Endurance:
Spell Resistance: Your body rejects the effects of magic more effectively than most. You have a natural armour score of 1 against magic which stacks with everything.
far as I know, Stunts can only offer one additional consequence per stunt, so Spin Doctor would be limited to 1 consequence. otherwise, they seem OK to me
Once again, admiralducksauce, may I please add your stunts to the master list in the first post?
there needs to be a mcgyver skill made!!! ;DLots of Craftsmanship, and the jurry-rigger stunt. Done.
With your permission, I'll add them to the master list.That's why i put them here :-)
Do you like it? I made it myself. (Craftsmanship): A weapon you made yourself, is a weapon you know really well. Use Craftsmanship to wield Weapons you personally built from scratch.
Hmm ... sorry mate but I just don't know about this one. Building a weapon and using a weapon? Two completely different things in my book.
That said the stunt is to broad in my opinion. It essentially allows you to roll the complete weapons skill into your craftsmanship skill, witch shouldn't be possible. You can however transplant a single trapping. Be it Melee Attack/Defence, Weapon Knowledge or even Distance Weaponry, it all makes sense. But not the hole trapping set. That's just huge for a point of refresh.
You can however theoretically transplant multiple trappings with multiple stunts.
Well, there's the Armed Arts stunt for fists that basically allows you to do the same thing. Attack and DEfend with a certain number of types of weapons. And its Types.
The stunt in question here, lets you use Weapons you made yourself. And only those. If you loose your trusty sword, you cannot just pick up another...
I think that makes it actually into a very narrow stunt.
I made this stunt for my Artificer build. Basically what i had in mind was to allow him to use his enchanted Sword. And over time maybe one or two other weapons.
I had Melee Weapons in mind, that's one thing that should probably be added to the description.
If that's not enough, one might also add the limitation that the Weapon in addition to be made by himself, has to be made for himself as well. That would limit it to maybe a handful of specific weapons in his arsenal. Provided he makes weapons for other people.
I would allow it, but only because making weapons is really difficult. Without the proper facilities, anything you make will be an easily broken piece of garbage. And if you do have the proper facilities, the cops will probably start looking at you funny.
Stunts can either transplant a single trapping of a skill under all circumstances or an entire skill under specific circumstances. Whether the circumstances for this stunt are specific enough is really up to the GM of the game in which this stunt exists.
On second thought, maybe that isn't a good thing. Don't want to credit strangers with too much intelligence. Perhaps Craftsmanship should complement Weapons and Guns instead of replacing them.
I was hardly able see what you had in mind when you thought this one up, was I? All I was saying was that I probably wouldn't allow the stunt as you have written it down above.Which is why i tried to clarify... :-P
Yep. That's good.
Although I can't make sense of the first statement.
He transformed the Stress Bonus range of mundane weapons into +Shifts to successful unarmed attacks.
Adding +x to a successful fists attack is basically the same as using a Weapon:X attack with weapons.
Though i don't really see the relevance of that either...
Well, there's the Armed Arts stunt for fists that basically allows you to do the same thing. Attack and DEfend with a certain number of types of weapons. And its Types.
The stunt in question here, lets you use Weapons you made yourself. And only those. If you loose your trusty sword, you cannot just pick up another...
I think that makes it actually into a very narrow stunt.
Yes. You can find it with the search directions in my earlier post, or by following this link:
http://www.vinlandsolutions.site11.com/Products/DFRPG/index.html (http://www.vinlandsolutions.site11.com/Products/DFRPG/index.html)
Alternately, there is a fairly comprehensive list compiled by furashgf in my possession. I could send it to you.
Dunno about the balance, but I love percussive maintenance just for the sheer theme of it
Guns:
Ammo Selection: There are a lot of different types of bullet in the world, and each of them is suitable for a different situation. Given the chance to select and use ammunition appropriate to the situation, all of your attacks with Guns inflict two additional stress.
