Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That's a nice one now. :-)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Not sure if we've seen this one --

Simple Disguise -- The character can make an effective disguise just by donning glasses or changing the part in his hair, a la Superman.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Yeah, that's a form of the Masked Shtick from Supers.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Don't know that I agree. Armor Familiarity (MA p. 49) allows you to reduce the penalty for all skills affected by normal armor (Judo, Karate, Fencing) by one per level.

How many skills are affected by layered armor? Don't have Basic Set to hand.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

No, it only affects one skill; it's got a † symbol.
All DX based skills.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I am blind and stupid. I totally skimmed it. :S

Okay, then yes, the second version of the perk makes more sense and is consistent with AF.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Consistency with existing perks is a bit of poor guideline though, since some perks aren't really balanced against each other. Compare One Man Army to Huge Weapons, for example.

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Born in the Saddle - you accumulate FP at half the normal rate for riding.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I'd use that name for a talent rather than a perk. Seems overly broad for just a FP reduction.

Good perk though.

Card Carrying Member. Influence Schtick. Similar to Convivnc nod, it allows an administration roll to avoid paperwork to get in and out of places.

modifiers; Secruity Clearance to the place is DOUBLED as a penalty on the roll. However, note the social cllimbers who recently crashed the Whitehouse party a couple of months ago.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Sounds like Hand Cannon, from Gun-Fu. It's exactly like this, only +1.

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Door Defender: You always parry whenever you approach a door or similar opening.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

So far, my only custom perk is "can back kick using brawling instead of Karate." I mean really, should a CENTAUR need formal martial arts training to use a back kick?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I don't think they need a perk at all. They can't kick to the front (a GURPS kick is done with the hindlegs.)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

True, but Buns of Steel was already taken ...

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

This may have been done before, but:

Music Man

Whenever you sing, appropriate music plays in the background. This music can be heard by anyone who is listening to you, but is not really there and will not be picked up by recording devices.

In The Music Man, Harold Hill probably had Affliction: (this perk). A lot of musical movie characters have it too.

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Skimpy Safety
All attacks targeted against your hit locations which are not protected by any DR suffer an additional -1 to hit. This has no effect on attacks which do not specify a hit location, including ones against random hit locations.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That would be a great help for Chain Mail Bikini warriors.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I love it, but I feel like it might be a little more than a perk.

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How about if it was limited to a group of hit locations (like limbs, body or head) or only against certain attacks (like ranged attacks)?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That might do it. I'm really only going by gut check here, I'd be interested in getting some other opinions. I also think that it should count against random hit locations, it seems in genre that random arrows and shrapnel should mysteriously hit only the armor.

Perhaps it's just an Extra Option perk for Bullet Proof Nudity?

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I like it ... but the name was Harold Hill.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That would require moving the roll for hit location before the roll to hit, possibly adding an unnecessary roll for each attack.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

How about these three Perks together:

Extra Option: Bullet Proof Nudity

Armor Bikini (Prerequisite: Bullet Proof Nudity): Reroll the hit location any time a random hit-location roll results in a hit on an unarmored body part. You must accept the results of the second roll.

Skimpy Safety (Prerequisite: Armor Bikini): Hit Location penalties for unarmored locations on the body and limbs are at an additional -1.

[EDIT] After rereading the Bullet Proof Nudity rules, I think that they're way too powerful for a perk. They amount to Enhanced Defense with Pact (Where Skimpy Clothing), for around 30 points per level.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

The super-martial artist in my Supers game had a karate dojo as a cover, and took his students as dependents. The big bad, of course, kidnapped them, and experimented with them, giving them mutant powers. I made a big random table for the powers, and one of the girls got Animal Function, and of course, looking at the martial artist character sheet, I saw that he had Leecherousness and quirk: is an obssesive manga fan, so I turned her into a catgirl who tried to be a superhero (and of course, sometimes even recieved the full +3 from bulletproof nudity!)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I think you're misunderstanding the point of Extra Option. The idea is that it's a way for the GM to allow an optional rule in the game without making the assumption that everyone is using it. So it's only available if the GM is already okay with the optional rule.

