bigbywolfe

I’m going to be running a Victorian mystery/supernatural campaign set in America. It’s a heroic level game (100/+100 points) with the PCs having little or no supernatural powers and having to deal with murders and mysteries which may or may not have supernatural elements on a case by case basis. Anyway, I wrote up a few abilities for an NPC and I was wondering if someone more experienced than me could check them out and see if there was anything wrong with them. The first is for an Apache Medicine Man NPC who has limited Clairsentience by going into a trance and seeing through the eyes of animals. While in the trance he has limited control of the animal he is looking through (mostly for movement and direction, he can’t make the animals attack people or anything). He needs to have certain herbs and such and chant in a secluded place with a fire as he enters the trance. This is what I came up with using the Hero Designer program, does it look right? If not, any suggestions? Eyes of the Beasts: Clairsentience (Sight And Hearing Groups), +2 to PER Roll, 2 Perception Points, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (55 Active Points); OAF Fragile Expendable (Extremely Difficult to obtain new Focus; -2 1/4), Arrangement (-1/4), Extra Time (5 Minutes, Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 1/4), Only Through The Senses Of Others (Sees through the eyes of undomesticated canines, ursines, felines, and birds of prey; -1/2), Incantations (Meditating Chant; -1/4) Real point cost was 9 or 10 Mind of the Beast: Mind Control 2d6 (Animal class of minds), Linked (Eyes of the Beasts; Lesser Instant Power can be used in any Phase in which greater Constant Power is in use; Lesser Power need not be used proportionally to Power with which it is Linked; +0), Telepathic (+1/4) (12 Active Points); Limited Class Of Minds [subset of a class] (Wolves/Coyote, Hawks/Eagles, Bears, Wild Cats; -1/2), Incantations (Meditating Chant; -1/4), Does Not Provide Mental Awareness (-1/4) Real point cost was 6 The next is a healing Indian remedy for the same character. Just wondering if anyone sees any problems with it… Herbal Indian Cure: Healing BODY 3 1/2d6 (35 Active Points); OAF Expendable (Difficult to obtain new Focus; Healing Herb Powder; -1 1/4), Arrangement (-1/4), Extra Time (1 Minute, Only to Activate, -3/4), 12 Charges (-1/4) Don’t remember the actual cost after Dis.

Re: Darth Vader vs. The Hulk Vader cannot move "anything" with his TK. Hulk could lift and move much heavier/larger objects than Vader could with the force. There is absolutely no way that Banner would not make the transformation in time. Banner has been shot with a high powered/high velocity sniper rifle and he transformed before the bullet got farther than his teeth. And he didn’t even know he had been shot at. Hulk has helped topple almost every major villain at various times in Marvel's history, that's not heroic? Prior to "World War Hulk", which I haven't read, he had never intentionally killed a human and despite massive property damage and many injuries has never killed a civilian (unless, as I stated, it has happened very recently). He has served with the Avengers and I believe the Defenders as well. Plus, Banner's motivation (on and off) through much of the comic's history has been to find a cure. Not to mention he is the Hulk because he risked his life to save someone else's. How is Banner/Hulk not heroic? Black hole wouldn't necessarily stop Hulk, which I believe was illustrated in “Planet Hulk”. Hulk’s power is not some contrivance to keep the character alive against all odds. Hulk is so powerful writers have to contrive more and more ridiculous things just to make it seem like he is really in danger. It’s so hard to find a decent villain for hulk that almost a year worth of story-arch in the late 90’s or early 2000’s was spent dealing with Banner’s psychological issues and Hulk’s multiple personality issues. Vader simply can’t compare. Mind control? If classic “Hulk Angry” had the mental whammy put on him “Professor Hulk” or Joe Fixit (Grey Hulk) would emerge instead. Light Saber cut his head off? Are you serious? Adamantium can barely scratch him, and the strongest energy attacks usually just disorient or annoy him. Most of the times Hulk has been defeated in a fight (and by defeated I mean knocked out) has been by sucker-punches, often when he was already calming down (like the one time Doc Samson dropped him). Frankly, Vader has nothing going for him other than an excellent dodge. Comic aficionados argue whether or not Galactus could defeat Hulk, and he survived the entropy of a dying universe and the “Big Bang” that created ours. Vader? I don’t think so.

Re: Pyrokinesis I think that the argument that using TK to move fire leads to problems like using it to move light to get a cheap “darkness” effect is faulty. If you did modify TK to grab light and then grabbed all the light in a room and moved it the room would not become dark, because the source of the light (light bulb, sun light through the window, etcetera) would still be producing/providing light to the room and would replenish the “grabbed” light almost instantly. Furthermore, unless the “grab light TK power” had some kind of continuous effect you would have to spend endurance each of your phases to “carry” this room’s worth of light around, and what could you do with it other than an image effect (lighting an area) or maybe a flash attack? As soon as you stopped spending the End the light would dissipate like normal. I’m not saying that this would be the best way to do something like that; I’m just saying that the argument against it isn’t really valid and has little to do, IMO, with the TK for fire argument. The main difference between light and fire would be whether or not the fuel would still burn, or possible re-combust because of how hot it is, after you removed the fire. Also, if the pyromancer stopped controlling the fire while, for example, holding it in the air, it would simply dissipate for lack of a fuel source, but only after his magical/super-powered/whatever control was released; this would make it less effecting than being able to drop an object on someone, yet the environmental effect that would occur if it was introduced to a new fuel source would more than make up for that small limitation. Again, I’m not saying that this is the best way to make this power; I’m just playing the devil’s advocate and addressing some of the arguments against it. That’s this newbs opinion anyway.

Re: This Human doesn't smell threatening Regardless of how you build it there's a disadvantage that might help bring the cost down. If you do not smell like a predator does that mean you smell more like prey? You could probably apply a negative affect with some predators (more likely to attack, or less likely to flee even if you want to scare them off), to show both sides of this power.

Re: Doctrine for beginning vampire slayers? I know you said you have all the info you need, but I just stumbled across this thread and had to add my two cents. A few monster fighting basics: 1) “Nothing lives without a head.” Not always true with monsters but one of the few assumptions that is usually a safe bet. Good for Zombies, Werewolves, and even Vampires in most genres. 2) “Short hair and tight clothes are a must.” That +1” of running may not help if the vamp can grab your ‘useless but cool looking billowing trench coat’ and drag you back into the dark! 3) “Blades don’t need reloading.” While you want to avoid close combat as much as possible, guns will run out of ammo eventually and sometimes your creative solution might just fall through.