05-01-2022, 02:14 PM | #1 |
Join Date: May 2010
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What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
I'm puzzled by the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse, found in Horror and Template Toolkit 2. I don't see anything about Diffuse in general, or Diffuse (Body of Swarm) more specifically, that suggests it includes traits like No Legs or No Manipulators. Based on that, I would have assumed that by default Diffuse beings are still humanoid. This is certainly how things like elementals are frequently portrayed in fiction. I can see write-ups being sloppy about including No Fine Manipulators or No Manipulators on ST 0 elementals, but some Diffuse elemental beings have positive ST (particularly water elementals, as well as earth elementals that aren't Homogenous). So what's going on here? I see three posibilities:
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Handle is a character from the Star*Drive setting (a.k.a. d20 Future), not my real name. |
05-01-2022, 05:36 PM | #2 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2018
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Re: What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
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As far as I can tell, the +50% enhancement just makes this enhancement toggleable. You should already be able to do this with the +10% enhancement Selectivity though, so I don't get the point either. Instead of a toggleable enhancement (switching between humanoid and swarm) maybe it means a "best of both worlds" thing where you can do everything a human does while still getting whatever benefits Swarm gives? I'm not sure I understand what benefits this +0% and +40% version of Body of Swarm give compared to Powers 53's +80%/+160% "Swarm" enhancements though. The enhancements' similarity in names confuse me and I'd like to see some renaming done. Ideally each % differentce has a unique name more tailored to what it does. +40% for cockroach/gnats mention "with full Infiltration" so I guess that's what it references, but Infiltration +40% is already a distinct enhancement here "dispersed by injury equal to your HP" is basically a drawback, so what is the benefit which makes it 0% ? B461 mentions hits are automatic (no attack or defense rolls) which is great if the swarm is attacking, but that works both ways (swarms don't get defense rolls) so I don't really know if it's necessarily a net benefit |
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05-01-2022, 05:53 PM | #3 |
Join Date: May 2010
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Re: What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
This is a good catch but for me it raises more questions than it answers. What's the point value of removing this ability? Or replacing it with something like 1 toxic damage / second, for stinging animals?
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Handle is a character from the Star*Drive setting (a.k.a. d20 Future), not my real name. |
05-02-2022, 04:26 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Yukon, OK
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Re: What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
Well the Body of Swarm enhancement does specify made up of a bunch of tiny creatures. Also it includes Infiltration which has some specifications of its own such as not being able to shapeshift, stretch abnormally, or sprout new body parts. Not that those are all lower case so not referring to the advantages.
As a tiny creature you can defiantly have legs and manipulators - though being able to manipulate anything requires a higher enhancement. So I would say it is perhaps a bit hefty at +50% [50] to disguise yourself in a limited way but that seems the intent. By comparison Morph, Cosmetic, -50% is also 50 points and much better at disguise.
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05-02-2022, 05:20 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
The way that I would look at this is not that "you turn diffuse [but still humanoid], and then you choose to have your diffuse form be a swarm of tiny creatures." It's "you turn into a swarm [as described in the Basic Set], and the properties of swarms can be seen as game mechanically similar to a being that is Diffuse or Insubstantial [depending on how scattered you are]." As a swarm you already look like a huge clump of tiny creatures. Your natural state is that of a roughly circular or elliptical patch of mice or ants or whatever, or a roughly spherical or ellipsoidal mass of flying creatures; the enhancement lets you keep the properties of a swarm (including being effectively Diffuse or Insubstantial) but have enough coordination and cohesion to turn yourself into a humanoid shape (or some other shape, if your starting point is a nonhumanoid body plan—say, a swarm that looks like a huge centaur or spider or helicopter).
This suggests an interesting variation: what if you're a swarm that can take on a humanoid but quasi-two-dimensional shape by adhering to a surface? This might be modeled as having effectively neither Diffuse nor Insubstantial but Shadow Form. It would probably be less of an enhancement than full on humanoid form.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
05-02-2022, 08:01 AM | #6 | ||
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Re: What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
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Does "Human Form" is allowing you to interact normally while spread out as a swarm? Otherwise, it doesn't seem necessary if you just have Diffuse with or without infiltration. Quote:
Last edited by naloth; 05-02-2022 at 08:05 AM. |
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05-02-2022, 08:38 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: May 2010
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Re: What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
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As for how Body of Swarm does work, if you took the host of flies from TT2 p. 48 and replaced the Affliction with Toxic Attack 1 (Melee, Reach C, -30%) [1], would it work exactly like the swarm of bees described in Basic Set p. 461? Or would you need to make further changes?
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Handle is a character from the Star*Drive setting (a.k.a. d20 Future), not my real name. |
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05-02-2022, 08:56 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
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In effect, there are certain body forms, such as humanoid, avian, serpentine, or hexapod, each of which includes certain limbs and postures and such; and "swarm" is another body form, one that includes being made up of a lot of tiny pieces. Having that last body form implies being "diffuse" or "insubstantial" and thus can be defined ruleswise as a variant on Diffuse. But it has its own distinctive content, even if that doesn't change the point cost. That's why I made Body of Swarm a zero-point feature in Template Toolkit 2. See pp. 12, 14-15, and 43 in that book.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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05-02-2022, 10:21 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
GURPS has a bad habit of assuming that GMs and players can read the designer's mind. If Swarm is meant to have all of these side effects, it should say so in the description of the enhancement.
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05-02-2022, 11:11 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Re: What does the Humanoid Form enhancement for Diffuse actually do?
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"Body of Swarm" would make a good meta-trait that includes all of those effects. |
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