As you have undoubtedly noticed, there's rather a lot of homebrew content floating around this board. Much of it made by me.

Unfortunately, most of this content is totally untested. This means that nobody knows whether or not it is balanced.

This is a problem that you can fix.

So I'm looking for people interested in using homebrew content in their own games.

If you're one of those people, please post here.

So, I was thinking about ways to make powerful characters in the DFRPG recently. I do this a lot, it's nothing unusual.

I thought about the combination of Blood Drinker and a high level of Recovery, and about characters that could use it. Other than a ghoul variant or a unique monster, nothing much came to mind. My marvelous mechanical idea was being thwarted by flavour problems.

So I got to thinking about Templates and character concepts and the restrictions that they impose on characters.

A big part of what makes the DFPRG such a good game for a powergamer is the fact that there are a number of ways to make a powerful combat character. All of the following can make you into a killing machine:

A pile of Fate Points combined with appropriate aspects
As many attack and defense-boosting stunts and powers as possible
A bunch of "building block" physical powers
Refined Evocation
Refined Crafting
Incite Emotion

Most of those approaches are easily possible with the standard templates and concepts.

But the "as many attack and defense-boosting powers and stunts as possible" and "incite emotion" approaches require custom templates and original character ideas. This means that characters built to use them will often look "twinky" and poorly fleshed out.

The obvious solution is to make templates with strong flavour that accommodate these character types. I have no ideas for "incite emotion", but I do have a one that I think is good for "as many attack and defense-boosting powers and stunts as possible". One take on it, anyway.

See next post for the Bloodthirsty Weapon Bearer.

There are some stunts that, while balanced in theory, become rather unfair when combined with supernatural powers.

For example:

Off-Hand Weapon Training can add more than 2 to an attack's stress if the character is dual-wielding weapons rated above 4. This can easily happen with enchanted items, and it isn't terribly improbable with Items Of Power either.

Swing For The Fences loses its drawback if the character is using an unconventional skill or an enchanted item to defend himself.

Deceit or Intimidation stunts giving +2 to the creation of emotions become too strong if used with Incite Emotion. Stunts boosting physical attacks are limited to a +1 accuracy bonus, and there's no good reason why mental attacks should be easier to boost.

I'm sure I could find more if I looked, but this is ought to be enough for now.

How do you handle this sort of issue? Do you balance stunts in the context of the character taking them? Do you just re-interpret problematic stunts? Do you do something else?

And are there any other stunts that have given you trouble of this sort?

Text document here.

This list assumes Holy costs 1 and All Creatures Are Equal Before God costs 3.

THE LAMP OF DIOGENES [-3]
Description: A small clay oil lamp. The great philosopher Diogenes carried it during the day in his constant search for an honest man. Whether he gave it its powers or simply used them is an open question.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Conviction, Discipline, Empathy
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. The Lamp of Diogenes was created to aid in the search for a truly honest person. Its magical powers will not function if its owner abandons that search or is themself dishonest.
[-0] It Is What It Is. The Lamp of Diogenes is a lamp. If you light it, you get light.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[+1] One-Time Discount. The Lamp of Diogenes is small and easily concealed.
[-1] Soulgaze. The Lamp of Diogenes grants insight into the natures of men.
[-2] Enhanced Soulgaze. The Lamp of Diogenes makes its owner better able to withstand the results of a Soulgaze. What's more, it increases the impact of seeing its owner's soul greatly. Add two to your Conviction skill and two to your Discipline skill when using those skills in a Soulgaze.
[-1] Searching For An Honest Man. The Lamp of Diogenes makes people's emotions obvious so as to aid its owner's search for an honest man. Add two to your Empathy skill when using it to read people.

THE GALLOWS EYE [-3]
Description: A carved wooden false eye, worn smooth, with a twisted grain running throughout. This eye was carved from a used gallows tree, upon which a character's trusted captain had been hung. Now, that character wears the eye as a macabre memorial... and to make use of the spirit-sight it grants.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Lore, Discipline, Investigation
Effects:
[-0] It Is What It Is. A false eye. Thus, in order to make use of the Gallows Eye, a character must lose an eye and place the Gallows Eye in its stead. The eye does not grant standard binocular vision - it is, after all, a false eye - and thus the Aspect associated with this Item will be compelled quite often for situations requiring depth perception. 
[-0] Unbreakable. The Gallows Eye cannot be destroyed save by the use of a necromantic ritual similar to a ghost-binding or the Darkhallow. 
[+1] One-Time Discount. The Gallows Eye is easily concealed. Just keep it closed.
[-1] Ghost Speaker. The Gallows Eye brings the user close to the world of the dead, allowing him to see and interact with ghosts.
[-1] The Sight. Although The Gallows Eye doesn't work like a normal eye, you can see through it. The metaphorical images seen by the user when doing so will tend towards the deathly.
[-1] Spirit Sensitivity. The Gallows Eye makes it easier to see the spooky side of the world. Add two to your Lore skill when using it as a substitute for Alertness or Investigation on top of the bonus from The Sight.
[-1] Psychometry. If you stare at something through The Gallows Eye, you might see more than you want to.

