A Killing Song

[L. Marcus]

The feast was nearing its finale. The Duke, being as generous (if cruel), had saved the best for the last -- a bard, famous throughout the land for making the sternest men cry.

 

The young man stepped forward. A hush spread out among the revellers, and everyone craned their necks to get a look at the handsome singer. With a bow to the high seat, where the Duke and his lady sat, beaming with anticipation, the bard strummed a chord on his lyre.

 

"My lord," he said, in a warm, beautiful voice, "I shall sing to you The Ballad of Ebbe Skammelsson!" A sussurration swept through the room, as everyone approved the choice of song -- an old favorite, romantic and bloody.

 

The balladeer plucked at the strings, while his voice sang love, treason, madness and blood. Such music no one there had ever heard before -- before the first chorus the ladies all had tears in their eyes, and when the battles were sung every man present felt his blood flow and his knuckles clench.

 

The song climbed up to its climax. The revellers all shivered when the hero returned from battle to find his love being married to his own brother. The hero gripped his sword, charged at his brother and swung the blade --

 

The Duke screamed. He stood up from his seat, a look of terror in his bulging eyes. He screamed again, clawed at his throat, and fell down, dead.

 

The ladies screamed and the lords shouted. Everyone thronged to the fallen Duke, trying to aid him, shouting for water, for the wine cup to be saved, a pillow, a medicus. All the while the troubadour stood still, forgotten, with a small smile playing on his lips . . .

[Thia Halmades]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Hrm. The obvious answer is RKA, Gestures (-1/4), Incantation (-1/4), OIF (instrument of choice, -1/2), extra time (20 minutes, -2?), and then it gets sticky.

 

Gradual effect would do it, although by standard argument the power "goes off" at the end. Delayed Effect or Trigger don't seem to apply here by any stretch.

 

I think. Me, personally. I'd go: AVLD (Flash Defense), Does BODY, and build in enough damage on SER that whomever the target is gets greased, cause of death: Heart Attack. Amusingly, everone sees it happening, but no one knows what it is. Further! You may want to include a Linked Presence Attack (Fascinate, per FH) to keep everyone in their seats while homey does the assassination.

 

42 Song of the Assassin; RKA 6d6, AVLD (Flash Defense, Sound, +1), Does BODY (+1), Reduced END (+1/4) (203 Active Points); Gestures (entertaining the guests, -1/4), Incantations (singing/playing, for the duration of the effect, -1/2), OIF (available instrument, including voice, -1/2), Extra Time (20 minutes, -2 1/2), Concentration (0 DCV throughout, -1)

 

I'll let someone else build the Fascinate, or you could simply do it as a PRE attack, but because of the 3 Senses rule, you might also include "no visible effect" to avoid people seeing the shock wave that kills the Duke.

[Robyn]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Aww, and here I thought that you were going to sing Vash's genocide song to us

 

I'm thinking "Indirect" for some reason; the lord could be around a corner from you, or behind a wall, and he'd still be affected, unless the bard needs line of sight for that.

[ghost-angel]

Re: A Killing Song

 

The Killing Song: Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Continuous (+1), No Normal Defense (Being Deaf or Hearing Flash Def; +1), Does BODY (+1), Invisible Power Effects, Hide effects of Power (Fully Invisible; +2) (94 Active Points); OAF: Instrument (-1), Gestures, Requires Gestures throughout (Requires both hands; -1), Incantations (Requires Incantations throughout; -1/2), -2 Decreased STUN Multiplier (-1/2), Requires A Bardic Skill Roll (-1/2), Gradual Effect (1 Minute; -1/2) [19 Real Points, 4 END]

 

(Edit: Added Gradual Effect, which enables the Attack to do Damage every Full Minute the song is played, instead of every Phase)

[L. Marcus]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Thanks, guys! How didja know it was a question?

 

I've been pondering on how to best build this Power for some time . . .

[ghost-angel]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Thanks, guys! How didja know it was a question?

 

I've been pondering on how to best build this Power for some time . . .

We're just that good...

 

BTW: I have -2 Decreased STUN Multiple on there just so you don't knock out the frail enemies before you kill them. Would do no good to have them pass out or get Stunned halfway into the performace... You could possibly even make it Does No Stun.

