[6th Edition] How to Build: "Lightening the body"?

[Ragitsu]

What is the simplest way to build a "lightening the body" power that requires minimal meditation (no longer than, say, twenty seconds) to activate?

[Christopher]

What is the simplest way to build a "lightening the body" power that requires minimal meditation (no longer than, say, twenty seconds) to activate?

What is the game effect of "Lightening the body"? I can think of a few thngs and you propably think of others.

 

I am about 75% sure there is "concentration only to activate". I am 95% sure there is Time Limit, only to activate. Sounds like "Concentration+Time only to activate" is what you are after.

[bigbywolfe]

Desolidification, extra time only to activate.

Of course you know by now that our answers will depend on what the heck a "lightening body" is supposed to do.

[Christopher R Taylor]

My guess is you mean reduced density?  Because Advanced Player's Guide I has rules for that under Desolidification.

[Ndreare]

If you are shooting for a monk like ability it would be a 1 point power. 

 

1 Lighten Body: Flight 7m (7 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses almost all of its effectiveness (No acceleration, requires action/reaction; -2), Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (0 DCV; -1), Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), Only to Activate, -3/4) 1

 

 

This build will have the effects of being lighter, such as increasing knock back, or allowing you to push off surfaces

[Lucius]

Cosmetic Transform, only to make colors paler or brighter - change black to gray, red to pink, etc.

 

 

Or Images, only to make colors paler or brighter.

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromdary points out that the same Powers work for Darkening the body

[Ragitsu]

Urk. I should have been clearer in my initial post.

It seems as though Christopher, Christopher Taylor, and Ndreare are on the right track. That said, I will return later to clarify the particulars of what I have in mind.

[bigbywolfe]

You mean you want to be able to meditate and levitate? Flight, extra time. Done. Add more Limitation to flavor.

[Ragitsu]

After consuming oodles of cheap noodles produced by outsourced labor, listening to music bought from the discount New Age section in your local bookstore, and sniffing the scent of overly-sweet Christmas gift candles from Chinatown, you are able to lighten your body through an ingrained meditative process.

 

This bestows upon you a number of benefits ->

 

The ability to tread on fragile surfaces that would otherwise not support your actual body weight, such as paper or regular glass.

The ability to move more quietly because of softer footfalls

The ability to better balance yourself on narrow paths/platforms.

The ability to scale a surface more easily, as your strength (STR) remains unchanged while your weight decreases.

The ability to fool sensors that are adjusted to detect weight.

The ability to leap greater distances.

The ability to perform greater feats of acrobatics that significantly depend on strength-to-body weight ratio, such as handstands or cartwheels.

The ability to survive on lesser quantities of food and water. This requires hourly sessions of meditation refreshing, so it can only be maintained while awake and relatively stationary.

 

(There should also be a small variable power pool for other situations where this power could aid you in some minor yet still useful way.)

[bigbywolfe]

Which of those abilities you listed do you not know how to make?

[dmjalund]

don't forget to buy levels of Lightening Reflexes

 

 

:ducks:

[Lucius]

 

Blast defined as electrical discharge could lightning a body.....

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary warns me that I'm being revolting and shouldn't get a charge out of this

[Greywind]

Hold a chain, stand in water, get struck by lightning, and then get doused with chemicals.

Worked for the Flash.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Most of those are pretty easy to simulate, here's some suggestions:

 

The ability to tread on fragile surfaces that would otherwise not support your actual body weight, such as paper or regular glass - flight, in contact with a surface

The ability to move more quietly because of softer footfalls - increased stealth, images, or invisibility to sound

The ability to better balance yourself on narrow paths/platforms. - flight in contact with a surface

The ability to scale a surface more easily, as your strength (STR) remains unchanged while your weight decreases. - extra climbing or flight in contact with surface

The ability to fool sensors that are adjusted to detect weight. - images vs detect

The ability to leap greater distances. - leaping

The ability to perform greater feats of acrobatics that significantly depend on strength-to-body weight ratio, such as handstands or cartwheels. - increased acrobatics rolls, increased strength for stunts

The ability to survive on lesser quantities of food and water. This requires hourly sessions of meditation refreshing, so it can only be maintained while awake and relatively stationary. - life support with limitations

 

Probably a multipower would work for these without being too expensive, none of them cost all that much.

[IndianaJoe3]

This sounds very much like hing kung, which has appeared in several of the martial arts books.

[Hugh Neilson]

 

The ability to survive on lesser quantities of food and water. This requires hourly sessions of meditation refreshing, so it can only be maintained while awake and relatively stationary.

 

 

I don't get this - I can survive on less food and water than a normal human until I have to sleep, then I starve/die of thirst in my sleep?  How many people could remain awake until they died of thirst anyway?

[Beast]

just my thoughts on what you want

 

The ability to tread on fragile surfaces that would otherwise not support your actual body weight, such as paper or regular glass.

 

Flight on in contact w/ surfaces

 

The ability to move more quietly because of softer footfalls

 

more stealth and or invisibility to hearing

 

The ability to better balance yourself on narrow paths/platforms.

