Transforming Into Monsters?

[screamingtongue]

Hello all,

 

I'm pretty new to the system, so please bear with me. I'm currently designing NPCs for a fantasy-horror setting. PCs will be Standard Heroic. What I'm looking to build is a transform power that some of my villains have, that will turn their prisoners into demonic creatures called "Twisted," which are something like undead, only made from living beings rather than dead bodies.

 

I haven't yet built the twisted NPCs, but I have built the powers that create them. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing anything with this build. Note that this power is largely for roleplaying purposes, and not meant to be used in combat and generally not meant to be used against the heroes, either. The basic idea is that once the power is activated on somebody, they will begin transforming into the desired form of Twisted (be it archer, swordsman, cavalry).

 

Do you think the transforms I've defined below, bought as three jointly linked powers, effectively capture this? My main concern is that I'm missing something with regards to the part of the rules concerning Transform that describes adding abilities/capabilities.

 

+Twisted Mind: Severe Transform 2d6 (15), Costs no END (+1/2), Damage over time (12 times at 1 hour increments; +1/2), Improved Results Group (Any Twisted; +1/4), Jointly linked (-1/2), Limited Target (Living Things Only; -1/4), Extra Time (1 Hour; -3), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4) (13 CP)

 

 

+Twisted Body: Severe Transform 2d6 (30), Costs no END (+1/2), Damage over time (12 times at 1 hour increments; +1/2), Improved Results Group (Any Twisted; +1/4), Jointly linked (-0), Limited Target (Living Things Only; -1/4), Extra Time (1 Hour; -3), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4) (14 CP)

 

 

+Twisted Spirit: Severe Transform 2d6 (30), Costs no END (+1/2), Damage over time (12 times at 1 hour increments; +1/2), Improved Results Group (Any Twisted; +1/4), Jointly linked (-0), Limited Target (Living Things Only; -1/4), Extra Time (1 Hour; -3), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4) (14 CP)

 

 

The special effect of this power is that it's a ceremony where once it's been performed, demonic forces will slowly begin to transform the victim and, if their BODY characteristic isn't extraordinary, they will have transformed into a Twisted soldier by the time twelve hours have passed.

 

 

Please let me know if there are any errors, anything I've put in there unnecessarily, or anything I've left out that I should have included. Thanks.

 

Edit: I should mention that I've built this power with the rules found in the 6th Edition Character Creation Manual.

[Naanomi]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

While I understand the mental/physical/spiritual transformation bit... Severe Transformation is a powerful game tool and probably one such power will be sufficient to create your monster-soldiers.

 

Also, that power will turn people into monsters well before 12 hours... the average schmuck is floating around 10 body, has no power defense, and is taking on average 7 'Body damage' from that transform. He will be mostly monstrous in one hour, and almost assuredly fully twisted in two.

 

And, just as an stylistic aside, ritual magic like this often involves a Focus I'd think (a 'bulky OAF' alter, or at least some 'arrangement OIF' candles and the like)

 

How about...

Twisted Transformation: Severe Transform 1d6, Improved Results Group (+1/2), Penetrating (+1/2), Partial Transform (+1/2) (37 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Hour, -3), OAF Arrangement (-1 1/4), No Range (-1/2), Limited Target Humans Only (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Damage Over Time, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (16 damage increments, damage occurs every 20 Minutes, -1/4)

 

But, then again, this might be some Summoning power with a 'restrained body' as a focus... or a summon linked to a transform or something. Depends on GM and if it is an NPC power or a PC power.

[screamingtongue]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

You're right about the amount of time involved. It was originally designed as a 1d6 rather than 2d6, and I didn't adjust the time increments after changing it. Also, it's meant to be an NPC power in a world I'm designing, so I guess that makes me the GM in this instance.

 

Overall I like your definition of the power. I'm just wondering if it can be used to account for the fact that the Twisted have a different appearance, are willing slaves to demonic priests, and that their souls essentially become demonic in nature, because my understanding of the rule was that one transform can only affect either mind, body, or soul.

 

Thanks for the help, though. It's really helpful.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

If you start adding abilities and complications you need to add those Points onto the body needed to Transform, 2D at 12 hrs should be good.

[Lucius]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

Technically, yes, to Transform all three aspects requires three Transforms. On the other hand, if some parts of it - like the Spiritual Transform - don't seem to have much game effect, many people would say you can just ignore it. It may depend on how you define the categories "Body, Mind, Spirit" for your own game.

 

Mental Transform often targets EGO, but I don't think that's required.

