How to Build: Global (Inherent) Power that affects the campaign world?

[Kealios]

I am building a fantasy world with a whole bunch of campaign details taken from my favorite sources of literature and other games.

 

One thing I want to have is DANGEROUS MAGIC, and as a result, there are two major factions: Those who use this dangerous magic and deal with the consequences, and those who refuse to use this magic and just find other ways of dealing with the bad guys.

 

What do I mean by dangerous? Remember C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy, where nightmares can come alive? Yup. Casting magic (ie using "Powers" as spells or martial arts abilities) has a random chance of summoning monsters that dont like you and are (likely) much meaner and nastier than you are.

 

So, it dawned on me today during church (a great time to get creative thinking and problem solving down on paper...*ducks*) that I could actually BUILD this global power. I can define it, and as such, define the triggers that make it happen, as well as build in ways around it (ie ways that havent been discovered yet by the PCs and NPCs of the world to use magic without summoning bad guys).

 

The POWER:

Summoning - I havent statted up the Nightmares of the world yet, so I dont know the range of points value that this summon is going to need to produce, but it needs to be variable (ie doesnt always summon the same points-value each time).

• Amicable (+1): the Nightmares summoned will always do what the Power wants, ie eat humans nearby, always
  

 

Advantages:

• Area of Effect - Whole Continent. This is a large Japanese-style island, alone on a world as far as the island nation knows. The Power is pervasive and everywhere, always there (+?)
  
• Persistent (+1/2)
  
• Reduced End, 0 END (+1/2)
  
• Megascale (not sure how to tie this into AoE, but it sounds right somehow) (+1, continent)
  
• Ranged - needs to summon the creatures where ever on the island the PCs or NPCs are doing their spell casting, ie omnipresent. (+?)
  
• Trigger: Whenever a Power with more than 30 Active Points and not using a Focus is used (+1/4)
  
• Invisible Power Effects: all Sense groups. No one can perceive that the Power exists around them, but when it goes off, they know if it is in their vicinity (+1)
  

 

Limitations:

• Activation Roll (6-) (-4) - the magic users of the world can get lucky...until their time runs out
  
• Always On (-1/2)
  
• Independent (-2) - not connected to anyone or anything, this is a Global World Effect brought on by the introduction of Magic to the world
  

 

 

Ideally, I'd like a way to make this power be more reliable if the PCs or NPCs use a larger Active Points power - ie, the stronger the magic they use, the more likely it is that a Nightmare will be summoned to them and really want to ruin their day.

 

I also need a way to have the Nightmare summoned be of a random points value. Dont laugh: My "Nightmares" are all based on Pokemon creatures, and I will be statting each individually, so I will have several hundred different monsters available. OK ok, you can laugh...a little. The fun part is, notice the Trigger allows Foci to be used? Some of the magic users in the world have figured out that they can harness these Nightmares and encapsulate them into crystals, and then summon them during combat to fight for them ("Pikachu, I choose yoU!!!!!!!!"). Ok, laugh a lot now if you like. This is me playing a practical joke on my Pokemon-phobic friends.

 

Am I on the right track for this? The actual cost of the Power isnt really important: if it is worth 1 point or 1000 pts, this just is the world that the players are in, and part of the game is to find out more about when the Power works (ie they'll want to start gambling with their lives as the game goes on, trying to learn more about the triggers). Keep in mind I havent played since 4th (my last Champions game was over 15 years ago), and this is all from my perusing 5th Ed book during the evenings.

 

The world is coming together quite nicely. I am still struggling with some of the philosophical ramifications of this World Power, but it'll all come together in due time. I'd love your input on this power, though, if you have some time.

 

Thanks!

 

ps (using Dispel to get rid of these player-summoned Nightmares is a whole other thread...)

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: How to Build: Global (Inherent) Power that affects the campaign world?

 

There's no need to stat up campaign world default settings. This is really just a plot point.

[Sean Waters]

Re: How to Build: Global (Inherent) Power that affects the campaign world?

 

If the PCs are never going outside the area in which nightmares are summoned by magic, you probably don't NEED stats, but it might be useful to have them anyway for judging precise effects in a consistent way. Also it might be useful to know how powerful the effect is in case someone ever gets powerful enough to dispel or suppress it.

 

You might want to consider several different summons effects with different activation rolls. Each time you roll all the activation rolls and total the number of summons points, or one or more of the activation rolls could double the number of creatures.

 

You could also build this by making all magic users take 'side effects' on their spells.

[Christopher]

Re: How to Build: Global (Inherent) Power that affects the campaign world?

 

Just require everybody to take a Side Effect on thier powers. A Side Effect that is a "Summon".

 

Once they find a way to avoid this danger, you can allow them to buy of the limitation.

 

If the way to circumvent it is somehow based on a focus or otherwise "limited" means (you have to spend a phase incantating before every use, etc.), there is a rule to "buy off" Limitations in APG I 142:

Basically you find out what the power would be worth without the Limitation, then use the difference between Limited and Unlimited as base for Power (that you can limit). Mostly that works like a Form of Naked Advantage.

