Tesunden Isles

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Very nice. I can see some stuff that can be useful at some point.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Very nice. I can see some stuff that can be useful at some point.

 

I think you and I both understand what's in the sea mist, yes?

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Don't worry. I don't think character points are going to be a problem.

 

It's not squeezing out the extra points that I was worried about, really. I just had wanted the UV and Ultrasound to be more intrinsic to his nature, not just something he can flip on and off like a switch. And when he does flip the switch it's like night vision goggles + thermal imaging.

 

*shrug*, maybe there's a way to accomplish that later.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Those senses are bought with the Sight Sense group. I'd say that they are Inherent as is. If your eyes are damaged (Transformation) those senses are automatically affected too. If your Sight Group if flashed, so too are they. Forgive my misinterpretation. By the text of the initial message I took it that you wanted to boost some Skills.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Those senses are bought with the Sight Sense group. I'd say that they are Inherent as is. If your eyes are damaged (Transformation) those senses are automatically affected too. If your Sight Group if flashed' date=' so too are they. Forgive my misinterpretation. By the text of the initial message I took it that you wanted to boost some Skills.[/quote']

 

No, the skills were merely an afterthought.

 

So, if I am understanding correctly, because the UV and Ultrasonic are bought with the Sight and Hearing sense groups respectively, they are inherent and already cannot be turned off? In addition, if either is hit by a flash or a Transform they stop working.

 

My next question is how do I indicate that Nightvision and the IR vision are not something that is intrinsic to his "natural" sight, but still function via his eyeballs, and thus do not work when they are flashed/transformed/fried, what have you? I had thought that distinction was that the UV and Ultra were "Always On," and the Nightvision and IR were not.

 

Maybe Link Nightvision and IR to the UV? So that if the UV is not functioning (aforementioned flash/transform, etc.) then neither are those two? But by definition, IR and Nightvision are part of the Sight Sense group, which indicates that they are inherent as well. Which brings us back to Square One.

 

Is there an easier way I'm not seeing (pun!)?

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

I think that you should read up on the "Simulated Sense Group" stuff. Basically, because those senses are "attached" to their respective Sense Groups (Sight and Hearing) they are affected as if they were natural. The big difference between Detect (which is the standard method for purchasing these senses) and Sense is that Detect requires a 1/2 Phase action to "activate" in order to make a PER roll. A sense is treated completely natural and a PER roll is made with contact (just like Normal sight getting a chance to spot something or a Smell PER check to see if you smell the faint tint of almond on your food). You don't have to take that 1/2 Phase, it just happens.

 

So to answer your question, all of your character's Enhanced Senses are currently Detect. They require a 1/2 Phase to activate. If you want some of them to behave like a natural sense, spend the +2 points per Enhanced Sense to upgrade it from Detect to Sense.

 

Does that make an sense? (pun right back at ya!)

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Ok, I think I've gotten about as close as possible to it. It seems that if UV and Ultrasonic are bought as part of a sense group, then they automatically have Sense figured in, so I designated IR as "no sense group" but linked it to UV, so that if Haakon gets hit with a flash or transform, it will not function. It seems impossible to divorce Sense from Nightvision on HD, so I think I'm just going to scrap it altogether, it's too troublesome. In its place, I will get Enhanced Perception (+2), which actually will put me at a point down from the maximum.

 

So, we have...

 

Infrared Perception (no Sense Group)(5 Active Points); Linked (Ultraviolet Perception; -1/2) Cost: 3

Ultrasonic Perception (Hearing Group) Cost: 3

Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group) Cost: 5

+2 PER with All Sense Groups, Cost: 6

 

299/300 points.

 

(Unless, of course, there is some way I can buy Nightvision without Sense, in which case I'll do that and link it to UV as well.)

 

Is that ok?

[ghost-angel]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Nightvision is the odd ball in the modifiers as it is: +4 Sight Perception; Only To Counter Modifiers For Night.

 

Infrared, Ultrasonic, and Ultraviolet are inherently (in the full rules) not part of Any Sense.

 

Once you place them in a Sense Group (IR Sight, UV Sight, Ultrasonic Hearing) they gain all the advantages and disadvantages of that Group. (theoretically it is legal with in the rules to have Infrared Hearing or Infrared Touch)

 

IR and UV Sight gain (mostly) Discriminatory; Range; Sense; Targeting just like Normal Sight has.

Senses built in the Simulated Sense Rules cannot be Adjusted (Drained, Aided, ect...) normally - there are Powers that are used to affect them (Darkness, Flash, Transform).

