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Old 05-30-2017, 12:32 PM   #1
Raekai
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Default A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

Hey, guys.

This question is a bit more abstract. I want a power that my spirits can have that makes people see them as they want to see them. These are spirits of death. These guys are unaffiliated, but mortals may perceive them as angels, as Valkyries, or as the Grim Reaper if that's what the mortal believes will come for them. If they don't believe in anything, then these spirits should just be invisible. Now, it makes me think of the Appearance advantage with the Glamour modifier. But I don't know if I can do negative Appearance with that modifier. Or if I should throw in Terror. Or how to make it so that mortals see the spirits as they believe they see them. Is that a Trigger limitation? Or an Accessibility limitation? I'm not sure.

Thanks.
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Old 05-30-2017, 12:40 PM   #2
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Default Re: A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

Well...since it could be positive or it could be negative...I'd probably not stat it at all, just describe what the effect is and leave it at that.
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Old 05-30-2017, 12:46 PM   #3
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Default Re: A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

Quote:
Originally Posted by trooper6 View Post
Well...since it could be positive or it could be negative...I'd probably not stat it at all, just describe what the effect is and leave it at that.
That's not very reasonable. A Reputation that is a -4 penalty with some groups and +4 penalty with some groups is a very notable part of a character and should certainly be written down on the character sheet, even if the sum of the costs comes to 0 points.

I'd call this Social Regard (Feared) with an interesting in-setting justification. If the GM desires, add Glamour to it, so that it's possible to resist it.

The fact that some people will not have beliefs that give a positve reaction is pretty standard for Social Regard, which will rarely (if ever) be universal, there are always some NPCs who aren't affected by a given social trait. If this is a large group, add a Limitation to Social Regard.

For the invisibility, that's Invisibility with Accessibility, I should think. Or maybe they are not invisible, just inconspicious, in which case I'd use limited Obscure.
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Old 05-30-2017, 01:19 PM   #4
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Default Re: A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

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Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
That's not very reasonable. A Reputation that is a -4 penalty with some groups and +4 penalty with some groups is a very notable part of a character and should certainly be written down on the character sheet, even if the sum of the costs comes to 0 points.
A power only needs to be written down if it is for a PC. If it is for an NPC, then it doesn't need to be stated out.
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Old 05-30-2017, 02:12 PM   #5
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Default Re: A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

You're looking at something akin to a Babylon 5 Vorlon who has left his environment suit appears, right? Humans see it as a Human angel, Minbari as a Minbari-type angel, Narns as a Narn-type, Centauri as a Centauri-type, etc.?

I'd start with "Elastic Skin (Glamour (Will-5), -5%; Accessibility: Conforms To Expectations of Viewers, -10%)" as a base. Not sure what else would be needed.

I would also give it a single Modular Ability slot which would have Terror (for the Grim Reaper), Terror (Awe) (for angels or Valkyries), or some other similar trait.

Their Appearance should also bounce between Transcendent (for angels), Very Beautiful (for Valkyries), Average or Unattractive (for Charon), Monstrous (for the Grim Reaper), and Horrific (for "demons coming to consume your soul"); not really sure how this kind of sliding Appearance would be stated.
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Last edited by Phantasm; 05-30-2017 at 02:19 PM.
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Old 05-30-2017, 10:04 PM   #6
Raekai
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Default Re: A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
That's not very reasonable. A Reputation that is a -4 penalty with some groups and +4 penalty with some groups is a very notable part of a character and should certainly be written down on the character sheet, even if the sum of the costs comes to 0 points.

I'd call this Social Regard (Feared) with an interesting in-setting justification. If the GM desires, add Glamour to it, so that it's possible to resist it.

The fact that some people will not have beliefs that give a positve reaction is pretty standard for Social Regard, which will rarely (if ever) be universal, there are always some NPCs who aren't affected by a given social trait. If this is a large group, add a Limitation to Social Regard.

For the invisibility, that's Invisibility with Accessibility, I should think. Or maybe they are not invisible, just inconspicious, in which case I'd use limited Obscure.
Social Regard (Feared) is a good one. I realized that a negative Appearance could maybe be the Controllable Disadvantage perk. And I like the idea of using Obscure instead, so I'll go with that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantasm View Post
You're looking at something akin to a Babylon 5 Vorlon who has left his environment suit appears, right? Humans see it as a Human angel, Minbari as a Minbari-type angel, Narns as a Narn-type, Centauri as a Centauri-type, etc.?

