The Dresden Files > DFRPG
Familiars
neko128:
--- Quote from: Deadmanwalking on April 29, 2010, 06:32:39 PM ---As an Item of Power, I think you only need to pay for those abilities the cat bestows upon you, not those it possesses itself. Those are part of the "Cat NPC" a slightly different thing than the "Cat Item of Power".
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Yes - the rest is part of its "it is what it is". But cats, while having good vision, don't necessarily have supernaturally sharp vision. Boggart does (at least in my example).
--- Quote from: Deadmanwalking on April 29, 2010, 06:32:39 PM ---Um, Refinement grants two specialties per level, not 1.
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Yeah, I was just fixing that. :-P
Deadmanwalking:
--- Quote from: neko128 on April 29, 2010, 06:37:48 PM ---Yes - the rest is part of its "it is what it is". But cats, while having good vision, don't necessarily have supernaturally sharp vision. Boggart does (at least in my example).
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Right, but that isn't what I meant: An Item of Power bestows abilities on you. An Item of Power that is also an NPC may have powers of it's own, but whether they're natural to it's creature type or not, even if it's a spellcasting raven you've borrowed from Odin, you only need to pay points for the abilities it grants you. The rest is just it's stuff.
Or to put it simply, as an Item of Power, you only need to pay the Refresh if the cat grants YOU Supernatural Senses, not if it just has them itself.
neko128:
--- Quote from: Deadmanwalking on April 29, 2010, 06:43:00 PM ---Or to put it simply, as an Item of Power, you only need to pay the Refresh if the cat grants YOU Supernatural Senses, not if it just has them itself.
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Hmmm. I see your point, but I think it's a matter of interpretation; and while I value your point, I'm going to stick with my own at least in games I run. :) "Imparted" is a very fine line.
Think of it this way - what exactly is being imparted, the power itself or the effect of the power? You're right, Captain Kitty the wizard has not actually received the power Supernatural Sense, because he isn't the one that can see invisible spirits (arguments as to whether or not cats naturally see invisible things notwithstanding). However, his link to Boggart gives him the *effect* of the power at all times an Item of Power (enchanted glasses, say) would, which brings it down to a point of semantics. If he's there, I am aware of the invisible things he's aware of; if he's not, I'm not aware of them.
Or to go back to my other favorite example (Amorrachius is such a pretty sword!); if I'm wielding a sword, and that sword's enchanted (mechanically as an item of power), and the power the sword grants is "bypass defenses on the thing I'm hitting"... Is the power actually part of me, or is it part of the item? The effect is being granted to me, but the description in the book specifically says "In essense, a Sword of the Cross may take the place of whatever it is that a creature has a weakness to". It doesn't say "the person who owns it ignores the defenses" - the sword is integral to the act and power.
Deadmanwalking:
It depends on the distinction you want to make between the NPC and the Item. Despite them being one being in logic and in-game reality, I see the two as mechanically distinct and separate. Would you charge someone if they had a pet cat that happened to be spiritually attuned and could see ghosts? Or were friends with one of Odin's Ravens, who's a spellcaster? I wouldn't. Having unusual NPC friends who can occasionally be useful seems to me to just be one of those things that happens in a Dresden Files game. So, I'd allow 'Item of Power' NPCs to do the same, only charging for the powers they actually impart.
Now, if he's a more D&D style familiar and you can see through his eyes and spot ghosts, that's a real benefit and one I'd charge for.
neko128:
--- Quote from: Deadmanwalking on April 29, 2010, 07:01:33 PM ---Would you charge someone if they had a pet cat that happened to be spiritually attuned and could see ghosts?
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If the result was my cat attacking invisible goblins and jumping up the walls, no. Hell, my cats do that all the time, and the only benefit I get from it is vast amusement when I'm bored and vast annoyance when I'm asleep. If the result were that, through our mystic link, I was aware of the invisible monsters at the same time and to the same extent he was, then yes.
--- Quote from: Deadmanwalking on April 29, 2010, 07:01:33 PM ---Now, if he's a more D&D style familiar and you can see through his eyes and spot ghosts, that's a real benefit and one I'd charge for.
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My point exactly. :)
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