 

Buying Always On or Inherent to a Perception placed in the Sight Group do nothing. Linking on sight to another is questionable given that they (if we want to bring in the science) operate on opposing sides of the Visual Spectrum to begin with. I'm not sure why you would feel that you need to turn on the IR spectrum to see in to the UV Spectrum or vice-verse. At best you might be able to say they are all a Unified Power, but I'll leave that up to Nol to decide (perhaps Unified with some other Powers associated with the abilities to enhanced sight). They are all, in a way, already "linked" to Normal Vision anyways - if you can't use your eyes you can't see with any of those Perceptions.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

To make it clear to everyone, I'm not trying to pull tricks with the rules to net me extra points (not that I'm implying anyone thinks that, I'm just throwing it out there). Frankly, I don't have enough experience with the rules to attempt any shenaniganery. My sole concern is to represent my concept within the mechanics of the rules.

 

Here's my concept, as simple as I can get it: UV and Ultrasonic are naturally a part of Haakon's being. He sees and hears in those spectrums as naturally as he has blond hair. He doesn't need to actively switch it on or off, nor can he suppress it any more than he can suddenly change his hair color or grow a third arm. The Infrared and Nightvision, however, are special. They are not intrinsic to his natural form, but rather a special power that he must activate. He still uses his eyes to see in this fashion, however, so if he gets hit with a Flash/Transform/Magical Darkness, then it does not function. Ideally, the Infrared and Nightvision are part of the same "spell;" it is a two-part power.

 

Here are my problems.

 

1) In order to avoid buying Infrared as a Sense, I must designate it as "no Sense Group." How, then, can I have it be disrupted by things that affect my eyes? My thought was to link it to UV to represent the fact that if something affects my natural vision, it disrupts the Infrared as well. But that seems to not be valid.

 

2) In HD, Nightvision is automatically counted as a Sense. There is no way to remove Sense from the power. How can I have Nightvision be a spell and not intrinsic, a la Oblivion's Night Eye? (Something that will work in the complete darkness of a cave) If nightvision is just a bonus for seeing during the night, isn't that a bit superfluous with UV?

 

Can anyone write this up the correct way based upon the information I gave?

[ghost-angel]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Here's my take: you're mistaking exactly what Sense means: it just means that you can use the ability without taking a Half Phase Action; as long as it's "active" it will trip when you're looking at (in the case of Sight Senses) something. In the case of - for example -a Nightvision Spell, when you cast the Spell and look around at night it just works, you don't have to pause and keep looking every half phase.

 

Likewise if you have IR that does not have Sense you can't have it working and have it tell you things, you have to use a Half Phase to get information. That's all. It implies nothing about inherentness or intrinsicness to a Character.

 

What you really have are two different Special Effects (there's no real Mechanical difference to "it's part of my nature as a person" and "it's part of my abilities as an Einherjer." Those are simply Special Effects.

 

If you have a whole suite of Einherjer Powers (or whatever you're calling them) then you could place Unified Power on them and anything that Adjusts even one of those Powers will Adjust them all (up to and including Transform if the GM feels that's appropriate, which it usually is).

 

Based on the information you've provided here's the correct write-ups:

 

Natural Powers:

Ultrasonic Hearing

Ultraviolet Sight

 

Granted Powers By The Gods

Infrared Sight

Nightvision

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

For both of the items under Problems, apply Extra-Time (Delayed Phase, Only to Activate, -¼). While that doesn't explicitly say that it transforms the Sense into a Detect, the amount of time to Activate it (½ Phase) will make it a Detect in my mind.

 

So this is what you get.

Nightvision (5 Active Points); Extra Time (Delayed Phase, Only to Activate, -¼) Real Cost 4

IR Perception (Sight Group) (5 Active Poiints; Extra Time (Delayed Phase, Only to Activate, -¼) Real Cost 4

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

OK, I think I'm getting a better grasp on the situation. Thanks guys.

 

I've got 2 points left. Nol, should I spend them or just keep them in reserve? Either way is fine with me.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Go ahead and spend them if you like.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

I bought up REC to 6, if that's cool with you.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Makes sense to me. I adjusted my copy of the HDC file. Remember to update your toke when you get into Maptool.

 

EDIT: Fixed spelling error.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

For those interested, here is the updated version of Haakon, complete with flavor text and image.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

So are we talking Conan-esque broadsword or something more contemporary?

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

So are we talking Conan-esque broadsword or something more contemporary?

 

Take your pick. I'm flexible with sword style.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

I like the one with the metal Father Sword (from Conan the Barbarian) pommel. The original was some sort of hoof, but that metal one looks nice too. Now I want to load up Oblivion so I can play around with the Father Sword.