THE SWORD OF THE REVOLUTION [-4]
Description: The sword wielded by George Washington during the American Revolution has been instilled with the power of freedom and the American Dream.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Weapons
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. The Sword of the Revolution may only be wielded in support of the cause of freedom. If the wielder deprives another of free will or acts to deny the fundamental equality of all beings, then the sword will immediately fall out of the wielder's hand.
[-0] It Is What It Is. A very well made hangar-type sword. Weapon 3.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[+2] One-Time Discount. The Sword of the Revolution is not easy to conceal, because it's a full-sized sword.
[-2] Let Freedom Ring. The wielder may draw the sword from its sheath to create a sound like a ringing bell clearly and audibly in an area including its current zone and all adjacent zones. The radius may be doubled for each point of mental stress the wielder takes when drawing the sword. Those within the affected area are protected from mind-clouding supernatural effects by a block based on an Intimidation roll made by the wielder. This same roll is used as a maneuver against any non-corporeal entities to startle them and drive them off.
[-1] True Aim. When swung in keeping with its purpose, the Sword of the Revolution grants a +1 bonus to the wielder’s Weapons skill.
[-3] All Creatures Are Created Equal. When facing an opponent, the wielder may spend a fate point to ignore that opponent’s defensive abilities (Toughness based ones, primarily), as well as any mundane armor the foe has, for the duration of the scene. In essence, the Sword of the Revolution may take the place of whatever it is that a creature has a weakness to (whatever “the Catch” is on their Toughness powers), on demand, so long as the wielder can spend that fate point - particularly handy when facing ultra-tough Denarians or true dragons. Whatever abilities a creature may have, the job of the Sword of the Revolution is creating a mostly even playing field – or something very much like it – between mortal and monster.

CLOAK OF MIDWINTER NIGHT [-2]
Description: A magical cloak woven by Mother Winter. It grants a miniscule fraction of her limitless power to its wearer.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Athletics, Endurance, Discipline, Deceit
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. The Cloak was made to serve the cause of Winter. It will not function except for those who are loyal to the Unseelie Court.
[-0] It Is What It Is. As named, it is a heavy, floor length cloak woven of a thread so deep blue as to be practically identical to the night sky. When worn by its owner under the stars, they are reflected in its threads as if it was a mirror. The interior is lined with pure white fur from what seems to be a polar bear, which never stains.
[-0] Unbreakable. The Cloak cannot be destroyed except through a ritual dedicating it to Summer in the presence of the Summer wellspring or the will of its weaver Mother Winter.
[+2] One-Time Discount. The Cloak is rather obvious, partly because of its resemblance to the night sky.
[-2] Faerie Glamours. The wearer of the cloak may use the Glamours power. Of note, when the power of Winter or any other true magic is used, any Seemings will vanish, revealing the cloak and wearer for what they are, and cannot be reapplied for the remainder of the scene, though veils made with this power will still work.
[-2] Winter's Blessing. The fabric of Mother Winter provides protection exceeding that of mundane steel. The owner of the cloak is granted Inhuman Toughness.
[+1] The Catch (Seelie Magic). The power of Summer burns away that of Winter, penentrating the Cloak's protection.
[-1] Flight. The owner of the cloak is granted the Wings power, as the cloak billows out and transforms into 30-foot wide wings that are white on top and black below. This may not be disguised by a Seeming, though the wearer may still be Veiled.

