New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

[Merrick]

Evening, everyone.

 

I've poked around the forums and bit and couldn't quite find what I was looking for, so I thought I'd ask the general assembly =)

 

I'm running a League of Extraordinary Gentlemenstyle game set in the American Civil War. So far my party consists of a half vampire, an alien. an elite trapper touched by Native American spirits, the stagecoach robber who was unfortunate enough to discover an alien belt that made her something akin to The Greatest American Superhero.

 

I have a pretty firm grasp on building basic powers, but I only have the Basic Rulebook right now (we're testing the system to see if the group likes it), so I'm finding myself baffled by the best way to build some of the powers they want.

Vampire Powers Wanted

- Vampire Bite

I have this one built, but it feels clunky to me.

 

15 pts Dark Lady's Kiss 1d6 HKA

4 pts Sanguine Restoration 1d6 Heal, LP -1/2 Only Heal Self, LP -1/4 Only Heal for Damage Done by Dark Lady's Kiss, -1/2 Linked Power

4 pts Cover Your Trail 1d6 Heal, LP -1/2 Only Target of Bite, LP -1/4 Same Healing as damage, Linked Second -1/2

 

The two heals are to simulate the restorative power of drinking blood and the other is to close the wound after she is done drinking. Now perhaps the second heal could just be played off as a special effect, but it could have bearing on the game as vampire hunters are about and leaving any trace could start a hunt.

 

Anyway, is there a better way to build this power? They've got some XP to burn now, so if it's more expensive, that's not a huge deal.

 

Spirit Trapper Powers Wanted

 

- Buff Auras

 

So I have some ideas for how to build this, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

It'd be something like 1 to 3d6 of Aid for Whatever-Stat-he-decides-to-bolster, attaching the AoE advantage. But the part I'm finding tricky is that he doesn't want the buff to fade while they're in his aura, so would it be Increased Duration with the Limited Power disadvantage Only In Aura? Just a little lost on this one.

 

Now some misc rules questions.

 

Do you let your players buy away limitations on powers and complications with XP? I have a min/maxer in the group, and I'm a little concerned that he will kill off a lot of the flavor of his character because he thinks that buying away the limitations will make him unstoppable.

 

Thanks in advance for your time and responses. I'll post any more questions I think of as they come.

[RexMundi]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

Hmmm.... Build threads are always good. I'll chime in with something useful when I have time at home. It would be helpful to know the points per build and campaign limits as well.

 

~Rex....heads back to the Chromate mines....

[Laundry Knight]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

For the Vampire bite, I'm still learning the ropes, but as I understand it and based on what you said, I would replace the second heal with a bonus to Concealment to be applied only the wound to make it harder to notice. I'm not sure of the best way to write than up, however.

 

For the Buff Auras, I am not that well read up on Aid yet and do not, but I think you are on the right track.

 

On buying of limitations and complications, that would depend on story sense. Some can be bought off without a hitch. Maybe, Uberman woke up one day a realized how silly a fear of cats was, but others may require some kind of quest or roleplaying to resolve while somethings are stuck for life. Maybe, you're campaign does have sufficient cybernetics to replace a characters lost arm but finding someone to do the work may be no small task, and there is no way to shake off being half-black and half-Indian to buy off the social prejudices such a character may face.

[phoenix240]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

"Cover your Tracks": Cosmetic transformation (Victim with bite wound to victim without wound)? They're still suffering from blood loss and any other affects but as far as examination goes they're fine. The reversal condition could be something a little cheesy (bite them again) or maybe there's some bit of lore that will reveal the trick (bathing the suspected bite area in Holy Water, for example).

[Lucius]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

Evening, everyone.

 

I've poked around the forums and bit and couldn't quite find what I was looking for, so I thought I'd ask the general assembly =)

 

I'm running a League of Extraordinary Gentlemenstyle game set in the American Civil War. So far my party consists of a half vampire, an alien. an elite trapper touched by Native American spirits, the stagecoach robber who was unfortunate enough to discover an alien belt that made her something akin to The Greatest American Superhero.

 

I have a pretty firm grasp on building basic powers, but I only have the Basic Rulebook right now (we're testing the system to see if the group likes it), so I'm finding myself baffled by the best way to build some of the powers they want.

Vampire Powers Wanted

- Vampire Bite

I have this one built, but it feels clunky to me.

 

15 pts Dark Lady's Kiss 1d6 HKA

4 pts Sanguine Restoration 1d6 Heal, LP -1/2 Only Heal Self, LP -1/4 Only Heal for Damage Done by Dark Lady's Kiss, -1/2 Linked Power

4 pts Cover Your Trail 1d6 Heal, LP -1/2 Only Target of Bite, LP -1/4 Same Healing as damage, Linked Second -1/2

 

The two heals are to simulate the restorative power of drinking blood and the other is to close the wound after she is done drinking. Now perhaps the second heal could just be played off as a special effect, but it could have bearing on the game as vampire hunters are about and leaving any trace could start a hunt.

