Mailliw73
How many Epics have "unique" powers like Firefight or Mitosis?
Brandon Sanderson
Less than 10% are both unique and useful.
Mailliw73
What about unique and useless? ;)
Brandon Sanderson
Happens fairly often.
Mailliw73
So, a power to, say, conjure Big Macs out of their pocket wouldn't be too crazy?
Brandon Sanderson
No. That's actually well within reason.
And actually quite powerful if you don't put a limit on concurrent mass created or speed of creation.
Voidus
What about an Epic whose only ability is to accurately tell the time?
Brandon Sanderson
Sure.
Mailliw73
Can an Epic be given powers that are permanently countered by their weakness? Ex: Being able to breathe underwater, but whose weakness is water?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm going to say no on this one, unless the weakness is something more specific. (I.E, you can breathe under water, but your weakness is water with food coloring in it.) The weakness can relate somehow to the powers, but not in a way that if every time you use the abilities, they're automatically negated.
winter_cloud
What are some of the more common powers, then?
Brandon Sanderson
I based this off of comic books, so I assumed classic comic book superhero powers--various forms of flight, invulnerability, control over various types of matter, energy blasts--are common enough to have "standard powersets" for research purposes. Basically, this means that people like David and the lorists can make references that readers with a familiarity with comics can understand.
King_of_the_Kobolds
Is there any chance we could see the lorist categorization system published someday? As a sort of Reckonerverse Ars Arcanum?
Brandon Sanderson
This is possible, but likely only if I come back to the world for more books beyond the original trilogy.
Voidus
How common would teleporting be?
Brandon Sanderson
Rare.
Mailliw73
Are powers such as being able to negate others' powers or being immune to Epic powers possible?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.