SEALSKIN SELKIE ROBE [-1]
Description: The Sealskin Selkie Robe is an Item Of Power very similar to those used by hexenwolves. However, it transforms you into a seal instead of a wolf.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Alertness, Investigation, Athletics, Discipline, Others
Effects:
[-0] It Is What It Is. This is a fur robe, made from the complete skin of an adult harbor seal.  Watch out for PETA.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with certain powerful magical rituals.
[+2] One-Time Discount. The Sealskin Selkie Robe is the skin of an actual seal. Very conspicous.
[-1] Echoes of the Beast. The Sealskin Selkie Robe gives its wearer access to some of the natural abilities of a seal. It gives a +1 bonus to hearing-based skill checks, allows the user to see in the dark, and allows rudimentary communication with aquatic life.
[-1] Beast Change. As aforementioned, the Sealskin Selkie Robe lets you turn into a seal.
[+1] Human Form. When the wearer is in seal form, the robe also grants access to the following powers:
[-1] Aquatic. Seals can't actually breathe underwater, but they might as well be able to.
[-1] Demonic Co-Pilot. The Co-pilot is an animal spirit, not a demon of rage or hunger. However, it creates a link to the wearer; if another possess the robe, it functions as a potent material link to her, as strong as her True Name and thus can be used to bind her.  Loaning the robe to someone else bonds the spirit to them. 

THE RING OF ANUBIS [-1]
Description: A ring of black obsidian set in the shape of an open eye. The wearer of the ring carries the Mark of Anubis and has his power over things dead.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Social and perception skills.
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. This ring was made to serve Anubis. It provides no magical benefit unless its user does exactly that.
[-0] It Is What It Is. It's a ring. No real practical applications.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[+1] One-Time Discount. A small ring like this one is easily concealed.
[-1] Ghost Speaker. The Emissary of Anubis holds dominion over dead things.
[-1] Marked By Power (Anubis). This ring makes it clear that the wearer is a servant of the god Anubis.

TINFOIL HAT [-1]
Description: A hat made out of shiny tinfoil. The perfect thing to keep out government mind-control beams.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Discipline, Conviction
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. This item was built to protect people from dangers that don't exist. It will not function for anyone who isn't truly paranoid.
[-0] It Is What It Is. It's a hat made out of tinfoil. It's shiny and it makes you look like a loon.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[+2] One-Time Discount. The Tinfoil Hat is shiny and very obvious.
[-8] Mental Immunity. No form of magical mind control can penetrate the Tinfoil Hat.
[+5] The Catch (Only against mind control magic). But other mental attacks ignore it completely.

CRUCIFIXION WHIP [-3]
Description: An ancient Roman flagrum. In other words, a heavy leather whip weighted with small balls of lead. It was used to whip Jesus Christ before his execution, and as a result it has acquired a great deal of magical power.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Weapons
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. The Crucifixion Whip's powers come from the White God. It is only magical when used by a Christian. The bearer doesn't have to live up to any moral standard, though: this item was once used by the Spanish Inquisition.
[-0] It Is What It Is. It's a heavy whip. Weapon 1 when the Touch Of Agony power is not in use.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[+2] One-Time Discount. Whips are conspicous things.
[-1] Holy. As one might expect from an item that draws its power from the blood of Christ, the Crucifixion Whip is holy. Its touch is like that of holy water.
[-4] Touch Of Agony. This item is an instrument of torture, and its powers reflect that. Anyone struck by the whip suffers intense agony, like that suffered by Jesus on the cross. The Crucifixion Whip is weapon 4, is wielded with Weapons, and attacks the mental stress track. It may also be used to make Weapons maneuvers based around the infliction of pain at a +2 bonus.

MJOLNIR [-3]
Description: Thor's hammer. Enough said.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Weapons
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. If the wielder is not worthy, Mjolnir becomes too heavy to lift.
[-0] It Is What It Is. A weapon 3 hammer.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[+2] One-Time Discount. It's a big hammer. Not easy to hide.
[-1] Never Far From Reach. Mjolnir can be thrown as a weapon up to 2 zones away (instead of the standard 1). Upon striking or missing, it returns to its owner's hand on the following exchange. This ability only works when the hammer is thrown. If the hammer caught, stuck, or taken from the bearer the hammer will not magically return.
[-1] True Aim. Mjolnir is a superlative weapon. So long as its bearer is worthy, it provides a +1 bonus to all Weapons rolls.
[-3] The Bigger They Come... Even the World Serpent must fear the impact of Mjolnir. When facing an opponent, the wielder may spend a fate point to ignore all of that opponent's defensive powers and mundane armour for a scene.

MEGINGJORO [-1]
Description: Thor's wolf-hide belt. Doubles its wearer's strength.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: Might, Fists, Weapons
Effects:
[-0] It Is What It Is. It's a belt. Pretty stylish.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with certain powerful magical rituals.
[+1] One-Time Discount. A belt isn't exactly hard to hide.
[-2] Twofold Strength. Megingjoro increases its wearer's strength. As long as the wearer maintains physical contact with Megingjoro, increase that wearer's strength by one step. (Normal strength becomes Inhuman, Inhuman becomes Supernatural, etc.)

