Different Focus, Different Power

[Citizen Keen]

I want to create a system for characters with psychic powers, augmented by foci (details to be decided). Now, there will be different psychic groups, like Pyrokinesis, Hydrokinesis, Telekinesis, etc.

 

Now, using Pyrokinesis as an example, what I want to do is give everybody who wants to be a Pyrokinetic one or two base powers, like EB and Change Environment: Affect Normal Fires. This is the innate part of their powers. However, if they hold these focusing foci, they can alter their powers. Examples:

 

Wall Focus: They can make walls of fire (or water, force, etc.)

 

Armor Focus: Armor or Damage Shield or FF or whatever.

 

Movement Focus: Teleport through Fire, or LS: Waterbreathing and Swimming, or Flight, or whatever.

 

Weather Focus: Burning Meteors, or Rain Deluge, or Atmospheric pressures, etc.

 

Burst Focus: Explosion, or Flood, or Force Wall

 

 

Now, I want this to all be one power, I don't want the characters to have to buy an infinite number of powers (as I will always be introducing wall foci).

 

I assume this is going to be a VPP of some sort, but I'm unsure of how to create it. Any help?

[Snarf]

Several of those modifiers could be done with power advantages. You might be able to handle the effect as a naked power advantage, such as explosion, in a focus that could apply itself to any psi power that makes sense. This would save you the trouble of paying for it many times but makes it difficult to change the powers drastically. A VPP would be way more flexible.

 

Another method you could consider is having the players buy the pool and initial slots of a multipower and gain additional slots in the power through foci. But this would only add enhancements to one power at a time, instead of giving all their powers the ability. Oh well, just throwing stuff out.

[Citizen Keen]

Here's what I'm thinking - am I building this right?

 

VPP - Special Effect: Pschic Powers for Which You Have the Right Focus

40 pt. Power Pool

20 pt. Control, Cosmic (+2), Very Limited Class of Powers (decided at character creation, from categories decided by GM, -1), Character Can Only Choose From Incredibly Limited Selection of Powers (-1)*, Real Cost: 20

 

Total: 60 Pts.

 

 

 

* At any given time, the characters will only have 2-6 powers at their disposal, and this selection can be changed, 1 power at a time, about once a month. What I really wanted was a Multipower that can be changed once a month or so. Am I doing this right? Any thoughts?

 

-cK

[Snarf]

I don't currently have a 5th edition book, but I think the focus requirment can be included in the limitations somehow. Also, I think you don't have to buy cosmic if you're putting any kind of limits on how often and how easily they can choose new powers. I'm not too sure about any of this, but you might want to double check if you're also unsure.

 

Damn, I wish I could be more useful. It's a great concept but all I have right now is Star Hero.

[Citizen Keen]

Originally posted by Snarf

...I think the focus requirment can be included in the limitations somehow. Also, I think you don't have to buy cosmic if you're putting any kind of limits on how often and how easily they can choose new powers.

 

Focus: I don't thinks so, because everybody will have one or two innate powers (example: Pyromancers can launch fire-special-effect EBs, and affect fires (defined as a Change Environment)) that they can use in the VPP without having any Foci. The special effect of the VPP is that if they use their powers through a focus, then they can get different effects (example: Mancer's Boots would allow travel. Pyromancer's wearing Mancer's Boots would be able to Teleport from one fire to another. Cryomancers would be able to creat ice sheets to skate along, Terramancers would get KB resistance, special effect being anchored to the ground). To make a short story long, since every character will have one or two innate powers that need no focus in the VPP, I can't buy the control with the Focus Limitation.

 

Cosmic: You may be right, maybe not. In FRed, it has two advantages for the Control Pool.

 

• Character Can Change Powers in Power Pool as a Zero Phase Action (+1)
  
• Character Does Not Need a Skill Roll to Change Powers (+1)
  
• 
  
• These two advantages together are referred to as Cosmic and are a +2 advantage.
  

 

I want the characters to be able to change the powers at will, and I want them to nt have to make a skill roll to change powers. (They may have to use a skill roll to use the power, but not to change it.) So, the book gives me Cosmic. I agree that they are limited to a very select few powers, but that's why I come to the boards, when the book and my instincts conflict.

