Character Concept - Homebrew Power Feedback

[Addicted2aa]

So I was looking through the Custom Powers List and came upon this beauty:

Specifically refferencing the IoP Part

That will give at max 5 though.

[Mrmdubois]

Yep, good luck getting a Resource skill of 12, you could easily have four or five though.  Ninja'd by Addicted.

This power would cost you at least five refresh if you wanted each coin at four refresh worth of powers, and you could only use each coin individually.

For an example of this power in play check out the Charlie Wiseman character sheet in the Ann Arbor Alliance threads in Play by Post.

[Lavecki121]

This power would cost you at least five refresh if you wanted each coin at four refresh worth of powers, and you could only use each coin individually.

Which is what I planned to do anyway, That would give me the ability to at least hold all of them.

[Mrmdubois]

Hold up to five of them...not all 12 if that was your eventual goal.

[Lavecki121]

Sooo apparently I kept glossing over that part. 

[Addicted2aa]

Sooo apparently I kept glossing over that part. 

I'm thinking the way to do this is to use each animal at a max of -2 per power. Then add an option to increase each power when they are all together. This keeps the total power of the IoP to between 20-25 worth of power, which seems appropriate for a quest of an group starting out anywhere below submerged. Then when you've gathered them all and you're powerful enough that they are becoming minor powers individually, bump up to -4 per. Not sure how you would work the trade off mechanic, so that someone holding 4 is in danger of NPC land, but I think that's the avenue you might try looking for.
In the cartoon could you use multiple items at a time?

[Mrmdubois]

Yeah, you could and it was done repeatedly.  I think there was even at least one instance of all of them being used at once.

[Lavecki121]

Yeah, you could and it was done repeatedly.  I think there was even at least one instance of all of them being used at once.

Not sure about that for "Characters" But there was definitly an "NPC" who could use all at once. He was a big bad and it was the main plot for him to get all of them so he could be reanimated. (each one represented a part of his power, The rat made it so that he could move otherwise he was a statue)

[Sanctaphrax]

I'm not totally satisfied with Quasi-Modular Abilities, in retrospect. And the Item upgrade for Limitation seems to make Item Of Power Collection unnecessary.

I think I'll take a shot at expanding Modular Abilities to cover all that cleanly. There are some other things I'd like to do with Modular Abilities that don't work so well, and this seems like a chance to kill several birds with one stone.

[Lavecki121]

Ok so I had another Idea for a martial arts type power.

This one is based off of the Naruto character Rock Lee. He is able to open chackra gates and gain immense power and speed when he needs it. I was thinking (Since there are 8 gates) that he would need to take stress for each gate he opens and would gain new powers for each.

Easiest way I can describe this is in scales of 2.
2 gates, takes a mild consequence and gets inhuman speed, strength and toughness.

4 gates, takes moderate consequence and gets superhuman tier

6 gates, takes severe consequence and gets mythic tier

8 gates, takes extreme consequence and gets physical immunity in addition to everything else.

Thinking that you might have to take all other stress tracks above in order to activate. Also you would only have access to this power for a single scene. I was thinking that it would be a -2 or -3 power. Thoughts?

[Addicted2aa]

Ok so I had another Idea for a martial arts type power.

This one is based off of the Naruto character Rock Lee. He is able to open chackra gates and gain immense power and speed when he needs it. I was thinking (Since there are 8 gates) that he would need to take stress for each gate he opens and would gain new powers for each.

Easiest way I can describe this is in scales of 2.
2 gates, takes a mild consequence and gets inhuman speed, strength and toughness.

4 gates, takes moderate consequence and gets superhuman tier

6 gates, takes severe consequence and gets mythic tier

8 gates, takes extreme consequence and gets physical immunity in addition to everything else.

Thinking that you might have to take all other stress tracks above in order to activate. Also you would only have access to this power for a single scene. I was thinking that it would be a -2 or -3 power. Thoughts?

I'd say at least -4 refresh.

Extreme and Severe are close to auto wins for any combat, especially if the catch is 0. So even if it lasts for just a scene, and there's a cost that last beyond the scene, you have the option to win close to any fight, by yourself. And the other two are pretty powerful anyway. Take a minor, gain -6 in refresh. Become combat powerhouse, and probably not take another consequence. Minor probably clears before the next fight. Take a moderate and gain -12 in refresh, which is a beyond submerged power set in and of itself, so you basically become two characters worth of refresh. Plus if a person takes a recovery power on top of this, all the fangs in this power are removed.

To make it more balanced, perhaps, every 2 stress consequence you take gives you 2 refresh of physical power. So 3 milds could give you inhuman everything(except recovery) or a mythic. A severe would do the same. Also add in that these satisfy the catch of any recovery powers someone might have.

[Lavecki121]

I was also toying with the idea you could only do it once per session. Additionally if we made it so that you had to fill your stress track too. Maybe have it last at least two sessions so they dont clear right away. Technically if the character was to take an extreme, it would result in death by Naruto cannon.

[Sanctaphrax]

That'll be tricky.

First up, it needs to be incompatible with Recovery.

But even ignoring that, there are issues.

For one thing, consequences really aren't that big a deal compared to Powers. Maybe I take a severe and a moderate and a mild to get Mythics, but those Mythics will let me take without consequences a hit that would have inflicted a mild and a moderate and a severe. (Assuming I was going to take 12 stress over my track, I could absorb that with 12 shifts of consequences or with +3 to dodge, armour 3, and 6 extra stress boxes.)

On the other hand, those consequences will last longer than those Powers. It's tricky to measure the value of two things that apply on different timescales. And there's really no precedent for this in the RAW.

Also, this Power creates a huge incentive for foes to run away and attack again later. That's a bit of a challenge to handle mechanically.

And it's not clear when you can activate this Power. Is it an action?

So, yeah. I'm not saying this won't work, but it'll be tricky. And it'll probably be more expensive than you were hoping.

[Addicted2aa]

I was also toying with the idea you could only do it once per session. Additionally if we made it so that you had to fill your stress track too. Maybe have it last at least two sessions so they dont clear right away. Technically if the character was to take an extreme, it would result in death by Naruto cannon.

Might be worth keeping that. Making it "similar" to a wizard death curse.

[Lavecki121]

Indeed. Also I was thinking that say you took a severe, you should also have to take moderate and mild plus fill your stress track. I feel it could end up balancing out, but I may have to talk to you in person Addicted.