ParanetOnline
The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Lawgiver on November 18, 2015, 05:04:01 PM
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During the holidays our gaming goes into hiatus as people turn their time and attention to family. I’ve invited two new people to join us once things get back into gear after New Year. Both of them need some serious one-on-one time for character development, which we'll be getting to right after Thanksgiving. They’ve both done some RPG gaming in the past, but not a lot. Both have read the Dresden books and loved them. Neither of them have ever played a Fate/Fate-based game system.
Needless to say, their initial concepts for what they wanted their characters to be have gone way out of bounds and I’ve had to “kick them back in bounds” more than once already.
The guy -- I’m ok with where he’s at right now on his concept. I think we’ll be able work up something we can both deal with.
The gal – {shakes head}, not so much. She insists on a certain “trait” that I’m not sure is a good thing.
She wants her character to suffer something like the “Midas Touch”, only not in the literal “touch it and it turns to gold” way… It’s a sort of “while I’m involved in something stuff comes up roses”.
Say she gets involved in a business deal. She can’t start a company of her own – it would tank. But if she invests in someone else’s it does well. If she stood at a roulette table, she couldn’t place a bet of her own – she’d lose everything. But if she told someone else what number to bet on, they’d clean up. As long as she doesn’t try to use this trait/power for her own direct/immediate benefit – as long as there’s someone else who can “take the hit” (so to speak) it’s “golden”.
My ‘issue’ is with which power to assign to make this the most workable for her and the other players… and the least work for me – if you see what I mean. I’ve considered things and I’ve come down to three options and am hoping some of you wonderful folks can help me decide on which one might be best… or even if you have an alternate idea that would be preferable.
1. Cassandra’s Tears. Sort of like Abbey from WN and GS… the gal who “sees” a few seconds into the future (has the “alert dog”, Toto). This would provide her the knowledge she dispenses and follows the ‘rule’ of not being useable for self… but it almost totally eliminates the possibility of using surprise against the characters as a factor during play – effectively eliminates Alertness as an initiative base (at least for the first round). Not sure I like the implications.
2. Focused Practitioner of some sort – Option-1 = Entropy Curses {Luck}. As long as we limit it to use only on others it might work, but this seems a bit overly convenient, her use of it could be all sorts of haphazard and – to my mind – the potential for blowing game balance is more than I’d like to admit.
3. Focused Practitioner of some sort – Option-2 = Ectomancer of a sort. She has a spirit (sort of like Sir Stuart) who she can communicate with who can not only tell her things but also achieve some very limited manipulation of solid objects (tweak the throw of dice, look at other people’s cards, etc). This provides some of the “luck factor” but doesn’t have much ability to affect wider things like some else’s luck when they’re not in her immediate vicinity. It seems to only peripherally address what the player wants and becomes a very poor compromise.
I’m trending towards #1 right now but am more than willing to entertain alternate suggestions – though, keep in mind please, that the further afield from the main thrust of the players conception the harder I’ll have to argue with her to get her to shift.
Thanks in advance for anything.
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It kinda sounds like maybe she's making a Lore roll versus a particular difficulty that you as GM can set, but can only pass the "tags" over to other PCs/NPCs. Wondering if that might be linked to a power and/or Aspect ("Not just for myself/Only for others/It takes a team/Whatever").
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Hmmm... interesting angle. I think I'm sort of liking that. That way she doesn't spend a lot of points on supernatural powers to finagle it and still gets something that works in the vein she's looking for.
My only concern is that a Lore roll wouldn't be as... "passive"?... as her description of it to me sounded. If I'm getting it right (and I'll certainly have to talk to her some more), then it's not necessarily a conscious thing... at least not all the time.
Let's take the Roulette Wheel example... she could be standing next to you while you play. As I understand it, she wouldn't necessarily "get a feeling" of what # is coming, but if she told you which number to play, that's the one that would come up. Or the business investment angle. If she put some cash into the enterprise, she could walk away from it (sort of a fire and forget scenario) and it would do well. There's no real conscious control/effort to it like we would see with casting a spell or rolling a skill.
I told her we might not be able to find something that works. Your take is interesting, though.
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I'd tend to say that's an aspect, not a power. And it's a nasty one - a compel on that could make the character fail at just about anything they're doing!
But it's also a justification for the player to spend their own fate points to help out others - in game-mechanics terms, she'd be spending a fate point to declare an aspect, and then handing the tag on that aspect off to whoever else.