 

The only powers the characters can have are those that they have the foci for (along with their innate powers). I will change their foci regularly, so they really don't have much choice in the powers

 

Like I said before, what I want to build is a Mutipower where the slots change every few game weeks.

 

Thanks for all the help, everybody.

 

-cK

[Blue Angel]

If only the GM has control of what power they get then some form of no conscious control should apply. Perhaps at the -1 level.

[Snarf]

Your reasoning sounds good to me Keen. Can they be deprived of their enhanced powers if these enhancing items are stolen or damaged? If so, there should be one more limitation on the control cost to reflect that, but the focus limitation sounds innapropriate. Maybe it could be -1/4 or -1/2 and the wording could be something like: changes require special items. Except replace the word special items with whatever these things are going to be called .

 

Post the final version of this system when you're done! I want to see how this turns out.

[Citizen Keen]

Originally posted by Snarf

Can they be deprived of their enhanced powers if these enhancing items are stolen or damaged?

 

All characters have one or two innate powers, as defined by there specialty. (Pyromancers can do small EBs and Change Environment: Affect Fires. That is it, nothing else.) They can not do anything else without the proper focus, and each focus determines what they can do. Each focus will have its specialty - Mancer's Boots create travel effects, Mancer's Cloak creates body affecting effects, etc.

 

Originally posted by Snarf

Post the final version of this system when you're done! I want to see how this turns out.

 

I hope to have the barebones system posted by the end of the weekend. It takes me some time, because I've never done any HERO stuff.

 

Thanks for the encouragement,

 

-cK

[Snarf]

You seem to have this power pretty figured out already, but here's an alternate form which might give you some ideas. Instead of one complex pool, you could have players buy seperate powers. I can't calculate point costs until I get the fifth edition book but it would be something like this.

 

first they buy their innate powers: control fire, etc.

 

then they obtain foci:

 

Mancers Boots: 40 pt. VPP with modifiers on the control cost of +2 Cosmic, -1 OAF, -1(only to create movement powers), -1(only to create GM defined powers based on special effects of innate powers)

 

Mancers Cloak: 40 pt. VPP with modifiers on the control cost of +2 Cosmic, -1 OAF, -1(only to create self-affecting powers), -1(only to create GM defined powers based on special effects of innate powers)

 

Mancers Glove: 40 pt. VPP with modifiers on the control cost of +2 Cosmic, -1 OAF, -1(only to create close range attack powers), -1(only to create GM defined powers based on special effects of innate powers)

 

etc. etc.

 

Here's another form which is less flexible but doesn't require as many new power limitations to be created.

 

Pyromancy: 40 pt. Multipower

slot 1, Innate Power: Fire Control

slot 2, Mancer's Cloak: Fire Damage Reduction with -1 0AF

slot 3, Mancers Bow: Energy Blast with -1 OAF

etc. etc.

 

In other words, each item would contain a bunch of multipower slots, some of which might be useless.

 

Mancers Cloak: 1 slot for Pyromancy, Fire Damage Reduction, 1 slot for Hydromancy, etc. all of which have a protective effect.

 

Either of these methods represents the role of items more mechanically than the big pool, but adds a lot more work.

[Citizen Keen]

See, that's where it's getting complicated. Each of the Mancer's Foci do something different for each specialty. Example:

 

Mancer's Boots

 

If you're a Pyromancer, you can teleport through fires.

If you're a Hydromancer, you can Swim and Walk on Water

If you're a Cryomancer, you can run on ice sheets.

If you're a Terramancer, you can become immobile (KB Resistance)

 

You only get the power tied to your specialty. Only Pyromancers can teleport through fires, etc.

 

I think I've got it, though. Thanks, all.

[Snarf]

If you've got all those powers completely statted out somewhere, it sounds like all the possible effects are predefined. In that case, it would usually be much cheaper in points to have the players buy some form of multipower, rather than a variable power pool. Variable power pools are generally intended for when a player can make up their own powers as needed, rather than choose from GM defined abilities.

 

Does each character only have one speciality or is it possible to have many? For example, could a pyromancer also learn terramancy? Also, is this a heroic or superheroic level campaign?

[Citizen Keen]

This is a heroic campaign.

 

I don't want to use a static Multipower, because if a character picks up a Mancer's Focus that has a new power that they haven't paid for, I want them to be able to use it.

[Blue Angel]

Originally posted by Citizen Keen

This is a heroic campaign.

