[Fantasy] Limitations on Appearance

Valadrim · 11-22-2011, 08:17 PM

Appearance only works intra-racially.

For a campaign that I am working on I am going to have elves and humans possess a feature which allows appearance to work between them.

Everyone else would have their own appearance traits that do not cross-apply.

For my very human-centric game how much should a Dwarven limitation on appearance be? If I assume that Dwarves will account for no more than 5% of significant NPCs (Merchants to haggle with, guards to bribe, Kings to murder) what sort of discount should I give Dwarven PCs on appearance considering the small number of times they will get to use it?

Basic set suggests 30-40% for accessibility, aliens; but I wonder if a larger discount seems more appropriate, perhaps -60% or even -80%. I know that only being useful for your own race without a limitation is the RAW, but since anyone playing a Dwarf in this game will be very much a fish out of water, it seems appropriate.

lexington · 11-22-2011, 08:57 PM

Powers says that if the ability would work about 5% of the time go with a -40% limitation.

Valadrim · 11-22-2011, 09:50 PM

Thanks! It is always great to get a quick and clear response.

Dinadon · 11-23-2011, 04:52 AM

As stated in Social Engineering, all races have a racial appearance based on the Reference Society (i.e. humans). If this amounts to actual levels of Appearance this goes on their Racial Template at normal cost. A member of a race may also have an personal Appearance level. This is brought at normal cost, ignoring any levels of racial appearance (i.e. buying Attractive for yourself always costs 4 points irrespective of how attractive the Reference Society thinks your race is).

The bonuses from personal and racial Appearance never apply at the same time, unless one of them has the Universal modifier. Members of your race react to you with your personal modifier, members of the Reference Society react to you based on your racial modifier. Other races may use the personal modifier if they are considered similar, but most will probably use the racial modifier unless the GM decides upon something else for a particular race.

joppeknol · 11-23-2011, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dinadon

As stated in Social Engineering, all races have a racial appearance based on the Reference Society (i.e. humans). If this amounts to actual levels of Appearance this goes on their Racial Template at normal cost. A member of a race may also have an personal Appearance level. This is brought at normal cost, ignoring any levels of racial appearance (i.e. buying Attractive for yourself always costs 4 points irrespective of how attractive the Reference Society thinks your race is).

What's the rationale behind that? If I play a beautiful orc (for orcish standards) and my sexy tusks only work on other orcs, why doesn't it apply for the -40% modifier, given that my orc hardly ever meets other orcs?

I don't have Social Engineering, so the answer: 'Go buy SE and read that' is a correct one.

11-22-2011, 08:17 PM	#1
Valadrim Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bremerton, WA	[Fantasy] Limitations on Appearance Appearance only works intra-racially. For a campaign that I am working on I am going to have elves and humans possess a feature which allows appearance to work between them. Everyone else would have their own appearance traits that do not cross-apply. For my very human-centric game how much should a Dwarven limitation on appearance be? If I assume that Dwarves will account for no more than 5% of significant NPCs (Merchants to haggle with, guards to bribe, Kings to murder) what sort of discount should I give Dwarven PCs on appearance considering the small number of times they will get to use it? Basic set suggests 30-40% for accessibility, aliens; but I wonder if a larger discount seems more appropriate, perhaps -60% or even -80%. I know that only being useful for your own race without a limitation is the RAW, but since anyone playing a Dwarf in this game will be very much a fish out of water, it seems appropriate.

11-22-2011, 08:57 PM	#2
lexington Join Date: Jan 2010	Re: [Fantasy] Limitations on Appearance Powers says that if the ability would work about 5% of the time go with a -40% limitation.

11-22-2011, 09:50 PM	#3
Valadrim Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bremerton, WA	Re: [Fantasy] Limitations on Appearance Thanks! It is always great to get a quick and clear response.

11-23-2011, 04:52 AM	#4
Dinadon Join Date: Aug 2007	Re: [Fantasy] Limitations on Appearance As stated in Social Engineering, all races have a racial appearance based on the Reference Society (i.e. humans). If this amounts to actual levels of Appearance this goes on their Racial Template at normal cost. A member of a race may also have an personal Appearance level. This is brought at normal cost, ignoring any levels of racial appearance (i.e. buying Attractive for yourself always costs 4 points irrespective of how attractive the Reference Society thinks your race is). The bonuses from personal and racial Appearance never apply at the same time, unless one of them has the Universal modifier. Members of your race react to you with your personal modifier, members of the Reference Society react to you based on your racial modifier. Other races may use the personal modifier if they are considered similar, but most will probably use the racial modifier unless the GM decides upon something else for a particular race.