So if Extra Option (Bulletproof Nudity) is allowed in a game, then Bulletproof Nudity exists in the game world, and anyone who takes the perk can make use of it. This means that pretty much anyone planning on going shirtless is going to take the perk.

So it's just a way to tap into an existing law of the universe, not a super power in and of itself. Comparing it with Enhanced Defense is like comparing sunglasses with the shade of a mountain -- both shield your eyes from the sun, but one is personal equipment while the other is a feature of the landscape that anyone can stand under.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Oops, you're right. I couldn't remember when I posted it, so I just guessed.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

BTW, the actual power the Harold Hill has is Affliction (This Perk, Reduced Will, and Compulsive Singing)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I feel like this one should be a technique of the respective skill. (Did I already say this? Long thread.)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Fair enough. Even so, I think that I'd reverse the prerequiste tree from my previous post, so that Bullet Proof Nudity was the last quirk gained.

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Some Like It Hot: Be it tabasco sauce, habaneros, wasabi, Martian peppers, whatever...you are able to eat the spiciest foods with no ill effect whatsoever.

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Not sure if this has been posted before. But in our current DF-game we have introduced a perk for a heavy variant of Dwarfs.
It adds +3 to resist knockback and slams. I think it is called "Massive body".

So when calculating your ST to see if you get knocked back, you get +3 to the ST score (ie. if you have ST 10, with this perk you get ST 13 for purposes of resisting knockback).
Similarly you add 3 to you HPs when resisting a slam (not when performing a slam).

This is perhaps not a "favorite perk", but it was an attempt at illustrating someone who is quite a bit more heavy than his ST/HP would normally justify.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I'd probably price this higher than a perk. I'd model it like Resistance (Occasional, +3) even though this isn't a HT bonus.

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Really? I thought it was a bit expensive even for a perk. There aren't many mobs out there who will try to -Slam/Bull Rush you or who has crushing weapons (only ones that can give knockbacks).
And +3 doesn't really do a whole lot anyway. With 15 ST and 20 HPs those +3 really doesn't count for much.

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Well, it is your (your guys'?) game. If you feel five points is too much, then it's too much.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Where does that come from?

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What I mean is, if they use the front legs it's a punch. If they use the hindlegs it's a kick.

That's my interpretation of this post, but I could be wrong.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Clean and Polished: Your weapon or weapons are always free of defects, marks, and stains. This makes them immensely presentable, which may grant a +1 bonus on Merchant rolls to sell them, or on Reaction checks against those that have an interest in your weaponry. You must take regular care of your weapon(s), or have someone that can perform the maintenance for you.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Well I know that technically the perk I'm about to address isn't a custom perk, but in a game where it's a sort of farcical take on hollywood is the perk Immunity to (Specific Poison)† from PU2 page 11 too cheesy when used for Botulinum Toxin?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

It's a single toxin. Why would it be?

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I'd say treat it as +3 HP for all purposes except actually having those HP, so you're harder to knockback, harder to Slam, do better Slams but also take more falling damage.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I wouldn't read it that way. Particularly taken in context of the definitions of limbs provided in Characters. A leg is something you locomote on, and kicks are attacks with legs.

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I'm not sure if this has come up yet, as it seems kind of obvious:

Sea Legs The character negates up to -4 in penalties for actions undertaken while standing on rolling, shifting, or canted footing. If the character must roll to avoid falling down under such circumstances, the character has a +4 bonus to that roll. This Perk is most appropriate for an Age of Sail or Swashbuckler campaign.

Alternately, one might introduce a Lubber Quirk. The character suffers a -2 to physical tasks undertaken while on a rolling, shifting, or canting ship. In especially severe cases (bad weather, ship-to-ship combat) the GM may require a DX roll to avoid falling.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Too strong. A +2 or to negate up to -2 is more than enough.
The Naval Training perk and the Sure Footed perk gives us two good measures of bonuses and penalties negated.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

does Standard Operating Procedure reflect such cleaning/maintenance?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I see no reason why not. You'll still lose the benefits of Clean and Polished in a situation where you can't have been maintaining the gear, but you'll get the benefit of the doubt as to when you can have been.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That works for me, allowing that provision, I'd keep the perk

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

In our game we called this the Han Solo slap!