 

I don't want to use a static Multipower, because if a character picks up a Mancer's Focus that has a new power that they haven't paid for, I want them to be able to use it.

 

VPP looks like you're best bet for what you describe. Alot of posters strongly recomend multipowers for any form of magic. I guess it depends on what type of magic system you were introduced to first in you're roleplaying experience. Personally I don't like the multipower for hero level but that is just my preference. The rotating powers system you describe definately needs a VPP. No other power construct will behave the way you want it to.

[Snarf]

This is a heroic campaign.

In that case, all those ideas I had for building the power with point efficiency are err... pointless.

 

If it's a heroic, then the character point cost of the mancer's items doesn't even have to matter. They wouldn't have to pay character points for them at all if you were willing to treat them as equipment instead of powers. You could just have them find or pay for these items and limit what powers they can use from them based on innate abilities. example:

 

Mancers Boots:

Walk through fire with -1 OAF and -1(only usable by Pyromancers)

plus Walk on water with with -1 OAF and -1(only usable by Hydromancers)

plus Walk on Ice with -1 OAF and -1(only usable by Hydromancers)

plus Knockback resist with with -1 OAF and -1(only usable by Terramancers)

plus Armor 1PD/1ED with an activation roll at covers only feet level and -1 OAF and a limitation for weight and -1/4 real armor

 

And to be considered a Pyromancer, they would have to possess an ability with a fire special effect.

 

The real cost would be ridiculous, since the item technically contains 5 powers at full price, but that wouldn't matter in game terms for a heroic level campaign. All you would have to do is assign a balanced monetary value to it or control how easy it is to obtain. The advantage of doing it this way is that it's incredibly simple.

 

Just a thought. This is probably all useless to you but at least I'm having fun =P. I hope all my rambling has at least helped you feel certain that your method is the best. I'm totally going to steal your finished product and work it into one of my games.

[Blue Angel]

Originally posted by Snarf

In that case, all those ideas I had for building the power with point efficiency are err... pointless.

 

If it's a heroic, then the character point cost of the mancer's items doesn't even have to matter. They wouldn't have to pay character points for them at all if you were willing to treat them as equipment instead of powers. You could just have them find or pay for these items and limit what powers they can use from them based on innate abilities. example:

 

Mancers Boots:

Walk through fire with -1 OAF and -1(only usable by Pyromancers)

plus Walk on water with with -1 OAF and -1(only usable by Hydromancers)

plus Walk on Ice with -1 OAF and -1(only usable by Hydromancers)

plus Knockback resist with with -1 OAF and -1(only usable by Terramancers)

plus Armor 1PD/1ED with an activation roll at covers only feet level and -1 OAF and a limitation for weight and -1/4 real armor

 

And to be considered a Pyromancer, they would have to possess an ability with a fire special effect.

 

The real cost would be ridiculous, since the item technically contains 5 powers at full price, but that wouldn't matter in game terms for a heroic level campaign. All you would have to do is assign a balanced monetary value to it or control how easy it is to obtain. The advantage of doing it this way is that it's incredibly simple.

 

Just a thought. This is probably all useless to you but at least I'm having fun =P. I hope all my rambling has at least helped you feel certain that your method is the best. I'm totally going to steal your finished product and work it into one of my games.

 

That sounds like an interesting aproach. It still limits who can use what power but it vastly simplifies character building. Since it is a campaign convention the control is with the GM and the points don't matter so much.

[Citizen Keen]

Originally posted by Snarf

In that case, all those ideas I had for building the power with point efficiency are err... pointless.

 

If it's a heroic, then the character point cost of the mancer's items doesn't even have to matter.

 

blah blah blah, cut, important, but cut

 

Just a thought. This is probably all useless to you but at least I'm having fun =P. I hope all my rambling has at least helped you feel certain that your method is the best. I'm totally going to steal your finished product and work it into one of my games.

 

HOLY DEAR GOD. I have to think about this. This might be _exactly_ what I'm looking for. Snarf.... WOW. Thank you very much.

 

If I do this... read next post.

[Citizen Keen]

Never mind. I don't need to ask anything. So, I'll just use this post to say...

 

THANKS SNARF!

[Snarf]

Woo! Third time's the charm!

[Citizen Keen]

See Mancer's Focus thread in Star HERO Forum.