 

From Oblivion.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]36998[/ATTACH]

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Ah, Oblivion. Fantastic game. I played through a significant portion on my friend's Xbox at college, but I didn't come even close to finishing even the stuff outside the main questline! I am sorely tempted to buy it, seeing as it looks like Elder Scrolls 5 won't come out for quite a long time.

 

"I've fought mud crabs more fearsome than you!"

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

The PC version is so moddable that it hardly resembles the out of the box game. I love it. Problem is, I cannot install it yet. I have a campaign to build. If I installed it, you would get a bunch of apologies each session that I ran out of time and had to wing it. Of course, great for screen shots to use for tokens. Yeah. That's it. Tokens.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Don't know why but my blog post was eaten up by the forum software. I'll try again later.

[Starwolf]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Always precocious, and lacking in the strength and mindset to follow the warrior dreams of so many young men, Arial seemed destined for more cerebrial paths. As a young man Arial pre-occupied himself with books, and learning, marveling at the legends of mighty wizards, and arcane mysteries. When young Arial was but 12 years old, his town was visited by a mage named Baradoc. Baradoc's air of mystery enchanted the boy, and when Baradoc moved on , he was suprised to find that young Arial had stowed away in his travelling cart. Afraid to leave the young delinquent to his own fate, but anxious to reach his next destination, the mage agreed to watch after the boy until more suitable arrangements could be made.

 

Baradoc was suprised by the boys quick wit and intelligence, and quickly grew fond of Arial. By the time they reached the next village, Baradoc had agreed to teach the boy instead of leaving him at the nearest convenient safe place. Studying hard and learning quickly Arial soon grew into a respectable mage in his own right.

 

Arial has long since gone his own way in the world, but the wanderlust and searching for ever new arcane knowledge have grown to almost an obsession.

 

Recently on a visit to the North Lands, Arial happened upon a village being plagued by Troll attacks. After one such attack while helping to try and recover the bodies, Arial happened upon a large black Raven. This particular corvid was acting very peculiar. While the other birds were not shy about trying to sample the carrion, this particular bird seemed content to watch, almost as if waiting for something to happen. While watching the strange bird, Arial failed to notice a lone troll approaching from a nearby stand of boulders where it had been hiding awaiting more human prey. When the troll roared and attacked, Arial was hard pressed to defend himself. He threw bolt after bolt of arcane lightning, but to little effect. Suddenly the strange Raven took flight and circling Arial in his battle, a bird like voice entered Arials mind pronouncing a single word. Startled and in mid-spell Arial uttered the new word instead of the trigger incantaion for his lightning bolt, and a surge of power he had never felt before course through his spell. A strange bolt of blue flame burst from his spell staff, and actually injured the menacing troll. Emboldened Arial pressed the new attack and finally defeated the troll. And so began the relationship between the raven Arial named Rook, and the mage.

 

Arial soon was overcome with a desire to persue new horizons and find new knowledge. Leaving the village he journeyed to the coast and took passage on ship to the next town down the coast. The Albatross was a troubled ship, and was soon swallowed by a dense fog and beclamed, with no visual refence for navigation the ship was lost, and drifted for days. After almost a week, with water and food running low, and crew morale gone, things grew even worse. During the night the ship was attacked by an enormous sea serpent. During the battle a fellow passenger turned out to be an Elven Archer of amazing ability. She defeated the serpent and saved the ship. Still adrift in the fog, Arial was once again amazed by the raven. Rook took to wing and flying above the fog spotted the far coastline. Arial was startled to discover that by contcentraing he could actually see through Rook's eye and hear what he heard. Arial pointed the way to land that Rook had discovered, but the skipper of the Albatross pointed out that with no wind, knowing the way did little to help. Arial, called upon his spells once again and stirred the air to a stiff breeze. For several hours he kept up the arcane winds. Until the ship finally cleared the fog and took her own wind. The exhausted mage slumped and slept the rest of the journey. The Albatross cleared the strange fog bank near the booming city of New Haven, where she put in for re-supply. It is here that the mage debarked the ship, having had enough of sailing for a while. Little did he know that perhaps his destiny awaited in this new place.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

*sharpens blade while awaiting the blog update*

[Nolgroth]

Re: Tesunden Isles

 

Finally got the blog entry retyped. Let me tell you now, do NOT try to use keyboard shortcuts for formatting. Did a CTRL-L to align text to the left and the whole thing went BOOM. Anyway, enjoy.