This also fits well with the description of the 'power' being a 'passive' one - it's one the player chooses when to use, not the character.
Edit: if you want an actual power, though, how about this one:
-1 refresh: "And It Comes Up Roses": When an ally invokes one (or more) aspects you created for either a reroll or a +2 bonus, they gain an additional +1 bonus on that roll.
Note that that's just a single extra +1, regardless of how many aspects are invoked - and note that it applies to any invocation, not just the initial free tag.
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I'd tend to say that's an aspect, not a power. And it's a nasty one - a compel on that could make the character fail at just about anything they're doing!
But it's also a justification for the player to spend their own fate points to help out others - in game-mechanics terms, she'd be spending a fate point to declare an aspect, and then handing the tag on that aspect off to whoever else.
This also fits well with the description of the 'power' being a 'passive' one - it's one the player chooses when to use, not the character.
This is also sounding interesting.
But... hmmm... in order for her to have the FP's to spend to declare, the way you describe it, I'd almost have to deliberately compel the crud out of this just to load her up with points to use. That feels a bit... overly-contrived... if you understand my take there? Don't get me wrong, I find the overall idea appealing but I'm afraid of the implementation/mechanics of it taking on a bit of an "on rails" feel.
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Well, truth be told, this seems like a rather interesting power. I would be inclined to allow it. The problem is, it doesn't have a downside. It's the ultimate support power for pretty much everything. And that doesn't fit. So I think a good way to balance this might be to work out the downside of this power.
Now the thing that immediately comes to mind with a power like this is "muse". Maybe she's a scion of a being like that. As a muse, she is probably a faerie of sorts, so in this case a changeling. If those are faerie powers, the character won't be able to just give the effects of her powers freely to other people. She needs to make a deal, and an equal one at that. Not because she wants to, but because those are the rules of the fay.
Another thing that I've seen come up with muses is that their powers come at a price that's more than the faerie deal thing. It's often described like a drug. People can do incredible things when under the influence of a muse, but once she's gone, they fall sick like they have withdrawal.
Though I think that might be a bit boring for a game, so let me suggest something else: The character can't really make someone lucky so their endeavors succeed, they can just siphon luck from the future. And their target has to pay the price sooner or later. A bit like sponsor debt from luck, if you will.
And we can maybe go a bit further. Maybe she also has learned to move around those "luck debts". So she might be able to push someone's luck and then push the debt onto someone else, making them unlucky in the process.
So from here, we could simply go for a simple "sponsored magic (luck)". It should encompass pretty much anything you might be able to do. You could ask for sponsor debt if you think the luck they spread out is too much and that it should require some balance. It's probably not so much a direct sponsor as much as a cosmic force. Call it Karma or what have you.
Maybe an idea for an additional mechanic, since sponsor debt might not fit too well, as described above. Maybe have a track like this:
You start out at 0. For every good luck you spread around, you go into the negative direction, giving you a bonus on doing bad luck magic, but a penalty on doing good luck magic. If you spread bad luck, you go into the positive direction. That way you can't just do either magic, you have to do both, or you get bad at the one you keep throwing out.
As an added power, you could go with allowing her to make a die roll succeed/fail without rolling, but the karma track moves to the end of the opposite side. And it should only be allowed if you are on the opposite side of the track already (though not necessarily the end).
I hope that isn't too confusing. I can try to rewrite this, if it is.
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This is also sounding interesting.
But... hmmm... in order for her to have the FP's to spend to declare, the way you describe it, I'd almost have to deliberately compel the crud out of this just to load her up with points to use. That feels a bit... overly-contrived... if you understand my take there? Don't get me wrong, I find the overall idea appealing but I'm afraid of the implementation/mechanics of it taking on a bit of an "on rails" feel.
Call it a Curse and make it a Sponsored Magic, only one she doesnt know the source of. She can take a hit herself, "paying the price", by enduring an equivalent but negative entropy curse, or she can rely on the Power and put herself into Debt to an unknown Sponsor with an Unknown Agenda. That gives you a framework to rein in the powers over-use, a fun Mystery to work around into the rest of the game, and the freedom to adjust things later (by revealing the Sponsor) once you've seen how she settles into the character.
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I like the sponsored magic approach. I also like the idea that she doesn't so much grant good luck, as give her good luck to someone else. The more good luck she gives out, the more bad luck she has for herself.