 

There's something I think Naanomi may have overlooked. If the Transform grants extensive abilities, the point value of those new abilities changes the target BODy score you have to reach; it may take a little longer than 2 hrs for the Transformation to take full effect. I don't know if it will actually take 12 hrs at 2d6 per hour, though.

 

Also, a Transform is supposed to have a way to change back. Do you intend for this process to be reversible?

 

Another option is to use Summon. With Summon, and a requirement of one victim per Summoned monster, it can be assumed that the victims are effectively "dead" (you may even want to build a lethal attack linked to the Summon that kills them slowly by turning them into a monster) and aren't coming back. The problem with Summon is that it is written to be temporary - a Summoned creature is assumed to eventually "go away."

 

Of course, it's your game and the rules are what you say they are - if you want a Transform that's truly permanent or a Summon that never ends, you can do that.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas

[screamingtongue]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

I do have a way of reversing it, where the victim, if completely transformed, must be forced into an exorcism or similar religious/holy/divine ritual, which, once complete, will return their mind, body, and soul to normal. Also, while I haven't built them yet, I have decided that Twisted are going to be standard normals at their worst, and skilled normals at their best. So, like undead, they don't have extensive abilities, and are known to win battles by sheer numbers and inducing fear. I don't know if the stats of a skilled normal count as granting extensive abilities or not. As for the mind, body, spirit thing, I think I might keep it as a series of jointly linked powers.

 

Also, I have another question. This is a little off-topic, but not unrelated to NPC design. Do NPCs typically recieve complications? That's something I've been finding it difficult to figure out. Some of them, like "Hunted" or "Social Complication" don't seem really applicable to NPCs, but others like "Enraged" or "Vulnerable" seem to make sense, so I'm not sure.

[Ice9]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

Let's see - 12 x 2d6 - that's an average of 84 points.

For Bob the Peasant, we're talking 8 in all attributes, so the required amount is 16 points. That gives you 68 extra points for adding abilities - in each category.

For physical abilities, you probably do want plenty of points to work with, and potentially you might want supernatural abilities from the spiritual transform, but unless the twisted servants are geniuses or have psychic powers, you probably don't need the mental transform to be as high.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

Also, I have another question. This is a little off-topic, but not unrelated to NPC design. Do NPCs typically recieve complications? That's something I've been finding it difficult to figure out. Some of them, like "Hunted" or "Social Complication" don't seem really applicable to NPCs, but others like "Enraged" or "Vulnerable" seem to make sense, so I'm not sure.

 

Typically, yes.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

Also' date=' I have another question. This is a little off-topic, but not unrelated to NPC design. Do NPCs typically recieve complications? That's something I've been finding it difficult to figure out. Some of them, like "Hunted" or "Social Complication" don't seem really applicable to NPCs, but others like "Enraged" or "Vulnerable" seem to make sense, so I'm not sure.[/quote']

 

As CrosshairCollie said - typically yes. But you can always make up points with XP Fiat. So, it's less trying to fill up the required Complications Matching Point more than using them to build both the NPC as a person, and using complications that will be seen in play vs the PCs.

[screamingtongue]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm going to rework my transform ability to make it more accurately reflect what the people are getting turned into. Do combat skill levels and martial arts count as body or mind transforms? And how many points would say the transform needs to accumulate in order to transform a character into a Competent Normal?

 

Also, to those of you responding to my question about complications, thanks. I'm just confused about what complications to give my NPCs. For example, what complications might you give to dark priests?

 

Again, thanks for all the advice. It has all been quite helpful.

[TheSouljourner]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

My question would be - if this is for RP purposes and not meant to be used in combat or on the PCs... Why do you need to define rules for it at all? Just say he can do it, define the twisted NPCs with points as usual and go to town. Unless you're specifically looking to define the power so that the PCs can stop it and/or reverse it, then it doesn't really need rules.

[screamingtongue]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

The main reason I'm designing the power is for precisely that reason, actually, in case I want to do a storyline involving the actual use of the power and the onset of the transformation, I want to have the exact rules for it laid out. Also, I'm trying to get practice creating a wide variety of powers.

[dmjalund]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

would there be an Advantage or Limitation to have a Mental Tranformation target BODY (and DCV)?

[Lucius]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

I don't know if the stats of a skilled normal count as granting extensive abilities or not. As for the mind, body, spirit thing, I think I might keep it as a series of jointly linked powers.

 

Been re-reading the rules.

