How to Build: Using Healing as a Weapon

[Manic Typist]

(Note: I'm not talking about using the Power: Healing as a weapon/attack, but rather using the sfx: healing).

 

As I'm worldbuilding, I'm struck by images/scenes that serve to inspire the next bit that I want to flesh out.

 

One example that I'm mulling over has to deal with "wild mages" in my setting - people who can tap directly into the elemental flows of magic itself, with each flow having a different direction/inclination. In this case, I'm thinking of how someone could use Life-magic as a deadly blast.

 

Life magic is naturally inclined to be useful to healing- proper wizards use Life magic in conjunction with other flows to craft powerful healing spells, but even by itself a wild mage using Life magic should be able to help the body fight off disease/fever, close wounds, etc. It functions by giving energy to the body to engage in its natural processes; it promotes the immune system, the growth of cells, etc. Of course if a bone isn't set properly before you pour Life magic into a person, they'll probably heal in a way that could have been avoided if you'd set the bone and let them heal naturally.

 

Alternatively, if the Life mage is careless (or ill intentioned), he or she could easily end up fueling the growth of a virus/bacteria in the body instead of the immune system, with lethal results. A wound could turn necrotic in seconds instead of hours or days, or a disease could ravage the body and kill a person right in front of your eyes.

 

The above, I feel, I can model fairly easily, especially with a VPP and perhaps a negative Side Effect should a skill roll be failed (of course you have to be careful with Side Effects negatively impacting others, but I would be the GM and I don't see it as any different from "The fireball explodes in your hands, and everyone in the blast radius takes damage." Presumably, if you're trying to heal someone and instead kill them/maim them, that's a Side Effect you really didn't want to happen so it's still Limiting.).

 

However, I'm trying to model a Killing Attack using this SFX. Specifically, I'm visualizing a wave of troops coming over battlements, the tide turning against the defenders, and the Life mage sends a wave of magic across the invading troops... who begin to scream and collapse as their bodies suddenly fill with tumors (whose growth is a natural if slow and uncertain process in the human body) that clog their lungs, weaken their muscles, blind them, or even burst their heads and internal organs. The attacking force breaks and the defending force frankly doesn't fare much better because it is horrifying to even describe this in a fictional context, let alone see it happen to people right in front of you (even if they were trying to kill you).

 

At first I was thinking a Severe Transform but, upon review, Transform cannot be used to deprive a target of life. So, perhaps I should just build it as a massive RKA that is almost certain to kill any targets, perhaps with some sort of Advantage that limits how the "wounds" can be healed back?

 

If this were a wave of fire or lighting, it would be easy. It is complicated because of how the residual effects linger for any survivors. 

 

 

How would you approach it?

 

Also, as an aside, do you think that a Severe Transform: Give Target Terminal Lung Cancer is legit, in that it doesn't directly deprive a target of life but it will certainly lead to death in a span of a few weeks to months?

[ghost-angel]

Enhance Disease: Drain Body - as a life mage add life force to any of the various diseases a human body my harbor it drains the life from the host, eventually killing them. (this could easily be a Killing Attack as well)

 

Fever Curse: Drain End - causing the bodies natural response to disease to go into overdrive, a fever drains their stanima until they fall unconscious and can do nothing but wait for the body to return to normal.

 

Cancerous Growth: Major Transform - causes cancer to grow uncontrollably in the body until they literally become deformed and unable to function; (the exact nature could vary from loss of DEX due to tumors, loss of senses, or adding a Physical Complication: Chronic Pain, must make an EGO Roll for any physical exertion)

[eepjr24]

On the enhance disease if modeled as a KA I would probably go with AVAD vs Power Defense. To my mind it fits the SFX better. Without it, to me, it would seem more like a spray of caustic infectious liquid that could be stopped by armor or the like.