I like the Security Expert and A Potion For Everything, and Too Cool For School reminds me of my students, but Ammo Selection... :o
That is broken, straight up. That makes a pistol as damaging as a bazooka, a shotgun as dangerous as artillery. 1 shift would be the maximum I'd allow, and they'd have to spend a fate point per use. It'd be easier to make assessments and declarations along the lines of LOADED WITH DRAGONS BREATH that you could then tag. And then that opens the door to negative compels when a gun so LOADED goes kaboom in the shooter's face. No chance of that with that stunt.
Now, a Resources stunt that allows you easier access to those rare and unique ammo types... that'd be more workable.
I absolutely agree with Tbora on this one. Remember, to have said ammo, well, you have to *have* it and is implied that it can be taken away, melted (bad end! there), or similarly "disabled. Not to mention, is that ammo even legal? Do you have the resources to acquire it? Et cetera. From an outside perspective, I can see it looking broken, but from within the system, it's not so much. Feel free to compare it to the other weapon, and gun stunts. Fist stunts are less powerful, but that's because you can't be "disarmed" of your arms. I hope. :)
This is not broken, their are examples of similar stunts with both weapons and fists in the book - its perfectly legit mechanically and by the examples of books.
I concur too. Not broken. Keep in mind that stress isn't damage. Keep in mind the attack has to go through in order to do stress.
Effortless Recovery: IMO the stunt is undervalued as it stands. An other problem is that stunts generally aren't supposed to ad onto supernatural powers if I'm not mistaken.
As for Effortless Recovery, I knew when I was making it that it pushed the envelope for stunt power. Do you think it would be better as a [-1] supernatural power?
Anyway, the issue of "supernatural stunts" has been debated repeatedly. If you would like to try and resolve it, make a new thread. This argument has already sidetracked at least two threads, and I'd rather not add this one to that list.
I'm a doctor not a ... (Scholarship): You worked as a physician for quite some time. Get a +1 to your scholarship roll whenever treating a patient, due to your extensive experience.I think the existing "Doctor" stunt already combines both of these. It certainly does the second, though it defines "treatment" as a declaration for the appropriate conditions of beginning recovery. It also gives a general +1 on medical research, plus a specific field +1 -- I think these would apply to the treatment rolls, because they count as declarations.
I'm a doctor (Scholarship): You have a medical education that qualifies you to work in a hospital. Given the recourses you can treat almost every kind of injury and not only the first aid stuff.
I think the existing "Doctor" stunt already combines both of these. It certainly does the second, though it defines "treatment" as a declaration for the appropriate conditions of beginning recovery. It also gives a general +1 on medical research, plus a specific field +1 -- I think these would apply to the treatment rolls, because they count as declarations.
Just out of curiosity, would stunts like these work?
Master Of The Arcane (Lore): Your spells are not about what you believe, but what you know. Use Lore instead of Conviction to determine the strength/power of your Spells.
From The Book (Lore): You know your spells by heart. Use Lore instead of Discipline to control and guide your Spells.
Edit: Added 2nd Lore stunt
Please ask yourself: Witch trapping of the Conviction or Disciplines Skill gets transplanted to Lore here? Answer: There isn't one as the things you're trying to manipulate are clearly part of the evocation power.
In my opinion this is a rather good example for why stunts generally shouldn't relate to powers or their use, but we have the other thread to discuss this, so the question should probably be taken there.
Note to self: stop listening to Dethklok while thinking about DFRPG. Then again, perhaps Metalocalypse and Dresden Files complement each other entirely well.
Another one i thought up for my Half-Giant Scion
Was that supposed to hurt? (Endurance): You are TOUGH. You don't avoid attacks, you just take them right. Use Endurance to „dodge“ attacks.
I also think that By The Book and Master Of The Arcane should be disallowed, but not because they relate to powers. My problem with them is that they reduce the number of spellcasting skills. If the skill used was something other than Lore, Discipline, or Conviction, it would probably be okay. The fact that you need three skills is one of the balancing factors for magic.
Was That Supposed To Hurt? looks good. And it doesn't need to have a catch.
