(RPM) Giving yourself options in combat

[Langy]

Harry's a very high-point-value character; it shouldn't be too surprising that some of his abilities are likewise expensive.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Refplace

As for harry, that is an Heirloom if I recall correctly. Only saw the tv series, not read the books yet. It was from his mother so its an heirloom and from what was purported to be a very powerful Witch.
That and its rarity and relative power indicate a high point cost is appropriate. It is not something everyone seems to have.

In the book he builds it. I can't remember if its based around an heirloom or not, but he certainly enchants it himself rather than having one with innate qualities.

Other WIZARDS have them in the series. We don't see many sorcerers in combat though, and many of those aren't human and so just take or dodge the damage rather than using shield. The shields all seem to be unique though.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by ericthered

In the book he builds it. I can't remember if its based around an heirloom or not, but he certainly enchants it himself rather than having one with innate qualities.

Other WIZARDS have them in the series. We don't see many sorcerers in combat though, and many of those aren't human and so just take or dodge the damage rather than using shield. The shields all seem to be unique though.

Yup. I'd also like to point out that Harry is a "magical thug" (a fact he admits himself). He has very little fine control but he can dump power into a spell like few other wizards his age (and a few that aren't!). This tells me he probably has a ton of Magery and/or Energy Reserve but not much in Path skills.

[Engurrand]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Yup. I'd also like to point out that Harry is a "magical thug" (a fact he admits himself). He has very little fine control but he can dump power into a spell like few other wizards his age (and a few that aren't!). This tells me he probably has a ton of Magery and/or Energy Reserve but not much in Path skills.

That sounds about right. Though his energy and magic paths are both pretty good. His blasting rod is either an awesome traditional trappings efficiency bonus on his fire magic (what he claims) or an innate attack with gadget limitations, which he powers from RPM ER... I guess. That's not rules legal though. Hm, that begs the question: What would you charge for the Costs FP limitation where FP is RPM Energy?

The shields exist to support a limited version of the "Guns Are Worthless" trope. In real life, and in GURPS there is a huge disparity between the cost of an assault rifle and the cost to resist an assault rifle. To address this, all the important characters have some variant of bullet resistance. For the squishy "human" wizard characters, this means magic shields, which are more expensive in RPM then you can really do without increasing the cost of the "Wizard" template.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Engurrand

That sounds about right. Though his energy and magic paths are both pretty good. His blasting rod is either an awesome traditional trappings efficiency bonus on his fire magic (what he claims) or an innate attack with gadget limitations, which he powers from RPM ER... I guess.

Why make it cost anything at all? In my campaigns I just use Energy Reserve (Magic) and have the required cost come directly from it. If you're really trying to correlate FP to RPM energy you can use 3 FP per +1 energy (which is what is listed under the Tapping Energy Sources in Monster Hunters 1 p. 36). But I wouldn't. That way lies madness.

Originally Posted by Engurrand

That's not rules legal though. Hm, that begs the question: What would you charge for the Costs FP limitation where FP is RPM Energy?

MADNESSSSSS!!!!! ;-)

Originally Posted by Engurrand

The shields exist to support a limited version of the "Guns Are Worthless" trope. In real life, and in GURPS there is a huge disparity between the cost of an assault rifle and the cost to resist an assault rifle. To address this, all the important characters have some variant of bullet resistance. For the squishy "human" wizard characters, this means magic shields, which are more expensive in RPM then you can really do without increasing the cost of the "Wizard" template.

True enough which means if you are running such a game you should consider giving extra points for all characters to purchase such capabilities. "Okay everyone we're playing 200 points characters with 50 points spent on X, Y, and Z traits."

[Engurrand]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Why make it cost anything at all? In my campaigns I just use Energy Reserve (Magic) and have the required cost come directly from it. If you're really trying to correlate FP to RPM energy you can use 3 FP per +1 energy (which is what is listed under the Tapping Energy Sources in Monster Hunters 1 p. 36). But I wouldn't. That way lies madness.

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

MADNESSSSSS!!!!! ;-)

Lol! It's not really madness though, if you're talking about using RPM as a prereq for purchasing gadget limited powers, permanently, with CP. Such powers could logically run on RPM energy when normal "fp or er" costs would apply.

1 RPM energy counts as 3 FP for such purposes would be powerful. I'd invert it - 3 RPM energy per 1 FP.

The HP and FP sacrifice ratio seems odd to me. Why so steep? An ordinary person gets about 3 energy for doing 6 HP of damage to a limb? 3 Energy seems rather low for lopping off a hand!

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

True enough which means if you are running such a game you should consider giving extra points for all characters to purchase such capabilities. "Okay everyone we're playing 200 points characters with 50 points spent on X, Y, and Z traits."