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I like the sponsored magic approach. I also like the idea that she doesn't so much grant good luck, as give her good luck to someone else. The more good luck she gives out, the more bad luck she has for herself.
Ya, I always say when in doubt, go for a one-to-one trade-off, it's usually easier to find a more natural balance.
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New power:
[-2 Refresh] Lucky: Once per scene, this ability lets the character with the power reroll the dice on any action they take to affect a target within the same zone.
[-1 Extra Refresh] Fortune Favors My Friends: The ability lets the lucky character choose an ally within the same zone to use their reroll instead of them. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[-1 Extra Refresh] : Fortune Doesn't Favor My Enemies: The ability lets the character use their reroll to force an opponent of the character's choice within the same zone to reroll the dice. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[-1 Extra Refresh per extra zone] In the Zone: the character can affect rerolls two or three zones away. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[-1 Extra refresh per extra reroll] Lucky Streak: the character can get an additional reroll in the scene for every point they spend. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[+1 Refresh] Restoring the balance: every time the character uses this ability, the GM gets a Fate point for enemy NPCs to use. Prerequisite: Lucky.
Minimum cost on this ability will be one.
If the character wants to only use the ability on others, that should be an Aspect, or it can be a power limitation that reduces the refresh cost by one.
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Maybe she's a scion of a being like that. As a muse, she is probably a faerie of sorts, so in this case a changeling.
We explored the Changeling idea for all of about 30 seconds. That's not where she wants to go... though -- truth be told -- all the characters in my current game (based in the new Paranet, Las Vegas) are "scions" of a sort... just of old-world deities... like Ishtar, Dionysus, etc. This one wants to be a scion of King Midas (why I don't know, he wasn't even a "god" he was cursed.../shrug.
The character can't really make someone lucky so their endeavors succeed, they can just siphon luck from the future. And their target has to pay the price sooner or later. A bit like sponsor debt from luck, if you will.
This sounds pretty juicy... {smiling}
And we can maybe go a bit further. Maybe she also has learned to move around those "luck debts". So she might be able to push someone's luck and then push the debt onto someone else, making them unlucky in the process.
Probably an advanced, added-cost ability for later insertion... but, yeah that's tempting.
So from here, we could simply go for a simple "sponsored magic (luck)". It should encompass pretty much anything you might be able to do. You could ask for sponsor debt if you think the luck they spread out is too much and that it should require some balance. It's probably not so much a direct sponsor as much as a cosmic force. Call it Karma or what have you.
Maybe an idea for an additional mechanic, since sponsor debt might not fit too well, as described above. Maybe have a track like this:
You start out at 0. For every good luck you spread around, you go into the negative direction, giving you a bonus on doing bad luck magic, but a penalty on doing good luck magic. If you spread bad luck, you go into the positive direction. That way you can't just do either magic, you have to do both, or you get bad at the one you keep throwing out.
As an added power, you could go with allowing her to make a die roll succeed/fail without rolling, but the karma track moves to the end of the opposite side. And it should only be allowed if you are on the opposite side of the track already (though not necessarily the end).
I hope that isn't too confusing. I can try to rewrite this, if it is.
Hmmm... I like the bi-directional nature of that "karma track". We could include it on the sheet with the other attributes -- sort of like a "feeding" track for vampires but this one gets stress marked? Would she have to take a "consequence" to throw a "luck" benefit to someone else (roll benefit consummate with the consequence level)?
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New power:
[-2 Refresh] Lucky: Once per scene, this ability lets the character with the power reroll the dice on any action they take to affect a target within the same zone.
[-1 Extra Refresh] Fortune Favors My Friends: The ability lets the lucky character choose an ally within the same zone to use their reroll instead of them. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[-1 Extra Refresh] : Fortune Doesn't Favor My Enemies: The ability lets the character use their reroll to force an opponent of the character's choice within the same zone to reroll the dice. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[-1 Extra Refresh per extra zone] In the Zone: the character can affect rerolls two or three zones away. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[-1 Extra refresh per extra reroll] Lucky Streak: the character can get an additional reroll in the scene for every point they spend. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[+1 Refresh] Restoring the balance: every time the character uses this ability, the GM gets a Fate point for enemy NPCs to use. Prerequisite: Lucky.
Minimum cost on this ability will be one.
If the character wants to only use the ability on others, that should be an Aspect, or it can be a power limitation that reduces the refresh cost by one.
