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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Selrach on November 17, 2011, 07:05:16 AM
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While thinking of arguments for Sanctaphrax, I came up with an amusing idea for a creature but had no real idea but some basic concepts.
The base idea was a little gremlin with Gigantic tusks and maybe some speed powers. I can think of no name nor justification for why...but want to make it anyway.
HC: Little Dude with Huge Tusks
T: They're F*ing Heavy
Powers:
[-1] Natural Weaponry: Tusks: Weapon 2
[-1] REALLY Big Tusks: Tusks are Weapon 4
[-2] Inhuman Speed
Skills:
+3: Fists Athletics
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Give him Diminutive Size and a stunt letting him ignore 2 points of armour with tusk attacks. Maybe give him some other building block powers too.
Then fill in the skill pyramid, pick an origin story, and bob's your uncle.
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Hmm... Could the "explosive" add-on for Natural weaponry be explained by the little guy closing his eyes and spinning like a dervish?
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I think you mean Area Weaponry. Explosive Weaponry is the one that forces you to hit zones.
You'll want to give him Selective Weaponry too if you give him Area Weaponry. Unless you want him to kill himself.
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Instead of a blanket weapon 4 on the tusks, I'd suggest giving him stunts something like these:
Chaaaarge! When attacking with his tusks following a charge (ie, a supplemental move action followed by an attack in the new zone), any stress inflicted is increased by +2.
Built-in, Natural Targeting Brackets. When charging (see above) his attack roll with tusks gains a +1.
Combined with the freebie movement from Inhuman Speed, this could be fairly potent, I think.
A random naming idea: "The Sabre-Toothed Gnome"?
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Excellent name idea.
I like the charge-focus idea too, but I've already made something like that (http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,21533.msg999044/topicseen.html#msg999044).
So...I'd rather go with something that's new to me.
Like an implausibly lethal tiny guy.
Selfish, I know. Sorry.
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Goes without saying that it needs the karrin Murphy aspect: "Tiny but Fierce!"
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Not positive on the name yet but it's bouncing between Sabre Toothed Gnome and Mini-taur. Not sure about the skills I just slapped them on. Any suggestions about them are fair game.
The charging and area attack ideas are cool but they don't fit my original (half delirious) image. They could be alternative breeds....
HC:?
T: They're Damn Heavy
Additional Aspects: Tiny but Fierce
Powers:
[-1] Natural Weaponry: Tusks: Weapon 2
[-1] REALLY Big Tusks: Tusks are Weapon 4
[-1] REALLY Damn Sharp: Tusks ignore 2 points of armor
[-2] Inhuman Speed
[-1] Built-in, Natural Targeting Brackets: When charging (see above) his attack roll with tusks gains a +1.
[-1] Diminutive Size
Skills:
+3 Good: Athletics, Fists, Might
+2 Fair: Altertness, Stealth, Survival
+1 Average: Intimidation, Empathy, Investigation
Stress Tracks:
Physical: 00
Mental: 00
Social : 00
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With only two stess boxes these could be used as super powered mooks or "glass cannons" they can deal a lot of damage but can't take it.
I like them.
Then if needed one can adjust the template suggesting other breeds and add inhuman strength or just bump up skills to make them dangerous at most levels of play.
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The following is a rebuild of the "Redirected Force" stunt from the RAW:
Force of a Locomotive, Size of a Breadbox: When you charge an opponent, you hit HARD. On a successful charge (ie, a successful tusk attack roll after having moved at least one zone), you may sacrifice your next action (giving this an effective limit of one per exchange) to treat the attack as a successful maneuver on your part (requiring no additional rolling), placing a maneuver aspect like Knocked Senseless or Ass Over Teakettle on your victim.
In other words, both the Sabre-Toothed Gnome (or Minitaur) and his victim will be watching the little birdies fly circles around their head the next exchange...
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Looks good. I like the way that he deals heavy damage despite the effects of his Size.
Oh, and Becq? That is an awesome idea. My horizons have been expanded.
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I kinda confused by the wording of the stunt...Is it supposed to do damage and apply and aspect? The wording keeps making me think it only does one or the other for some reason.
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Pretty sure it does both. It's super pointless otherwise.
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You do both damage and maneuver. Note that from a balance perspective, you are spending two actions (the current action and your next action) to do both damage and a maneuver, so you aren't getting a 'double action'; the stunt just lets you do the maneuver now instead of waiting, and lets you hijack the roll you already made. This is very similar to the Redirected Force stunt from Your Story, which lets you sacrifice your next action to use your current defense roll for both the defense it was intended and also a 'free' maneuver (which isn't really free since you're spending your next action to get the benefit).
Here's a rewording to clarify:
Force of a Locomotive, Size of a Breadbox: When you charge an opponent, you hit HARD. After a successful charge attack (ie, a successful tusk attack roll after having moved at least one zone) you inflict stress on your target as normal, and also may choose to sacrifice your next action (in the following exchange) to count the attack roll as a successful maneuver on your part (requiring no additional rolling), placing a maneuver aspect like Knocked Senseless or Ass Over Teakettle on your victim.
A question occured to me. For stunts like Redirected Force (and this new one) that require you to 'sacrifice your next action', do you think this implies sacrificing the entirety of your activity during the next exchange, or only your 'main action'. Obviously you can't to a main action like attack or maneuver, but can you still do a supplemental action like moving, do you think? On the one hand, supplemental actions are fairly innocuous, but on the other hand you 'pay' for the supplemental action by losing a die on your main action roll...
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By the flavor and the wording of the stunt I would you say no you don't get a supplemental. You can't take an action so you can not supplement it. I do like your stunt and I am adding it. They have reached -8 refresh here..should I bump their skills up a level?