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It can, yes.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

This would've been great for Eddie Izzard...


...sorry. Continue... continue....

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

SEA DRINKER
You can drink - and survive of - salt water, as well as fresh water.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Yeah... you will quickly derive Perk-level trait when you compare it to Reduced Consumption.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I haven't read the entire thread yet (I'm working on page 61!) so hopefully this isn't a repeat. I don't know if it's balanced so if not, I humbly request advice.


No Waste Products
Exotic or Supernatural Perk
Your body produces no concentrated waste, so you never have to go to the bathroom. You do not, and cannot, defecate, urinate, fart, or spit up "owl pellets." Whatever you eat, drink, etc. is completely used up by your body. Your metabolic wastes are all eliminated by exhaling, sweating, and/or other means that don't require a bathroom break, though they may still smell bad. You cannot be tracked by your scat (but you can be tracked by scent as normal), and you cannot pee into a cup when asked to do so.
Note that this doesn't give you the same benefits as Sanitized Metabolism, so you may still need to vomit, burp, sneeze, cough, blow your nose, suffer bad odor or skin problems, etc. No Waste Products gives no reaction bonuses.
If you have the Machine Metatrait, you never need used-up engine fluids or oils removed: they are evaporated, recycled, burned off, etc.
If you already Don't Eat and Don't Drink, you need not pay for this Perk.



And one silly Shtick:

Trick Toss
You can always hit a target no more than 30 feet away, without a roll, when throwing a small, non-combat item that cannot cause injury or property damage. I.e., you can reliably hit a person on top of their head with a wadded up piece of paper, gum wrapper, piece of lint, wood chip, small chocolate candy, etc. But when you throw something potentially damaging (even something like a paper airplane that could scratch an eye) you suddenly become much less precise (you must roll as normal).

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Percussive Maintenance. The technical name for it. And the quote? "American components! Russian components! ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!"

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

65 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

If it is remotely feasible for the character to find or buy a beer, in situuations where beer should be fairly hard to come by, he will manage to succeed on a successful search roll. (Per-5) default. After the first beer, this cotinues until the GM finds it getting rather old, calls BS on it and stops the beer supply, which often IS after the first beer. Wait for another game session guys.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Very similar to Sanitized Metabloism. Perks p.12. Basically Sanitized metabloixm leaves you with minimum wast products but also cuts off bad breath body odor etc.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I know they are similar, but I really tried to make it different from Sanitized Metabolism. The only overlap is no farting and difficulty tracking the character (though the difficulties caused for trackers are different). Sanitized Metabolism does not eliminate bathroom breaks, which is the entire purpose of No Waste Products. No Waste Products does absolutely nothing whatsoever about odor, bad breath, skin problems, dripping snot, or excessive smelly sweat, which is at least half of Sanitized Metabolism's purpose and the cause of its mechanical effects.

The game effects are different. Sanitized Metabolism means you don't ever have sweat, body odor, "unsightly skin problems," or bad breath giving reaction penalties, you get good reaction penalties in close quarters, and are harder to track by scent. You still need bathroom breaks.

No Waste Products means you never, ever, ever go to the bathroom, can't be tracked by your scat, and can't pee into a cup to prove you're clean, but your bad odors and acne can still mess up reaction rolls, you get no positive reaction roll in close quarters, and you can be tracked by your scent just as easily.

Isn't that different enough? I recognized the similarities in concept when I made this, but I gave it different game effects.

The main overlap to me is with Doesn't Eat (therefore doesn't defecate) when combined with Doesn't Drink (which can include never urinating). With a combination of both, No Waste Products should come automatically.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Reduced spell maintenance.

A spell of your choice gets it's maintenance cost reduced by one.

Originally used by a degenerated MAgic User with the Create Servant and the option Skilled Servant. Erotic Art it's not a IQ skill....

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Narrow Sleeping You can "lock" into one sleeping position in such a way that you can occupy a narrow space. Good for when a bedmate forces you to the edge of the bed or you fall asleep on a tree branch; you won't fall off. This does not necessarily mean you have Light Sleeper, but can be used in conjunction with that.

