Life Support and NNDs

[Christopher]

I our latest discussion about Draining Life Support (and in earlier dicussions that touched that subject) I got the feeling many regard things certain parts of Life Support as "useless"/not really worth it's price. Especially Longelivity is among them.

 

I think the main purpose of Life Support is to be the Defense that blocks a NND and perhaps one reason Longelivity is regarded "useless" is that few people can imagine a NND that is blocked by it.

 

So this is my question:

What powers have you made that were blocked by a Life Support?

Have you ever added Additional Life Support powers and what did they acomplish?

 

While the classicals (any of the safe environments) are okay, I especally would like to hear about unusual things like "Diminished Eating", "Diminishend Sleep" or "Longelivity".

[Gent]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

An alternate multipower presented for the Morbane writeup in DEMON:Servants of Darkness featured a blast with NND against Diminished Sleep. The special effect was making a day pass for the target in one second. Drains to characteristics could have the special effect of an aging ray/spell/whatever, and be NND against Longivety.

 

Most of the NNDs vs. unconventional life supports that I can think of have time manipulation as the special effect.

[sinanju]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Not me, but--a gaming buddy of mine was in a game once where the GM attacked the player characters with a NND gas attack (poison + DMSO), and they all succumbed. Except his--because, as he pointed out to the GM, he'd bought "Immunity to skin-absorbed gases" as part of his life support package. To which she replied, "I was not expecting that...okay, you're unaffected. What do you do?"

[Mister E]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Any Change Environment can have complimentary Life Supports & NND attacks to go with it.

 

For instance, if "Make Kitchen" was a CE that changed environmental cooking penalties into bonuses...

 

... then "Living Kitchen" can be the LS:Safe Environment that protects against both environmentally based cooking penalties, & NND attacks based on targets that are not living kitchens.

 

 

~ Mister E ("Foiled, again.")

[Christopher]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

What are environmental cooking penalties and in what game you actually build a power to counter them?

[Lucius]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Here's a recent one

 

Blessing the Fields: Life Support (Immunity: All pests, weeds, blights; Safe from drought; Safe from frost), Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +1/4), Persistent (+1/4), Uncontrolled (stops working if abandoned, cursed, desecrated) (+1/2), MegaScale (1m = 1 km; +1), Cannot alter scale (-1/4), Usable As Attack (+3/4), Grantor can only grant the power to others (31 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Hour, Only to Activate, -1 1/2), Increased Endurance Cost (x3 END; Only to activate Very Common; -3/4), Limited Power Only to protect fields being actively cultivated, or that were cultivated within past year (-1/2), Limited Power Must circumambulate the area to be blessed - at least one complete circuit (-1/2), Restrainable (Only by means other than Grabs and Entangles; Blessing will not work if somene is actively cursing the field or the priest at the same time. ; -1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Perceivable (-1/4), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4), Requires A Roll (Priest Skill roll, -1 per 20 Active Points modifier; -1/4)

 

 

Here's another....hm, maybe I tend to do Life Support with Usable on Others a lot...

 

Treat shock, field asepsis, etc: Life Support (Immunity: Assorted forms of harm: shock, infection, aggravation of injuries while being moved, etc), Usable As Attack (+1 1/4) (11 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), -1 1/4), Requires A Roll (Paramedics Skill roll, -1 per 5 Active Points modifier; -1), Limited Power "Real Medic." May need to travel very slowly and carefully or risk harm to the patient, may need extra time to clean wounds, may not be able to counter poison or an infection without proper supplies, etc (-1/4)

 

I'll see what else I have lying around the Tower

 

edit: here's a scroll from a libertine's library.

 

Scroll of Secret Protection: Life Support (Immunity: Venereal Diseases and Conception), Difficult to Detect (-3 to perception or skill rolls for powers that detect magic; +1/4), Difficult To Dispel (x4 Active Points; +1/2) (5 Active Points); 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Day which Never Recovers (-1 3/4), OAF (Scroll; -1)

 

Works out to 1 point, but it's a point lost permanently in exchange for 24 hrs of protection.

 

edit again: part of a troll mother package

 

Otherworldly Constitution: Life Support (Immunity: All drugs and poisons; Longevity: Immortal; Safe in High Pressure; Safe in Intense Cold; Safe in Intense Heat; Safe in Magic; Self-Contained Breathing)

 

This totalled 27 pts, but the Immunity to magical environmental effects cost 2 pts

 

 

 

Lucius Alexader

 

The palindromedary buys Life Support: Diplomatic Immunity

[Mister E]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

What are environmental cooking penalties and in what game you actually build a power to counter them?

 

PS:Cook gets penalized when performed in an inappropriate setting... like a dungeon.