 

Anyway, is there a better way to build this power? They've got some XP to burn now, so if it's more expensive, that's not a huge deal.

 

Not more expensive - less expensive.

 

Don't spend points to harm and then spend more points to heal the victim. Just buy the self Healing (if Regeneration is in the Basic Book, use that) and both the damage and its restoration are "special effects." Then apply a -1/4 Limitation "Traces" to account for the facts that: the victim has lost blood and may notice feeling weak or easily tired etc afterwards (I'm assuming she usually preys on the sleeping; (edit: Never meant a smiley face to be here but apparently if I put a ; in a parenthesis that's what I get)) the victim may report strange or disturbing dreams; bedclothes may reveal blood spots; etc.

 

Spirit Trapper Powers Wanted

 

- Buff Auras

 

So I have some ideas for how to build this, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

It'd be something like 1 to 3d6 of Aid for Whatever-Stat-he-decides-to-bolster, attaching the AoE advantage. But the part I'm finding tricky is that he doesn't want the buff to fade while they're in his aura, so would it be Increased Duration with the Limited Power disadvantage Only In Aura? Just a little lost on this one.

 

He wants it to effect only his allies?

 

Now some misc rules questions.

 

Do you let your players buy away limitations on powers and complications with XP? I have a min/maxer in the group, and I'm a little concerned that he will kill off a lot of the flavor of his character because he thinks that buying away the limitations will make him unstoppable.

 

Thanks in advance for your time and responses. I'll post any more questions I think of as they come.

 

It depends. I think the first edition had a remark that "A character probably cannot gain the powers of a Focus by putting the Focus in a milkshake and drinking it."

 

You can always just say "no."

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Unlimited palindromedary

[ghost-angel]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

Here's what I would do for a vampire's bite of similar nature:

 

Bite: HKA 1D6 (or even just 1 pip)

Drain Body 2D6, Only If Bite Does Damage -1/2, Returns at 1 Body per 5 Minutes

 

here's where you have two options; the blood only restores the vampire to full health (1) or the blood actually makes the vampire stronger for a short period (2)

(1) - Healing 4D6, Only to a maximum amount that was Drained (or the maximum Healing), Linked: Drain

(2) - Aid 4D6, Only to maximum amount that was Drained (or the maximum Aid), Linked: Drain, Self Only

 

The trick is the Drain is slow, but you can drain for a few Phases before you reach the ceiling. The Linked is worth only a -1/4 in this case because the Drain is smaller.

 

You can keep draining until the target is dead if you want, but you can only get so much energy out of the exchange.

 

Now.. a couple options to make the attack unknown:

 

First, a Cosmetic Transform to change the look of the damage back to undamaged (or if the GM is feeling tough a Minor Transform)

Or, a Naked Advantage: Invisible Power Effects for Bite & Drain: Sight Group (this will conceal any hint of a wound even as the attack is made)

[Christopher]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

Vampire Powers Wanted

- Vampire Bite

I have this one built, but it feels clunky to me.

 

15 pts Dark Lady's Kiss 1d6 HKA

4 pts Sanguine Restoration 1d6 Heal, LP -1/2 Only Heal Self, LP -1/4 Only Heal for Damage Done by Dark Lady's Kiss, -1/2 Linked Power

4 pts Cover Your Trail 1d6 Heal, LP -1/2 Only Target of Bite, LP -1/4 Same Healing as damage, Linked Second -1/2

 

The two heals are to simulate the restorative power of drinking blood and the other is to close the wound after she is done drinking. Now perhaps the second heal could just be played off as a special effect, but it could have bearing on the game as vampire hunters are about and leaving any trace could start a hunt.

 

Anyway, is there a better way to build this power? They've got some XP to burn now, so if it's more expensive, that's not a huge deal.

What exactly do you want here?

Do you want to heal your character, without doing anything to the target? Healing with a Limitation.

Do you want to heal your character and do damage to the target? Link the Heal to a HKA.

You don't have to built an attack if you don't want to do damage.

 

What exactly is that extra heal for:

To hide the marks of the damage? That would fall under "Invisible Power Effects" (propably a +1/2), to not leave "fang marks".

To not deal damage to the victim? Don't link it to HKA.

To not let the target bleed out after the bite? Just limit the HKA "cannot cause bleeding" (but then again, this might make the power usefull to heal yourself with your allies).

