Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

[Marcus Impudite]

Creating a package deal for demons in my campaign world who have assumed corporeal form. Among other things, such beings can get away with smoking heavily, drinking heavily, and consuming junk food by the truckload without suffering a single ill effect (stuff that's bad for humans is good for demons). I know to use Life Support: Immunity for the first two parts of this, but how do I model the third? And for those who might bring it up, I'll thinking about reserving Full Life Support almost excussively for noncorporeal form (there have to be some drawbacks to manifesting as flesh and blood, afterall). Thoughts?

[Andrew Cermak]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

Creating a package deal for demons in my campaign world who have assumed corporeal form. Among other things' date=' such beings can get away with smoking heavily, drinking heavily, and consuming junk food by the truckload without suffering a single ill effect (stuff that's bad for humans is good for demons). I know to use Life Support: Immunity for the first two parts of this, but how do I model the third? And for those who might bring it up, I'll thinking about reserving Full Life Support almost excussively for noncorporeal form (there have to be some drawbacks to manifesting as flesh and blood, afterall). Thoughts?[/quote']

 

You don't have to model it. It's a special effect of having an "alien" biology. Characters aren't likely to be throwing junk food attacks around, so it's not an ability that's going to have much of an effect on game balance.

 

But if you insist, you could just build it as a cheap Immunity.

[McCoy]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

You don't have to model it. It's a special effect of having an "alien" biology. Characters aren't likely to be throwing junk food attacks around, so it's not an ability that's going to have much of an effect on game balance.

 

But if you insist, you could just build it as a cheap Immunity.

Or even a Physical Limitation, special diet. "Must consume junk food, cannot eat fresh fruit or vegetables unless heavly processed."

[Dust Raven]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

I agree, you don't need to stat that out any more than you would for a vegan's diet. Wolves don't get any special stats for eating only meat either. So what if they eat junk food... at most it's a Distinctive Feature (Constantly Eating Twinkies).

[Static UK]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

Creating a package deal for demons ...consuming junk food by the truckload without suffering a single ill effect (stuff that's bad for humans is good for demons).

 

Does this include things like not gaining weight, or is it just 'chemical' in nature? After all it appears to be the chemicals that are added to the food that causes the ill-health affects associated with junk-food. Either way, I believe some version of the Life Support: Immunity to manamde chemicals should do the job (as far as I am aware they don't put chemical warfare agents in our food...?) Don't have my big 5ER book with me in work, so can't tell you the cost.

[Marcus Impudite]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

Does this include things like not gaining weight' date=' or is it just 'chemical' in nature? [/quote']

No weight gain, no killer stomach aches, no clogged arteries, no poisoning from all the chemicals, etc.

 

Basically, you can expect to hear secondary characters occasionally saying stuff like (WARNING: do not read what follows if you just ate or are about to eat):

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"Dude, you won't believe this. That guy just scarfed down twenty slices of the greasiest pizza known to man, followed it up with an entire canister of Slim Jims, a two pound bag of sour cream and onion potato chips, two packs of chocolate Zingers, and now he's washing the whole ungodly mess down with a three liter bottle of Cherriwine and a fifth of vodka."

"And he's still alive?! Daaaaamn!!!"

[Sean Waters]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

Well you could buy it as an extra time presence attack....

 

Assuming that it is just 'food' albeit not the most nutritious food, that he character can eat without ill effects, I'd say ignore it points wise. Very much like McCoy's physical limitation. You could also take distinctive features....if the character HAS to eat like that, and isn't just showing off.

 

If you wanted to stat it out, how about a 2d6 BODY drain, only for stuff placed in mouth (and of course double the BODY completely destroys it, so it has no effect). You'd need to couple that with 'doesn't need to eat' or a modified definition of where the character gets their nutrition from.

 

My take though is that it is just sfx.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

"Dude, you won't believe this. That guy just scarfed down twenty slices of the greasiest pizza known to man, followed it up with an entire canister of Slim Jims, a two pound bag of sour cream and onion potato chips, two packs of chocolate Zingers, and now he's washing the whole ungodly mess down with a three liter bottle of Cherriwine and a fifth of vodka."

"And he's still alive?! Daaaaamn!!!"

 

I've always thought that what a character eats is of no consequence, so long as it's considered food to that character. The only thing that matters is how often the character must eat to stay healty. If the type of food is unique and involves the use of other powers to obtain, I might buy No Need To Eat and put a Dependance on the action that obtains the food.

