02-17-2016, 09:29 AM | #1 | |
Join Date: Dec 2008
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Affliction: Luck and similar limited use abilities
I want to create a character which can bless people with the Luck advantage, giving them a future lucky break. The thing is, luck can only be used once per hour game time (or once per day real time). The affliction, by a literal reading, would give a new luck advantage each usage and thus could effectively be used an unlimited amount of times. This seems over-powered. I'm not sure what the appropriate way to deal with afflicting limited use abilities. Perhaps the affliction can only be used once per X or perhaps it should only be usable once per X on each target.
The other complicating factor is that this is intended to be a Sorcery spell, so then the question of limited use becomes even more complicated. According to what was stated here: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread...nate+abilities, if the affliction is disabled for the rest of the day, Sorcery probably should be as well. Quote:
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02-17-2016, 09:43 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Re: Affliction: Luck and similar limited use abilities
There are a few limiting factors.
First off, giving an advantage to someone that already has it doesn't really do anything. So if you afflict Luck to someone that already had it or was previous afflicted (even running out the timer from a prior use), it wouldn't help them again. Second, when you're giving an advantage typically the usage of a transient ability is under the control of the giver. Luck used in that manner would require the giver to pay attention and then wisely use it. Third, it's not an automatic success. It's possible to fail or have the duration run out. It's just better to pay full price for some advantages. Forth, being the party enhancer kinda sucks even if everyone else likes it. |
02-17-2016, 09:48 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Oct 2008
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Re: Affliction: Luck and similar limited use abilities
Definitely not sure how RAW is but in my own game I have a lot of modified luck abilities so I had to make up how they work for me.
First change: The luck timer is universal for the character and additional levels of luck only modify the time until luck is again available. Different levels of luck can have different modifiers. The second change: Luck is a leveled advantage at 15 points/level. I use longer time increments than standard, but in time unit standard that would cause a level of luck at 45 points, likely 20 minutes timer. Person 1: No luck: Cannot normally use luck. Person 2 with luck 1(15 point normal) and extra level of active luck(+9 points): They can use the luck in active manner and get the next use in half an hour(2 levels=30 minutes) Or they can roll afterwards and thus only benefit from the full luck giving next luck use in 1 hour. Both are hit by a power granting +1 level luck. Person 1: Can now use luck for the duration of the power, and even if they are hit by the power again, cannot use luck until that one real world hour is gone. Person 2: While the power is active: They can use the luck in active manner and get the next use in 20 minutes (3 levels) Or they can roll afterwards and thus only benefit from the full luck+the extra luck giving next luck use in 30 minutes. So in my way the actual power granting the ability is in no way blocked, but would have no effect until the recipients luck timer runs out. Also of note: A few of the powers I have are with Cosmic: +100% separate timer. That start a second luck timer that is independent of the normal luck timer, but is affected by it's own timer for future uses. |
02-17-2016, 10:17 AM | #4 | ||||
Join Date: Dec 2008
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Re: Affliction: Luck and similar limited use abilities
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Except this is paying full price (actually more than). This is not intended as a cheap way to get Luck (also note that I am the GM). The ability I am trying to model is an ability to grant people blessings. Additionally, a beneficial affliction actually costs more than the underlying advantage (as it should). Quote:
This seems like a reasonable approach. If no better suggestions or rulings come up, I might go with it. |
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02-17-2016, 10:19 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Feb 2014
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Re: Affliction: Luck and similar limited use abilities
This is a matter of opinion, and one I disagree with. I played a character with godlike visualization (affects others, reduced time, etc), and it's great fun for those who enjoy battlefield control. It's kind of like being the party flyer; if you can spend just a little more to be the air-bus, then it's more than worth it.
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02-17-2016, 12:28 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Affliction: Luck and similar limited use abilities
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02-17-2016, 12:31 PM | #7 |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ellicott City, MD
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Re: Affliction: Luck and similar limited use abilities
1. I'd probably use Serendipity instead of Luck, so that things just happen to go their way once.
2. I'd put an Accessibility on the Affliction itself, giving 1 shot per target per day. Worth more of a discount if failure incurs the "once per day" limitation. |
02-17-2016, 01:22 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dobbstown Sane Asylum
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Re: Affliction: Luck and similar limited use abilities
Please see the Inspired Creation spell, which addresses how afflicted Luck works. Basically, the Luck that makes up your Affliction (Luck) is considered to be a single copy for the purpose of reset time. That's why Inspired Creation, which includes one level of modified Super Luck, can only be cast once per day. (The "per day" is due to the Game Time enhancement; without that, Inspired Creation would be usable once per session.)
So if you have Affliction 1 (Advantage, Luck, +150%) and you zap someone with it, and they use Luck, your buff becomes effectively useless for one hour of game time. (Technically, you can still zap someone else with it, but their borrowed Luck isn't useful until an hour has passed.) To get around this, buy a higher level of Luck in your Advantage enhancement. Affliction 1 (Advantage, Ridiculous Luck, +600%) would be useful every 10 minutes. As to who has control of the afflicted Luck trait, that's really less of an issue than it seems, because Luck is a metagame trait, handled at the player level, not at the character level. Your PC doesn't say "I choose to use my Luck!" -- the player invokes it and the PC just happens to get lucky. If you want to say that the buffer's player has veto power over how the buffee's player uses Luck (i.e., ruling that the level of PC control over afflicted advantages translates to a level of player control), you can, but that's getting a bit meta-on-meta.
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02-17-2016, 02:16 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Dec 2008
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Re: Affliction: Luck and similar limited use abilities
Awesome. Thanks for the ruling PK. I had somehow missed that Inspired Creation did this, having skimmed through it quite quickly and registered it as "bonus to crafting things spell".
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affliction, limited use, luck, sorcery |
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