Those stunts might not be all that overpowered in a submerged game, but at higher levels where Refinements become less effective due to the pyramid rules these stunts are incredible. They apply to all elements and fields, and they allow you to cast everything from your highest stat. If you don't believe me, make a high-refresh wizard with peaked Lore and non-peaked Discipline/Conviction. These stunts will make Refinement look pathetic.
So, how does that look?
Discipline:My interpretation is you can defend with magic (or any appropriate skill) without losing your next action already.
Reflexive Shield: Magic is the only defence you need. When you are attacked, you may sacrifice your next action to cast a defensive evocation.
During the fight, she charges at Harry, who uses spirit magic to raise a magical shield to deflect her......the spirit is quite powerful and in her native demesne (page 170); she rolls an attack at Epic (+7), beating both Harry’s block and his normal defense.So the stunt seems worse than the standard rules.
The text stating that you can't cast as a defensive reaction is in a sidebar on page 253 of Your Story.Thanks for pointing it out! I kept bypassing the sidebar...
Now, I'm dead certain that this stunt as written should consume your next action. But as written this stunt allows you to do a lot more than I think you think it does. You can roll your normal defense in addition to your evocation, and your evocation can be a lot more than just a block against one attack. It can be armour, a block with an extended duration, or perhaps even a maneuver. All of these options make spending your next action quite worthwhile.That's cool...I had read it as replacing a defensive roll instead of an additional roll.
If you took away those options, I think it might be balanced to let you evoke as a defense without spending an action. You're quite right about the value of stress boxes, and the current rules don't offer much reason to block single attacks with magic. So I'll put up a second, non-action-consuming version of this stunt once I figure out how to word it elegantly.
I think that's strong enough. Why would you think otherwise?
Yes, I understand that. It seems that my question was unclear.
What I meant to ask is: why would you think that moving the Brush-Off trapping to Rapport would be worth less than a stunt? One trapping per stunt is generally the rule, although it's not ironclad.
Got some new stunts, some newish stunts, and one old stunt that I had forgotten about. I'm not too certain about the quality of these stunts, though, so I'm not adding them to the master list yet. Does anybody have any constructive (or destructive) criticism?Shouldn't this be a stunt for the skill used to create the block? As written it doesn't seem to affect alertness but would potentially affect everything from Athletics to Weapons. Disicipline is potentially problematic - with some creativity most armor, blocks, and veils could be phrased as 'protecting another'.
Alertness
Protector: You are an expert at the protection of others. Whenever you use a skill to create a block to protect another character, add two to your roll.
Craftsmanship:How does this differ from a Declaration using Craftsmanship? May want to give it a +1...
Bunker Builder: You know how to make effective fortifications. Given time, you may fortify a zone with your Craftsmanship skill. Your Craftsmanship roll than functions as a block against entry to that zone and ranged attacks into it. Unlike most blocks, fortification is not removed as soon as it is defeated unless the action that defeated it was intended specifically to remove the fortification.
Deceit:Looks interesting...
Illusion Of Grandeur: Making a good first impression is all about misrepresenting yourself. You may use your Deceit skill instead of your Rapport skill to make a good first impression.
Fists:Perhaps it's just me but I dislike the 'Touch of Emotion' stunt. Doesn't fit my image of a WV. Regarding 'Storm of Punches', have you considered phrasing it as a Spray Attack? (Similar to Wall of Death for Weapons.)
Kick The Bruise: It really hurts to take two hits to the same place. Whenever you tag or invoke a consequence to benefit a Fists attack, that attack inflicts two extra stress.
Touch Of Emotion: Mental attack, physical attack, what's the difference? You may use your Fists skill for your Incite Emotion power.
Storm Of Punches: A great warrior fights as well against a thousand enemies as he does against one. You may take a -2 penalty to a Fists attack in order to have that attack affect everyone in the zone (except yourself, of course).
Lore:I'm not entirely clear on this one - are you performing it for entertainment or effect?