I concur. Though my GM gave no such consideration, so I'm left seeking to hack it with existing CP.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Engurrand

Lol! It's not really madness though, if you're talking about using RPM as a prereq for purchasing gadget limited powers, permanently, with CP. Such powers could logically run on RPM energy when normal "fp or er" costs would apply.

1 RPM energy counts as 3 FP for such purposes would be powerful. I'd invert it - 3 RPM energy per 1 FP.

The HP and FP sacrifice ratio seems odd to me. Why so steep? An ordinary person gets about 3 energy for doing 6 HP of damage to a limb? 3 Energy seems rather low for lopping off a hand!

The way I've heard PK explain it is that energy is sort of like refined magical power whereas HP and FP is unrefined so you have to have more of it. That's what I got from it anyways.

Originally Posted by Engurrand

I concur. Though my GM gave no such consideration, so I'm left seeking to hack it with existing CP.

How much is your budget? What rules are being used? Can I help?

[Engurrand]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

The way I've heard PK explain it is that energy is sort of like refined magical power whereas HP and FP is unrefined so you have to have more of it. That's what I got from it anyways.

Yeah I read it that way too. Meh. Your hand is worth more then 3 energy, is all I'm saying.

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

How much is your budget? What rules are being used? Can I help?

I appreciate the offer of assistance. We're basically using Monster Hunters as written, with Dresdenverse lenses. Wizards are the Witch template, which is pretty close to perfect. The problem is minor: there are plenty of ways to use RPM to make your character tougher - tougher to hit, better at dodging, heck, you can give yourself eyes in the back of your head. But the shield bracelet offers a challenge. It's too expensive as an advantage, and too costly as a spell, but only because force field DR with area of effect is hella expensive. It's plenty possible to give yourself tons of tough skin DR.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Engurrand

Yeah I read it that way too. Meh. Your hand is worth more then 3 energy, is all I'm saying.

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee

:-)

Originally Posted by Engurrand

I appreciate the offer of assistance. We're basically using Monster Hunters as written, with Dresdenverse lenses. Wizards are the Witch template, which is pretty close to perfect. The problem is minor: there are plenty of ways to use RPM to make your character tougher - tougher to hit, better at dodging, heck, you can give yourself eyes in the back of your head. But the shield bracelet offers a challenge. It's too expensive as an advantage, and too costly as a spell, but only because force field DR with area of effect is hella expensive. It's plenty possible to give yourself tons of tough skin DR.

I wrote up this spell for my urban fantasy campaign that was inspired by Harry's shield spell:

Shield
Spell Effects: Greater Control Energy.
Inherent Modifiers: Altered Traits, Defense Bonus Meta-trait or Altered Traits, Damage Resistance.
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

This spell conjures an invisible shield of energy that protects the subject by moving itself when he is attacked. This can be cast to deflect or defend. When deflecting it gives the subject a +1 bonus to all Active Defenses which also stacks with other such bonuses such as those from mundane shields. When cast as a defending spell this gives you DR of 6. Both of these only protect from frontal attacks. This spell is often cast as a charm or as a Blocking spell.

Typical Casting: Greater Control Energy (5) + Altered Traits, Defense Meta-trait 1 (Directional, Front, -20%) (24) or Altered Traits, Damage Resistance 6 (Directional, Front, -20%; Force Field, +20%; Limited, Physical, -20%) (24). 77 energy (29 x 3).

[Langy]

Originally Posted by Engurrand

Yeah I read it that way too. Meh. Your hand is worth more then 3 energy, is all I'm saying.

If you're doing enough damage to cause a permanent injury equivalent to taking a disadvantage, then I think it's right and proper that you gain significantly more energy from it than what you'd get from doing generic HP injury. A reasonable amount would be at least 2x of the number of CP that the disadvantage costs. This is based on the following advantage:

Energy Reserve (RPM; Costs 2+ HP, -20%, One Use Only, x1/5) [0.5/level]. EDIT: Make it Costs 7+ HP and it'd be [0.2/level], meaning you'd gain x5 the disadvantage price in energy. I like this multiplier better than either of the other two mentioned here, I think.

You accept the disadvantage, which reduce your CP total by so much, and then buy an equivalent amount of energy, which you then immediately use.

Alternatively, it should be 25 energy per point the disadvantage is worth, based upon the '25 energy = 1 CP' equivalency. (Note that this means if you're willing to go permanently blind, then you can gain 1250 energy for one hella-powerful casting).

Either way, when taking on a permanent disadvantage like that you should get *way* more energy back than just the amount gained from the pure HP donation.