Fearghus Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 OK I had this idea for a villain in my game who's powers are all based on ants. One of the powers I would like to give him is a distracting / incapacitating ability. The idea is that a swarm of ants crawls out of the ground and causes the poor victim to itch, and in the end prevents them from acting. I was originally going to build this as an entangle, but realized that I don't want it to prevent movement, just attacking / acting. in fact if this power could get people to run away it might even be preferable. So then I think about a change environment build that puts combat penalties on the victim, but I would have to put mobile advantages on it, and it being an area of effect power isn't really fitting the flavor of what I wanted. Well in the end I figured since I am thinking about this I would share the misery. How would you guys build it? Basically I am looking for three main features to this power. 1> It's personal. It effects one target, moves with that target and only that target. 2> It's lasting. It would have a duration or a fade rate of some kind. It should not require the villain to re-do the attack every phase. 3> It effectively prevents the character from taking actions. doesn't prevent movement, though it might slow it, but the victim should at least find it very difficult to perform skills, attack, defend etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] Hmm... for the effects you describe, a DEX Drain sounds like it would fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Waters Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] Mind Control based on CON, cumulative, 0 END, uncontrolled (you can stop it by getting caught in an AoE, or jumping into water), single command: do nothing but scratch yourself, sfx: ant swarm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnTaber Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] Hmm... for the effects you describe' date=' a DEX Drain sounds like it would fit.[/quote'] I like this too. A continuous sticky version would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Goodwin Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] How about Drain OCV and DCV along with DEX? If you're that distracted you're not able to fight as effectively. I might also look at some of the Change Environment effects. There might be something in there you can use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Democracy Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] See, I'm thinking that the effects do not impede your dexterity - indeed you may perform extreme contortions as a result of it. I was thinking of a suppress INT. Take away enough and you stop the person making rational decisions. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice9 Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] I like the Mind Control actually. Or alternately, Change Environment, with Mobile to keep up with the victim - effects are penalties to CV, and a penalty to EGO rolls, which includes forcing the victim to make one to act. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] 3> It effectively prevents the character from taking actions. doesn't prevent movement, though it might slow it, but the victim should at least find it very difficult to perform skills, attack, defend etc. Doesn't this equate to an EGO drain? The specific effect could adjudicated by the GM, i.e., run around yelling "I've got ants in my pants!" rather than just stand there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fearghus Posted September 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] I like the Mind Control actually. Or alternately' date=' Change Environment, with Mobile to keep up with the victim - effects are penalties to CV, and a penalty to EGO rolls, which includes forcing the victim to make one to act.[/quote'] I rather like the mind control as well. Once I get some time to actually sit down with the book I will try several different builds. but I really like the mind control as of right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] 1. AOE 1 Hex Accurate 2. Continuous & Uncontrolled 3. This is the tricky one... Shouldn't resistant defenses stop stinging insects cold?? I might build it as Mind Control (single command, swat insects) with Based on CON with a Limitation (only vs. targets with no resistant defenses*). I also might include NND (resistant defenses, common defense) to bypass regular PD as well. *besides Combat Luck or sectional/activate-roll defenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Waters Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] .................. Shouldn't resistant defenses stop stinging insects cold?? ................... Interesting point, but I'd say not: you can still be tickled by a feather that has no prospect of causing damage through defences. It might be sfx dependent though: if you have an impermeable force field or mineral skin then you are probably not going to feel it: The Invisible Woman or The Thing, or The Torch (for different reasons) would not be worried by the ants: Mr Fantastic might. That would certainly be worth a limitation on the power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] This reminds me of the old Powerpuff Girls villain Roach Coach, who controlled cockroaches to do his bidding. The roaches couldn't do much damage, but they really freaked people out because having that many roaches in one place was utterly disgusting. Ants would not have quite that much of an effect, though one of the main effects of having insects of any kind swarm all over your body is that you will freak out, even if you aren't vulnerable to them. Presence attack, anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torchwolf Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] I'd say maybe the villain himself causes an EGO Drain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Re: Ants in your pants [FRED] I'd say maybe the villain himself causes an EGO Drain. The problem with an Adjustment Power approach is the extra time it invariably takes vs. the Mind Control or Presence Attack ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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