Occult Ceremonies: Is there really that much difference between a seance and a play? Pick a type of ritual. You may use your Lore skill instead of your Performance skill to perform that type of ceremony.
Stealth:As situational as this is, you may also want to add something along the lines of "...the difficulty of moving stealthily through water borders is reduced by 2."
Among The Seaweed: You are a master of submersible subterfuge. Add two to your Stealth as long as you are at least partially underwater.
Presence:Well...I've been following the social weaponry thread and I'm not entirely convinced. Most seem better as an aspect. But, if it is allowed / used, why would it require a stunt?
Social Weaponry: The right gear can make a lousy point seem brilliant. Pick an item and a social skill. As long as you possess that item, all social attack that use that skill inflict two additional stress. Don't pick a pair that makes no sense, please.
Alertness:This seems too narrow. I'd suggest changing it to "Situational Awareness" and give the bonus to spotting tails in any situation.
Traffic Watcher: You really know how to use those rear-view mirrors. Add two to your Alertness skill as long as you are in a car.
Highly Mobile: You move abnormally easily, and you find it easy to do other things while moving. Your actions do not suffer penalties due to supplemental actions made to move a zone.Probably need to explicitly state "one zone" - else it's a better speed bonus than Inhuman Speed provides. I'm somewhat tempted to suggest rewriting as a bonus to crossing zone barriers. That would avoid treading on the Speed powers.
Master Manipulator: You can treat other people like chess pieces and make it work. When you have a pre-set plan in which other people have specific roles to play, you may use Deceit for social attacks intended to make those other people carry out their roles.I'm not entirely certain what is intended here. Can you clarify it some?
Reading Suspects: Part of being a good detective is knowing whodunit long before anything can be proved. You may use your Investigation skill instead of your Empathy skill when dealing with a suspected criminal.This may be a bit broad. Everyone is a suspect until you rule them out. :) I'd suggest modifying it to "...when dealing with a suspect whom you have at least one piece of evidence against." Even that potentially allows use with manufactured evidence - which I'm not sure should apply.
Excellent Journalist: It’s not complicated: you’re just a good journalist. Add two to your Investigation skill when using it to replace your Performance skill.This, combined with "Investigative Reporter" seems to allow an extreme amount of skill optimization. Whether that's bad or not probably depends on how central investigation and journalism are to the campaign. For comparison, I think using a Fists version of this with Footwork is a bad idea. So, if journalism comes up as often as combat, this is a bit much.
This may be a bit broad. Everyone is a suspect until you rule them out. :) I'd suggest modifying it to "...when dealing with a suspect whom you have at least one piece of evidence against." Even that potentially allows use with manufactured evidence - which I'm not sure should apply.
for as long as you are carrying said weapon
I'd honestly just drop this bit. Say that your extensive training in acrobatic armed arts allows you to dodge any attack with Weapons. Unless you're a Jedi there's really no sensible reason that you could avoid bullets while holding a weapon but not while unarmed.
The fluff for "Shot on the run" is that you're using your own gunshots to "discourage" the attacker (which lets you dodge anything so long as you've got a loaded gun) or using your knowledge of sight lines to put up a better defense (which lets you dodge Guns against ranged attacks, but not close combat).
How does having an in-depth knowledge of how to wield particular weapon help you defend against a bullet or mystical strike? I'm not saying "don't do it," I'm just saying "explain how it works."
Parry Everything: You can deflect bullets with a sword, or at least use your skill to make yourself harder to hit. You may use your weapons skill to defend against all physical attacks.
Personally I wouldn't allow any skill other than Athletics to be used as an all-purpose physical defense as that is an incredibly useful trapping, and by far the most useful one that Athletics has.
I would recommend something like this:
Elusive Fencer: Years of intense training and more than a few close calls have gifted you with nearly superhuman reflexes. Your Weapons skill always compliments your Athletics skill when defending against physical attacks.
Interesting point. But I honestly don't think that the mental image changes much when you restrict it to a certain weapon, so I don't see the point of changing that if your problem is with the image.