 

Spirit Trapper Powers Wanted

 

- Buff Auras

 

So I have some ideas for how to build this, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

It'd be something like 1 to 3d6 of Aid for Whatever-Stat-he-decides-to-bolster, attaching the AoE advantage. But the part I'm finding tricky is that he doesn't want the buff to fade while they're in his aura, so would it be Increased Duration with the Limited Power disadvantage Only In Aura? Just a little lost on this one.

And this is exactly the point where the full rules have the answer:

Boost. Boost is a AID with "Costs Endurance to Maintain":

You only roll the dice once, it does not fades at all, but vanishes the second he stops paying endurance (as normal with non-persistent powers).

It is not to be compared with a normal attack power that is Continous (i.e. has it's effect every phase again and again).

 

Now some misc rules questions.

 

Do you let your players buy away limitations on powers and complications with XP? I have a min/maxer in the group, and I'm a little concerned that he will kill off a lot of the flavor of his character because he thinks that buying away the limitations will make him unstoppable.

Certainly. In all regards the player has total dominion over his character.

While it is true that he is harder to disable, it also means he spends a LOT more points. With the same points his collegaues can buy new powers, Skills, Perks, etc.

Making a 12d6 Blast, OAF (-1) to a 12d6 Blast costs you 30 Character Points/XP.

 

You might want to reserver the right to have a "deadswitch" on the powers. Some way that allows you to take them down, so they don't hinder the story from exsiting. This is the real reason why superman doesn't has power in Red Sun light and GL's rign fails against Yellow and has the charge limit - it's a deadswitch on his powers, so stories without the powers can be told.

[ghost-angel]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

As An addendum to my post...

 

You can add "Continuous" to the Drain, and even the Limitation "Only While Target Is Grabbed" to further simulate the need to hold the target in place.

 

That Limitation could conceivably go on the Bite as well.

[Lucius]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

I'm going to point out that the original post specified that only the Basic rules are being used.

 

I just checked, and they include Regeneration, but not, for example, the Selective Option on Area Effect.

 

I'll amend what I said about the vampire's self-healing-by-biting-people power, to add that there should be a limitation to reflect that the vampire needs someone to bite and can't use the power otherwise.

 

As for the beneficial aura of the trapper, if it effects everyone in the area, you have what you need; if you want it to only help allies, since you don't have the detailed rules for such, I'd say slap on another +1/2 Advantage. No doubt someone else will come along and calculate exactly what it should be under the full rules.

 

Something else to bear in mind. If you play for a few sessions and something seems too powerful or not powerful enough, don't be afraid to change some things. If you go with the +1/2 Advantage and it leads to that character being overwhelming, say you're raising the cost to +1 and make him pay experience towards meeting that before buying anything else. If it feels like he's not having much impact, reduce it to +1/4 and give him some points back. you might want to make similar adjustments to other characters' powers as you go along.

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Advanced Adjustable Palindromedary

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

For the bite, I would suggest invisable power effects, but after rereading the rules for Basic, I don't think that they quite apply. So I would go with the cosmetic transformation linked.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

Vampire Powers Wanted

- Vampire Bite

I have this one built, but it feels clunky to me.

 

15 pts Dark Lady's Kiss 1d6 HKA

4 pts Sanguine Restoration 1d6 Heal, LP -1/2 Only Heal Self, LP -1/4 Only Heal for Damage Done by Dark Lady's Kiss, -1/2 Linked Power

4 pts Cover Your Trail 1d6 Heal, LP -1/2 Only Target of Bite, LP -1/4 Same Healing as damage, Linked Second -1/2

 

The two heals are to simulate the restorative power of drinking blood and the other is to close the wound after she is done drinking. Now perhaps the second heal could just be played off as a special effect, but it could have bearing on the game as vampire hunters are about and leaving any trace could start a hunt.

 

Anyway, is there a better way to build this power? They've got some XP to burn now, so if it's more expensive, that's not a huge deal.

 

Here's what I would do for a vampire's bite of similar nature:

 

Bite: HKA 1D6 (or even just 1 pip)

Drain Body 2D6, Only If Bite Does Damage -1/2, Returns at 1 Body per 5 Minutes

 

here's where you have two options; the blood only restores the vampire to full health (1) or the blood actually makes the vampire stronger for a short period (2)

(1) - Healing 4D6, Only to a maximum amount that was Drained (or the maximum Healing), Linked: Drain

(2) - Aid 4D6, Only to maximum amount that was Drained (or the maximum Aid), Linked: Drain, Self Only

 

The trick is the Drain is slow, but you can drain for a few Phases before you reach the ceiling. The Linked is worth only a -1/4 in this case because the Drain is smaller.

 

As An addendum to my post...