JARNGREIPR [-2]
Description: Jarngreipr is an iron gauntlet, originally worn by Thor. It provides protection from lightning.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected:
Effects:
[-0] It Is What It Is. It's an iron gauntlet. Weapon 1 with Fists, and good justification for unarmed parries.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with certain powerful magical rituals.
[+1] One-Time Discount. It's not hard to hide a glove.
[-8] Physical Immunity. The owner of Jarngreipr is immune to electricity as long as he remains in physical contact with the gauntlet.
[+5] The Catch (Not Electricity). The gauntlet's protection is rather narrowly focused.

ARMAGEDDON SIGN [-1]
Description: This object consists of two large wooden boards, attached by two ropes, and must be worn over the shoulders to work. The boards are painted with appropriate doomsday signs.  Due to the magical powers of the sign, the user suffers no real ill effect from shouting at the top of his lungs for hours at near-zero temperatures.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected:
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. This object was designed to enable the user to preach about the apocalypse. If the user doesn't spend a significant fraction of his time shouting about the end of the world, he cannot use this item.
[-0] It Is What It Is. A sandwich-board sign, with "THE END IS NIGH!!!!" or something similar printed on the front.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[+2] One-Time Discount. This sign is the exact opposite of subtle and concealable.
[-2] Inhuman Toughness. No matter how harsh the conditions, the bearer of the Armageddon Sign is not deterred.
[-2] Inhuman Recovery. Even after hours of continous shouting, the user of this item can shout for hours more.
[+1] The Catch. The Toughness powers granted by this item do not function unless the user is shouting.

ROBOTIC BATTLESUIT [-8]
Description: A robotic battlesuit used by Hitler. Seriously. This is not a joke.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item. Also, you must have at least 40 skill points, Great Discipline, Good Conviction, Good Intimidation, Average Deceit, Average Presence, Average Empathy and a skill cap of at least Superb.
Skills Affected: Many
Effects:
[-0] Purpose. This suit was created to kill people. It will not work for people who are not directly responsible for large-scale death and destruction.
[-2] It Is What It Is. It's a robotic battlesuit. Armour 4. Plus, it's mounted with weapon 6 chainguns and a weapon 4 grenade launcher that affects entire zones. Its fists are weapon 2.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[+2] One-Time Discount. This item is not easy to hide.
[-2] Hulking Size. It's a big suit.
[-2] Inhuman Strength. Motors in the arms aid the user physically.
[-4] Supernatural Toughness. It's not easy to hurt a guy in a robotic battlesuit.
[+2] The Catch (Hexing). It is machinery, after all.
[-1] Shrug It Off. Use Endurance to defend against Physical attacks.
[-1] Skill-Simulating Systems. The onboard computers (from the 1940s!) of this suit give the suit the following skills. The user may use them instead of his own by taking a supplemental action to switch.
Superb: Guns, Endurance
Great: Might, Discipline, Fists
Good: Intimidation, Conviction, Alertness
Fair: Athletics, Weapons, Investigation
Average: Presence, Empathy, Deceit

VIDAR'S SHOES [-0]
Description: The shoes of the god Vidar are unparalleled. No footwear could possibly match them.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to your possession of this item.
Skills Affected: None
Effects:
[-0] It Is What It Is. They are shoes. The best shoes.
[-0] Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[+0] One-Time Discount. Vidar's Shoes provide no discount because they don't cost anything.

I've been meaning to make one of these for a while. But it's quite a lot of work, and I don't think that doing it on the existing custom power thread is really feasible. So I'm making a new thread for this project. The goals of this project are:

1. To list all powers created on this board in one convenient place.
2. To sort those powers according to the categories in Your Story.
3. To edit those powers so that they are balanced and ready for use in games.
4. To format those powers according the template used in Your Story.

I'll be posting an unformatted unsorted unedited list right away. Anyone who would like to help me hack this thing into shape is invited to do so.

You can see the latest version of the list here.

EDIT: I've created a second list that contains only Powers that I personally would be willing to use. You can see it here.

The land of Muspelheim is not very well-understood. Almost nothing is known about it save for the fact that it is home to the race of fire giants. Oh, and it's very hot there. But beyond that, the place is shrouded in mystery. The main reason for this mysteriousness is that the entire land is sealed off from the rest of the Nevernever. An (almost) indestructible barrier prevents all travel into and out of Muspelheim, except at one point. That point is known as The Gate To Muspelheim.