My reasoning for Parry Everything was this: there is a Fists stunt that lets you defend against ranged attacks with Fists. Weapons defence is better than Fists defence, and weapons stunts are supposed to be slightly stronger than Fists stunts. So a Weapons stunt that lets you defend against ranged attacks with Weapons is reasonable.
Technically any trapping is fair game to move to any other skill, as long as you can justify it. However just because it is technically allowable doesn't mean it's balanced or sensible. These are all home brews, so it isn't like there's going to be an authoritative answer. If you want to allow vanilla mortals to parry bullets and blasts of fire that's fine, but I would find that both overpowered and out of genre (barring some sort of supernatural Kensai type character, which would be out of the realm of Stunts altogether). My example is what I would allow in my game, your mileage may vary.
And the price of one refresh isn't a bargain.
Parrying a bullet is no more overpowered than dodging it. That's just fluff. If you don't like the image, change it.
@computerking: Very interesting. However, I'm not exactly sure what it's good for, apart from guaranteeing stickiness. Could you please explain?
@both: May I add those to the list?
I think that you're putting too many restrictions on these stunts. A stunt can generally move a trapping under all circumstances or move an entire skill under some circumstances.
Thematic justifications are decent, except for the one for Little Lies. I don't understand how that relates to Investigation.
What does the Sleuthing trapping do?
Blindness doesn't actually penalize Weapons rolls. Combat Sense does nothing.
And Zatoichi seems wrong to me. If the user just blindfolds himself, this stunt becomes True Aim +.
Being blind or fighting in darkness should penalize weapons.It does when it's important to the narrative - as an invoked or compelled aspect.
It does when it's important to the narrative - as an invoked or compelled aspect.
Regarding the stunt, the concept of "being blind means you have some sense better than sight" is rather silly. Even the few who have learned echolocation (http://www.slate.com/id/2154696/) don't use it at combat speeds.
So make it a Power! Just not a 'mortal' stunt. :)
Blindness doesn't actually penalize Weapons rolls. Combat Sense does nothing.
And Zatoichi seems wrong to me. If the user just blindfolds himself, this stunt becomes True Aim +.
Blind Fighting is something mortals can take in most game systems. D&D, WW, Star Wars, etc. I maintain a system should exist for it. Maybe it shouldn't be a mortal stunt...but many mortal stunts are pretty damn close to supernatural by this system.To be clear, it's the Zatoichi stunt I think should be a Power. It goes beyond removing negatives to giving bonuses. And the bonus itself is too broad for a stunt anyway.
This one is also pretty hard to model...it sounds dumb the way I made it work...it may just be better as an aspect. I realize that.
Animal Magnetism: Roll Survival? instead of Rapport for seduction attempts.....
Sounds flimsy... Need help. Maybe it truly is just better as an aspect.
To be clear, it's the Zatoichi stunt I think should be a Power. It goes beyond removing negatives to giving bonuses. And the bonus itself is too broad for a stunt anyway.
Just my opinion of course.
Fire Resistance is not too unrealistic, I think. Aren't some people harder to burn than others?
Hm. Odd. Some people are harder to cut or bruise than others, but fire affects everyone equally?
Ah well. Maybe I should change that stunt to offer a bonus to Endurance for defending against heat.
And don't worry, Silverblaze. I wasn't offended. But I kinda screwed up while writing Parry Everything, and it keeps on coming back to bite me.
Here's one I just thought of:
Minions, Attack (Presence): You might not be good at fighting people, but you sure know how to point at a target. You can use Presence as an attack in physical conflict so long as you have at least one minion for each point of Presence you have. The weapons value of the attack is determined by the weakest weapon any of you minions are using. This does not allow you to make spray or zone-wide attacks. This stunt requires the Contacts stunts "The Boss" and "Minions."
Does it take up the actions of the mintions that round?
I think we already have Scholarship social stunts. If not, I'll add some.
And watch what you say about statistics. It happens to be my field of study.