I Got the Last One! If a limited number of items are being sold or given away, you are usually lucky enough to get the last one (i.e., the last Tickle Me Elmo, the last concert ticket, the last XBox...) Quirk-level Serendipity.

Better By Comparison You have an intangible quality that puts you ahead of equal social competition. Stacked against someone else, all other things being equal, you will come out looking...better by comparison. This only works when there is someone to compare with. (Example: two men are wooing a lady. They are both Very Handsome Multimillionaires with equal stats and measures, but there's something about the guy with Better By Comparison that makes her go out with him instead of the other guy. Quirk-level Charisma.

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Lazarus thread, rise!

Soothing Voice Your voice is unremarkable in every way until you lower it to calm someone down, sing a lullaby, seduce someone, etc. Then, you're able to use a silken purr.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

And this does... what?

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

I wonder... Even if you knock Voice down to a +1 bonus, you will have to come up with -80% of limitations to derive a Perk from it.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

A conditional +1 to Sex Appeal and Professional Skill (Parenting), perhaps?

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+1 to reaction rolls only if people are close enough to hear you at a bare whisper (i.e. no farther than "close combat" range)?

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Been trying to find the build I came up with for it. Scribbled it on a scrap of paper that I fear didn't survive the last room cleaning, and the ol' mind's not the steel trap it used to be...the point may be moot since shrubbery pointed out that the points don't match up. Historically, I based it on an acquaintance from some years ago, who had this voice unremarkable in every way, until he chatted up a lady friend, then his voice became this awe-inspiring purr (I'm not even sure he was aware of it).

Probably just a math error on my part. My apologies.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

That opens up a whole slew of voice like perks.
Hollow voice, +1 interrogation when speaking.
Elderly voice, +1 acting to sound elderly.
Child voice, +1 acting to sound young.

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I have that! (At least they tell me so.)

It works over the phone too.

Clearly some bonus to influence skills is what the mechanic would call for, whether it should be gender/orientation specific, I'm not sure.

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I'm tossing this Social Perk to the hivemind to take apart. The original idea was that it would be for actors and authors, but anyone might have such a person. Kind of a combination of the Job Hunter perk and a low level Patron. In particular I'd like feedback on the effective skill of the searcher (B518) and if people think it should limit the number of search checks it can make while the PC is away.

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Forgive me if any have been posted before:

• Strong Back: Add 0.5 to your Lifting ST when calculating BL.
  This gives no other bonuses associated with Lifting ST.

• Mosquito Proof: You have DR1 against the bites and stings of tiny insects, protecting you from any irritation or pain. Any insect capable of doing real damage completely ignores this DR.

• Natural Repelant: Your body produces a natural repelant against one kind of non-intelligent creature. This can be through sweat, urine or any other fluid of your choosing.

• Deep Diver: You can double the safe length of time that you can stay submerged. You can dive to 5.5 atmospheres (150') for up to 22 minutes without risk of the bends, at 7 atmospheres (200') or greater there is no safe dive time.

• Spearfisher: You can attack with a melee weapon through the surface of water without suffering penalties due to refraction. This applies to ranged weapons if the surface is within three yards. This also works in reverse, if attacking from under the water, to hit something above the surface.

• Immune to Ciguatera: You can eat reef fish and shell fish without risk of becoming ill due to accumulated algea toxins (i.e., red tide).

• Immune to Scombroid Poisoning: You can eat fish without risk of food-poisoning even if the fish is spoiled (but not decaying).

• Tough Feet: Gives DR1 to the bottom of your feet only with the Tough Skin limitation. This allows you to walk barefoot without any discomfort as if you were wearing light shoes.

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One of my PC's is a spiritual alchemist, and I thought this might be quite suitable. Does it look reasonable?