 

An Extraordinary (-10) Skill roll penalty for attempting to instantly conjure tasty cookies (LS: Diminished Eating) would thus suffer further penalties if the super-chef wasn't a living kitchen.

 

Furthermore, living kitchens are not normally prone to "attacks" caused by cooking (i.e., NND "living kitchen" attacks).

[Marcus Impudite]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

(5th Revised)

 

Longevity useless? Really?

 

A villian I currently have on the drawing board would beg to differ. He's a time/entropy manipulator with (among other things) the power to kill someone by rapidly aging them to death:

 

RKA 3d6, NND (defense is Life Support [Longevity: Immortality]; +1), BODY (+1), (135 Active Points); No Range (-½). Cost: 90 Points.

 

Even just for something like this, that 5 points of Longevity would to be a wise investment.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Here's a fun one from a bad-luck character, Snafu, great to use against powered-armor types:

 

Glitch in the System: Blast 2d6, NND (Defense is NOT having Focus-based LS: Self-Contained Breathing), Continuous, Uncontrolled. (Something in the mechanical life support system shorts out, causing a minor melt-down that temporarily releases toxic fumes.)

 

A famine-based character might have an NND or AVAD (possibly with Does BODY) defended against by LS: Diminished Eating.

 

A sleep spell could easily be an NND or AVAD defended against by LS: Diminished Sleep. Let's see...

Subtle Sleep: Drain 1d6, Expanded Effect (STUN and END at same time; +1/2), AVAD (Defense is LS: Diminished Sleep; +1 1/2), Invisible Power Effects (Obvious is Imperceptible to all senses, Effects are invisible to target but not others; +1 1/2), Constant (+1/2), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (Half END; +1/4). Active cost: 67, costs 3 END/phase

[Christopher]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Cool Stuff so far. Please keep it comming.

[Lucius]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Something from a couple years ago.

 

This was for a character who was basically a living nebula - a highly charged cloud of interstellar particles larger than many gas giant planets but considerably less dense. It is also in 5th edition. I may decide to update the character.

 

 

 

 

Ingredient: Home Brewed Immunities

 

27 8) At Home in the Universe: Life Support (Eating: Character does not eat; Immunity All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents; Immunity All non-terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Immunity All non-terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents; Immunity All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Immunity: Anything else I didn't think of; Longevity: Immortal; Safe Environment: Zero Gravity; Safe in High Pressure; Safe in High Radiation; Safe in Intense Cold; Safe in Intense Heat; Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing; Sleeping: Character does not sleep) (81 Active Points); Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4), Only In Nebulous Identity (-1/4) 8

 

Note the bolded parts. I paid a lot in Active Points to be basically immune to everything.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Immunity: Palindromedaries

[Dreamstreamer]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Immunity: Anything else I didn't think of;

 

What about those things that you have thought of, but didn't write down?

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Life Support is one of those powers for which utility depends heavily on the setting and the opponents. If your campaign is one that pits the heroes against the evil Time Raiders who have lots of aging/entropy powers that are nullified by immortality, then Longevity is going to be more useful than Immunity to Botanical Poisons or the ability to breathe water.

 

Personally I see LS: Longevity as more of a defining trait, like background skills. Not necessarily useful, but important for concept. A good GM will try to bring them into play, but you paid 5 or fewer points for it so don't sweat it if it doesn't happen. That said, I could easily see the argument that Longevity should max out at 3 points for immortality, but that could be house ruled if it bothers you.

[Christopher]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Personally I see LS: Longevity as more of a defining trait' date=' like background skills. Not necessarily useful, but important for concept. A good GM will try to bring them into play, but you paid 5 or fewer points for it so don't sweat it if it doesn't happen.[/quote']

The good GM will either make it a Background thing (free), or find ways to bring it into play.

[Ice9]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

I think there are some LS types that come up outside of defenses - LS: No Sleep means you'll never get ambushed while sleeping, for instance.

[Naanomi]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

A PC in my group is a Mystic/Mentalist 'Dream Wizard' with a big host of Mental Powers that are all NND: Reduced Sleep and is *very* effective... enemy mentalists hate when you mess with their minds through some back-road and bypass their defenses!

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Life Support and NNDs

 

Immunity: Anything else I didn't think of;

 

What about those things that you have thought of' date=' but didn't write down? [/quote']

 

By definition, once it comes up in play. don't you have to think about it in order to conclude that it''s part of this immunity, in which case it isn't? I suppose you could be immune the first time if the GM notes "He attacks you, but since you didn't think about immunity to Pokemon Mystique, you're immune. Now you're thinking about it, so you'll take damage next time!"