The mechanical effects of Parry Everything are fine. The description, however, implies physically impossible things. So it needs to change.
I wasn't sure about whether Fireproof should have been armour 1 or 2. That one was a toss-up.
I kinda like Minions, Attack! but it doesn't work very well if the minions are fully statted characters. If they're background fluff, then it's fine. I guess I could rewrite it so that the minions are treated as equipment rather than characters. Actually, I think I'll do that. I'd like to have some more stunt trees on the list.
But first: why would you not allow it, Silverblaze? I'm willing to be convinced here.
PS: Are you speaking from personal experience, Belial?
I sort of feel it would be like letting a mainly mental character attack people with just discipline or conviction if a stunt is taken.(MIND BULLETS!) Making Combat skills useless, or far less useful. It is better to play a far more interesint socialite or scholar and kill people with social or mental prowess. (Yes I know the powers that add to physical powers do not apply to social or mental skills, but it still seems to be making combat skills (or playing a well rounded character for that matter)
I can admit when I'm wrong, despite, being a gamer, and stubborn.
Take it back! You'll have us thinking people on the Internet aren't all /b/tards if you go being all rational.
Footwork is indeed better than Parry Everything. Thanks, polka.
But it seem as though it ought to work unarmed. Which it shouldn't. Ideas on how to fix that?
There is no one as coordinated as Sanctaphrax.
I Lupin! is pretty good, although I'd like it better if it either was linked to a specific aspect or was not linked to invocations at all.
I don't think that Focused Strike does anything. You can already maneuver for aim-based aspects with Weapons.
I think that Old School Archer is already on the list under the name "Bows Are Weapons".
The mirror charms are kinda weird in that they inflict penalties. Bonuses are normally the way to go in this game. Why penalties in this case?
Also, Reflection Shatters The Mirror should probably only give 1 shift of effect. It boosts attacks, after all.
Two-Handed Training has the same problems as Off-Hand Weapon Training. I think it might be better as a standard +2 stress bonus
Yeah, I just carry a USB drive.
But given how easy this was, I might start using it instead.
Tell me if this works.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43356063/DFRPG%20stunts%20%28sorted%29.docx (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43356063/DFRPG%20stunts%20%28sorted%29.docx)
@The Mighty Buzzard: You are a prince among men. I've been meaning to get around to sorting the Generic NPCs for about half a year.
Disagree.
It's actually more powerful than Evocation for a character with Mediocore Conviction and Lore.
If it seems underpowered, it's because Breath Weapon is pretty lame. Not because the stunt is weak.I would contend that any stunt of otherwise standard usefulness (even assuming that this is such a stunt) that solely modifies a power of inferior usefulness is dragged down with that power.
But that's the thing.
In order to be competent, an evoker has to invest multiple skill slots into evocation.
That's a serious drawback, and so it's only reasonable for any alternative which lacks it to be stronger.
Anyway, if you think that Breath Weapon is bad enough to undermine any stunt building off of it you should fix Breath Weapon instead of worrying about the power of the stunts building off of it.
Comments on each, in order:You're probably right. In fact, I think that's how I had it originally. I think I added the +1 on the logic that you're only going to get one shot at it in any reasonable circumstances.
-Why does this give +1? The new trapping seems like enough of a benefit.
-What is the mechanical representation of convincing someone that you're toast? An aspect?I was kind of dithering on that, hence the wording saying a maneuver or a block--I have ideas about how either can be useful, depending on the situation (a maneuver would be better if you're planning to wait til he turns away, then tag it for a sneak attack, a block might be better if you're simply planning to let him leave). Do you have a suggestion?
-Very narrow. Could use a boost.Narrow how? Do you mean it should be usable in a broader set of situations?
-This is like Swing For The Fences, but more powerful and more abusable. And that's saying something. Needs a rewrite.So, maybe make it something like Harry's Listening stunt, where Athletics is rolled from 0 or worse when using it? I was imagining this for a sniper-type character, if that helps.