[L. Marcus]

Re: A Killing Song

 

. . . Yeah. But would Does No STUN be an Advantage or a Disadvantage? It makes the Power more powerful, after all.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Robyn: Common Sense would apply in this case, but most of these powers do require direct LOS, so you're correct, without purchasing Indirect you have to - at some point - be looking at the target and use the power on them. You could apply Indirect to it, but then you're looking at all new wrinkles.

[L. Marcus]

Re: A Killing Song

 

I have no trouble with the bard needing to see his victim, so the Indirect issue isn't an issue. And as ghostie wrote the power, it has a range of almost a kilometer! Limited Range (range of hearing; -1/4) would fit.

[Lucius]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Don't forget invisible power effects.

 

LA

p

[ghost-angel]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Don't forget invisible power effects.

 

LA

p

I've got it on there already, not just Fully IPE but Hides Effects as well - they won't even know they're dead

 

. . . Yeah. But would Does No STUN be an Advantage or a Disadvantage? It makes the Power more powerful' date=' after all.[/quote']

STUN Only is normally a -0, I would put Does No STUN at +0 as well.

 

I have no trouble with the bard needing to see his victim' date=' so the Indirect issue isn't an issue. And as ghostie wrote the power, it has a range of almost a kilometer! Limited Range (range of hearing; -1/4) would fit.[/quote']

Good point...

 

revised:

 

The Killing Song: Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6, Does No STUN (+0), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Continuous (+1), No Normal Defense (Being Deaf or Hearing Flash Def; +1), Does BODY (+1), Invisible Power Effects, Hide effects of Power (Fully Invisible; +2) (94 Active Points); OAF: Instrument (-1), Gestures, Requires Gestures throughout (-1/2), Incantations (Requires Incantations throughout; -1/2), Gradual Effect (1 Minute; -1/2), Requires A Bardic Skill Roll (-1/2), Limited Range (Within Earshot; -1/4), No Knockback (-1/4) [Real Cost: 21; END: 4]

 

What an incredibly evil little power, given the time to pull it off. Note the Skill Roll is at a -9 Only the most powerful and skilled Bards will be able to pull this off consistantly, especially for hard to kill targets.

 

Robyn:

This is a perfect example of Reasoning From Effect, as discussed in the Discussion Forum. Given a description of what is happening a full power can be constructed.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Okay, I'm looking up Gradual Effect. Evidently my earlier instincts were correct, I just don't get how. AH, I see now.

 

GA, you may want to revise your build. Gradual Effect is a limitation; you cannot multiply the number of dice used on Gradual Effect by applying it; so the most damage this power ever does is 1d6, which is why I opted to go with more dice (to guarantee the kill) and extra time. Also why I want with AVLD instead of NND (although either works).

 

If you jack this up to 6d6 RKA (SER 18 BODY, enough to kill most normals instantly on a slightly-better-than-average roll) and then apply Gradual Effect to it, and Extra Time (5 minutes) the power will make more sense. But based on what I read of Gradual Effect, this power won't kill the Duke as written. Instead, it will deal 1d6 of damage, apportioned over the time of the time of the power.

 

You can also add Extra Time on top of Gradual Effect, if you so desire, setting 'Extra Time' as setting up the power before the Gradual Effect element goes off, but then the song will only ever be useful in situations such as this one (RP kills only).

 

47 Song of the Assassin; RKA 6d6, Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible, +1), AVLD (Flash Defense, Sound, +1), Does BODY (+1), Reduced END (+1/4), (293 Active Points); Gestures (throughout performance, -1/2), Incantations (singing/playing, for the duration of the effect, -1/2), OIF (available instrument, including voice, -1/2), Extra Time (5 minutes, -2), Gradual Effect (5 minutes, -3/4), Concentration (0 DCV throughout, -1), Does no STUN (-0), Requires a Bardic Skill Roll (-1/4)

[ghost-angel]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Okay, I'm looking up Gradual Effect. Evidently my earlier instincts were correct, I just don't get how. AH, I see now.

 

GA, you may want to revise your build. Gradual Effect is a limitation; you cannot multiply the number of dice used on Gradual Effect by applying it; so the most damage this power ever does is 1d6, which is why I opted to go with more dice (to guarantee the kill) and extra time. Also why I want with AVLD instead of NND (although either works).

