Space-Time Vortex

is a mental mutation that allows the player to create a in a nearby area.

This mutation grants the "Space-Time Vortex" activated ability, which when used, will prompt the player to select a tile to use the ability on. The player may only select a currently visible cell within 5 tiles. Confirming one's selection will cause a space-time vortex to appear in a random tile adjacent to the one chosen. The ability will also be placed on cooldown for a mutation level-based number of rounds.

Once created, the vortex will begin to move around randomly. If the player, a creature, or another object passes into the same tile as the vortex, or the vortex passes into the same tile as them, they will be teleported to a randomly chosen location somewhere in Qud, be it on the surface, underground, etc. The chosen location will be consistent for anything that crosses through that particular vortex. If the player enters the vortex, they will become lost upon arriving at their destination.

The random zone that the vortex leads to is distributed evenly across the whole world map, but tends to be a surface zone: There is a 50% chance that it will be the surface, and the remaining 50% of the time a stratum is chosen evenly from among all strata no deeper than stratum 30. (This means the surface is chosen slightly more than half of the time, and that you can't be taken to a stratum deeper than 30.)

There is also a 0.5% chance for a random creature to emerge from the vortex each turn. This can be any creature that is eligible to appear during dynamic encounters.

The space-time vortex will persist for rounds before disappearing naturally. If the player's mutation level exceeds 10, the vortex will persist for an additional number of rounds depending on that level. Space-time vortexes that come into contact with a source of normality will instantly collapse and disappear.

Formulas
The following formulas are used to determine cooldown and bonus duration based on mutation level. Note that the cooldown cannot be any lower than 5 rounds.

Ability Cooldown
The cooldown for is influenced both by mutation level and by willpower (WI). The following tables indicate 's willpower-adjusted cooldown (CD) at mutation levels 1, 5, 10.

Advantages

 * Allows the player to teleport themselves out of a dangerous location
 * Players can also use the vortex to get rid of unwanted creatures
 * Beneficial creatures can sometimes emerge from the vortex
 * A lucky player may be able to obtain very advanced gear at low levels if they teleport to a fortuitous location deep underground.

Disadvantages

 * Moderate cost at character creation
 * Vortexes do not kill enemies, rather they only teleport them away. Thus the player will not gain XP from using this mutation
 * Vortex will move randomly after creation, potentially teleporting things the player doesn't want to teleport
 * If the player doesn't go into a vortex themselves, anything that enters it will be lost once it disappears
 * Can potentially teleport the player to a more dangerous area
 * Dangerous creatures can sometimes emerge from the vortex