Meditation upon Exertion
Prerequisites: Meditation at ~16 or higher, or Visualisation and Meditation at ~12 or higher.
You have mastered a particular form of meditation; you can meditate upon some future action you intend to take, mentally and spiritually preparing yourself to undertake it. To begin, you must enter into, and maintain, a meditative trance for 15 minutes. Declare the particular action you are meditating upon, such as 'Extra Effort: Mighty Blows' or 'Hiking', as well as the use of the action (e.g. 'Hitting Alfred, my nemesis' or 'Crossing the Nepalese Foothills') then spend 1FP, this point of FP will not regenerate until the action is completed, or the time limit expires.
If you engage in the action described within (Meditation) hours, then you have +3FP but only for the purposes of completeing that action, these must be spent before any other FP you may have as far as the defined action is concerned. This extra FP is only Viable for mundane FP exertion, no spells, innate attacks etc. If the circumstance of the action is not quite how you describe, e.g. your trying to hit Duncan with a Mighty Blow, not Alfred, then the GM is free to dock 1FP from your stored pool, but still let you spend that pool.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

All good suggestions Trachmyr. These two seem a little specific. In most of my campaigns I'd allow Reduced Consumption (Cast Iron Stomach, Sea Food only) as a Perk.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Well, Reduced Consumption (Cast-Iron Stomach) is already a one-point trait, and Immune to (Specific Toxin) is a canonical Perk. So I'd say he's spot-on.

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DRIVEN FURY

You have a +1 to self-control roll to see if you snap out of the berserk state, when that leads the characters to attack someone he considers a friend or ally.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

They are campaign specific, but their cost is legit. Note that Scombroid Poisoning is a sickness despite it's name, while Ciguatera is a bona fide poison.

in that same campaign I also have:

• CO2 Tolerance: Marginal Atmospheres due to high CO2 are treated as non-marginal (unless another condition applies) and non-toxic. A CO2 atmosphere that lacks oxygen will still be suffocating.

Edited to add:

Here was one in a DF campaign...

• Jet Mastery: You may increase or decrease the maintenance cost and associated effects of any maintained jet spell on a turn by turn basis. This does not require a new spell roll.
  Prerequisites: Magery 1, Innate Attack (Beam) at 12+, One Jet spell at 15+.

Here is one I use often in space adapted biroids...

• Vacuum Responsive Dermis: You skin has a subcutaneous muscle layer that contracts and tightens when exposed to very low pressures, effectively becoming a Mechanical Counterpressure Suit. This makes you immune to skin swelling and the bends due to vacuum for up to HT minutes, afterwhich you must spend at least 5 minutes in a pressuraized environment before you can use this perk again. This confers no protection against Explosive Decompression, extreme temperature or suffocation.

Effectively this is Vacuum Support with the 10-minute Maxium duration limitation and a -30% Accessability limitation "Not effective against sudden pressure loss." If you feel that the limitation vs. explosive decompression should be worth more, increase the duration to HTx3 or HTx6.

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Another one!

• Running Man

You can shove up to -2 in penalties from Fast-Draw (Ammo) from reloading when doing Move or Move and Attack maneuvers. This means that you can roll without penalties when running and reloading. This perk is redundant if you have Gunslinger.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

Immunity to some specific toxins is realistic. Being able to hork unprepared raw pufferfish and chase it with 1M dioxin isn't.

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Blade Protection:
Eliminates the -1 to parry for one type of weapon used by the Knife skill (e.g. Dagger).

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Hard to Hold: +1 to Break-Free attempts. This can be a leveled perk at the GM's approval or in any cinematic game.

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

New quirk-Rogue Cheddar-Can walk into a cheese shop and not find any cheese of any kind :)

Re: List Of your favorite Custom Perks
 

So +1 to reaction rolls from authority figures in an inappropriate context? "sit on my lap jimmy :)"

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Speeding ticket safe

You won't get a simple speeding ticket under normal circumstances. This is mainly a knack for knowing the roads and the feeding habits of the local mobile revenue collection department (ie. police) but also some minor luck.

This only functions if you're driving in a reasonably safe and sane manner, and aren't doing anything to draw attention to yourself. Thus, if you're doing 60 in a 35 zone, you're as toasted as anyone else--but if you're doing 75 in a 55, and most people are going 70, you'll likely get away with it.

If you are stopped, then you have a +1 reaction bonus to talk your way out of it, or talk yourself down to a warning instead of a ticket.

The perk is useless on Driving to Endanger, OUI, or anything other than routine speeding.