The Dresden Files > DFRPG Resource Collection
Custom Power List
gojj:
I think specialization is already handled with aspects and just how someone plays a character. I think Wizards (or even Focused Practitioners) are already extremely strong and versatile without allowing them to min/max even more.
Sanctaphrax:
I would be dubious about the balance of that. The pyramid is pretty important for keeping the power of highly-skilled wizards under control. And a 25% rebate isn't huge, but it's meaningful.
2 Refresh normally gets you 2 Refinements, which gives you something like +1 earth power, +1 earth control, +1 spirit power, +2 spirit control.
With this, 2 Refresh could get you 3 Refinements. That could give you +2 spirit power, +3 spirit control, and half a Refinement left over. Same number of pluses, but more efficiently concentrated. (Plus there's the extra half-Refinement, but I'm not sure if there's any way to actually spend it.)
You could also get 7 Refinements for the price of 5. That's enough to get you +4 power and +5 control for your chosen element, when without the rebate you'd be stuck with a +1/+1/+2/+3/+4 spread. Trading in two +1s and a +2 to move your actually-important specializations up a notch seems like a really good deal to me.
Hick Jr:
I'm not saying it would do away with the pyramid, I'm just saying you'd get more Refinements to throw around in exchange for loss of versatility.
This mostly came about because being forced to play a "focused practitioner" as only being good at pyromancy when in fact they had like +3 power and control to geomancy was starting to annoy me.
I crunched some numbers on this, and you never really seem to gain more than a shift or two towards your "focus" versus just having a full pyramid. Take a look at the specialization pyramid of Crash Burntown, pyromancer, who's spent 8 Refinements.
+1 Earth Control, +2 Spirit Power, +3 Spirit Control, +4 Fire Control, +5 Fire Power
He's got half a Refinement left, which he presumably puts into a focus item or an enchanted item. Whatever. Now, Mr. Burntown takes the Power, and subsequently gains 10 Refinements for the price of 8 in exchange for being terrible at everything that isn't fire magic. His pyramid looks like this.
+1---, +2---, +3---, +4---, +5 Fire Control, +6 Fire Power
He has two Refinements left over, which he presumably puts into focus or enchanted items. Crash is now a much stronger pyromancer, at the price of only being good at pyromancy.
Also, I just realized there's at least one character in the series who becomes much easier to model if this power exists- Mortimer Lindquist. He has Ritual:Ectomancy in pretty much all his writeups, which is straight up worse than just Thaumaturgy, but he's repeatedly described as stomping all over Harry when it comes to his area of expertise.
Sanctaphrax:
Gah. I almost edited your post instead of replying to it. Still not used to being a mod.
--- Quote from: Hick Jr on October 04, 2014, 11:04:25 PM ---I'm not saying it would do away with the pyramid, I'm just saying you'd get more Refinements to throw around in exchange for loss of versatility.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I know. The numbers I gave took that into account.
If you're looking to test the balance of this power, don't look at someone with 8 Refinements. Look at someone with 2. It's a much more common situation.
Plus, you want to look at the worst-case scenario when assessing balance. This power is strongest at low levels.
Hick Jr:
--- Quote from: Sanctaphrax on October 04, 2014, 11:37:48 PM ---Gah. I almost edited your post instead of replying to it. Still not used to being a mod.
--- End quote ---
Sanctaphrax is now suffering Compels from his new mantle.
--- Quote from: Sanctaphrax on October 04, 2014, 11:37:48 PM ---Yeah, I know. The numbers I gave took that into account.
If you're looking to test the balance of this power, don't look at someone with 8 Refinements. Look at someone with 2. It's a much more common situation.
Plus, you want to look at the worst-case scenario when assessing balance. This power is strongest at low levels.
--- End quote ---
Hm. I guess you'd get an extra Refinement, assuming you round up, which I typically don't. Which is a holdover habit from D&D 3.5.
Okay, so Arnie the Teenage Thaumaturge takes two Refinements, and his pyramid looks like this.
+1 Conjuration Complexity, +1 Technomancy Control, +2 Technomancy Complexity
Now we look at Arnie the Teenage Technomancer, who is apparently getting 3 Refinements, and his pyramid looks like this.
+1 ---, +2 Technomancy Control, +3 Technomancy Complexity.
You still average only one extra shift. Which is more powerful at lower Refresh, admittedly, but I'm not seeing how it's devastating to game balance. Could you provide me with an example? I sort of feel like I'm calculating this incorrectly.
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