 

The rules say that every five points of abilities added that aren't “compensated” with Complications, add one to the BOD total for purposes of Transform. So if you want to make a zero point Human with BOD 8 a “skilled normal” with no extra Complications, that's adding 50 pts so treat the target as having BOD 18. The Transform now needs to roll36 to take full effect.

 

The rules don't state, but seem to very strongly imply, that a Severe Transform can freely “move points around” so if the person was already a “skilled normal” with the same BOD, you only need to overcome that 8 BOD to change the 50 pts they have into the 50 pts of Twisted Powers you want them to have. Yes, that means it's easier to make the noble and powerful paladin into a wicked and terrifying dragon than it is to make the page boy into a wicked and terrifying dragon. I'm still trying to decide if that's a bug or a feature. Or if I'm just misunderstanding the rules.

 

I also noticed that the rules say a Mental Transform MUST target EGO – previous editions left it as an option. If people tend to have about the same EGO as BOD in your game, that doesn't have to change the cost of anything. Spiritual Transforms are suggested to go against either BOD (why?) or PRE. Personally, I'd probably target them vs EGO too.

 

Also, I have another question. This is a little off-topic, but not unrelated to NPC design. Do NPCs typically recieve complications? That's something I've been finding it difficult to figure out. Some of them, like "Hunted" or "Social Complication" don't seem really applicable to NPCs, but others like "Enraged" or "Vulnerable" seem to make sense, so I'm not sure.

 

I can't think of a single Complication that would not be applicable to NPCs.

 

You're probably thinking that something like “Hunted” won't come up for monsters who only appear in the game for brief scenes usually centered around combat. If the Twisted are “Hunted by the Baker's Guild” because their bones, ground up and added to the flour, make the twistiest, tastiest pretzels, how will that matter if none of the Player Characters are bakers? Well, maybe you're right, but...

 

what if the NPC is Sir Percival, a companion you've added to the party because you think they could use one more warrior? Or little Matilda, the girl the Goblins had captive and were planning to roast and eat, but now is counting on the PCs to get her home to her parents? The fact that Sir Percival is a member of the Knights of the Malted, a disgraced order that gets no respect because everyone thinks they're jerks (even if Sir Percival, personally, isn't a jerk) or that Matilda still has Hunted by Goblins (they happen to think she smells appetizing) could play a big part in how events unfold.

 

Thanks for the advice' date=' guys. I'm going to rework my transform ability to make it more accurately reflect what the people are getting turned into. Do combat skill levels and martial arts count as body or mind transforms? [/quote']

 

I think the rules are kind of muddy on this sort of thing. Probably deliberately, because what makes sense in one game or for one person may not make sense for another. I could see it justified as either Physical or Mental – probably Mental.

 

By the way, there is something in the rules you should be warned about, because it may cause you some distress when you find it. There is a rule stating that Transform cannot grant Skills unless the character possessing the Transform Power has that Skill. This is a stupid rule that has no reason to be there. My advice is to ignore it until it goes away (hopefully next edition.)

 

Also, to those of you responding to my question about complications, thanks. I'm just confused about what complications to give my NPCs. For example, what complications might you give to dark priests?

 

That depends. For example, if they are dark but most people are fair, that could be Distinctive Features. If their dark coloration leads to some kind of active discrimination, as has been the case in too many real world cultures, that could be a Social Complication or even Hunted if there are people who go around actively pursuing those who aren't pale enough to suit them.

 

And seriously, you have trouble thinking of Complications for priests?

 

Psychological Complications, ranging from commitment to the doctrines of the religion to actual vows.

 

Distinctive Features, if they wear garb marking them as priests or have to wear a tonsure or the like.

 

Hunted by enemies of the religion, or Hunted: Watched by any of: Their Gods, their religious hierarchy, enemies of the religion, the laity (because if a lay person sees a priest doing something considered inappropriate, it may result in anything from gossip and loss of respect to being reported to the Inquisition if there is one)

 

Social Complications, such as subject to orders if the religion is very hierarchical, or having to deal with whatever people expect from priests (see Hunted.)

 

Rivalry, if there is more than one religion or multiple sects competing for followers or prestige. “Oh yeah? Watch my staff turn into a serpent and EAT all those serpents that used to be your staves!”

 

Susceptibilities or Vulnerabilities, such as to being splashed with the wrong brand of holy water, or exposed to the holy symbols of a God or religion wholly opposed to the priest's own.

 

would there be an Advantage or Limitation to have a Mental Tranformation target BODY (and DCV)?