I'd start with "Elastic Skin (Glamour (Will-5), -5%; Accessibility: Conforms To Expectations of Viewers, -10%)" as a base. Not sure what else would be needed.

I would also give it a single Modular Ability slot which would have Terror (for the Grim Reaper), Terror (Awe) (for angels or Valkyries), or some other similar trait.

Their Appearance should also bounce between Transcendent (for angels), Very Beautiful (for Valkyries), Average or Unattractive (for Charon), Monstrous (for the Grim Reaper), and Horrific (for "demons coming to consume your soul"); not really sure how this kind of sliding Appearance would be stated.
Elastic Skin is also a good one to have. I like that. I also like the idea of having it as a Modular Ability. I'll take these ideas and try to do a write-up tomorrow for some more feedback.
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Old 05-30-2017, 10:27 PM   #7
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Default Re: A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Raekai View Post
Hey, guys.

This question is a bit more abstract. I want a power that my spirits can have that makes people see them as they want to see them. These are spirits of death. These guys are unaffiliated, but mortals may perceive them as angels, as Valkyries, or as the Grim Reaper if that's what the mortal believes will come for them. If they don't believe in anything, then these spirits should just be invisible. Now, it makes me think of the Appearance advantage with the Glamour modifier. But I don't know if I can do negative Appearance with that modifier. Or if I should throw in Terror. Or how to make it so that mortals see the spirits as they believe they see them. Is that a Trigger limitation? Or an Accessibility limitation? I'm not sure.

Thanks.
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Old 05-31-2017, 07:46 PM   #8
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Default Re: A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

Mind Probe (Alternative Ability to Morph, ×1/5; Accessibility, One question, -50%; Accessibility, Only for those who view death as such, -20%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -10%; Costs Hit Points, 1 HP, -15%; Glamour, Will-5, -5%; Magical, -10%; Requires Will Roll, -5%; Universal, +50%) [2].

Mind Reading (Alternative Ability to Morph, ×1/5; Accessibility, One question, -50%; Accessibility, Only for those who view death as such, -20%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -10%; Costs Hit Points, 1 HP, -15%; Glamour, Will-5, -5%; Magical, -10%; Requires Will Roll, -5%; Universal, +50%) [2].

Morph (Accessibility, Deathly forms only, -10%; Cannot Memorize Forms, -50%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -10%; Costs Hit Points, 1 HP, -15%; Extra Morphing Capacity, 100 points, +90; Magical, -10%; Requires Will Roll, -5%) [110].

Valkyrie
100 points
Advantages: Appearance (Beautiful) [12]; Terror (Awe; Will-5; Always On, -20%) [64]; Flight (Winged, -25%) [30].
Disadvantages: Intolerance (Cowards) [-5].
Quirks: Loves a good fight [-1].

Something like this? Obviously, the Valkyrie template could use work, but I won't actually be using Valkyries. And I'm using Multiplicative Multipliers above as well as some of PK's House Rules for Costs Fatigue and Costs Hit Points, but that should all be about right. And some of the modifiers are extra because this is fitting in with my magic system as well.
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Old 05-31-2017, 09:06 PM   #9
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Default Re: A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

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Morph (Accessibility, Deathly forms only, -10%; Cannot Memorize Forms, -50%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -10%; Costs Hit Points, 1 HP, -15%; Extra Morphing Capacity, 100 points, +90; Magical, -10%; Requires Will Roll, -5%) [110].
Not have time to look up and figure out if the mental abilities work for this goal but I wanted to call on Morph.
Limitations really only go on the base power not the pool. Also you dont get the 90% break on Morph that you do for Alternate Form.
Personally I would just go with Elastic Skin here. It is a lot cheaper unless you want special powers based on the perceived form. For that Modular Abilities might be cheaper, depends on how many different forms are possible.
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Old 05-31-2017, 09:11 PM   #10
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Default Re: A power to make others see you as they want to see you?

Do they physically change into whatever the person perceives them, or do they just "appear" that way. If it's the latter, have you considered doing a Mind Read as mentioned, and then following it up with Illusion?
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