Alternatives to Dependancy: Mana

[Bruno]

All the fae races in DF have Constant Dependancy mana. In mana levels above "none", fae characters notice no effect, and in No Mana areas they take 1 hp per minute starting 60 seconds after exposure and continuing until they escape. This knocks -25 points off of all the fae templates.

For pixies, especially, this means that most of the time mana doesn't matter, until they hit a no-mana area and then they're incapacitated with a major wound, and are at risk of death. This makes me, as a GM, extremely reluctant to use no-mana areas if a game involves pixies - but with all fae races there's the pressure to include no mana zones, or that expensive disad is just a pile of free points.

And on the other end of things, there's the weirdness that a Weakness to No Mana areas (a Rare environment) does 1d upon exposure and then 1d per minute, is only worth -10 points but is much more dangerous.

On the other hand, I like the idea of the fae races being mana sensitive, and would like do keep working with the concept.

Some options I'm tossing around are disadvantages or attribute penalties with Accessability (Only in Mana levels below X), possibly combined with an option to buy Mitigator on the disadvantages (or even the original Dependancy) allowing the a fae to use a Power Item as a "reserve" of mana to stave off penalties or damage.

On the flip side of the equation, I would allow all fae races to buy (as Power Ups) one or more of a set of advantages with Accessability (Only in Mana levels above X) - Fit or Very Fit, Attribute bonuses, Energy Reserve, etc.

[mlangsdorf]

I think making races with Mana Dependency interact with all the mana levels makes more sense. They should recover fatigue slower in Low and Very Low mana areas, suffer the Coughing affliction in Twisted mana areas, deal with Manic/Depressive in Wild Magic areas, and risk Euphoria in High and Very High mana areas. I'd generally just treat this as a 0 point feature for the relevant races.

[Kelly Pedersen]

Hmm. I wonder what the cost of a "Mana-Dependent Metabolism" trait would be? Something where you don't necessarily take damage in no-mana areas, but you heal FP and HP slower in Low Mana, and not at all in No Mana (but, conversely, you'd recover FP instantly in Very High Mana, presumably).

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

I think making races with Mana Dependency interact with all the mana levels makes more sense. They should recover fatigue slower in Low and Very Low mana areas, suffer the Coughing affliction in Twisted mana areas, deal with Manic/Depressive in Wild Magic areas, and risk Euphoria in High and Very High mana areas. I'd generally just treat this as a 0 point feature for the relevant races.

The problem is that it's a series of disadvantages at every Mana level except Normal, with no up-sides to balance out the disadvantages. Unless this is meant to replace the Mana Dependancy entirely.

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

Hmm. I wonder what the cost of a "Mana-Dependent Metabolism" trait would be? Something where you don't necessarily take damage in no-mana areas, but you heal FP and HP slower in Low Mana, and not at all in No Mana (but, conversely, you'd recover FP instantly in Very High Mana, presumably).

Assuming mana level frequencies as follows (as per the campaign I'm working on):

Low (-6): 11% (-35% Accessability limitation)
Low (-3): 25% (-30% Accessability limitation)
Normal: 25% (-30% Accessability limitation)
High (+3): 25% (-30% Accessability limitation)
High (+6): 11% (-35% Accessability limitation)

Other mana levels are extremely rare (-40% Accessability)

No Mana:
-1 DX, +0.25 Basic Speed = -15 -40% = -9
-1 IQ, +1 WILL = -15 -40% = -9
= -18 points

Low -6 Only:
Very Unfit would be -15 -35% = -9.75 points.
Slow Healing 2 would be -10 -35% = -6.5 points

Total -16 points

Low -3 Only:
Unfit would be -5 -30% = -3.5
Slow Healing 1 would be -5 -30% = -3.5
= -7 points

Normal Mana
No special advantages or disadvantages

High +3 Only:
Fit would be 5 -30% = 3.5
= 4 points

High +6 Only:
Very Fit would be 15 -35% = 9.75
= 10 points

Very High Only:
The usual value I've seen thrown around for "Cosmically Fit" is 30 points. Presuming that,
Cosmically Fit would be 30 -40% = 18

Net total -9

[nanoboy]

Originally Posted by Bruno

The problem is that it's a series of disadvantages at every Mana level except Normal, with no up-sides to balance out the disadvantages. Unless this is meant to replace the Mana Dependancy entirely.

Not necessarily. One could keep Dependency (Mana) and add on the disadvantages of being in Low Mana. One could then add on the advantages of being in High Mana, too. All would just have an Accessibility limitation.

[sieurin]

Can you fiddle together a trait that modifies HT (not hit points) in mana lower than normal? So you get penalties to survival rolls, less max Fatigue, penalties to resistance rolls etc etc, down to automatic failure in no mana?

[weby]

In my upcoming fantasy campaign I have taken a lot from DF, a lot from elsewhere but even the stuff from DF is usually somewhat changed.

So the pixies there are still dependant on mana, but only daily. (Dependency (Mana; Very Common; Daily)[-15])

Other races are similary dependant on other substances like water for water spirits, touching living plants for forest spirits and so on.

The reason for making it daily is to allow the PCs to atleast try to find a way out from such situation.

[younglorax]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Other mana levels are extremely rare (-40% Accessability)

Maybe this is discussed in Powers, but I think it's wrong to add Accessibility limitations as written to disadvantages:

If an advantage only comes in handy very rarely, you remove less than half the cost -- since you'll actively seek out that situation. So, if a disadvantage only comes into play very rarely, you should probably remove more than half the cost -- since you'll actively avoid that situation.

[Bruno]

Ouf. That's a good point. And Harald has a good point about the usability - I've got a programmers usual eye for usability ( Paul Southworth understands ) so sometimes I need to be reminded of such things...

I'll sit and think about it!

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Ouf. That's a good point. And Harald has a good point about the usability - I've got a programmers usual eye for usability ( Paul Southworth understands ) so sometimes I need to be reminded of such things...

I'll sit and think about it!

Again, have you though about tackling Fatigue only -50% and Cosmic (Fatigue lost due to this can not be recovered normally) +50%, for a net +0% It would mean that fae creatures have the same exact point cost, and being in a no mana area basically saps them of their strength, until they fall unconscious, and die.

Simple, and brutal (though I would add that you do not recover fatigue, period, in no mana areas, to make it even more brutal, and that in low mana areas, you still lose 1 FP per 10 minutes, as per hourly, though you can still recover it if you rest, meaning that you simply do not recover fatigue, and you lose 1 FP if you spend more than 10 minutes without rest).

It ends up as:

Mana Dependency: You need mana to live, and keep your body working. In No Mana areas, you do not recover FP, and lose 1 FP per minute. In low mana areas, you do not recover FP by your own means, but Paut and someone with Lend Energy can help you. -25 points

It's my KISS solution for DF