 

- E

[Christopher R Taylor]

Diseases for me work best as a drain with a long DOT, like days or weeks of slow but inevitable progress.  Make the drain recover very slowly like this:

 

Wasting Disease: Drain Body, Constitution, Strength, Recovery, and Endurance ½d6, Expanded Effect (Body, Constitution, Strength, Recovery, and Endurance simultaneously) (+2), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Month; +2 3/4) (29 Active Points); Damage Over Time, Target's defenses only apply once, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (8 damage increments, damage occurs every 1 Day, -2 1/2), Attack Versus Alternate Defense (Life Support vs disease negates; -1/2)

Powers Cost: 7

 

This won't be too bad at first, but over the course of a week will do the equivalent of 4d6 to five stats at once, with power defense only applying once and recovering 5 points a month.  Its fairly cheap because its so slow, but almost certainly lethal.  Of course, life support vs disease protects from it entirely.

[eepjr24]

 

NM, I think I get where you were going now.

Edited June 14, 2016 by eepjr24

[steriaca]

Reminds me of a few Jojos from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

 

Josuki from the Diamonds Are Unbreakable storyline can use his stand Crazy Diamond (or Shining Diamond to the english speaking world) can heal what it strikes. So, a common attack is for Josuki to put rhe beatdown upon the foe, Crazy Diamond heals him, then wacks him like a red haired stepchild to put him worse than he was healed.

 

Gold Experience (or Golden Wind to us english speakers) can turn any inanimate object to a living thing.

 

What does this have to do with the original topic? Nothing really. Can't think of a disease controlling stand (prehaps Purple Haze?). But what you described sounds like a nasty stand power (Greatful Dead can only age people to dust).

[bigdamnhero]

If you just want a bunch of Faceless CGI Mooks to fall over dead, RKA AVAD: Power Def is probably the simplest way to go. If you want to focus more on the effects, or if it's going to affect PCs or significant NPCs, then I'd go with Drain.

 

Also, as an aside, do you think that a Severe Transform: Give Target Terminal Lung Cancer is legit, in that it doesn't directly deprive a target of life but it will certainly lead to death in a span of a few weeks to months?

IMO this is just "Transform to Dead Person" with a long Damage Over Time, and as such would violate the RAW guidance against using Transform to kill. I'd say this is either a Drain or an RKA.

 

The above, I feel, I can model fairly easily, especially with a VPP and perhaps a negative Side Effect should a skill roll be failed (of course you have to be careful with Side Effects negatively impacting others, but I would be the GM and I don't see it as any different from "The fireball explodes in your hands, and everyone in the blast radius takes damage." Presumably, if you're trying to heal someone and instead kill them/maim them, that's a Side Effect you really didn't want to happen so it's still Limiting.).

I agree that using Side Effects to harm others is a Big Flashing Stop Sign; but I also agree it makes sense here. I would however reduce the value of the Limitation if it doesn't damage the caster.

[Manic Typist]

Since I don't know if the PCs would use it against significant NPCs, and I make no promises that I wouldn't use it against PCs...

 

I think the best approach is to go with a Linked Power- an RKA:AVAD plus a Major Transform. This models the initial harm that comes from having a tumor suddenly grow in your lung from the size of a single cell to 4 inches in the space of 5 seconds, plus modeling the long term impacts to your health should you not receive help in reverse.

 

Good call on reducing the value of the Limitation.

 

Thanks all!

[Christopher]

A fun fact of Microbology: There are 10 times as many bacteriums as cells in the human body.

What if you heal those? Or rapidly let them grow way past normal scale?

Our body is a outright bacterial ecosystem.

 

There was one case in the X-Files where a mutation allowed the people to accelerate cellular growth - of microorganisms only (or with preference; can not remember). The result was that people got killed by all those normally harmless fungy and whatnot growing in massive proportions over the span of a few seconds.

 

Clotting up the Bloodvessels.

The main danger of heatstroke and fever is that around 42 °C the protein in our blood starts getting - clumpy. Wich will obstruct bloodflow as a result. Clump up the blood other ways, you get deadly force.
Even plateletes - normally used to clot up wounds - can be used this way if properly incentivised. Anticoagulants are specifically for people that might suffer from these medical issues.

 

Heat management:

Our metabolism is based around carefull heat management. We can not produce too much waste-heat - if we get to hot, our metabolism has to slow down. What if you would temporarily "boost" the normal metabolism?

You would both cause a lack of nutrients and a excess of heat shorterm, both would greatly reduce stamina (endurance and/or stun). This is similar to the boost gained from Adrenalin. Except instead of draining resources from all the bodies "noncritical systems" (Liver, Skin, etc.) like Adrenalin rush does, you could divert it into those regions.