 

You can add "Continuous" to the Drain, and even the Limitation "Only While Target Is Grabbed" to further simulate the need to hold the target in place.

 

That Limitation could conceivably go on the Bite as well.

 

First off, I don't have the basic rules, so pipe up if I hit something that's not in there.

 

Lots of good stuff from GA. The first issue is what, exactly, do you want the power to do? Healing has a cap, so 1d6 Heal cannot restore more than 3 BOD (6 character points and, IIRC, BOD is a Defensive power for adjustment purposes]. Does Basic include reduced re-use time? That advantage takes the usual "heal max on the dice per day" and moves that day down the time chart at a cost of a +1/4 advantage for each step down (+1 1/2, IIRC, would make its limit apply per turn). Another option would be to use Regeneration rather than Heal (or Aid) to restore lost BOD.

 

I'd consider the Drain option, perhaps Limited to fail if the target has resistant PD on their neck. Alternatively, perhaps a BOD Drain which is an Attack vs Limited Defenses, NND, prevented entirely by either lacking a blood system or having that rPD. The concealing effect could be Invisible Power Effect at a pretty low level (clearly, when the vampire is gnawing on the victim, it's pretty obvious) or even be handwaved for limited utility.

 

How long does it take to drain and heal? Every phase is pretty quick. If you dropped both to, say, Extra Time - 1 turn or even 1 minute, the cost would decline and the process would take longer. That's really a big deal only if this is intended to be done in combat time.

 

Spirit Trapper Powers Wanted

 

- Buff Auras

 

So I have some ideas for how to build this, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

It'd be something like 1 to 3d6 of Aid for Whatever-Stat-he-decides-to-bolster, attaching the AoE advantage. But the part I'm finding tricky is that he doesn't want the buff to fade while they're in his aura, so would it be Increased Duration with the Limited Power disadvantage Only In Aura? Just a little lost on this one.

 

Boost has been suggested. Another option, however, would be to buy the "whatever stat he wants to bolster" as a Usable by Others ability, within an area. So, assuming 3d6 Aid is intended to average 10 character points, and he wants to enhance STR:

 

+10 STR, Usable on Others (base +1/4), up to eight characters may use (+3/4), Recipient controls power; Grantor can take it back (+1/4 - he can decide exactly who in the aura continues to benefit), Grantor must b e within limited range to grant power (that range is the aura size; +1/4), recipient must remain close to grantor (again within aura) to maintain power (advantage reduced by -1/2), so that's a total advantage of +1, 20 points. Granting the boost is an attack action, probably waiving the attack roll for willing targets. Maintaining it costs nothing. If you want it to cost END to maintain, a limitation would be applied to the power.

 

I'm not sure what stats he's supposed to boost, as your notes indicate "whatever he chooses to boost at the time", but a Multipower of the same build for different characteristics would allow choice in that regard. He could only enhance one stat at a time, though.

 

Now some misc rules questions.

 

Do you let your players buy away limitations on powers and complications with XP? I have a min/maxer in the group, and I'm a little concerned that he will kill off a lot of the flavor of his character because he thinks that buying away the limitations will make him unstoppable.

 

Yes to "can the player direct use of XP". I think he'll find that buying off complications is not a great power builder anyway. He spends 10 points to get rid of a DNPC, and his buddies buy new powers or enhance existing ones. However, the game parameters are also relevant. LXG isn't really about Superheroes, so there may be minimum limitations required on every power. I would not let the Vampire buy off the Regeneration limitations, for example - just healing every minute or every turn is a completely different power. The GM is always within their rights to impose campaign limits - eg. that power was acceptable because its use was highly limited. Without the limitations, the base power must be reduced to fit the campaign limits.

[Sean Waters]

Re: New 6E GM. Several 'How-To-Build' plus rule questions

 

Thoughts:

 

The bite is not a bite, the bite is a special effect of a heal or recovery, because what the power does is takes blood, then heals both the taker and the takee the same amount, net effect the takee is the same as before and the taker has some points. Just build it as a heal that requires an attack roll, or better yet (to avoid the problem of butting up against the healing limit) build it as regeneration whislt you have a helpless target (unresisting or grabbed/restrained). If you want the possibility of hurting the victim 'accidentally' then add side effects. Of course you may want to be able to put someone unconscious this way, but a 1d6 killing attack is going to take a while to do that.

 

Also: if you do not want anyone to know the victim has been bitten, bite them somewhere it does not show. I have suggestions...

 

Having built characters that buff the team, I think they are grossly unbalancing; you have been warned! An entire team with +10 STR becomes monstrous effective in combat.

 

If it is an aura power, build it as Succour, AoE; the boost fades instantly when the power goes off or they leave the area.

 

 

 

Edit: Boost, not Succour: living in the past!