 

flight would cover this, also clinging

 

The ability to scale a surface more easily, as your strength (STR) remains unchanged while your weight decreases.

 

flight would cover this, also clinging

 

The ability to fool sensors that are adjusted to detect weight.

 

flight or invisibility to touch

 

The ability to leap greater distances.

 

super leap

 

The ability to perform greater feats of acrobatics that significantly depend on strength-to-body weight ratio, such as handstands or cartwheels.

 

Extra levels

 

The ability to survive on lesser quantities of food and water. This requires hourly sessions of meditation refreshing, so it can only be maintained while awake and relatively stationary.

 

LS lesser need to eat w/ Simulate Death skill roll

[Ragitsu]

This sounds very much like hing kung, which has appeared in several of the martial arts books.

 

Nice find, IndianaJoe3!

 

 

I don't get this - I can survive on less food and water than a normal human until I have to sleep, then I starve/die of thirst in my sleep?  How many people could remain awake until they died of thirst anyway?

 

It represents a conscious and willful act, instead of simply fantastic innate biology.

[Christopher]

I am going to number those effects

1. The ability to tread on fragile surfaces that would otherwise not support your actual body weight, such as paper or regular glass.

2. The ability to move more quietly because of softer footfalls

3. The ability to better balance yourself on narrow paths/platforms.

4. The ability to scale a surface more easily, as your strength (STR) remains unchanged while your weight decreases.

5. The ability to fool sensors that are adjusted to detect weight.

6. The ability to leap greater distances.

7. The ability to perform greater feats of acrobatics that significantly depend on strength-to-body weight ratio, such as handstands or cartwheels.

8. The ability to survive on lesser quantities of food and water. This requires hourly sessions of meditation refreshing, so it can only be maintained while awake and relatively stationary.

I once made an adaption of "walkign without tracks/triggering alarm" from the film Remo Willaims (you should be able to find it on youtube).

This is the power I came up with for the Multiplower Slot:

Inpropable Movement: Flight 12m, Position Shift, Variable Advantage (+1), 34 AP; Variable Limitation (-1/4); 27 Real

It needed some time to prepare a specific movement mode (switch Var Advantage and Var Lim around).

Flight, only along surfaces covers 1, 3, 4, 7

IPE to sound or touch covers 2 and 5

6 sounds like some form of Non-Combat movement. So another slot with a lot of NCM. Or maybe I wanted to cover that via "Usable as Leaping"? Not quite sure right now.

The right combination would allow both climbing impossible surfaces (7) and making any fall save as the D&D monk.

 

Later I made this for another character, wich covers 1, 3, 4, 6, 7
Surefoot: Flight 5" (10 Active Points); See Notes (-1/4)

Notes: Not the ability to sour through the sky, but something almost more impressive: Almost ridiculous coordination ability. Allows to climb up stepest surfaces at fast speeds, walk on tightropes as if it were solid ground and incredibly accurate and long jumps. If a skill roll could be used to move there, they can move there much easily and without any penalties to CV or other Rolls.

 

8 is the only one I can not cover with Flight

 

How many people could remain awake until they died of thirst anyway?

You can stay awake 11 days at least:

 

People need about 18 months of chronic sleep deprivation to die from it. But it is unhealthy after 1-2 days.

[Hugh Neilson]

 

It represents a conscious and willful act, instead of simply fantastic innate biology.

 

I'm not questioning what it represents, but what the value is.  The build is obvious - Life Support.  But even 1 point of Life Support reduces the character to eating once a week (I assume 2 points - once a year - is too far outside the realm of the possible, and elimination of the need for food - 3 points - is clearly out).  So no matter how many limitations you saddle it with, it costs 1 point. 

 

Assuming the character still needs to sleep like a normal person (about 8 hours every 24, according to 6e v1 p 245), can he use the "Diminished eating - requires conscious meditation every hour" ability for long enough that it will actually matter?  I am suggesting that, to be useful, the ability must require less frequent meditation so that it can be maintained while maintaining a reasonably normal sleep cycle, otherwise the diminished need to eat will actually be "he can spend a day in quiet activity without eating but when he wakes up he is ravenous".

[Christopher R Taylor]

I'm not questioning what it represents, but what the value is.

 

 

This is pretty well represented in martial arts genre: meditation produces the ability to do without food or even air.  As long as you keep it up, you don't ever get hungry or sleepy or whatever.  In t his case its someone who spends time preparing then can go as long as they are awake without needing food.  Then when they go to sleep, they will normally become hungry again.

[Ragitsu]

The gain is not much (they can last perhaps three to five times longer on the same amount of sustenance a normal adventurer would need to consume), admittedly. That said, it is useful if supplies are scarce.

[Hugh Neilson]

Seems more fiddly than it's worth - just buy Life Support - Reduced Eating (25% of normal) for 1 point and call it a day.  Any character who maintains low levels of activity should be able to get by with less food and water anyway.