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Old 04-17-2021, 08:59 PM   #1
oneofmanynameless
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: New Hampshire, USA
Default Acc: Only On (Low SM) Targets, for Binding

I'm trying to create an ability which is essentially an engulfing binding but only works on targets it can completely engulf and starts off only able to engulf things that could fit in the palm of the users hand. Then scales up in size as you level up the ability. I'm wondering how to do or price the "only on small objects" scaling accessibility. Any thoughts?
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Old 04-19-2021, 11:18 AM   #2
weby
 
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Default Re: Acc: Only On (Low SM) Targets, for Binding

It is really a question of how often it matters.

As in: How often is there a need in the current campaign to target small targets compared to all targets.

The raw gives very low savings as seen in Powers page 99 and I kind of disagree with it, as I think the reductions should be more than the table, as the GM will too often find ways to have other types of targets if some PC is too specialized.
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Old 04-19-2021, 11:52 AM   #3
Shuckster
 
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Default Re: Acc: Only On (Low SM) Targets, for Binding

"Palm Sized" is widely considered around 3 inches or so. Which counts as SM -8, so you could list this as "Accessibility: Targets of SM -8 or less only". Unless your character has larger than normal sized hands.

Since this means you won't be using this binding on anything bigger than the largest cockroach. However since normal human vision can't see anything SM -21 or smaller that would limit you further unless you had some appropriate vision advantage. So you could list it as "Targets of SM -8 to SM -20 only"
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Old 04-19-2021, 01:20 PM   #4
oneofmanynameless
 
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Default Re: Acc: Only On (Low SM) Targets, for Binding

Quote:
Originally Posted by weby View Post
It is really a question of how often it matters.

As in: How often is there a need in the current campaign to target small targets compared to all targets.

The raw gives very low savings as seen in Powers page 99 and I kind of disagree with it, as I think the reductions should be more than the table, as the GM will too often find ways to have other types of targets if some PC is too specialized.
I am the GM and I'm not trying to trick my players or beat them. They're the heroes of the story, imo. I just want to make it a good story with meaningful challenges that provide opportunities for them to shine, as well as for their weaknesses to come up in narratively important ways that don't immediately turn the story into a tragedy.

But that's true, how rare is it to be useful to target a very small object or being. Object is more relevant for this attack then being. I meant "palm sized" to be a bit bigger (sm -7 instead, more 'can be easily held within your hand' so 5 inchs diameter is what I was going off of [based on my hand size]), so rats and mice and other things like that can matter. It's mostly good at this point for safely acquiring specimens for study, such as one rat out of a horde of rats, or a hazardous material. Sometimes for securing objects you wouldn't want stolen, or wouldn't want people to be able to access easily if they did steal it.
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Old 04-19-2021, 01:44 PM   #5
Shuckster
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
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Default Re: Acc: Only On (Low SM) Targets, for Binding

So according to Template Toolkit II: Races, normal living creatures of SM -8 to -6 have 1 ST at most, so you could use that as the defining factor. A single level of binding would be equal to the effective ST of a -7 in terms of capturing them, but a SM -5 and up can have more than 1, so would therefor be more able to break free. This would mean that yeah, you could use the binding on something larger but all its going to do is toss a tiny net in their face, which will work as a distraction at best.

Another way to do this might be to go by creature weight as a rat on average weighs around 0.6 pounds, and ST 1 has a basic lift of 0.2, meaning that it would take your binding 3 seconds to reel in what it captures.

Basically though is this a power or is this a gadget?
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Old 04-19-2021, 02:51 PM   #6
weby
 
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Default Re: Acc: Only On (Low SM) Targets, for Binding

Quote:
Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless View Post
I am the GM and I'm not trying to trick my players or beat them. They're the heroes of the story, imo. I just want to make it a good story with meaningful challenges that provide opportunities for them to shine, as well as for their weaknesses to come up in narratively important ways that don't immediately turn the story into a tragedy.
I do not mean trick or such. But the fact that it is a GMs job to challenge the players and if they are too specialized a good way is to do something outside their specialization.

Thus the -20% for 50% usability or -40% for 1-6% just seems too low.

Quote:
But that's true, how rare is it to be useful to target a very small object or being. Object is more relevant for this attack then being. I meant "palm sized" to be a bit bigger (sm -7 instead, more 'can be easily held within your hand' so 5 inchs diameter is what I was going off of [based on my hand size]), so rats and mice and other things like that can matter. It's mostly good at this point for safely acquiring specimens for study, such as one rat out of a horde of rats, or a hazardous material. Sometimes for securing objects you wouldn't want stolen, or wouldn't want people to be able to access easily if they did steal it.

In that case I would just call it a perk most likely.
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