Focus based Base Form Alteration

[Sveta]

I'm looking to make a power that alters the base form of a person. Probably Shape Change made Inherent or Persistent, or Multiform. I'm looking for it to be caused by a focus. Think  Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde's poison/potion/drink. However, as this would be changing what they are, rather than providing a constant flow of energy to change them, I'm not certain how that would work. 

Working from the assumption of a pill or a gun that the character ingests or shoots themselves with to cause the change, a Focus makes sense. However, removing the focus from them doesn't stop the change that has already occurred. It just sort of locks them in their current state. So while an Accessible Focus would make sense, as it can be taken, It feels like it would be off in some way. Maybe just OAF (only to start, not to sustain) That still feels... a touch off however. Any better ideas people could provide?

[archer]

Offhand, multiform appeals to me. You can change forms when you have the focus and cannot when Foxbat is running off down the street with it.

 

But I’ll try to give it more thought.

[Lucius]

21 hours ago, Sveta said:

I'm looking to make a power that alters the base form of a person. Probably Shape Change made Inherent or Persistent, or Multiform. I'm looking for it to be caused by a focus. Think  Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde's poison/potion/drink. However, as this would be changing what they are, rather than providing a constant flow of energy to change them, I'm not certain how that would work. 

Working from the assumption of a pill or a gun that the character ingests or shoots themselves with to cause the change, a Focus makes sense. However, removing the focus from them doesn't stop the change that has already occurred. It just sort of locks them in their current state. So while an Accessible Focus would make sense, as it can be taken, It feels like it would be off in some way. Maybe just OAF (only to start, not to sustain) That still feels... a touch off however. Any better ideas people could provide?

 

I have a gun, defined as a focus.

 

I shoot a palindromedary, putting a bullet hole in it.

 

Foxbat grabs the gun from me and runs off with it.

 

Does the palindromedary still have a bullet hole? Or does the hole disappear because I have lost the focus?

 

I think we can agree that the palindomedary still has a hole in it. The Power in the gun was used when I pulled the trigger; taking the Focus away afterwards is too late to change that, it just keeps me from doing the like again. Similarly, if you use a Focus to activate a Multiform power and someone takes the Focus away after, that doesn't unto what was done, any more than such an action would repair the hole in my palindromedary.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Having convinced the constable that Foxbat, the loon running around with a gun, was responsible for shooting my palindromedary, I settle out of court with Foxbat for the cost of repairing my palindromedary and of replacing the gun, which the police have seized as evidence. Foxbat promptly steals enough money to pay the settlement and is soon behind bars for the theft, and the palindromedary politely asks not to be used for target practice again.

[Cancer]

I did a multiform-based character (5thRevised edn.) with charges dubbed "power pills".  He had 4 alternate forms (speedster, electricity blaster, mentalist, and invulnerable; that last stacked a bunch of defense powers, but his only attacks in that form were small arms), at most 1 instance of a form per day, needs a pill to get to a form.  Forms had a time limit (short, 2 minutes) at the end of which reversion to base form happened; you could go from one alt form to another by taking the pill, and then you merely lose the rest of the time allocation on the form you left prematurely.  So, that meant he was super at most 8 minutes a day.  

 

The charge build to my mind made better sense than a focus build, since pills are expended and with the campaign structure it was really unlikely he'd be deprived of his pills ... and if it doesn't limit you there should be no bonus.

 

Now, if the form power is in e.g. an amulet she has to switch on before the form change occurs, that's more of a conventional focus type of thing.

[Greywind]

Dial H for Hero

[Cancer]

  Are you saying, there's an app for that?

[csyphrett]

On 7/9/2018 at 1:09 AM, Cancer said:

  Are you saying, there's an app for that?

I think he is saying this is a Dial H/Ben Ten type ability where the hero changes form into a superbeing by activating an alien watch. So a multiform with the multiform having different abilities based on a focus with a time limit, independent,  maybe charges,  maybe persistent, and either OAF or OIF. 

 

  

[Greywind]

Yep. Pretty much no reason to reinvent the wheel on this one.