Wow. I really like this too... a new power with add-on abilities that ramp up the cost as they ramp up the base ability. Very nice.
Now I'm about spoiled for choice. I may have to work on blending several of the above ideas.
/rubs hands
/evil laugh
"Yes, my precious. We shall see what we shall see... muuuaaahhahhaha!"
Tyvm.
Anyone else with input, welcome. Don't stop now. We're on a roll!
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Another idea for a stunt could be:
Lend a Helping Hand to Hand (Fists): the character gets a +2 to complete a maneuver that can be tagged by an ally in a subsequent action.
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We explored the Changeling idea for all of about 30 seconds. That's not where she wants to go... though -- truth be told -- all the characters in my current game (based in the new Paranet, Las Vegas) are "scions" of a sort... just of old-world deities... like Ishtar, Dionysus, etc. This one wants to be a scion of King Midas (why I don't know, he wasn't even a "god" he was cursed.../shrug.
Well, it could be a bloodline curse that manifests differently, depending on the personality of the carrier.
Probably an advanced, added-cost ability for later insertion... but, yeah that's tempting.
Well, I was more thinking that she would be able to give good luck to someone and bad luck to someone else. That's all encompassed in the sponsored magic already. The trick now would be to balance it, force her to keep good luck and bad luck in check.
Hmmm... I like the bi-directional nature of that "karma track". We could include it on the sheet with the other attributes -- sort of like a "feeding" track for vampires but this one gets stress marked? Would she have to take a "consequence" to throw a "luck" benefit to someone else (roll benefit consummate with the consequence level)?
Not really. The idea is that she just uses sponsored magic as anyone else, but as she does, she gets compelled (not that way) to even the score.
Example:
She starts out like this. Now she casts a maneuver spell that puts the aspect "good luck" on one of her allies. Her luck track shifts to this:
Now, if she wants to do the same spell again, she suffers a penalty of -1 to her discipline. She already created good luck, and the universe is slightly out of balance for this. She can push it, but only so far, and it gets harder and harder.
But she can also choose to throw some bad luck around. Since the universe longs to be balanced, she now gets +1 on her discipline to throw around bad luck. She could attack an opponent with that, just not with a magical blast directly, but with bad luck. A bullet ricocheting, them tripping and falling badly, etc. If she does that, her track goes back to 0 and if she does it again, she goes to +1 etc, giving her a penalty on bad luck and a bonus on good luck.
Now depending on how flexible you want this balancing thing to be, you could shorten the table to
so she would be at the +-2 pretty quickly. It would also mean that she's got a bit of a combo, support your allies 2 times, then land a heavy hit on an opponent. Which is a neat balance, I think.
Mind you, this is not a stress track, it's a balance track. You don't note stress here, just where you currently are on the good/bad luck scale.
When it comes to taking consequences, you can do that to power spells, just as with any normal form of magic. You can also take sponsor debt, since this is sponsored magic. Allowing you to temporarily get around the balancing issues, for example.
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Well, it could be a bloodline curse that manifests differently, depending on the personality of the carrier.
Well, I was more thinking that she would be able to give good luck to someone and bad luck to someone else. That's all encompassed in the sponsored magic already. The trick now would be to balance it, force her to keep good luck and bad luck in check.
Not really. The idea is that she just uses sponsored magic as anyone else, but as she does, she gets compelled (not that way) to even the score.
Example:
She starts out like this. Now she casts a maneuver spell that puts the aspect "good luck" on one of her allies. Her luck track shifts to this:
Now, if she wants to do the same spell again, she suffers a penalty of -1 to her discipline. She already created good luck, and the universe is slightly out of balance for this. She can push it, but only so far, and it gets harder and harder.
But she can also choose to throw some bad luck around. Since the universe longs to be balanced, she now gets +1 on her discipline to throw around bad luck. She could attack an opponent with that, just not with a magical blast directly, but with bad luck. A bullet ricocheting, them tripping and falling badly, etc. If she does that, her track goes back to 0 and if she does it again, she goes to +1 etc, giving her a penalty on bad luck and a bonus on good luck.
Now depending on how flexible you want this balancing thing to be, you could shorten the table to
so she would be at the +-2 pretty quickly. It would also mean that she's got a bit of a combo, support your allies 2 times, then land a heavy hit on an opponent. Which is a neat balance, I think.
Mind you, this is not a stress track, it's a balance track. You don't note stress here, just where you currently are on the good/bad luck scale.
