tl;dr - Need help with creating moves and some mechanics for a PbtA-powered game  I'm working on that involves multiple universes.

By way of background ... The sci-fi/space opera game I'm working on involves probability manipulation of a method much different than, say, the Scarlet Witch. It's based on the many-worlds interpretation of reality. The simplified description is that each event in a universe causes another reality to be created, branching off from the reality in which the original event occurred. At the center of all of the branches, the proverbial tree trunk, is what I'm calling the Configuration Plane (CP), a plane of existence that is sort of a Dewey Decimal system, tracking everything down to the subatomic particle level, indexing everything across all of the multiverses.

It's a concept I'm basing on Pierre-Simon Laplace's “Philosophical Essay on Probabilitie,”  where a theoretical “Demon” (not the name he gave it, but one it was later basically assigned by other philosophers & scientists) is basically the CP.  Laplace described the creature's intellect as being  so vast that it, “would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed”  and can, “embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes."
   
In the game there are two groups. The similarity between them is that through a two stage process each is able to move from the existence they are currently in to one in which an event they are trying to achieve is happening.  One group is able to directly contact the demon to establish in which universe the event is happening (Stage 1). Once that happens the person summons what I'm calling a "Reactive Spark" that acts as the trigger for the person's switch from their existence, up to the Plane, through the demon and down the branch that leads to the alternate reality (Stage 2). I'm calling the entire two-stage process the act of creating a "Cusp."

The second group has the ability to create the Spark (Stage 2) but can't use the Demon to calculate to which plane they need to move. Instead they rely on an unbelievably powerful computer system that stretches across entire planets (and is in fact the planets). The computer, known as the Configuration Engine, calculates the reality in which the event is happening, instantly sending that information to the person, who then creates the Reactive Spark, moving up to the CP and down the branch specified by the Configuration Engine.

The actual reality switch is instantaneous. In each case the person in one universe is swapped for their counterpart in the other  (part of the conservation of energy). The people in the universe in which the person arrived don't know any swap has occurred - to them whatever is about to happen was what was going to happen anyway.

The background story explains how the different groups came to be, the Configuration Engine, etc.

I think the system would work really well in a PbtA-setting. The concept of manipulating reality opens itself up nicely to diaglog'ing what's going on and gives a lot of possibilities for "What are you doing?" role playing. I wanted to reach out to the group to get their thoughts on Moves and mechanics.

There are of course going to be basic moves for different types of combat, different piloting moves, interpersonal actions, etc. But when it comes to the manipulation would the group recommend two separate moves? One for the Reactive Spark and a separate for actually creating the Cusp? If so, if I understand it there's only one move per turn, correct? That would divide the Cusp across two turns, which I can see being similar to players having a chance to interrupt a mage casting a spell in fantasy games.

I'm struggling with defining the extent of just what players able to do when they switch universes. Causing damage to a target (the player needs to role play just how the damage is caused) can be limited by the roll. On a 10+ roll they cause that amount of damage (will obviously need to set the amount of player Health appropriately to avoid one-hit kills) and maybe on the 7-9 they take a portion of that amount of damage. Healing could be the same, in terms of damage healed. But what about non-combat things? If they want to move into a reality in which they can fly? Or teleport? Or create a spaceship? Or, or, or ...

I was thinking that maybe the roll gets tied to a chart that provides a maximum amount of what can be manipulated, in terms of distance, weight/mass, period of time, etc. So a roll of 10 would mean the manipulation could affect 100 miles if they're trying to do something related to distance, 1000lbs if it's something manipulating mass, etc.

In order to make it so players can't just constantly whip reality around, the GM fiat is that each time a Cusp occurs the person accumulates points that can eventually lead to a rip in the portion of the Configuration Plane (a "Probability Collapse"). If the rip occurs they make it to the Plane but get lost there, unable to reach the branch that leads to the reality they were trying to reach.  On a 1-6, something bad happens and they accumulate (for example) a number of points equal to the stat they use for the die role + 2 (I'm most likely going to have a stat only the folks who can create Cusps have. The are other classes don't need it). If they role a 7-9, something happens and they add a number of points equal to the stat. 10+ obviously it works. The points dissipate over some length of time.

Really hoping to get folks' feedback, suggestions, recommendations, etc. Thanks! :)