Need advice on a writeup

[Mark Rand]

I hope you can give me some advice with someone the PCs might know.

 

She's Jody, the sexton of the nearby house of worship. The only unusual thing about her is that the peregrine falcons that live on the building roof let her come as close to them as she wants. Anyone else who comes within 15 feet of the birds, without her permission, gets chased off by Jody, the birds themselves, or both.

 

The state game commission is aware of the situation, and isn't concerned.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

I hope you can give me some advice with someone the PCs might know.

 

She's Jody, the sexton of the nearby house of worship. The only unusual thing about her is that the peregrine falcons that live on the building roof let her come as close to them as she wants. Anyone else who comes within 15 feet of the birds, without her permission, gets chased off by Jody, the birds themselves, or both.

 

The state game commission is aware of the situation, and isn't concerned.

 

What kind of advice are you looking for?

 

I'm not sure if this is even close, but off the top of my head I'm imagining she's really a villain who uses the birds to commit her crimes. Or possibly she's the vigilante type who is using the birds to exact some kind of revenge against some perceived wrong (founded or not).

[Mark Rand]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

What kind of advice are you looking for?

 

I'm not sure if this is even close, but off the top of my head I'm imagining she's really a villain who uses the birds to commit her crimes. Or possibly she's the vigilante type who is using the birds to exact some kind of revenge against some perceived wrong (founded or not).

 

Mostly, I'm trying to figure out how to write up the fact that the adult falcons (Ike and Tina) let her near their nesting box and if the state has given her any special certificate.

 

A couple of other things, neither of which is important. Jody works for a synagogue that share's its parking lot with a nearby mosque. Jody and her counterpart at the mosque are friends and work together on large projects.

[mallet]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Well if it is just an NPC why write it up? Unless the falcons do something then it's not much of a power or a benefit. It's just something unusual about her.

 

But if you really feel the need to write it up, maybe use a limited form of the talent Animal Friendship and a fringe benefit for the special certificate.

[JmOz]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

or build it as a large Animal Handling skill, don't get hung up over the details

[Dust Raven]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

or build it as a large Animal Handling skill' date=' don't get hung up over the details[/quote']

Agreed. Animal Handling, specific to birds (perhaps even limited to Falcons specifically) on a 20-.

 

Alternately, you can do something funky and buy her Shape Shift (info falcon) Only Vs Falcons. This may be appropriate if the reason they accept her is because they believe she is one of them. Not knowing much about falcon behavior I'm not even sure if this is realistic though.

[JmOz]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Agreed. Animal Handling, specific to birds (perhaps even limited to Falcons specifically) on a 20-.

 

Alternately, you can do something funky and buy her Shape Shift (info falcon) Only Vs Falcons. This may be appropriate if the reason they accept her is because they believe she is one of them. Not knowing much about falcon behavior I'm not even sure if this is realistic though.

 

0 end persistant Mental Illuison, only vs falcons, set image, standard effect (I'm a falcon)

[Mark Rand]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Agreed. Animal Handling' date=' specific to birds (perhaps even limited to Falcons specifically) on a 20-.[/quote']

 

This could also explain how the falcons can perch on Jody's bare arms without hurting her.

 

A quick addition, normally, Jody's up on the roof for only a few minutes at a time, either to pick up debris or bring someone up to see the birds.

 

In the two years they've been there, only Laura, a game commission representative, and Mary, the vet from the aviary and a licensed falconer, have been escorted into the marked off area. Laura, Jody, and Mary examine and band the baby chicks themselves.

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

She's an NPC?

 

Handwave it. 1 point perk for the license, then ignore the rest. Birds can be funny about people.

[gojira]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

If it has no real game effect, consider it just a background detail for that character. I'd do this for a PC too. "Two birds in a parking lot like you? Pfft, 0 points."

 

If it's a bit more extensive than that, Mind Control, Ike and Tina only, -2. What's the Int of a bird, about 4?

 

Alternately, DNPC, Ike and Tina. Villains can be nasty sometimes, you know?

[JmOz]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

If it has no real game effect, consider it just a background detail for that character. I'd do this for a PC too. "Two birds in a parking lot like you? Pfft, 0 points."

 

If it's a bit more extensive than that, Mind Control, Ike and Tina only, -2. What's the Int of a bird, about 4?

