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Old 08-03-2020, 12:01 PM   #41
Coinage
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

I think I'll use a combination of factors that were mentioned earlier.
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Old 08-03-2020, 01:25 PM   #42
Prince Charon
 
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Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

If you have GURPS Psionic Powers, the Skeptic perk (p24, in the Anti-Psi Perks text box) works pretty well for this: the more people who have the perk observing you, the harder it is to use the abilities that the perk opposes. In Psionic Powers, naturally, that's 'all psi abilities,' but having it affect 'all magical abilities' or 'all supernatural abilities' instead is a perfectly acceptable setting switch. Make the perk very common, or make it a 0-point Feature of mundane humanity, and you give the muggles a significant advantage, as well as making the Masquerade make a lot more sense (it's something I plan on using for my own Urban Fantasy settings).
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Old 08-03-2020, 05:08 PM   #43
Coinage
 
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Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

Thanks for the tip. Would it look something like:

Skeptic (Psionic Powers p. 24) with "Cosmic: All magical traits" or "Cosmic: All supernatural traits".
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Old 08-03-2020, 06:17 PM   #44
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coinage View Post
Thanks for the tip. Would it look something like:

Skeptic (Psionic Powers p. 24) with "Cosmic: All magical traits" or "Cosmic: All supernatural traits".
You can't put modifiers on a perk.
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Old 08-03-2020, 06:24 PM   #45
Coinage
 
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Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

Sorry about that. I was just spitballing. I didn't have Psionic Powers on hand.
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Old 08-04-2020, 09:07 AM   #46
arcanus
 
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Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

I like the idea of a combination 'Skeptic' and elements of 'Mundane' as a zero point advantage.

I've always worked on there being two types of Muggle/Mundane - Aware and Unaware.

Aware - Have a dressed down version of Illuminated and are able to see or believe aspects or fragments of Magic or the Supernatural, typically your small government agencies who are scratching the surface, mediums, hunters or those coming to full conciousness or going mad. They would have low levels of Skeptic.

Unaware - Are the majority of the mundane population blissfully unware with higher levels of Skeptic that becomes more powerful in numbers.

I always thought Paradox in WOD was a little too heavy handed, so I like the idea of unconcious Counterspelling or resistance (Aggressive Mundanality) brought about by weight of numbers.

Provides some good horror hooks where a lone unaware is vulnerable to magic or supernatural predation (even if they don't understand the source) whilst 10 20 or more folks folks and the modifiers or resistance rolls get hefty.

A previous poster also mentioned folk charms and protections such as salt, iron, bells ringing, Elder Signs as being protective.

Depending on the setting if there are Aware groups (Government, Corporation, Church etc) they could have taken a leaf out of the Blade films or Shadowrun where they've researched modern scientific forms of the folk protections (garlic derivatives, resistant plants etc)
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Old 08-04-2020, 09:37 AM   #47
Mister Negative
 
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Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

The other thing that could balance the Muggle/Wizard dynamic is increased risk to wizards that muggles do not face at all.

Perhaps magical mishaps are much more common, or more serious when they occur? Maybe demons prefer to prey upon the Gifted much more than they do on mundanes? If 'environmental concerns' work against wizards, and muggles can ignore them, it will boost muggle survival.

One of the simplest may be mana. If normal levels of mana are NOT the norm, and most of the world is low mana, it will depress wizardly influence. You could even have 'ley lines' that are not streams of high mana, but the ONLY streams of normal mana in a low or even no mana world. Magical mishaps, or even magic use in general, could deplete local mana levels, as well. So areas would slowly become 'no-go' regions for wizards.
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Old 08-04-2020, 10:30 AM   #48
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

One of the useful aspects of GURPS is that mundane characters of the same point value can be quite dangers to supernatural creatures. Imagine a 500 CP campaign with a cinematic mundane. The cinematic mundane can easily purchase DX 20, Combat Reflexes, Craftiness 4, Gunslinger, Luck, Signature Gear (Sniper Rifle with Consumable Ammo), Stalker 4, Guns (Rifle)-30, and Stealth-30 for 340 CP, leaving 160 CP for everything else (plus points from negative traits). They are capable of outperforming most supernatural creatures without any issues, as they can deal massive damage from a distance while avoiding detection (they have better Stealth than most invisible creatures). In fact, most people will assume that they are supernatural creatures despite them having no supernatural (though very cinematic) abilities.
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Old 08-04-2020, 11:38 AM   #49
Coinage
 
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Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

Quote:
Originally Posted by arcanus View Post
I always thought Paradox in WOD was a little too heavy handed, so I like the idea of unconcious Counterspelling or resistance (Aggressive Mundanality) brought about by weight of numbers.
I do think that Paradox is necessary. Otherwise, if there is no immediate negative stimulus to using magic in open, then there would be no incentive to hide in the first place.

Quote:
Originally Posted by arcanus View Post
Depending on the setting if there are Aware groups (Government, Corporation, Church etc) they could have taken a leaf out of the Blade films or Shadowrun where they've researched modern scientific forms of the folk protections (garlic derivatives, resistant plants etc)
However, I do think the idea that the various muggles/normies using modern scientific forms of the folk protections is a neat idea.
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Old 08-04-2020, 12:12 PM   #50
Coinage
 
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Default Re: Muggle Power Ideas.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
One of the useful aspects of GURPS is that mundane characters of the same point value can be quite dangers to supernatural creatures. Imagine a 500 CP campaign with a cinematic mundane. The cinematic mundane can easily purchase DX 20, Combat Reflexes, Craftiness 4, Gunslinger, Luck, Signature Gear (Sniper Rifle with Consumable Ammo), Stalker 4, Guns (Rifle)-30, and Stealth-30 for 340 CP, leaving 160 CP for everything else (plus points from negative traits). They are capable of outperforming most supernatural creatures without any issues, as they can deal massive damage from a distance while avoiding detection (they have better Stealth than most invisible creatures). In fact, most people will assume that they are supernatural creatures despite them having no supernatural (though very cinematic) abilities.
I actually was thinking about that. I mentioned earlier of using the Archetypes and Avatars from Unknown Armies for Muggle/Normie characters. Basically, the more a character adheres to social norms (hence "normie"), the more kind of power they get. Unlike the more blatant supernaturals, the Muggles/Normies would get "good luck" powers, which means they get really good boosts to relevant skills, as well as more cinematic advantages. Basically, they would be like the real-life heroes Leon Major or Audie Murphy, still physiologically human, but have loads of luck, pluck, and skill.
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