Dependency and Addiction

[ReyAlps]

I've used a mix of the rules to come up with Magical Dependencies:

1) Depends on Mental boosting Magic (-200 points)
Needs to be made, rare, Hard to find, can be costly if made by another (20 pts)
Needs ten hard skills as pre-requisites (10 pts)
Needs Sucess at a hard skill every time (10 pts)
Cost a lot of Fadigue (10 pts)
legal
Hourly x4 (damage of 1hp every 10 minutes without)

2)Depends on a Specific Magica cerimony (-180 points)
Expensive (10% +1%/each of normal starting Wealth) (30 pts)
Needs ten hard skills as pre-requisites (10 pts)
Needs Sucess at a hard skill every time (10 pts)
Costs a *LOT* of Fadigue (15 pts)
Causes a lot of damage (1d6 per ritual) (15pts)
Takes an Hour long ritual (10 pts)
Weekly (x2) (Damage of 1 HP every hour after)

3) Vampiric Magic Dependency (-165)
Needs to made, uncommon (15 ptos)
Needs ten hard skills as pre-requisites (10 pts)
Needs Sucess at a hard skill every time (10 pts)
Cost a lot of Fadigue (10 pts)
Ilegal (-10)
Daily (x3) (Damage 1hp every hour after)

What do you folks think of these values and calcs ? Any other sugestion on how to calc on these ?

Thx.

[dfinlay]

These are crazy high values, which suggests something is very very wrong. You are stacking things you probably shouldn't be stacking. IDHMBYM, but the following jumps out:

Needs 10 skills as prequisites is not worth 10 points. That's giving 10 skills for free. Most of the time, crafting something requires a success roll, so that should be assumed in the base dependancy costs. Costing a lot of FP does seem like an additional inconvenience, but that's part of why this is rare, hard to find or costly. Otherwise, a spell the player knows is super easy to find. As such, I'd call the first one just:

Needs to be made, rare, hard to find or costly [-20], Hourly (x4) for [-80].

That said, if the player has easy access tk the spell without a ton of downsides (gets it to low FP, powers it with Powerstone, etc, and can reliably cast it), it's no longer really rare, hard to find or costly for them and I would drop the value.

Similar analysis can be done for the others. Basically, while these are serious disadvantages, [-80] is a HUGE disadvantage already (look at other disadvantages that are [-50] or more: they're debilitating. These values are too large.

[ReyAlps]

You can see a similar disadvantage at GURPS Magic, in the Wraith description. It is a -150 points for the wraith to be linked to a specific item, probably something with high DR, value, and of easy safekeeping. It is not debilitating to the Wraith Character, it is only a nuiassance in the rules. If the character has a high tech steel hearth, he can probably ditch the same 150 points for it.

[Leynok]

Originally Posted by ReyAlps

You can see a similar disadvantage at GURPS Magic, in the Wraith description. It is a -150 points for the wraith to be linked to a specific item, probably something with high DR, value, and of easy safekeeping. It is not debilitating to the Wraith Character, it is only a nuiassance in the rules. If the character has a high tech steel hearth, he can probably ditch the same 150 points for it.

The Wraith Item isn't magically enforced or high DR by default, it enchants a ring or amulet, something that's rather easy to break if you want to. And if the item is taken from you? lost, stolen, whatever, you have a few minutes to find it before you're dead, oh and any point of damage you take while trying to get it back is a potential cut out of your timer. And if it's destroyed, well you're dead, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Using dfinlay's build the player gets 80 points back from one disadvantage. That is a huge disadvantage on it's own without giving it 150 or more back. Think about it, yes these Disadvantages are limiting, life threatening even, but are any of them equal to have taken Cursed 2 or 3 times? Right now, they seem to be roughly around Cursed's level, potential death around every corner unless you have the power and skill to avoid it. so -80 seems right.