 

Alternately, DNPC, Ike and Tina. Villains can be nasty sometimes, you know?

 

Ego 5 IIRC

[Mark Rand]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

My original plan was to have Jody and the falcons in a WWYCD.

 

The basics of which were as follows: The heroes are among those invited to witness the baby falcons getting banded and checked over by a vet. Before going onto the synagogue's roof (a flat one with a 3 foot wall around it), everyone was told, by Jody, not to cross into the marked off area without her acting as escort.

 

On the roof, she received a call from the state game commission officer and went to pick her up. While she was away, except for the vet, everyone from the local aviary crossed the line anyway. When she got back, Jody yelled at the aviary people for not doing what she told them. During the confrontation, Tina freed herself, flew to Jody's bare left arm, landed on it, and just sat there.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Having read up recently on Falconry, there are a few things you may want to account for or just chuck, depending.

 

Falcons are not tameable, they're trainable. So if they have a trust relationship, it's based on need, not love. Loyalty to a Falcon means "I get fed." Like I said, a proper falcon (vs. the 4 color version you may be describing here) is a violent hunter that's only sticking around for the meal ticket. Training falcons takes a massive amount of time, effort & requires a state license.

 

There is a specific breed that is actually friendly, and I can go back up and look it up if you're really interested, but it sounds like she has animal friendship to me, and the birds are reflective of that.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Having read up recently on Falconry, there are a few things you may want to account for or just chuck, depending.

 

Falcons are not tameable, they're trainable. So if they have a trust relationship, it's based on need, not love. Loyalty to a Falcon means "I get fed." Like I said, a proper falcon (vs. the 4 color version you may be describing here) is a violent hunter that's only sticking around for the meal ticket. Training falcons takes a massive amount of time, effort & requires a state license.

 

There is a specific breed that is actually friendly, and I can go back up and look it up if you're really interested, but it sounds like she has animal friendship to me, and the birds are reflective of that.

 

Thanks. My original thought is that she has animal telepathy: limited to falcons.

 

Additionally, there's a nesting box in a corner of the synagogue roof and plenty of pigeons in the area.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Thanks. My original thought is that she has animal telepathy: limited to falcons.

 

Additionally, there's a nesting box in a corner of the synagogue roof and plenty of pigeons in the area.

 

Birds ain't too bright (again, unless you 4 Color them), and are limited to hunting, eating & mating, in about that order. Telepathy will allow her to issue commands at range; Mind Control (Animal Class of Minds, Falcons Only (-1 1/2)) or Animal Friendship would be required to get them to obey her.

 

Otherwise they just hang around, waiting for food and going "ORLY?!" (this is an external joke from Gobwin Knob, located at the Order of the Stick site; if you haven't read it, please do).

[Mark Rand]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Birds ain't too bright (again' date=' unless you 4 Color them), and are limited to hunting, eating & mating, in about that order. Telepathy will allow her to issue commands at range; Mind Control (Animal Class of Minds, Falcons Only (-1 1/2)) or Animal Friendship would be required to get them to [i']obey[/i] her.

 

Otherwise they just hang around, waiting for food and going "ORLY?!" (this is an external joke from Gobwin Knob, located at the Order of the Stick site; if you haven't read it, please do).

 

My original idea was that Ike and Tina are normal falcons who were banded as chicks and are used to seeing people. From their own observation, they have figured out that Jody respects their privacy. (She comes onto the roof once a week or so to pick up debris and check the drains, and has had an ornithologist removed from the roof for getting too close to them.)

[Guest Major Tom]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

The character you've described here puts me in mind of a character from

GURPS Supertemps called Lynx, who was a teenage girl with the

ability to communicate with any sort of animal that she wanted to. Is that

what you had in mind when you were putting together your ideas for Jody?

 

 

Major Tom

[Mark Rand]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

The character you've described here puts me in mind of a character from

GURPS Supertemps called Lynx, who was a teenage girl with the

ability to communicate with any sort of animal that she wanted to. Is that

what you had in mind when you were putting together your ideas for Jody?

 

 

Major Tom

 

No, but Mary, the vet, has that ability. Jody probably has a version of it that works only on birds of prey. She doesn't use it to control them, though. She just uses it to help them understand that she's a friend.

 

A question based on this ability, would it account for the fact that a falcon could sit on Jody's bare arm without hurting her?