The Gate To Muspelheim is an uncomplicated area. It consists primarily of a black stone wall with a single gate. Behind it is Muspelheim, and nobody's really sure what it's like there. A river of magma serves as a moat for the wall, and beyond that moat the land is nothing more than a perfectly flat slab of rock.

The most important thing to remember about The Gate is its sheer scale. The wall is almost a full kilometre tall, and about five hundred metres thick. Plus, the stone that it is made out of is stronger than anything known to mortal science. The river of magma is about a kilometre wide, and an entire mountain's worth of molten rock flows through it every few minutes. This gate was built to hold off the attack of an entire pantheon of gods, and it lives up to that grandiose purpose.

On another note, the sky ends at the top of the wall. That's just the border of this particular universe. So nothing except an Outsider can possibly go over the wall.

Tunnelling won't work either, since there's actually nothing beneath the ground except an endless empty void.

To top it off, the wall is a threshold. And that threshold has been enhanced with a ward of truly absurd power.

But The Gate To Muspelheim is in fact a gate. People (and other things) are supposed to go through it sometimes. So the gate can be opened, and a drawbridge can be let down over the magma moat.

The wall is hollow in places, and almost two hundred fire giants live inside of it along with an army of Summer fey servants. They have plenty of room to spare, and guests are usually welcome.

The Gate To Muspelheim is the face that Muspelheim presents to the world as well as its first line of defence. So all diplomats who wish to bargain with fire giant-kind are invited here. If they survive the journey, they are greeted warmly (pun intended). But those who abuse the giants' hospitality are generally killed in very unpleasant ways.

Ironically, the incredible defences of The Gate are rarely used. The giants who live here love to fight, and when attacked they will usually let down the drawbridge so as to join the enemy in battle. This frankly stupid strategy has worked well in the past due to the great power of the fire giants, but it presents a hole in an otherwise (almost) impenetrable defence.

The Gate To Muspelheim is currently ruled by the fire giant Prince Urt and his Sidhe advisor Sir Lepid. Unlike most fire giants, Urt wants to change the world now instead of waiting for Ragnarok. He's gathered fire giants who either agree with him or simply want to kill things, and he's almost certainly preparing for a full-scale war.

The border between the lands of Summer and Muspelheim contains many interesting areas. Perhaps the most hospitable of these lands is The Blossom Of Flame.

The Blossom Of Flame resembles an enormous garden of extraordinary beauty. The ground is covered with colourful flowers and lush grass, while trees bursting with fruit dot the gentle hillsides. Blooming lillypads coat the surface of every pond and river. Iridescent butterflies flutter through the air. Grapevines run up and down artfully-placed trellises. Altogether, the land looks like a work of art.

There's only one thing that makes The Blossom Of Flame different from the stereotypical Faerie paradise.

Everything is on fire.

Seriously, everything. The trees are on fire, the grass is on fire, the lillypads are on fire, the grapevines are on fire, the flowers are on fire, and so on. Even the fruit and grapes from the trees and vines burn when you bite into them. The fires burn in every colour of the rainbow, enhancing the beauty of The Blossom's display rather than detracting from it. The world seems to be made out of flames, which is actually a lot more pleasant than it sounds. If you are fireproof, this is a great place to be.

It should be noted that the fires of The Blossom seem to do no damage to the native flora and fauna.

The Blossom Of Flame is ruled by The Eight Gardeners. The Eight Gardeners are powerful Summer fey who hold dominion over forest fires. They've spent the past millenium making The Blossom as beautiful as possible. This has brought them a great deal of respect from others in the Summer Court who appreciate their work, and that in turn gives them a decent bit of political pull.

Portals open between The Blossom Of Fire and Earth when a truly beautiful plant burns. Fey come through these portals to collect materials for the expansion of The Eight Gardeners' work, which sometimes causes mortals to follow them and end up in The Blossom. Few of those mortals live long.

Most of the beings that visit The Blossom are Summer fey who want to see the sights. However, some brave souls travel through these lands in order to get to Muspelheim.

As some of you may know, there used to be a poster around here called Tbora. But he doesn't post anymore, and his account seems to have been deactivated somehow.

He's part of a PbP game that I'm GMing, and I need to know whether to drop him from the story completely.

So, if you know what happened to him/his account, please tell me.

If you are Tbora under a different name, please tell me.

Thanks in advance.

PS: I already asked LCDarkwood (the local moderator, in case you aren't aware) about what happened. He doesn't know, and apparently neither do the admins. It's very weird.