Always On Magical Itens

[Yami Fowl]

Hey ppl,

I'm wondering...
When dealing with Always On magical itens...
For instance, if I got a Staff which uses the spell "Aura" and it is "Always On"...
Should I roll for every single thing that comes "in-range", or should I use a predefined range?

As a Information spell, it can only be used on a given subject once per day...
But still, if the Power is 18, what should I do about it being always on?
It will roll against "everyone" with power 18?
Or should I settle that anyone in the (player defined activation zone as: Everyone within 4 yards of me) with Will lower than 18-4(for the yards) automaticaly fail?

I know this sounds overpowering, but what do you think?
And how do you deal with that kind of itens?

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Yami Fowl

When dealing with Always On magical itens...
For instance, if I got a Staff which uses the spell "Aura" and it is "Always On"...
Should I roll for every single thing that comes "in-range", or should I use a predefined range?
...
I know this sounds overpowering, but what do you think?

Note that the Aura enchantment is not Always On, by the rules. A way to balance it if it were allowed by houserule is not clear to me, but the energy cost to enchant it would have to be much higher for something like what you are imagining. You would have to invent an Area version of the Aura spell, and then make an enchantment version of that. The only AO Aura (RAW) item that makes sense to me would be one that displayed the wearer's Aura.

[Harald387]

As Shrubbery notes, many enchantments *aren't* always on by default; unless the enchantment specifically states it (as for Might), you spend the FP and activate the item to use it on every given subject. If the item has Power (and thus doesn't need FP) it's still not 'always on'. It still requires an action to activate, and you still roll once per subject.

If you've houseruled an exception that allows for always-on enchantments, then you'll have to houserule the effects as well. For something like Aura, I'd just rule that you roll the item's power against any subject you study for a second (which is, conveniently, the same effect as if it had Power). It takes *some* time to process the information, after all.

[Mgellis]

Originally Posted by Yami Fowl

Hey ppl,

I'm wondering...
When dealing with Always On magical itens...
For instance, if I got a Staff which uses the spell "Aura" and it is "Always On"...
Should I roll for every single thing that comes "in-range", or should I use a predefined range?

As a Information spell, it can only be used on a given subject once per day...
But still, if the Power is 18, what should I do about it being always on?
It will roll against "everyone" with power 18?
Or should I settle that anyone in the (player defined activation zone as: Everyone within 4 yards of me) with Will lower than 18-4(for the yards) automaticaly fail?

I know this sounds overpowering, but what do you think?
And how do you deal with that kind of itens?

Are you sure that's "always on" or is it simply self-powered?

A staff enchanted with the Aura spell would let anyone cast the spell, but it would be a conscious decision to do so. It wouldn't simply go off on its own in most cases. If it had been enchanted with enough levels of Power, it wouldn't cost any FP to use it, but someone would still have to make the choice to cast it each time.

By the way, since the Aura spell makes someone's aura visible, they will know that the spell been cast on them. This may annoy them. In some settings, it might actually be illegal--a violation of their privacy, you know. :)

Now, if the staff was a power with some gadget limitations--See Invisible (Auras), with Gadget (whatever modifiers are appropriate), etc.--then anyone holding it would be able to see the auras of anyone who was in visible range (in fact, since auras usually have colors, he'd probably see the auras before he actually saw their faces clearly). And this would not be noticeable, except for the fact that the guy is holding a staff--in modern settings, this might look odd; in fantasy settings, anyone who has the sense that God gave a hamster is going to be suspicious of anything that looks like a staff, just on general principle, you know. :)

Mark

[RedMattis]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

See Invisible (Auras)

More like Detect (Very Common; Analyzing). See Invisible Auras is like a See Invisible that works on practically anything in most settings (See Invisible), let's you decipher emotions (Empathy/Mind Reading), and typically reveals many types of supernatural beings (Detect (?))

[Mgellis]

Originally Posted by RedMattis

More like Detect (Very Common; Analyzing). See Invisible Auras is like a See Invisible that works on practically anything in most settings (See Invisible), let's you decipher emotions (Empathy/Mind Reading), and typically reveals many types of supernatural beings (Detect (?))