[JmOz]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

No, but Mary, the vet, has that ability. Jody probably has a version of it that works only on birds of prey. She doesn't use it to control them, though. She just uses it to help them understand that she's a friend.

 

A question based on this ability, would it account for the fact that a falcon could sit on Jody's bare arm without hurting her?

 

Most likely that and a combination of having it done over and over again, but again it depends on how intelegent the birds are, from the real world probably not, but in a comics world, that is not that big of a deal. I would say that Jody should probably be +1 or 2 PD however above normal human (so 3-5 seems right to me in truth

[Guest Major Tom]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

No, but Mary, the vet, has that ability. Jody probably has a version of it that works only on birds of prey. She doesn't use it to control them, though. She just uses it to help them understand that she's a friend.

 

A question based on this ability, would it account for the fact that a falcon could sit on Jody's bare arm without hurting her?

 

 

I think that the only way that a falcon (or any bird of prey, for that matter)

would be able to sit on someone's arm without causing that person injury

would be for that person to have skin that's as least as tough as leather --

in other words, having enough Physical Damage Resistance or Reduction so

that the bird's talons don't pierce the skin.

 

 

Major Tom

[Mark Rand]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

I think that the only way that a falcon (or any bird of prey, for that matter)

would be able to sit on someone's arm without causing that person injury

would be for that person to have skin that's as least as tough as leather --

in other words, having enough Physical Damage Resistance or Reduction so

that the bird's talons don't pierce the skin.

 

 

Major Tom

 

Okay. I was thinking that Tina either wraps her talons around Jody's arm or uses just enough pressure to keep from falling off. The latter would assume a mind link between Jody and the falcons instead of animal telepathy.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

A minor note: the synagogue's location mentioned on the first page was for Seacouver. In Pittsburgh, it would be in a different location because the city's only mosque is close to the University of Pittsburgh's 42-story Cathedral of Learning, which has falcons nesting on the 40th floor.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Okay. I was thinking that Tina either wraps her talons around Jody's arm or uses just enough pressure to keep from falling off. The latter would assume a mind link between Jody and the falcons instead of animal telepathy.

 

Neg on this; if you 4-Color it, then yes, but if you want realism, she must use a Falconers glove. Don't forget that those talons can snap little necks and pierce flesh with easy. Each one is a razor in its own right. It won't matter if the bird is "trying" to hurt her or not -- he will, period. And a leather work glove won't do it; it needs to be a full-on Falconers glove, OR, she has 2 rPD or such.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Neg on this; if you 4-Color it' date=' then yes, but if you want realism, she [i']must[/i] use a Falconers glove. Don't forget that those talons can snap little necks and pierce flesh with easy. Each one is a razor in its own right. It won't matter if the bird is "trying" to hurt her or not -- he will, period. And a leather work glove won't do it; it needs to be a full-on Falconers glove, OR, she has 2 rPD or such.

 

Okay. I wasn't sure.

 

We'll make them normal falcons. Jody wears a falconer's glove when she needs to.

 

Her mind link with Ike and Tina is probably the principal reason they stay there. Jody uses it only to let them know that they can trust her. They have also seen her verbally and physically confront people that get too close to the nest box.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Need advice on a writeup

 

Okay. I wasn't sure.

 

We'll make them normal falcons. Jody wears a falconer's glove when she needs to.

 

Her mind link with Ike and Tina is probably the principal reason they stay there. Jody uses it only to let them know that they can trust her. They have also seen her verbally and physically confront people that get too close to the nest box.

 

Seeing her confront people won't mean much to them; the term "bird-brain" is there for a reason. Yes, they are smart, but smart for a bird is still pretty much a thickie. So yes on the glove, sort of a "GM call/meh" on the 'seeing her confront people' thing, and mind link, if the birds care, will probably be perfectly good justification for them staying, but what they really want is food. For the sake of onlookers, she should have:

 

Falconer's License (2 pt perk)

Game Department Wild Animal Handler License (2 pt perk); I believe you need both to be a registered, legal Falconer, and they continually come to inspect the grounds they're kept in. You already said that isn't a problem, but if someone wanted to MAKE problems for her, that would be one way to do it.

Feed them regularly (as in, every time they see her, if she's keeping up appearances, she should likely offer them a little something; not a training size amount, but a reinforcement amount).