Quick Question: How to build a telepathic Ally(?) that lives in another plane?

[Raekai]

The PC has an NPC who lives in the Whatever Plane. They have a telepathic bond between them, the NPC is the PC's Spiritual Assistant (pre-bought perk) for Assisting Spirits with Ritual Path Magic, and, if the PC ever found himself in the Whatever Plane, the NPC would help out and maybe even go adventuring if he weren't busy; however, the NPC can also ask the PC for help when he occasionally needs it.

I was thinking Mindlink 1 (Friend) [5]; Telecommunication (Telesend; Friend Only, -80%) [6]; Friend [1]; Spiritual Assistant [1]; Dependent (100% CP; 6 or Less; Loved One) [-1].

Is that the best way to build it? Would that be enough justification for the Granted by X, -40% limitation on one of the PC's abilities? If not, how could I make those things happen?

[PTTG]

Well it's an Ally, probably with Summonable (even if you can't get the ally to visit "in person," by showing up in spirit and doing his thing, he's effectively there).

Adding in the Mindlink just makes it easier for the PC to summon him. Allies as written can get you into trouble without being Dependents. Frankly I'd do without the quirk-level Dependent and have it be GM authority unless you really want the PC to be called out on solo missions totally randomly.

What's the ability that's being limited?

[Raekai]

Originally Posted by PTTG

Well it's an Ally, probably with Summonable (even if you can't get the ally to visit "in person," by showing up in spirit and doing his thing, he's effectively there).

Adding in the Mindlink just makes it easier for the PC to summon him. Allies as written can get you into trouble without being Dependents. Frankly I'd do without the quirk-level Dependent and have it be GM authority unless you really want the PC to be called out on solo missions totally randomly.

What's the ability that's being limited?

The difference is that said Ally would be on the Whatever Plane instead of alongside the PC most of the time, which I figured was part of the Ally idea, but I could be wrong.

[Anaraxes]

Duty is perhaps a better fit than Dependent. You're not providing the cost of living for this spirit.

Granted by Familiar normally requires that the familiar be an Ally, and is also "nearby". DF5 suggests that "nearby" means that the familiar has been summoned and can reach the master within one minute. That is to say, 60xMove, and the familiar cannot be unconscious or captured. (DF5 notes that in those cases, the master immediately loses the abilities granted by the familiar.)

I don't see the Ally anywhere in that list. I don't have a problem with a character that's both Ally and Dependent (sometimes helpful, sometimes disadvantageous, sometimes both.)

Powers p109 defines World-Spanning for abilities that operate across parallel worlds. +100% for an ability that works both cross-world and within the same world. (+50% if it only works cross-world, which probably isn't the case here.) I think you need that on your telepathy.

If the PC ability works regardless of presence or distance to the NPC, it's not worth nearly -40%. If there are no restrictions, then the fact that the NPC grants this ability is just color. If the ability works as long as the PC has telepathic contact with the NPC, then it's probably about -5% (the usual value for countermeasures in a Power Modifier; anti-psi that cuts telepathic contact deprives the PC of this ability, much as if it were a normal psi ability.)

[Kuba]

Originally Posted by Raekai

Would that be enough justification for the Granted by X, -40% limitation on one of the PC's abilities? If not, how could I make those things happen?

Keep in mind that (Unreliable, 8) is -40%, meaning that your limitation should be about as bad as having your ability only succeed 25% of the time