How to Build: "Dragon Charm of Dissipation"

[Ragitsu]

 

DESCRIPTION: This intricate tourmaline figurine (hey, that rhymes...) of an Eastern dragon measures one inch wide by six inches long. Though it is an extraordinary example of craftsmanship which can fetch a decent price at any shop interested in aristocratic curios or statuettes (which inevitably end up in some idle rich noblewoman's estate), it contains a potent draconic representation of anti-magic dreaded by magician and mana-dependent monster alike. Upon speaking the word of command, an insubstantial translucent version of the figurine exits from the object and then quickly expands into a full-sized specimen around six feet wide by sixty feet long. The summoning can only be called upon once per day; it exists in our reality for an hour before returning to whatever native realm it inhabits. Once brought forth, the dragon cannot be sent back until the hour lapses.

 

There are three primary uses for this specter and one lesser-known but still handy use.

 

1. Wander randomly across an area adjacent to the figurine's current position*. Any sort of lingering spell is annihilated by the disruptive force generated by the dragon. Weakly enchanted items lose their enhancements full-stop. Strongly enchanted items (such as artifacts) have an opportunity to defend themselves from having their mystical properties eradicated. Spellcasters might keep their defenses from being stripped away, but only if they're masters capable of conjuring robust protection.
2. Be directed to move in dynamically adaptive patterns that range from simple ("Fly in a straight line to that point and then fly back the way you came.") to exceedingly complex ("Move through the area in a figure eight pattern while descending five feet upon completion of each figure. If anything charged with demonic mojo enters the area, you are to fly through it and then return to finish your current figure eight."). As above, anything magical the dragon figment comes into contact with is dissipated into nothingness.
3. Defend designated beings/objects from magic. The dragon will move at impossible speeds to intercept (and therefore completely negate) any spell that specifically targets anything living or nonliving. Against area-of-effect spells, the protective benefits are significant yet not absolute as the dragon generates a brief defensive red and gold whirlwind by flying quickly around its ward; damage is reduced to one-quarter and any kind of contest of resistance (such as EGO versus EGO or EGO versus DEX) is much easier to win.
4. If the dragon manages to erase enough magic, it can choose to absorb the now dissipated energies in order to become corporeal. Once it is fully tangible, the dragon fights to the best of its ability while ordered by the owner of the figurine. While it is an impressive physical specimen (armed with wickedly curved claws, razor sharp teeth, a tail like a gargantuan whip, and scales as tough as tempered adamantite) capable of flight, it lacks the supernatural abilities associated with these mythical beasts such as a breath weapon, inherent sorcerous talent or shapeshifting. As time goes on, the dragon loses its strength not to mention its solidity until it finally reverts back to its default spiritual form.

 

A note of clarification: only that which the dragon actually touches is dispelled. If it were to pass through a stretch of persistent ice that spans a football field only for the length and width of its body, you'd see a portion six feet wide and sixty feet long now freed from the ice: no more, no less. If it decided to sharply turn its body while on the same football field to leave a "7" in a manner very similar to Zorro, you might see a "7" of untouched grass where the lines are six feet wide and the number is one-hundred twenty feet long overall.

 

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* Say...a three-hundred yard cube?

[Cantriped]

That is a doozy. The description is definitely consistent with summoning, but the mechanics you wish to impose are going to be fiddly, and very complicated. Also note that a lot of these effects are being described in absolute terms, and that varies from obscenely expensive to outright impossible.

I will try to give some suggestions in the posts that follow... however this sounds like a high-end, campaign-capstone level artifact... does it even need a build if nobody's paying for it and its effects are largely arbitrary?

[Cantriped]

Okay, so despite being described as a magic item that summons a flying ghostly dragon to go around doing this or that... what I think we actually have is an Automaton in the form of the figurine (or a suite of powers controlled by a Computer integrated into the Focus, as per the 4th ED Dancing Sword example in the other thread).

 

Most of the things it is described as doing can be acomplished by applying an Uncontrolled, Obvious, Area Of Effect Mobile (large enough to represent its size, and fast enough its speed) Attack to the area and moving it appropriately.

Being an automaton (or computer) gives the figurine its own SPD and Initiative to control whichever power however it needs to too follow your commands.

 

Slots 1&2 should be a massive Dispel built as described above (uncontrolled, mobile AoE, etc), the only real difference is which of the Automaton/Computer's Programs you call. However, Dispel doesn't destroy magical items on their own. The items must have been created as a result of the activation of a power.

The common, legal examples being any Physical Manifestation, potions created by Delayed Effect, mines created by Trigger, walls created by Barrier, ropes/chains created by Entangle, and Summoned object-like beings (which includes summoned vehicles and automata).

If the GM uses the "Alternate Magic Item Creation Rules"* from Fantasy Hero, any item can be assigned a threshold of effect for being destroyed by Dispel. 

*(which are basically a variation on Summon that is slow and tiring, uses the real cost of the item to determine its active point cost, and lasts until the object is dispelled or destroyed.)

 

Slot 3 could be described as a Limited Dispel (if you hold an action you can use Dispel against any incoming attack, like a D&D Counterspell). Except that such a power would also work on AoE attacks just fine.

Alternatively, as a combo of Deflection (which the figurine holds or aborts an action to activate) and Usable By Nearby 75% Damage Reduction that only applies to AoE attacks.