-Does this just boost Chit-Chat or is it broader than that?I was imagining it in Social conflicts, mostly, asking questions to get specific information out of someone (this is for a reporter character)
-Why does this provide only +1? +2 would seem reasonable.I was thinking of making it so that it'd be +1 in general wooded areas, and maybe +2 if you specify, like if it's a rain forest vs. something in the American northeast.
-I like the effect a lot, but the wording bugs me for reasons I have trouble explaining.Yeah, I wasn't sure exactly how to word it. Any suggestions?
-I have no idea whether this is reasonable or not.Would it be more palatable if you had to spend a fate point to use it, or if it could only be used once per scene (so you don't have someone leaping back and forth across the room to shield everybody)?
Knowledge is The Best Defense: You know things. Things that will save your life in a jam that you have committed to memory. Common attack patterns, how to calculate trajectories in a firefight, the precise speed a human or monster punches, etc. You can use your Scholarship Skill for the Defense trapping of Athletics.
Playing Possum - The best defense is letting them think you're dead. After any failed defense, you may sacrifice your next turn to make a maneuver or block with Deceit to convince your attacker that they finished you off. If the failed defense results in a consequence, roll the Deceit maneuver at +2.
Reminds me of the latest "Sherlock Holmes" films and their approach to Holmes' boxing prowess. In those films, Holmes seems to have damn near every skill trapping stunted out to work off of Scholarship.
You're probably right. In fact, I think that's how I had it originally. I think I added the +1 on the logic that you're only going to get one shot at it in any reasonable circumstances.
I was kind of dithering on that, hence the wording saying a maneuver or a block--I have ideas about how either can be useful, depending on the situation (a maneuver would be better if you're planning to wait til he turns away, then tag it for a sneak attack, a block might be better if you're simply planning to let him leave). Do you have a suggestion?
Narrow how? Do you mean it should be usable in a broader set of situations?
So, maybe make it something like Harry's Listening stunt, where Athletics is rolled from 0 or worse when using it? I was imagining this for a sniper-type character, if that helps.
I was imagining it in Social conflicts, mostly, asking questions to get specific information out of someone (this is for a reporter character)
I was thinking of making it so that it'd be +1 in general wooded areas, and maybe +2 if you specify, like if it's a rain forest vs. something in the American northeast.
Yeah, I wasn't sure exactly how to word it. Any suggestions?
Would it be more palatable if you had to spend a fate point to use it, or if it could only be used once per scene (so you don't have someone leaping back and forth across the room to shield everybody)?
@Lanodantheon: Thinking about it, instead of using Scholarship directly as the defense roll, maybe make it so that Scholarship can modify the defense roll, or you can make Declarations regarding the opponent's fighting style with Scholarship and tag the resulting Aspect. This seemed more like what Sherlock was doing, giving his opponents a quick scan, then planning it out, rather than just being that good (note how he gets hit more often in fights he can't stop and prepare for) Something like...
I Can Read Your Body Like A Book: You may not be an accomplished Pugilist, but you've studied up. In battle, you may use Scholarship to make assessments and declarations regarding an enemy's fighting style after you've seen them in motion.
A better solution might be that the GM tailor the game to cater to more, or all, of the PCs and players involved instead of doing combat all the time.
That said, nobody's saying that no other skill besides Athletics can be used for dodging. It'd be very easy to justify that, say, a dancer is able to use Performance for dodging. Just that letting all of them do that is contrived.
Or, as mentioned, make it part of character development: The bookworm gets punched in the nose once too often, and decides to bulk up as he gains skill points via milestones. Harry did the exact same thing; if you look at his write up in Our World, his Athletics tops out at 2, Fists and Weapons at 1 each. And he kept getting his arse kicked by street thugs. So he trained with Murphy, and by the time Heorot happens, he can take on two thugs in a fist fight, no magic involved.
Characters change and improve on things as the game goes on. Everyone doesn't have to be a badass ass kicker right out of the box, and it doesn't make sense if they are.