 

For example:

Dragon Punch: +2d6 HKA; 30 AP, 30 Real Cost

 

Novices Dragon Punch: +2d6 HKA, Increased Endurance (for -1/2); 30 AP, 20 Real Cost

 

Dragon Amulet of the Novice:

Remove Increased Endurance (-1/2) from Novices Dragon Punch (10 Base Cost), OIF (-1/2); 10 AP; 7 Real Cost

[Kealios]

Re: How to Build: Global (Inherent) Power that affects the campaign world?

 

Excellent advice, thanks to all. I know that I dont NEED to define it, per se, but it was a good exercise in remembering the rules and how the Advantages apply to Powers. Its been so long since Ive built anything in HERO

 

The Side Effect limitation is an interesting one. The only problem with that is, as near as I can tell, better spell casters will bring about their Nightmares less often, rather than what I want to be more often. The World reacts to magic by materializing Bad Things, and bigger, more powerful spells will have a greater chance of bringing about said Bad Things.

 

Maybe I can impose an opposed Skill Check, Caster vs World, with positive modifiers instead of negatives based on the Active Points of the spell used. Hmmmm..

 

The reason this is such a big deal is that the Major Clans, the original groups of people who discovered and now use magic, refuse to give it up, even at the peril introduced continuously to the world. They just protect themselves better now. The Minor Clans, those former Major Clan members who object, now NEVER use magic, but have found that using Foci allows them some leeway when it comes to replicating magical abilities.

 

Focus items will be required to be Full Round actions or Concentrate, so they arent as tactically flexible as a full on Magic Spell, but there are less Bad Things that happen as a result. This is a major philosophical difference between these major people groups. I just need to define it perfectly before I actually try to play it

 

Re: Variable summoning points - do I just introduce a random roll that covers all available Point Spreads (like 1d6 x 100 points, etc)?

[Sean Waters]

Re: How to Build: Global (Inherent) Power that affects the campaign world?

 

Side effects can be as often as you like, as defined in the spell (usually if an activation roll fails, but not always: frequency of Side Effects is something you can set though) so more powerful spells should be built with nastier side effects that are more likely to occur.

[Christopher]

Re: How to Build: Global (Inherent) Power that affects the campaign world?

 

Excellent advice, thanks to all. I know that I dont NEED to define it, per se, but it was a good exercise in remembering the rules and how the Advantages apply to Powers. Its been so long since Ive built anything in HERO

 

The Side Effect limitation is an interesting one. The only problem with that is, as near as I can tell, better spell casters will bring about their Nightmares less often, rather than what I want to be more often. The World reacts to magic by materializing Bad Things, and bigger, more powerful spells will have a greater chance of bringing about said Bad Things.

Skill Roll Suffers a Penalty based on Active Points (-1 per 10 points).

And the "heavyness" (the amount of AP in it) of a Side Effect is directly based on the Active Points in the power.

 

Does it make a difference if the Magic was cast successfull? Or is the chance always there?

 

The reason this is such a big deal is that the Major Clans, the original groups of people who discovered and now use magic, refuse to give it up, even at the peril introduced continuously to the world. They just protect themselves better now. The Minor Clans, those former Major Clan members who object, now NEVER use magic, but have found that using Foci allows them some leeway when it comes to replicating magical abilities.

 

Focus items will be required to be Full Round actions or Concentrate, so they arent as tactically flexible as a full on Magic Spell, but there are less Bad Things that happen as a result. This is a major philosophical difference between these major people groups. I just need to define it perfectly before I actually try to play it

So magic must either have:

Required Roll + Summoning Side effect

Focus + Extra Time/Concetration

 

As simple as that.

 

Re: Variable summoning points - do I just introduce a random roll that covers all available Point Spreads (like 1d6 x 100 points' date=' etc)?[/quote']

I think the general rules is that 3 equals 1d6. At least that is the ratio at wich Standart Effect Rule works (but in the other direction).

[Kealios]

Re: How to Build: Global (Inherent) Power that affects the campaign world?

 

Thanks for the feedback. It is really helpful.

 

I think in my mind, the Nightmares would have a chance of being summoned WHENEVER a spell was attempted. Doesnt matter if it succeeded or failed - and the bigger the spell was (ie the more Active Points in it), the more likely it is to bring the Bad Things.

 

The suggestions for Side Effects have been excellent, and I will keep them in mind. However, I think my Global Power with a defined Trigger might be a splash more of what I want. I'll keep working on this, though. I have good food for thought now!

[Christopher]

Re: How to Build: Global (Inherent) Power that affects the campaign world?

 

I have been thinking about a limited side effect. It could still be okay if the Powers Active and Real cost are at least as big as what the Side Effect demands as Real Cost.

i.e. if you have a 15 AP side effect, a single 15 AP Power or a 30 AP, 15 Real Cost Power could be okay.

The value of the Side Effect propably would get the "Side Effect always occurs" Multiplier (you always Roll).

 

But ultimatively you would have to test that.