 

Just use what is there:

There is always a whole bunch of potential illnesses around in our body. And a whole bunch of bacteria are known to never be completely defeated after havng infected the person once (Tubercolosis for example). They would be happy with any boost. And if you add in some immunity/resistance to the natural body defenses and Antibiotica they would be very thankfull.

 

Cell death:

There is also the "Suicide Gene" in human cells. Basically any normal cell has a self-destruct switch.

One of the issues with Cancer cells is: They no longer have that switch/no longer react to it.

 

Hyper-neural functions:

Myuri from bleach has some very nice ideas here:

The extremely successfull use, starting at minute 20:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUFlMex67iI

 

And later in a filler-arc (but less sucessfull) at minute 13:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIjB-pJRSoE

 

Mindmistress accidently got herself "lost in thought" for a few days in the "Just Your Imagination" storyline.

Apparently a normal amount of imagination can be quite deadly for a Neohuman mind. Go figure.

She basically applied the Lotus Eater Machine concept to her own hyper-accelerated mind by accident.

 

I sure I get some more ideas afte a bit of sleep.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Fever Curse: Drain End - causing the bodies natural response to disease to go into overdrive, a fever drains their stanima until they fall unconscious and can do nothing but wait for the body to return to normal.

 

I really like this idea for this SFX.

 

Similarly, allergic reactions are caused by overactive immune systems so you could inflict anything from sneezing fits to anaphylactic shock with this reasoning.

[ghost-angel]

The Human Immune System: Switching between Almost Useless to Attempting To Kill You on a regular basis.

[Christopher]

The Human Immune System: Switching between Almost Useless to Attempting To Kill You on a regular basis.

Of course, the option to hypercharge your immune system!

 

A too agressive immune system will attack totally health bodycells just as well.

Autoimmunity (immune system attacking it's own body) is a thing and quite natural on a low scale. But if you get the immune system to attack perfectly health cells - like muskles - they effectivey become a bacterium with a very strong turf defense and nothing to stop them.

You would still get the usual illness reactions (heightened temperature and white bloodcells) from this - after all the immune systems fighting what it considers a "enemy" - but it is a fight it can not win. And there is nothing there to stop it.

I would asume the brain and children in belly are protected from this (not certain about children - do they share thier mothers white blood cells?). Both have notoriously powerfull defenses on top of the normal immune system. The brain in particualr does not even have direct contact with blood.

[Anaximander]

What about an over-saturation of Life Energy causing cells to disrupt and/or disperse?

[wolfrunswithfox]

For a different take on "murder by healing", remember that in many medieval/fantasy settings, most injuries are more dangerous due to blood loss than direct trauma.  This indicates that a healer or life mage almost certainly has the ability to help the body replace lost blood.  If you apply that ability to enemies who aren't actually in need of it, you could artificially spike their blood pressure.  Lucky enemies just fall over relatively painlessly as their heart gives out, less lucky ones succumb to a stroke or cerebral hemmorrhage, unlucky ones look like they're blushing until they sell up an burst (bleeding from anywhere and everywhere).

 

On a character sheet, it might look something like this:

 

Drown in Blood: RKA xd6 No Normal Defense (Defense is lacking a circulatory system or having a way to quickly get rid of the excess blood)

 

This has the morbid side effect of creating an attack that you can "defend" against by slashing your own wrists.  In either case, traumatizing for both the targets and the onlookers (as the OP described).

[dmjalund]

[steriaca]

Any thoughts on giving your opponents cancer? All cancer is is your new cells are added to your body faster than your cells die.

 

Transform (person without cancer to person with cancer).

[steriaca]

You can also heal/regenerate your opponent, but have that attack be painful. GeoGeo's stand Gold Experience has this effect (as his stands power relies upon life reaction).

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Flash Attack: Make their hair grow really fast till it flows down over their eyes and blocks their sight!

[Christopher]

On the maters of "side effects of too much magic healing", this is a nice thing on the internet I found linked on nodwick.com:

http://celynbrum.tumblr.com/post/142955752450/somethingdnd-lsunnyc-can-we-take-a-moment-to