When it comes to taking consequences, you can do that to power spells, just as with any normal form of magic. You can also take sponsor debt, since this is sponsored magic. Allowing you to temporarily get around the balancing issues, for example.
Ah... much clearer, thank you.
I'm just going to have to print all this out and have it on hand when she and I talk about this. I"ll present her the options explain some of the pros/cons.
Amazing stuff here.
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The main thing that popped into my head when seeing this, was just incite effect (luck), and a relevant aspect for you to compel when you want the "bad luck" to interfere.
Errr not bad luck, but failing on her part.
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How about allowing her the ability to give out Sponsor Debt, but have the compels always fall on her head? There'd need to be a limit, perhaps it only works once or twice a scene, but it'd model what she's after fairly well.
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The main thing that popped into my head when seeing this, was just incite effect (luck), and a relevant aspect for you to compel when you want the "bad luck" to interfere.
Errr not bad luck, but failing on her part.
I looked at Sponsored Debt... it seems to interleave fairly well with her concept of having inherited some variant of the Midas Curse, I'm just not sure how to fit the source/sponsor in -- for the long-term play and reveal. I'm sure I can find a fit later on, but I really feel more comfortable having something like that in place from the beginning so that any cluebats I drop are solid and appropriate; not overly generic. /shrug. This idea is still on the table, to be sure.
I came here looking for an idea or two and now I'm swimming in possibilities.
You guys are awesome. tyvm
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I looked at Sponsored Debt... it seems to interleave fairly well with her concept of having inherited some variant of the Midas Curse, I'm just not sure how to fit the source/sponsor in -- for the long-term play and reveal. I'm sure I can find a fit later on, but I really feel more comfortable having something like that in place from the beginning so that any cluebats I drop are solid and appropriate; not overly generic. /shrug. This idea is still on the table, to be sure.
I came here looking for an idea or two and now I'm swimming in possibilities.
You guys are awesome. tyvm
Like I said, as a bloodline curse, this should work fairly well. Hell, you could have her ancestors show up as ghosts, and they will only rest if the curse is lifted. Maybe their variant on the curse can manifest in some ways as well, which could make for some really messed up situations to be sure. :D
It could even be that original Midas was cursed by a Sidhe who is still around. I'm not too familiar with the Midas story, maybe there's something in there?
Maybe the curse is similar to the Loup Garoux curse. Only one person can have it at any given time. Now maybe a relative of her knows about the curse and thinks it's a gift and her birthright and tries to get access to it.
Maybe another relative knows about the curse, he had it and lost it because he technically died a few years ago, before your player got the curse, and is now determined to end the curse for good, by ending the bloodline.
Maybe someone wants to trigger the original Midas curse for gold to make an easy profit.
Maybe it is possible to trigger past versions of the curse occasionally. Maybe by channeling one of the ancestor ghosts. Or maybe they can force that on her occasionally.
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I looked at Sponsored Debt... it seems to interleave fairly well with her concept of having inherited some variant of the Midas Curse, I'm just not sure how to fit the source/sponsor in -- for the long-term play and reveal. I'm sure I can find a fit later on, but I really feel more comfortable having something like that in place from the beginning so that any cluebats I drop are solid and appropriate; not overly generic. /shrug. This idea is still on the table, to be sure.
I came here looking for an idea or two and now I'm swimming in possibilities.
You guys are awesome. tyvm
If you want a specific intellegent being, any god that deals with Fate or Chance or Destiny could work. Norns and Morai and such fit too, as could angels or djinn or even a leprochaun king.
Conversly you could go with a more abstract, less anthropomorphic Sponsor like "Karma" or "Kismet" or any variation on "Cosmic Balance" but then you might have to work a little harder to tie in a fitting Agenda for something only semi-sentient; you'd need to compell the PC toward getting involved with larger Balances as well as the situation/scene level ones.
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I have this vision of ALL the bouncers and doormen in Las Vegas being on the lookout for her.
OR...she could be the solution for Las Vegas's problem(s).
Finally, I can see various entities trying to kidnap her for her powers, depending on how they work out.
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I have this vision of ALL the bouncers and doormen in Las Vegas being on the lookout for her.
OR...she could be the solution for Las Vegas's problem(s).
Finally, I can see various entities trying to kidnap her for her powers, depending on how they work out.
Agreed. I think from the Paranet Papers would be very interested in such a character if she were to come close to .
