PamelaIsley Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 I've been struggling with this for over a week and I don't know why I didn't just post here. Witchcraft and Talisman have a magesense power that costs basically nothing and seems to do nothing. There is sort of a detect magic in the 6E Champions book that costs a ton but seems kind of weird. Basically, I want to build a power that allows a mage to detect magic. I'd like it to be passive. And I'd like it to be always on (so it can work together with a complication that she's distracted by magic and magical power). This is what I came up with in HD: Detect Magic (Detect A Class Of Things 14- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Range, Telescopic: +6 (20 Active Points); Always On (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4)); (11) Is this close to making sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 You don't need Always On -- buy the Detect with Sense instead. Mister E 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 What is it Unified with? Lucius Alexander Unified with a palindromedary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PamelaIsley Posted February 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 13 minutes ago, Lucius said: What is it Unified with? Lucius Alexander Unified with a palindromedary The rest of her magical abilities, so that all are affected by drain magics or dispel magics or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 The biggest problem for you to answer is how big of a class is Magic and how much detail the detect tells you. Of it pretty much a yes and no type Detect then it’s fairky cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PamelaIsley Posted February 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said: The biggest problem for you to answer is how big of a class is Magic and how much detail the detect tells you. Of it pretty much a yes and no type Detect then it’s fairky cheap I would settle for just the presence of magic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 4 hours ago, PamelaIsley said: I've been struggling with this for over a week and I don't know why I didn't just post here. Witchcraft and Talisman have a magesense power that costs basically nothing and seems to do nothing. There is sort of a detect magic in the 6E Champions book that costs a ton but seems kind of weird. Basically, I want to build a power that allows a mage to detect magic. I'd like it to be passive. And I'd like it to be always on (so it can work together with a complication that she's distracted by magic and magical power). This is what I came up with in HD: Detect Magic (Detect A Class Of Things 14- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Range, Telescopic: +6 (20 Active Points); Always On (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4)); (11) Is this close to making sense? Yes. Specifically it's close to making a Detect Magic Sense. Lucius Alexander Detect Palindromedary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 17 minutes ago, PamelaIsley said: I would settle for just the presence of magic. Oh, then you can ditch Discriminatory! To my mind, that's for when you want to detect what kind of magic is being or has been used -- depending on your magic system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PamelaIsley Posted February 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2019 4 hours ago, Lucius said: Yes. Specifically it's close to making a Detect Magic Sense. Lucius Alexander Detect Palindromedary I set myself up there I think. Do you think it works as written then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted February 10, 2019 Report Share Posted February 10, 2019 5 minutes ago, PamelaIsley said: I set myself up there I think. Do you think it works as written then? Not quite. I agree with L Marcus, you don't need Always On, you need the Sense Adder. Otherwise, it may not be exactly as I'd build it but I don't see anything to keep it from working. You might want to buy 360 degrees so nothing magical sneaks up behind you, but that's optional. If all you want is "Magic: Yes or No?" you can save points by dropping Discriminatory, but personally I think it could be useful to know what KIND of enchantment you have before you. Lucius Alexander the palindromedary buys Sense Adder to know if there are any vipers slithering around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted February 10, 2019 Report Share Posted February 10, 2019 18 hours ago, PamelaIsley said: I've been struggling with this for over a week and I don't know why I didn't just post here. Detect Magic (Detect A Class Of Things 14- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Range, Telescopic: +6 (20 Active Points); Always On (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4)); (11) Is this close to making sense? Detect A Class Of Things 14- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Range, Sense; Real Cost: 25 Alternately, you can just piggyback an existing sense, such as sight if your character can SEE magic (such as via magical auras as is common in some fantasy contexts); this is cheaper (and Targeting!) but can be neutralized by flashing or darknessing or otherwise interfering with the character's sight. Detect A Class Of Things 14- (Sight Group), Discriminatory; Real Cost: 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted February 10, 2019 Report Share Posted February 10, 2019 This is a Talent version used extensively in one of my campaign settings, a modern urban horror / fantasy. It's called Supernatural Awareness, and is a sight based detect vs "supernatural". May or may not be useful for you. 10 Supernatural Awareness, Sight Based, Discriminatory (Sense and Range are built in). The Supernatural exists in the world of Here There Be Monsters, and some people are preternaturally sensitive to this fact even if they are otherwise normal...or perhaps have innate potential they are not tapping. Either way, such an ability is a very useful thing for a Hunter to have. A character with Supernatural Awareness tends to see "auras" or "energy fields" around Supernatural things. Generally the stronger or more "active" a Supernatural effect, the brighter and more noticeable the aura. Almost all Supernaturals have some kind of Distinctive Feature detectable to Supernatural Awareness, and define what information is provided. Further many Supernatural abilities are Perceivable by Supernatural Awareness, which means that an observer with Supernatural Awareness can tell that some kind of ability is in use and descriptive adjectives such as "strong", "tough", "threatening", "draining", "burning". A PER check made by 1 or more will also indicate the general type of Supernatural effect to an observer who has seen that kind before. For instance, Faerie or Fey magic is distinct from Daemonic magic, or Hermetic magic, or Psychic ability, or Faith, and can be differentiated by a person with Supernatural Awareness. Characters that have further skills or abilities, such as a Lore skill or another detect, can use those abilities to interpret or otherwise interact with what they see with their Supernatural Awareness. Beware however, some Supernatural abilities only affect or even specifically target those who have Supernatural Awareness; leaving mundanes unaffected. NOTE: Supernatural Awareness is expensive, but is also one of the most useful (and thus more common) custom abilities available in Here There Be Monsters. Characters that have Supernatural Awareness are at a real advantage. +5 Superior Supernatural Awareness, Add Analyze to Supernatural Awareness. This improved version of Supernatural Awareness grants more detailed and specific knowledge about the nature and capabilities of Supernatural phenomena. Depending on degree of success on a PER check, this extra information can be anything ranging from a hint as to the sort of Power effect and potency to specific base Powers and modifiers and even weaknesses or loopholes not covered by the effect. +5 Pervasive Supernatural Awareness, Add Tracking to Supernatural Awareness. This improved version of Supernatural Awareness allows an observer to not only see current Supernatural emanations in real time, but to also be able to see lingering traces and spoor of Supernatural emanations that have occurred relatively recently. It is often possible to use these traces to track a Supernatural source to its current destination, or back to its origin point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PamelaIsley Posted February 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2019 4 hours ago, Killer Shrike said: Detect A Class Of Things 14- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Range, Sense; Real Cost: 25 Alternately, you can just piggyback an existing sense, such as sight if your character can SEE magic (such as via magical auras as is common in some fantasy contexts); this is cheaper (and Targeting!) but can be neutralized by flashing or darknessing or otherwise interfering with the character's sight. Detect A Class Of Things 14- (Sight Group), Discriminatory; Real Cost: 13 This is extremely helpful. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Waters Posted February 15, 2019 Report Share Posted February 15, 2019 This being Hero... To expand on Killer Shrike's comment, what you can also do, if you want cheap, if just add 'Detect Magic' to the sight group and that allows you to see magic like you can see other stuff: it would be blocked by all the things that block sight and you would not be able to see magic in the dark, but it is cheap. That is also easy to administer in-game because everyone knows how sight works - it would just be a bit like The DiscWorld - people with Detect Magic can see Octarine as well as the other normal colours. All you really need then is 'Detect Magic (Sight Group)' for 5 points and you get a PER Roll - probably pretty good already as the character presumably uses Magic. I would not bother with discriminatory, unless you really want, as normal sight is already 'partially discriminatory' (a phrase that gets my hackles up every time and a wholly unnecessary complication) and you can discriminate plenty with normal sight. Another approach would be to buy N-Ray Vision, again link it to the Sight Group, because I'm cheap, (which gives you all the modifiers you need for free) and that will allow you to see magical things inside boxes, on the other side of the wall and so on. I mean, technically N-Ray does not let you see Magic (that is, strictly a Detect as mentioned above) but if you were to say you can see Magic with your N-Ray but not non-magic I'd handwave that. You know there is a magical sword on the other side of the door, it is not obvious though that it is strapped to an enormous Barbarian. I mean, you don't need to link it to Sight. Maybe you can smell magic, or it makes a distinctive whine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PamelaIsley Posted February 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2019 Thanks Sean! This actually is closer to what I was looking for. I will just build it as part of sight. Sean Waters 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franklin W. Cain Posted February 17, 2019 Report Share Posted February 17, 2019 In my own setting(s), I have an additional Sense Group: the Mystic Sense Group. There is some cross-over between the Mental and the Mystic Sense Groups (just as there is between the Sight and the Radio Sense Groups, at certain wavelengths of EMF), but they are still separate and distinct (to me, at least). The Mental deals with the Mind (i.e.: thoughts and dreams; the power of the brain); the Mystic deals with the Soul (and related cosmic levels of Reality). The Mystic Sense Group already includes Ranged (just as the Mental Sense Group does). For a traditional "D&D" style of "Detect Magic" (a la the 1st-level spell from that game franchise), I'd define that Detect as a Narrow Class within the Mystic Group, and a Passive Detect. I'd also want to give it Sense, Discriminatory, and/or Targeting. Hope this helps! ;-) Franklin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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