 

Slot 4 actually is a Summon (Demi-Dragon), one whose conditions for activation are largely arbitrary (dispelling enough magic, however you choose to measure that) and that Locks Out all the other slots for as long as the summoned being exists

[Christopher R Taylor]

It doesn't seem to have a slight chance to dispel things, but instead just dispels things in the area indicated.  So it just sounds like an area effect (any) constant dispel magic with a fiddly description.  If you want the dispel to literally disintegrate magical items, a KA would be linked.

[Cantriped]

A Constant, Linked, AVAD (Power Defense) RKA that Does BODY (and is Limited to Only Affect Magic Items) is a legal method of literally disintegrating any magic item that isn't Unbreakable (because Unbreakable Foci have Power Defense). Use that if the GM isn't using the Alternate Item Creation Rules.

[Ragitsu]

Items are not destroyed; their powers are annulled. The only exceptions I can think of are "impossible" creations that exist in a certain form solely because of magic...such as a club made of sand held together by magic.

[Cantriped]

If an "Annulled" wand of fireballs can no longer be used to cast fireballs; it was effectively destroyed... even if the annullment leaves behind a stick that looks like a wand. It will be a little odd for a Dispel (or an RKA) used on a Magic Sword to leave behind a Nonmagic Sword... but that could be considered a Limitation because the power is technically slightly worse this way.

 

The alternative is trying to use Transform to remove the magical abilities, which is a huge corner-case as Foci don't have BODY scores.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Well it seems to me that dispel only works on active powers, ones being used.  You cannot dispel someone's force field power, only the effect when it is turned on.  I don't think you could dispel a sword's KA unless it was being swung, for example.  And you can "turn on" a power immediately after it has been dispelled (swing again).

 

But drain works on passive powers, and that would work best in this instance, I think.  A drained sword would lose its KA and never recover it.

[Cantriped]

1 hour ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

Well it seems to me that dispel only works on active powers, ones being used.  You cannot dispel someone's force field power, only the effect when it is turned on.

You can also Dispel semi-active powers (those prepared via Delayed Effect, Physical Manifestation, or Trigger, but not yet active), and the lingering effects of previously active powers (summoned beings, entangles, barriers, etc).

 

However you are right that Dispel normally only works on a sword while it is being swung. That is why I suggested the Alternate Magic Item Creation Rules (that I wish had a shorter name), because they allow you to define the "Power" used to create any item so that it can be Dispelled as the lingering effect of a power (like a summoned being). Using that rule (even if only for this artifact), simplifies trying to conceptualize it.

 

1 hour ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

A drained sword would lose its KA and never recover it.

Why wouldn't it? There is no way to build a Drain which Never Recovers*, just those so excessively powerful that the affected element won't recover before the end of the campaign.

 

*The obvious exception being the use of Drain BODY to destroy the something, once destroyed it won't recover even if the Damage itself would have... but that isn't quite the same thing. Besides using Drain BODY isn't much different than using an AVAD RKA to destroy the Foci/Object (or just it's magical powers if so Limites).

[Christopher R Taylor]

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You can also Dispel semi-active powers (those prepared via Delayed Effect, Physical Manifestation, or Trigger, but not yet active), and the lingering effects of previously active powers (summoned beings, entangles, barriers, etc).

 

Good point, thanks for the clarification.

 

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Why wouldn't it? 

 

It used to be standard hero rules that inanimate objects do not recover from drains because they have no recovery (kind of like a radio can't turn its self back on when its switched off, normally).  I am confident that it is still part of the rule set but I cannot find it in the books.

  

 

 

 

 

 

[Cantriped]

1 hour ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

It used to be standard hero rules that inanimate objects do not recover from drains because they have no recovery (kind of like a radio can't turn its self back on when its switched off, normally).  I am confident that it is still part of the rule set but I cannot find it in the books.

You don't actually recover from an Adjustment Power in 6th edition, the effects of the power Fade over time. What the target is (automaton, character, vehicle, focus) doesn't matter in the slightest.

 

The Radio can't turn itself back on after being dispelled for the same reason as any other persistent power... somebody still has to spend the Zero-Phase action activating it (even if that someone is just the Bases's Computer).

 

[Christopher R Taylor]

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You don't actually recover from an Adjustment Power in 6th edition, the effects of the power Fade over time. What the target is (automaton, character, vehicle, focus) doesn't matter in the slightest.

 

I will defer to people who aren't feeling as ill as I am to dig up the ruling, but that's how it used to work in 5th at least, and I'm certain 6th even if I can't find the quote.  Inanimate objects do not recover from drains.  I brought up the radio thing as an analogy to help make sense of it in your mind, not to draw a direct parallel to the rule between the two powers.  

[Zephrosyne]

On 5/29/2018 at 5:41 PM, Christopher R Taylor said:

 

I will defer to people who aren't feeling as ill as I am to dig up the ruling, but that's how it used to work in 5th at least, and I'm certain 6th even if I can't find the quote.  Inanimate objects do not recover from drains.  I brought up the radio thing as an analogy to help make sense of it in your mind, not to draw a direct parallel to the rule between the two powers.  

According to 6E1 page 196 "if an object is Drained of all of its BODY, it crumbles to dust"; furthermore, it adds that "the gm may rule that an object cannot regain Drained BODY normally--it need repairs instead."  If I am interpreting the book correctly, a object Drained of all of its Body is destroyed in the same way that a person is slain if Drained to his negative BODY.  However, it is the gm's option as to whether or not the object regains Drained Body normally or needs repairing if it isn't fully Drained.

 

Sorry for the necro; didn't notice how old this thread was.