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New power:
[-2 Refresh] Lucky: Once per scene, this ability lets the character with the power reroll the dice on any action they take to affect a target within the same zone.
[-1 Extra Refresh] Fortune Favors My Friends: The ability lets the lucky character choose an ally within the same zone to use their reroll instead of them. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[-1 Extra Refresh] : Fortune Doesn't Favor My Enemies: The ability lets the character use their reroll to force an opponent of the character's choice within the same zone to reroll the dice. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[-1 Extra Refresh per extra zone] In the Zone: the character can affect rerolls two or three zones away. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[-1 Extra refresh per extra reroll] Lucky Streak: the character can get an additional reroll in the scene for every point they spend. Prerequisite: Lucky.
[+1 Refresh] Restoring the balance: every time the character uses this ability, the GM gets a Fate point for enemy NPCs to use. Prerequisite: Lucky.
Minimum cost on this ability will be one.
If the character wants to only use the ability on others, that should be an Aspect, or it can be a power limitation that reduces the refresh cost by one.
These powers exist already. I have a character who's used them. They require you to create aspects to tag or to have FP's. They are pretty awesome. Combine 'Controlled Fate', 'aura of control' and 'Probability Manipulation', 'stacking the deck'
Although, Probability Manipulation is probably the most important power. It even lets you take sponsored debt.
I managed to survive some pretty epic fights with no other powers just by creating aspects and having lots of FP's to toss around. It makes a great support character.
LUCK POWERS
Powers that affect probability. Be warned: these Powers tend to mess with the game’s basic dice mechanics.
CHAOTIC FATE [-0]
Description: For whatever reason, the randomness of your life is much greater than normal. Your personal bell curve is pretty flat.
Skills Affected: All
Effects:
Chaotic Fate. All of your rolls are made with six fudge dice instead of the standard four.
Aura Of Chaos [-1]. All rolls made in your presence are made with six fudge dice instead of the standard four.
ORDERED FATE [-0]
Description: For whatever reason, the randomness of your life is much less than normal. Your personal bell curve is pretty pointy.
Skills Affected: All
Effects:
Ordered Fate. All of your rolls are made with two fudge dice instead of the standard four.
Aura Of Order [-1]. All rolls made in your presence are made with two fudge dice instead of the standard four.
CONTROLLED FATE [-1]
Description: You can control probability to a limited extent, making life more or less predictable through magical power.
Skills Affected: All.
Effects:
Fate Control. Whenever you roll, you may choose to roll any number of fudge dice between two and six.
Aura Of Control [-1]. Whenever someone in your presence rolls, you may choose to have them roll any number of fudge dice between two and six.
PROBABILITY MANIPULATION [-3]
Description: God's dice are loaded in your favour. Your luck is literally supernatural.
Skills Affected: All
Effects:
Weighting The Dice. Whenever anyone in your presence rerolls dice, you may "lock down" one of those dice. Doing so ensures that the result of that die is the same on the reroll as it was on the original roll.
Palming The Cards. Whenever you are involved in an opposed roll, you may cause your opponent to reroll by invoking an aspect.
Fixing The Wheel. You may take a point of sponsor debt instead of spending a Fate Point when invoking an aspect in order to cause a reroll or when making a Declaration that has to do with random chance. Sponsor debt taken this way represents accumulated bad luck, karmic backlash, or the build-up of paradoxes in the structure of reality.
Stacking The Deck [-1]. Whenever anyone in your presence rolls dice, you may cause them to reroll by invoking an aspect.
Honestly, though, I bet you could do this with 2 stunts:
One to replace contacts with resources and one that lets you spend a FP to have +4 to a resource roll.
Now you're rolling contacts at +4. Attach it to an aspect that states that the character doesn't actually get any of the money (since it's always through someone else) and also let it be worded so that you can compel the character to lose out on stuff because of the 'curse'.
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double-post: I'll link that character because it might give you some ideas.
FYI, his High concept is: Luckiest Man in the World
His Trouble aspect is : Unluckiest Man in the World
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,41023.msg2027360.html#msg2027360 (http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,41023.msg2027360.html#msg2027360)
It's a high refresh game, but it certainly might spark some ideas.
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I've been trying to bone up on Sponsored Magic and have run into a road block. Didn't the Paranet expansion have something in it involving Self-Sponsored magic? Where did I see that? I can't find it. Anyone know?
ty
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There are quite a few self sponsored magics on the custom powers list. I don't think they are an official thing.