HC: Saber Toothed Gnome
T: They're Damn Heavy
Additional Aspects: Tiny but Fierce
Powers:
[-1] Natural Weaponry: Tusks: Weapon 2
[-1] REALLY BIG Tusks: Tusks are Weapon 4
[-1] REALLY Damn Sharp: Tusks ignore 2 points of armor
[-2] Inhuman Speed
[-1] Built-in, Natural Targeting Brackets: When charging (see above) his attack roll with tusks gains a +1.
[-1] Diminutive Size
[-1]Force of a Locomotive, Size of a Breadbox: When you charge an opponent, you hit HARD. After a successful charge attack (ie, a successful tusk attack roll after having moved at least one zone) you inflict stress on your target as normal, and also may choose to sacrifice your next action (in the following exchange) to count the attack roll as a successful maneuver on your part (requiring no additional rolling), placing a maneuver aspect like Knocked Senseless or Ass Over Teakettle on your victim.
Skills:
+3 Good: Athletics, Fists, Might
+2 Fair: Altertness, Stealth, Survival
+1 Average: Intimidation, Empathy, Investigation
Stress Tracks:
Physical: 00
Mental: 00
Social : 00
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Well, you *could* take Diminutive Size. Yes, it limits damage to 1 stress, but that's before damage bonuses (and those stunts grant a lot of damage bonuses). It definitely goes well with your concept...
As to bumping up the skills ... I guess it depends. Do you want the group to fight a couple of these guys, or a bunch of them? If the former, then probably best to bump up the skills some. If the latter, then you might want to tone down the powers a little ... maybe remove one or both of the 'REALLY' stunts. (Note that even toned down, these guys could be pretty dangerous in a group, since the Locomotive/Breadbox stunt makes for great coordinated attacks.)
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Bump a Good skill up to Great and add an average skill to get a completely legal Feet In The Water skill pyramid.
I'd probably say no to a supplemental during a sacrificed action.
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I'd probably say no to a supplemental during a sacrificed action.
I think I agree. But ... well, I'll play devil's advocate for a moment.
Consider the rules for overflow. I've just performed my actions for the turn, possibly including a 'normal' supplemental action. I rolled well (or am so skilled that even a modest roll was well more than I needed. Which means that I have extra shifts that I can spend on doing anything allowed for by a supplemental action. So I've done two independent supplemental actions as well as a main action as my 'normal' activity for the exchange. (Without the need for any stunts or powers.)
With the feat we're discussing, I would be spending two full exchanges worth of activity for an attack action plus a maneuver. I'd be allowed one supplemental action (which would have to be movement to qualify for the charge, unless I happened to have Speed as does the Sabre-Toothed Gnome), but wouldn't get the supplemental action I normally would get during the second exchange.
Is this reasonable? Should the loss of the second supplemental, along with the vulnerability inherent in being a sitting duck for an exchange (though still able to defend normally, of course) be considered the cost of using the stunt, beyond the Refresh paid for it?
Another thought. I'm rolling once (for the original attack) and counting the result separately toward two actions (the attack and the 'bonus' maneuver). Assuming the roll was more than enough for the maneuver action to succeed, how reasonable would it be to allow those extra shifts to be spent via the overflow rules on a supplemental action (possibly one that takes place during the next exchange, rather than immediately)?
Again, I'm just thinking out loud -- er, rather thinking out visably -- rather than arguing that this is how it must or should be. Thoughts?
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...I'm sorry, I don't follow.
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...I'm sorry, I don't follow.
Ditto
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Alrighty, I'll try again.
Normally, I can do only a single action during an exchange. But I can choose to do a supplemental action as well at the cost of -1 to the roll. Not only that, but if I roll more than I needed to on my main action, the overflow rules (YS214) let me spend those 'extra' shifts to perform an additional supplemental action.
Example: I'm trying to run down a hallway, but there's a security guard blocking (in the way, not actually Blocking) my way. I start off by moving one zone to reach the security guard (a supplemental action). As my main action, I use ... oh, say a Fists maneuver to place a 'Flat on the floor' aspect on the guard. I roll, he resists, and I beat his roll with several shifts to spare (even counting the -1 for performing a supplemental move). The overflow rules allow me to spend those shifts to move additional zones, one zone per shift -- I've bowled over the guard, and continue running down the hallway. Summary: I've done two supplemental actions and a manuever action in a single exchange, without any stunts or powers to help me.
Are we on the same page so far?
Now lets add the Redirected Force stunt (YS152) to my character sheet and continue the ...
Example: Having made it past one guard, a second one charges at me and tries to tackle me. I easily beat his roll, which lets me trigger Redirected Force to knock him 'Flat on the floor', too. On the following exchange I can do nothing, while the security guard at my feet stands up and throws a punch, and the security guard I had left behind leaps to his feet and tries to catch up. Summary: I've done one maneuver action (a bit earlier than normal) as the entirety of what I'm allowed to do for the entire exchange, with no supplemental actions allowed.
If I had just let the attack miss instead of triggering the stunt, I could have reprised my last action, slamming the second guard against the wall and (assuming I rolled well enough, which I believe is likely do to the relative training levels) continuing down the hallway -- ie, maneuver plus overflow supplemental. If the optional Spin rules (YS214) were in effect, I might even have a +1 to my roll to do so, in effect increasing my sprint by an extra zone.
Was that any clearer?
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So, what you're saying is that overflow could let you have that supplemental action.
Eh, maybe. The effects of overflow are mainly GM fiat anyhow.
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i like Mini-taur more then the gnome name myself...