I'm not sure I'd use Detect. Detect is mostly to identify direction and range; it's like having an internal compass for something like gold or electricity. And it also requires a conscious effort. But See Invisible is like the other kinds of vision, a sense that is passive, always on, etc. And it lets you actually see the auras, like the spell would.

I also don't think See Invisible (Auras) is all that powerful. Certainly, it's NOT mind-reading; one's aura would simply give a general sense of one's personality (and perhaps one's health, too). It lets someone who can see auras know overall what kind of person he or she is dealing with, not what that person is actually thinking at a particular moment. And, since you're looking at a color, it's not going to be that specific. It will be something along the lines of "hmm...strong aura, dark red...passionate, but driven by anger as often as he is driven by love or lust."

Mark

[RedMattis]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

I'm not sure I'd use Detect. Detect is mostly to identify direction and range; it's like having an internal compass for something like gold or electricity. And it also requires a conscious effort. But See Invisible is like the other kinds of vision, a sense that is passive, always on, etc. And it lets you actually see the auras, like the spell would.

Just add Reflexive and Vision Based and you're good to goo. (net +20% change)

I also don't think See Invisible (Auras) is all that powerful. Certainly, it's NOT mind-reading; one's aura would simply give a general sense of one's personality (and perhaps one's health, too). It lets someone who can see auras know overall what kind of person he or she is dealing with, not what that person is actually thinking at a particular moment. And, since you're looking at a color, it's not going to be that specific. It will be something along the lines of "hmm...strong aura, dark red...passionate, but driven by anger as often as he is driven by love or lust."

Mark

Which is a heck lot more than seeing one kind of invisible being.

See Invisible doesn't even let you see any kind of invisibility. If you have see invisibility (Ghosts) it will let you see Astral entities, Magical ghosts and whatever other ghosts you have in the setting. It will not however let you see the Invisible Man, the magician using a invisibility spell, or the cyborg with a ultra-tech invisibility force-field.

Examples of the advantage:

See Invisible (Magical) [15]: Lets you see invisible wizards, magica-type ghosts etc.
See Invisible (Psionic) [15]: Lets you see people using psychokinetic or some forms of telepathic invisibility as well as Astral Entities and such.
See Invisible (Technological) [15]: Would let you see through camo-fields and other technological invisibility devices, be they technology or technology-based powers.

As you can see See Invisible is a very limited advantage, and letting it not only detect unseen beings, but also get basic information about their state of mind and the type of being (maybe even their supernatural power or Willpower!). ...It's incredibly useful. You can really use that kind of power to find suspicious people, notice when someone is putting on a fake mask, that the guy is a werewolf etc.

I wouldn't even consider letting someone get that kind of advantage for under 60 points, in fact, unless hiding your aura was possible, and somewhat common I'd throw in a ~40 point UB on it, increasing the cost to 100 points.


Read Auras
Detect (Very Common: Analysing, +100%; Reflexive, +40%; Vision-Based, -20%)
Cost: 66 points

You can read peoples Auras. This let's you get a general impression of a person's character, as well as giving you information about the general power of the character. More information the better the roll.
It also detects traits such as Magery, Magic Resistance, Magic Susceptibility. Also, some beings such as zombies traditionally have unnatural Auras, and are easily detected by this. Also, illusions have no aura, and reflexive use of Read Auras reveals them as such.
Critical Success on a Read Aura roll also reveals secret traits such as Lycantrophy, Vampirism and unnatural Longlivity.

If this power has no common countermeasures in the setting, such as well-known magic spells/gadgets, and/or an Aura equivalent to Mind-Block the GM is advised to charge and additional 34 point Unusual Background and so upping the total cost to 100 points.
This is a powerful ability, GMs are recommended to be cautious with reliable aura reading characters.
Check Plot-Stoppers, in GURPS Powers, page 194-198 for more information about how to deal with this type of ability.


Note: Creatures with Invisibility can add Extended: Auras to make their auras invisible (+20%)