05-13-2018, 09:13 AM | #1 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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[Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
I'm playing in a 1930s horror campaign (not Cthulhu) where the characters started with no extraordinary abilities, apart from the ability to perceive magic as a glow, without knowing what it was. They have now learned enough about the secret magic of the setting to start buying magical abilities, via magic as powers.
They are having to buy them out of awarded experience, usually 3 points per session, so buying things in small increments is very desirable, and Alternative Abilities are attractive. The Sorcery system is not so practical, because you need to spend quite a lot up-front on its enabling advantages. My character is trying to invest in healing and related abilities, but I have run into a problem. If you take Healing [30], Injuries Only -20% [24], and Healing [30], Diseases Only -40% [18], as an Alternative Ability [4], you end up having paid only 28 points for something that's as good as regular Healing. The actual builds have a lot more limitations, but this is the essence of the problem. I haven't been able to find a sensible way around this. Any suggestions?
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The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques. |
05-13-2018, 10:23 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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Re: [Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
I think the core problem here is trying to take what's actually one advantage (Healing) as two different advantages and make them Alternate Abilities of each other. I don't think that's the intended use, and is always going to have problems.
If it was just Injuries Only and Diseases Only involved, I'd have the player buy Healing with one first (probably Diseases Only, since it's cheaper), then have them slowly buy off the limitation for Diseases Only, until they have full-on Healing. You can do this in "stages" by using Either/Or limitations, by the way. For example, you can start with just Diseases Only, -40%. Then, build it with Either Diseases Only or Capped, 2 FP + Empathic (which together are worth -75%). That works out to -30% total, and means that the character can cure diseases all right, but if they try to heal injuries, they can only spend 2 FP total, and suffer the wounds themselves. Then, you can progressively reduce the limitation value of Capped in the above build, which in turn reduces the total Either/Or build's limitation value. Eventually, the player can buy it off completely, learning how to get around the restrictions completely. Now, if you're totally fixed on using Alternate Abilities, I'd suggest to use the Disease Only version of Healing, and make the injury healing part based on Regeneration, in an Affliction build. Afflicting Regeneration is a pretty good substitute for injury healing, and it won't run into the problem of trying to make something an Alternate Ability to itself. |
05-13-2018, 10:32 AM | #3 | |
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Luxembourg
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Re: [Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
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05-13-2018, 10:46 AM | #4 | |||
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: [Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
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Let me try a different idea....
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The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques. |
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05-13-2018, 11:06 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: [Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
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Healing [30], plus Healing (Self Only, +0%) as an AltAb [6]. Total cost of 36, compared to Healing (Affects Self, +50%) [45]. That indicates to me that there's a problem with such builds. Alternative Ability applied to differently modified versions of the same advantage looks like the troublemaker. |
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05-13-2018, 11:09 AM | #6 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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Re: [Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
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In this case, one package would be Disease Only and Affects Self, for a total of +10%. If the other set was, say, Reduced Fatigue Cost 1, Reliable 1, and Injuries Only, that would work out to +5%, divided by 5 to only 1%. So you'd end up with a net +11% enhancement on Healing. Would something like that work? |
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05-13-2018, 11:23 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: [Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
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I offer the following ideas. Alternative Enhancements on Afflictions is REALLY handy and in most cases better than AA for them. I dont understand why Affliction (Regeneration) is bad here, its a fire and forget ability, or is that because of those other limitations? See Sorcery for support if your not sure. You do need to enhance the duration though. Finally how about Power Stunts and Abilities at Default? Use Thaumatology as a skill instead of Will. A bit FP heavy but cheaper for a variety of abilities.
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My GURPS publications GURPS Powers: Totem and Nature Spirits; GURPS Template Toolkit 4: Spirits; Pyramid articles. Buying them lets us know you want more! My GURPS fan contribution and blog: REFPLace GURPS Landing Page My List of GURPS You Tube videos (plus a few other useful items) My GURPS Wiki entries |
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05-13-2018, 11:30 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: [Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
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I wanted to support this though. I use Afflictions the same way and actually have an example build with 2 packages. Package 1 Affliction effect granted. Package 2 Mixed levels of Malediction and Increased Duration or Area or Trigger. This allows mixing things up quite a bit.
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My GURPS publications GURPS Powers: Totem and Nature Spirits; GURPS Template Toolkit 4: Spirits; Pyramid articles. Buying them lets us know you want more! My GURPS fan contribution and blog: REFPLace GURPS Landing Page My List of GURPS You Tube videos (plus a few other useful items) My GURPS Wiki entries |
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05-13-2018, 11:46 AM | #9 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: [Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
To be absolutely explicit, because everyone is missing it, I'm a player, not the GM.
Not in general, but there's an odd case here, as per the first post. There was a claim that AAs of the same basic power are wrong, but the workability of AAs of Afflictions are evidence that isn't always true. However, I am not keen on using Affliction builds for healing powers because of the cost. I'm trying to build something useful out of very few points, because it's coming out of per-session experience, rather than at character generation. That means I'm going to have to accept limitations on its flexibility. My current version is to have two separately modified versions of Healing, that are quite separate: Diseases: Healing [30], Affects Self +50%, Magical -10%, Diseases Only -40%, Immediate Preparation Required, 1 minute (time for basic treatment), -30%, Triggering substance, Common (Woundwort and first aid kit) -20%, 4/day -20%, net cost [9]. When used to cure disease, the subject still has to recover from the symptoms. Healing hit point damage done by the disease works, but doesn’t wipe away symptoms. Regeneration (Slow), Magical -10% , [9], as an AA of Diseases [2]. These are both abilities that affect the character that has them. Injuries: Healing [30], Magical -10%, Injuries Only -20%, Immediate Preparation Required, 1 minute (time for basic treatment), -30%, Triggering substance, Common (Woundwort and first aid kit) -20%, net cost [6]. Can stabilise a mortal wound, at a cost of 10FP.
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The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques. |
05-13-2018, 11:53 AM | #10 | |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
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Re: [Basic, Powers] Cost issue with Healing Alternative Abilities
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However on other Advantages, those that are deliberately used and won't ever need to be used simultaneously, yeah, doing this is a problem. |
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alternative ability, healing, magic as powers, powers |
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