back into one being. While apart, both bodies have the same skills and memories and the same mental/physical attributes (unless otherwise indicated below), though S.D.C., Hit Points and any I.S.P. or P.P.E. are split equally between the two. When separated, the two bodies can sense each other’s basic state of health (fine, injured, dying) and general location (over that way, near/far).
Both halves of the hero retain all of his other powers (though some may not apply - Hold Breath is useless to the Skeleton and the Flesh body will not benefit from Indestructible Bones). Beyond that, each has radically different capabilities.

The Skeleton has the following abilities:

• Horror Factor of 9 (or a bonus of +3 if he already has the power).
• Takes half damage from cutting/piercing/slashing attacks.
• The character is immune to pain and suffers no penalties due to fatigue or injury. His wounds do not bleed.
• Cannot be stunned and not vulnerable to death blows or critical hits.
• Impervious to extremes of temperature.
• The character’s exposed bones are sensitive to vibration; in addition to the hero’s normal sense of hearing, the Skeleton has the minor power of Motion Detection.
• Immune to psionics (not including physical psionic attacks, like Mind Bolt and Psi Sword), illusions and mind control.
• Immune to poisons, drugs and toxins.
• Does not need to eat, drink or breathe.
• +10% to Speed.

Penalties:

• The Skeleton cannot pass for human.
• No sense of sight, smell or taste.
• Cannot speak.
• Sense of touch is crude; about 50% that of a normal human.
• Cannot swim; no buoyancy.
• While it may appear to be undead, the Skeleton is alive and therefore vulnerable to powers like Bio-Ghost and Life Leech, or attacks that target the soul.

The Flesh Body has the following abilities:

• Retains human appearance and speech - can pass for normal.
• Incredibly flexible: +8 P.P. +3 to auto dodge, +5 to roll with punch, fall or impact.
• +35% to Escape Artist skill and +25% to perform the manoeuvres offered by the skills of Acrobatics and Gymnastics.
• Blunt force causes one half normal damage.
• Contortionist: can flatten his entire body or fold into a condensed ball. Same as the sub-abilities of Stretching/Elasticity (HU main book, page 292).
• +10% to Speed.

Penalties:

• While sleeping or unconscious, the boneless body will lose all cohesion and slowly collapse into a fleshy puddle, giving away its strange nature.
• The Flesh Body, due to a lack of rigidity, is twice as vulnerable to the effects of great pressure, high gravity and the weight increase power of Weight Manipulation. Any penalties incurred by exposure to such forces take effect twice as quickly, cause twice the normal damage and last for twice as long.

Vulnerabilities: The two separate bodies cannot survive without each other for long: they must rejoin within one hour per level of experience or both will start to weaken, losing 1D4 Hit Points per minute. This damage cannot be healed until the two halves of the hero reunite, irrespective of any regenerative powers the super being may possess. If one body is killed, the other will not immediately perish, but will lose 1D4 Hit Points per minute until death.
The two halves of the hero only have a basic sense of each other (location and general state of health) and must therefore use mundane means if they wish to communicate. While the Flesh Body can speak normally and the Skeleton can hear him, the Skeleton can only mime or write messages for his meaty counterpart. Once the two bodies go beyond the range of hearing, neither will know the details of what the other is experiencing, so prior planning is advisable.