I kind of like your suggestion, Blackblade, but it wouldn't have much benefit if the opponent had a high Athletics score. Hm...would "I'm Taking You With Me" work better if it happened only when you were actually Taken Out instead of after a consequence?That would really only exacerbate the issue, making the benefit from the stunt more powerful (since it would then be granting an entire action that you would not normally be entitled to) while simultaneously having the stunt useful less often.
As for Shooting Position, I'd originally phrased it to have a penalty to defense, but changed it after Sanctaphrax's suggestion. I might change it to a -2 to any defense, since the original wording specified Athletics.That would certainly address the issue of multi-target attacks.
As for Judo Master, I figured it'd mainly be used as an option when you made a really good roll anyway--if your opponent bungled the roll and ended up with a 2 shift grapple, and you broke out with a Fantastic roll, similar to how you wouldn't really use Riposte if you only beat the attack roll by 1 shift, but would if it was going to be a huge attack.Blocks are not normally subject to reduction in effect (the way attacks are) by other blocks if the new block matches/surpasses the old. The stunt changes this, making the resulting 'counter-grapple' less powerful.
Hey, cool, I thought I was going to have to rewrite those myself.Alright, cool.
New versions of the first 9 look good, apart from really tiny wording things.
Though I think that Quick Counter could easily work with Weapons defence without balance problems.I kind of think when it's taken it should specify one or the other, though, but that's mostly a thematic decision on my part, and the part of the player whose character uses it in my game.
Taking The Hit might be great or awful, I don't know.Admittedly, we haven't had much opportunity to playtest it. But our next session should include a big fight scene, so I'll be able to see how it goes.
Tedronai is right about Judo Master and I'm Taking You With Me.Hm. Alright, have Judo Master just be the Might result, then, I guess.
I wrote something like I'm Taking You With Me a while back, look here:I can see it working similarly, though there's the narrative difference. Yours is going on a suicidal charge, mine is more of a "Well, you've already stuck me, I'm not letting you get away." Though now I'm thinking it might work better as an aspect you could invoke for effect when that happens, given that, as pointed out, the situation isn't going to come up terribly often, unless you've got a Recovery power. Which, come to think of it, would make a kind of hilarious character concept in and of itself.
Give As Good As I Get: Sometimes, you have to do something crazy in order to win a fight. Once per scene, when you are attacked by someone in your zone, you may spend a Fate Point. If you do so, you defend against the attack with an effective skill of Mediocre and may not use a Block to replace your defense roll. This might sound pretty grim, but take heart; if you attack your attacker with your Fists skill during your next action, you may add three to your attack roll and increase the weapon rating of your attack by three.
I dunno if this is similar enough to make your stunt redundant, but it is pretty similar. Maybe it'll be useful.
For the second one, there's already Footwork, which allows the Weapons skill to defend against anything.I know... perhaps a +1 to the parry is in order for the specificity of the stunt...
Athletics:
Reading the Line of Fire: You can tell where the bullets will go before the trigger is pulled. Increase your athletics skill by 2 when using it to dodge gunfire.
Mostly it's a reskin of a Conviction stunt in YS, and I seem to remember a long argument back in... May? June? about whether uses of Social skills were allowed/viable in the middle of a physical conflict...I think the criticisms of the other stunt was that it was clearly supernatural, nothing but your belief in something kept things away. I belief there were also criticisms on how well your faith keeps away thugs.
Might be good to put a bit more definition on that...if a wizard shoots a gun at you, does it help?Nah. Like the definition says, just physical attacks by monsters and supernatural creatures. Things like swipes with Claws or weapons held in the hands of a ghoul or some such.
So a ghoul shooting at you would apply, but not a wizard? Wizards are clearly 'supernatural creatures' (that 'creature' just happens to be 'human').Sorry, should have said Weapons wielded by ghouls. Like I said, physical attacks. It's about knowing how the creatures move, like a wildlife expert would have knowledge of what, say, a lion looks like when it's about to pounce.