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For sponsored debt that's attached to powers like the one I posted above, there's no stress track (apparently that was added in the paranet papers. It's simply compels paid in advance. This is fairly easy to keep track of. I suppose you could have a stress track, but that seems complicated.
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There are quite a few self sponsored magics on the custom powers list. I don't think they are an official thing.
Here are a bunch of Spoonsor magics, all Fan Made I think, but there are a bunch that are self-sponsored and/or lack traditional sponsors. (One is sponsored by "Science!" )
https://dfrpg-resources.wikispaces.com/Sponsored+Magics (https://dfrpg-resources.wikispaces.com/Sponsored+Magics)
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For sponsored debt that's attached to powers like the one I posted above, there's no stress track (apparently that was added in the paranet papers. It's simply compels paid in advance. This is fairly easy to keep track of. I suppose you could have a stress track, but that seems complicated.
The only sponsored magic that got a stress track in PP was Soulfire, which given it's source and how it's been modeled in book, makes the most sense.
Also: http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,31204.0.html
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Ok, I've had a chance to talk to this gal and she wants the "Luck" power to be passive. It's not something she does, it's something that happens. It's a family (bloodline) curse of a sorts. They don't get direct benefit, per se.
For now, I'm going to try using the "Karma Track" Haru suggested previously and see if that works. It will probably end up working as a set of invokes/compels that shift the marker on the track indicating bonuses to the recipient and negative to her character. This is going to have to bear observation.
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Let us know how it goes.
Passivity + Fate usually don't mix very well, the system assumes you will do something. This seems like she could be an amulet on one of the other players, if there isn't a lot more to her character than that.
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Passivity + Fate usually don't mix very well, the system assumes you will do something.
I would suggest that you make it clear that the luck can be passive from the character's perspective, even as the player is actively using the power and making luck declarations (and tracking it, since the power should be subject to limitation appropriate to the level of refresh spent). If it's too passive, it might end up as you narrating an easy game and removing any sense of challenge for the other players.
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I would suggest that you make it clear that the luck can be passive from the character's perspective, even as the player is actively using the power and making luck declarations (and tracking it, since the power should be subject to limitation appropriate to the level of refresh spent). If it's too passive, it might end up as you narrating an easy game and removing any sense of challenge for the other players.
That's been one of my primary concerns to date. I'll give her the "power" to decide when/where it's used but limit it as you suggest.
Thanks again for all the help, folks.
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That's been one of my primary concerns to date. I'll give her the "power" to decide when/where it's used but limit it as you suggest.
Thanks again for all the help, folks.
If it becomes something over-powered, or that they rely on too much to get around the challenges, you could always give her an actual "Luck Jar". Every time the table wants to use the power beneficially, they have to put a dollar into the jar, which goes to gaming session snack fund. Then you let market pressures provide the limitations, while simultaneously pigging out of Cheese-Its ;D
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This sounds like an aspect. If she doesn't want to actively control it.
It will come into play when you compel it and it will benefit her when she invokes it.
If you want karma, let her invoke the aspect for free which gives you a free compel at a later date.
No need for a power or a track.
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If it becomes something over-powered, or that they rely on too much to get around the challenges, you could always give her an actual "Luck Jar". Every time the table wants to use the power beneficially, they have to put a dollar into the jar, which goes to gaming session snack fund. Then you let market pressures provide the limitations, while simultaneously pigging out of Cheese-Its ;D
Double post. This is brilliant.
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This sounds like an aspect. If she doesn't want to actively control it.
It will come into play when you compel it and it will benefit her when she invokes it.
If you want karma, let her invoke the aspect for free which gives you a free compel at a later date.
No need for a power or a track.
This is a reserve idea I'm keeping on hand in case the player's preferred method of the Karma track and such doesn't pan out. She's got some RP experience but DF is totally new/different and she's already having a little difficulty wrapping her head around aspects and their function. The karma track is a little closer to her stat-based game experience and will hopefully provide a crutch until she's ready to dive it deeper. When and/if we can go with the aspect approach (my preferred choice) I'm sure things will get even better (less bookkeeping at minimum).
The holidays keep us from playing (too many family and other social obligations getting in the way) until after New Year. We'll get cracking before Valentines. Until then I've nothing to relate, but will make sure I give some feedback once I have it.
Thanks again, y'all... very helpful.