 

If you jack this up to 6d6 RKA (SER 18 BODY, enough to kill most normals instantly on a slightly-better-than-average roll) and then apply Gradual Effect to it, and Extra Time (5 minutes) the power will make more sense. But based on what I read of Gradual Effect, this power won't kill the Duke as written.

Last Paragraph: Gradual Effect as applied to a Cotinuous Power. I'm not near my books, and I may have read it wrong, but it seemed to say if applied to a Continous Power the Power takes effect at each Step of Gradual - turning a Continuous Power Every Phase into a Continuous Power Every Minute (or Hour, or what have you).

[Thia Halmades]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Ah, so you're saying that as a Constant Attack, he would be taking damage every round, and by applying Gradual Effect (max -3/4) you're stretching the time in-between points where he takes damage, thusly, he only spends END on the phases where damage is dealt?

 

I misunderstood and stand corrected. Well done, sir.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: A Killing Song

 

You must spread some reputation around before giving it to ghost-angel again. Curses!

[ghost-angel]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Ah, so you're saying that as a Constant Attack, he would be taking damage every round, and by applying Gradual Effect (max -3/4) you're stretching the time in-between points where he takes damage, thusly, he only spends END on the phases where damage is dealt?

 

I misunderstood and stand corrected. Well done, sir.

Pretty much

 

If it makes you feel any better I had to reread all the various Duration Limitations before find that, it's not like I had it right off the top of my head

[Thia Halmades]

Re: A Killing Song

 

LOL, actually, that does make me feel a bit better and a little less foolish. It does say GMO, but all things considered, so long as the total damage wasn't going to be all FWACKOOM i'd likely allow it. This would also make a great AOE Bard Attack in a standard FH game. Song of Discordant Harmony, NND, Does Body, Constant, AOE (Radius, Centered on the Caster).

[ghost-angel]

Re: A Killing Song

 

LOL' date=' actually, that [i']does[/i] make me feel a bit better and a little less foolish. It does say GMO, but all things considered, so long as the total damage wasn't going to be all FWACKOOM i'd likely allow it. This would also make a great AOE Bard Attack in a standard FH game. Song of Discordant Harmony, NND, Does Body, Constant, AOE (Radius, Centered on the Caster).

ooh.. I'd make that one a PRE Drain ... at the end of the epic ballad the bard just goes "Boo!" and then - panic.

[L. Marcus]

Re: A Killing Song

 

. . . You guys rule . . .

[ghost-angel]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Yeah but it was your idea. Repped for cool concept.

[L. Marcus]

Re: A Killing Song

 

We must do this again!

[Robyn]

Re: A Killing Song

 

LOL' date=' actually, that [i']does[/i] make me feel a bit better and a little less foolish. It does say GMO, but all things considered, so long as the total damage wasn't going to be all FWACKOOM i'd likely allow it. This would also make a great AOE Bard Attack in a standard FH game. Song of Discordant Harmony, NND, Does Body, Constant, AOE (Radius, Centered on the Caster).

 

Umm . . . Thia . . . ?

 

You might want "Hole in the Middle" there

 

__________________

My player: "I cast the Kill Them All spell."

Me: "Okay, you die."

My player: "Great. How many experience points do I get?"

[L. Marcus]

Re: A Killing Song

 

Naah, Personal Immunity fits the SFX better.

[Cantriped]

Re: A Killing Song

 

I did a similar power for a bard I briefly played once, mine was a lot lower AP though.

 

Dirge of the Fallen:This haunting performance is so heart rending and tragic that those that hear is find their breath quite literally catches in their throats. The dirge of the fallen has been known to actually kill the audience.

Game Information: Killing Attack - Ranged 1 point, No Normal Defense (Defense is Self Contained Breathing or the Inability to feel sorrow; +1), Does BODY (+1), Continuous (+1), Area Of Effect (12" Radius; +1 1/2), Invisible Power Effects, Hide effects of Power (Fully Invisible; +2) (37 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), -1 1/4), Spell (-1/2), No Range (-1/2), Incantations (Requires Incantations throughout; -1/2), Voice Range Incantations (-1/2)

[Cantriped]

Re: A Killing Song

 

(oops... forgot Personal immunity... hehe, oops...)