Hiding your aura: Functions and detects as Evil... when I want to

[Bruno]

In campaigns where being Truly Evil is not just detectable but functional, GURPS generally recommends "pinging" as Evil as a 0 point feature. The forces of Good will mark you as an enemy, but the forces of Evil won't (well, much). You are kept out by wards against Evil, but you're also welcomed by finicky Evil guardians; holy items reject your touch and refuse to work for you, but you can use all the fancy features of that flaming demon sword pretty safely. You may not actually be evil in any behavioral/social sense, or even particularly naughty, but you're supernaturally marked.

And of course the same for things that function as truly Good, or whatever other archetypal cosmic force you can align yourself with in the campaign (other classics include Order/Chaos, Nature, and Elder Things, or elemental archetypes)

How do you set up a character that Functions And Detects As Truly Evil/whatever... as a Switchable ability? Or how about "... when being checked by Evil/whatever things?"

Assume advantages/powers only, for the moment. For the basic Magic system this is the realm of Aura spells, and for RPM I can probably puzzle something out.

Possible uses:

• Heroic characters trying to infiltrate the Forces of Darkness
• Supernaturally Evil beings which tempt and corrupt mortals, and need to hide from Evil-dar.
• Pragmatic characters who just want that awesome-but-Evil-Only sword and all its plusses.

The two things that spring to mind are

• Illusion (very specific Illusion, only vs Detect Evil effects)
• Alternate Form: My template + the feature (possibly with no disguise element at all)

Why I don't like these:

Illusion: "Functions and Detects as Evil" - emphasis mine. Detecting as Evil (or whatever) is only part of the feature. You can get the "Hail, Son Of Satan!" effect like this, but I don't buy it letting you walk through wards (or be blocked by wards) and suchlike.

Alternate Form: Seems clunky for a lot of concepts; gets ugly quick with shapeshifters, which e.g. a lot of demonic advisors/incubi/etc might be.

Clunky or not, Alternate Form at the moment is my #1 contender.

[Kelly Pedersen]

I'd go with the Alternate Form build, yeah. Since I believe a big part of the utility of Alternate Form is its usefulness as a disguise, though, I'd put a sizeable limitation on it here, since (I assume) a character with this would still look like themselves. I'd call that -50%, basically the inverse of Cosmetic.

[ericthered]

For the ability to detect as whatever you want, I'd look at a variation on elastic skin. It does the same general job as what you want, but for a different sense.

I'm not sure if you could do something with obscure or not.

I think alternate form is a valid build ... there isn't anything that says you can't have two sets of templates, with each one in a different position independent of the other.

[sir_pudding]

Isn't this essentially Brotherhood (Evil creatures) [1]?
Although if there are enough kinds of Evil creatures that they have their own Brotherhood perks, then maybe an advantage in the style of Ambidextrous relative to Off-Hand Weapon Training is warranted: Brotherhood of Evil [5].

[Refplace]

I would say it depends on the utility.
If being Evil or Good is a 0 point feature than I might go with a perk and add Switchable for 2 points.
Or buy Switchable on Supernatural Features.
If it is a more powerful ability in the setting than more expensive options as below would work.
The AF build works too.
I thought the Elastic Skin build was a great and original idea though.

[Anthony]

It's an unfortunate problem with how GURPS handles senses that countermeasures against exotic senses are undefined. I'd generally say that it's a perk plus a successful Acting roll vs your opponent's sense (or Empathy).

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Anthony

It's an unfortunate problem with how GURPS handles senses that countermeasures against exotic senses are undefined. I'd generally say that it's a perk plus a successful Acting roll vs your opponent's sense (or Empathy).

Wait! that gives me an idea!

Immunity (Alignment Detection, cosmic: can fool sense +100%)

hmm. I'm not entirely happy with the cosmic part. Perhaps just immunity and a perk that lets you be detected as what you want?

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Wait! that gives me an idea!

Immunity (Alignment Detection, cosmic: can fool sense +100%)

hmm. I'm not entirely happy with the cosmic part. Perhaps just immunity and a perk that lets you be detected as what you want?

Immunity only works against resistible effects. Senses are not generally resistible.

[Railstar]

Pyramid 3/50, Dark Summonings, Deceptive or Secret Aura is a Perk. You can take multiple auras with additional perks if you want to be able to change the aura.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Anthony

It's an unfortunate problem with how GURPS handles senses that countermeasures against exotic senses are undefined. I'd generally say that it's a perk plus a successful Acting roll vs your opponent's sense (or Empathy).

That's a little too generous I think given the power that being able to ping as evil at will gives you when there's magic that only works for you when you ping.