 

For a demon though, do they actually need to eat at all? Can't they just sit there for weeks and months without eating anything and it has the same effect as if they just drank the fat out of a frier? Maybe they just have LS: Need Not Eat and can actually stuff whatever they feel like down their hole because their body just makes it go away instead of digesting it.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

Maybe they just have LS: Need Not Eat and can actually stuff whatever they feel like down their hole because their body just makes it go away instead of digesting it.

That's what I was thinking. Either that or a really small Cosmetic Transform (believe me, food really doesn't have much Body). Cosmetic because it really doesn't have much affect on anthing. Really.

[Guyon]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

I don't think you need to buy teh fact that they can eat junk food, just like the fact you don't buy the ability to be abel to touch holy water. Some things are just part of the make up of the creature.

 

That said you should buy:

Vulnerability to: holy or blessed weapons

Susceptibility to: holy water or blessed artifacts

Susceptibility to: Light (for lower level demons)

Enraged or Psychological Limitation: to holy words or Prayer

 

See if you can get your hands on Fallen angles ...and other Spirits of the Dark by Robert Maselo

It names many historic and religious demons and devils with their appropriate functions.

[Lamrok]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

"Dude, you won't believe this. That guy just scarfed down twenty slices of the greasiest pizza known to man, followed it up with an entire canister of Slim Jims, a two pound bag of sour cream and onion potato chips, two packs of chocolate Zingers, and now he's washing the whole ungodly mess down with a three liter bottle of Cherriwine and a fifth of vodka."

"And he's still alive?! Daaaaamn!!!"

 

 

That's nothing comapared to some of the characters in Zornwil's game. The Troll used to have "LS: doesn't need to sleep - as long as he devours huge quantities of raw meat." That was good, since his wife only ate raw fish (no disad or lim there at all.) One of the base followers is well known to exist primarily on a diet of bologna sandwiches (the Justice Squad has a perpetual food machine in the base, but it has been stuck on "bologna" for years. No one seems to care much, as it turns out that most team members are perfectly happy with bologna sandwiches.) Sammy the Slime exists on a diet of nearly anything organic, as long as it is currently dead and as long as there are mass quantities of it. He's single-handedly lead to the disappearance of all-you-can-eat restaurants in the Detroit area. He takes a lot of pride in his intimate knowledge of restaurant dumpsters around town. I really doubt he has any sort of Life Support for this - in his case this is the appropriate diet for a mutated slime.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

One character in a game I ran a few years ago was a multiformer...a mousy little woman -- a biochemist -- would transform into a big, fit, male telepath / telekinetic. Sarah (the biochemist) was a certified genius, but she had no interest in mundane things. Mark (the telekinetic) seemed to feel like an indulgent older brother about Sarah. Sarah gained the ability to transform into Mark by testing out one of her discoveries on herself...a regeneration serum.

 

We used to joke that it was a good thing Sarah had tested out the regen serum on herself, because her diet consisted solely of Twinkies and Dr. Pepper. Nothing else. Sarah hated to take time away from her researches for something as mundane as "refueling", and she'd found long ago that Twinkies kept forever, so when she remembered at all, she ordered them literally by the truckload. She ordered the Dr. Pepper the same way, but didn't bother to refrigerate it...she drank it warm.

 

Other than her Multiform ability, Sarah's only powers were a block of mental defense the size of Gibralter, Regeneration, Retarded Aging, and some Life Support.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

As all have said .. something don't need to be modeled out in points, or even written down. They just are.

 

If demons can subsist on anything edible then they can, rock on. No real need to have them pay points for this really, they can eat anything as part of the basic makeup of their species.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

I will admit that I have done this before as a form of Reduced Eating. Instead of having to eat, "less often," the character simply eats an unusual sort of substance. You know: rocks, fire, lawn mulch; that sort of thing. It represents the same kind of advantage: the character doesn't have to worry so much about what (/how much) it eats.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

That's what I was thinking. Either that or a really small Cosmetic Transform (believe me' date=' food really doesn't have much Body). Cosmetic because it really doesn't have much affect on anthing. Really.[/quote']

 

I would never charge points for the ability to make food disappear. It's just a matter of doing enough damage to the and I can't think of any character that can't accomplish that with STR alone (though you might need a Power to eat certain things your STR can't get through, like bricks).

[gojira]

Re: Demonic Metabolism: how to model it?

 

I'd buy it as a cheap psych lim, that people would notice that you eat junk food all the time, even when not appropriate, like a mild anti-social behaviour. Sorta like picking your nose all the time.

 

I'd also buy a cheap psych lim, that some people would be able to figure out that you are a demon.

 

My 2 cents.