 

As I read it, a Mental Transform is assumed to target DCV anyway. And Transform is assumed to go against BODy by default; having it compare to EGO is either an Advantage or Limitation depending on which is more common in a particular campaign. That is, if more people have EGO higher than BOD, it's a Limitation.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Spiritual Transform, to the Spirit of a Palindromedary

[screamingtongue]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

Okay, so I'm in the process of reworking this power. I've decided to reduce it to a 1d6 Transform, with hourly increments, just a lot more of them, so that the effect will essentially be that it's guaranteed to work on everybody, but those with higher BODY or EGO characteristics will take longer to change, as will those who are "benefiting" from the power by being turned from a normal individual to a more skilled normal.

 

I do have a question regarding the Damage Over Time table. It ends at 64, and just says "...and so on," but I can't actually discern a pattern there that can be extrapolated from. Does anyone know what the cost would be, of say, 500 Damage Increments? What I'm considering doing is making it a +3 overall advantage with an impossibly high number of hourly increments, meaning it will accumulate until it's successful in transforming the target, and then stop. I got +3 by making 500 worth +4 on top of the base cost of +1, and then subtracting the -2 "Hourly" modifier. Does this seem reasonable, or do you think that it should be worth more advantage than that?

 

In addition, an exorcism or any other religious reclamation ritual would be characterized as both undoing the transform and ending the damage over time, essentially saving the character from the spell altogether, unless they were recaptured and the spell was cast on them all over again.

 

Also, Lucius, thanks for all the tips. I think I've got a better grasp of what to do to limit my NPCs with complications now. Also, I'm going to choose to ignore that rule about not granting skills, at least for the sake of this one transform.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

Is the power ever conceivably going to be used against PCs?

 

One other question: what happens if you manage to interrupt the power/ritual/operation before the Transform is complete? It is more than conceivable that PCs might be able to rescue people who are in the process of being transformed into Twisted and then you will have to figure out what happens to them.

[screamingtongue]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

In answer to your first question, It is possible that the power could be used on the PCs, yes. It was primarily developed as a description of something that happens to NPCs, but there's no reason why it couldn't happen to PCs.

 

Scenarios like that are the reason I'm developing the power in detail. I believe, according to the rules, and according to the effect I want to generate, the victims of this power will be rescued even if the ceremony isn't interrupted until 59 minutes after it begins. Unless a full hour of incantations and gestures have occurred, the power is not active. However, if the ceremony is finished and then a rescue occurs, the process will have already begun. The first dice roll, I believe, would be one hour after the ceremony is completed. Every hour after that, another roll would occur until the victim fully transforms.

 

Until the transformation is complete, the victim will experience the effects of the transform, without being affected with regard to game mechanics. They will still be in control of their mind and body, so if they can be taken to a church and undergo an exorcism (or any analogous ritual) before the transform completes itself, then the effects are fully reversible, and they will most likely want to go along with the rescue attempts. Even if the transform is completed, the effects can be reversed, but the victim, who has now become a Twisted Soldier, will no longer be willing and will likely fight to get away from his or her "rescuers."

[screamingtongue]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

Okay, I think I've worked it out. Tell me if this seems reasonable.

 

Twisted Body: 1d6 Severe Transform (Body; 15), Improved Results Group (Any Twisted Soldier; +1/4), Costs no END (+1/2), Damage Over Time (500 Increments, Hourly; +3), Jointly Linked (-1/2), Limited Target (Sentient Beings Only; -1/4), Extra Time (1 Hour; -3), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4) (14 CP)

 

 

Twisted Mind: 1d6 Severe Transform (Body; 15), Improved Results Group (Any Twisted Soldier; +1/4), Costs no END (+1/2), Damage Over Time (500 Increments, Hourly; +3), Jointly Linked (-0), Limited Target (Sentient Beings Only; -1/4), Extra Time (1 Hour; -3), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4) (15 CP)

 

 

Twisted Soul: 1d6 Severe Transform (Body; 15), Improved Results Group (Any Twisted Soldier; +1/4), Costs no END (+1/2), Damage Over Time (500 Increments, Hourly; +3), Jointly Linked (-0), Limited Target (Sentient Beings Only; -1/4), Extra Time (1 Hour; -3), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4) (15 CP)

 

I know that 500 increments is a lot, but as I explained above, the power is now constructed to guarantee that any character would succumb to it eventually, even if every roll was 1d6. In fact, I picked 500 out of the air, when what I was really going for was "infinite." The only thing I'm not sure of is the actual cost for the Damage Over Time advantage at numbers that high. That was all guesswork.

[Naanomi]

Re: Transforming Into Monsters?

 

add Partial Transformation for a slow decent into monstrosity with actual game effects of a slow transformation...