[Powers] how to make a fetish

[Gef]

Statting a magic item is easy, but statting a power to make one is not straightforward. I'm hoping that a future Power Ups installment will cover powers-based enchantment, be it psychic crystals or holy relics in addition to magic-as-powers. In the meantime, you can model it with Afflict Affliction; that is, you Afflict the object with the power to Afflict a trait on its weilder. Ugh. There are ally-based approaches too. Reversing the training rule as Mgellis suggested is a good start, but I've wasted plenty of brain cycles on that path to no conclusion. Good luck. -GEF

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Gef

Reversing the training rule as Mgellis suggested is a good start, but I've wasted plenty of brain cycles on that path to no conclusion. Good luck. -GEF

It's just like Meditative Magic, what's the issue? It seems to work fine for me.

[LemmingLord]

I would prefer just having you spend points on your objects as gadgets. Not sure why you are saying that won't work for you. Rather have your points and spend them too? :D

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by LemmingLord

I would prefer just having you spend points on your objects as gadgets. Not sure why you are saying that won't work for you. Rather have your points and spend them too? :D

• The guy who makes the thing isn't necessarily the guy who uses it.
• If you have to use earned points to make stuff, only PCs can make stuff and precious little of it. This may not fit all settings. It doesn't work at all if you want a market for items.

[Gef]

Originally Posted by LemmingLord

I would prefer just having you spend points on your objects as gadgets. Not sure why you are saying that won't work for you. Rather have your points and spend them too? :D

So, you spend 4000hr on Karate and get skill +5. I spend it on power-based enchantment and get a 20pt gadget (with about 30-35 points of base traits). Now I sell the gadget to some other dude. I'm down 20 points, and he has to spend 20 points on the gadget. If you go the point-debt route, he gets stupid (effectively Cannot Learn) until he pays off the debt. That's a solution but a clunky one, like every other I've envisioned.

Note that one-use items are easy: Just buy a power with Triggered Delay; the client triggers his use of that power by drinking the potion, reading the scroll, breaking the glass, or pressing the button.

GEF

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Gef

Now I sell the gadget to some other dude. I'm down 20 points,

No more than if you worked for those 4000 hours making a mundane item and sold it. Are craftsmen being cheated out of their due character points every time they make something? For that matter is everybody cheated out of them whenever they work, enjoy entertainment, or do anything besides sleep or train? What about when they trade points for money?

and he has to spend 20 points on the gadget.

Why? He a) paid money for it and b) acquired it in play.

Originally Posted by B 291

The GM may rule that you have suddenly acquired a new trait – most
often an advantage or a disadvantage – as a consequence of events in the
game: social interaction, combat, divine intervention, etc. This has nothing
to do with bonus points!
When you acquire an advantage this way, write it on your character
sheet and increase your point total by the value of the advantage. You do
not have to pay for it with bonus points.

[Gef]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Why? He a) paid money for it and b) acquired it in play.

Thanks for the quote. I stand corrected. There are still a few steps to take in this approach:

1) Determine the powercrafting skill(s).

2) Determine modifiers to the skill roll, like a penalty for working fast and a bonus for good raw materials.

3) Determine the requirements to use them in certain ways, frex, must have the power to be placed in the item, or must work with someone who does, or must have magical ingredients.

[Justaguy]

I have to agree with Sir Pudding on the issue about spending character points. I never intended to have PC's spend points to make fetishes. It just doesn't suit the setting. On the other hand, Gef does have a point that the rules are not very clear on the subject of crafting 'magic' items using powers.

So I need to work my way around this. This is what I intend to do.

One of the PC's is some kind of shaman binding protection spirits to items permanently (extended duration, permanent). That is, until the item fails to protect the wearer, in which case the item breaks (=condition for extended duration, permanent, see B105 where it also specifies that these rules can lead to abuse). These fetishes are intended to be handed to fellow group members or just te be sold. To control this, I implement the limitations 'only usable once per day' and 'accessibility: only well-crafted, self-made items can be empowered'. These seem like reasonable limitations to avoid things getting out of hand. And if they do, well, spirits are fickle beings, (reflected by the spirit PM) and can decide to withdraw their support to the shaman.

Now, how to simulate this? The easiest way to implement such a power is to work out the point cost of the fetish, and then insert that cost converted to a percentage as an afflicted advantage.
How to stat a fetish? It is an advantage, limited by:
- breakable, DR 4 (wood, bone...), cannot be repaired, SM-8 (about 10 cm), total -35%
- can be stolen, by stealth or trickery, -20%
- terminal condition, common knowledge in the setting (a failed resistance roll destroys the item), -20% (note: this terminal condition will be different for fetishes with other advantages, and the terminal condition might not always be common knowledge, so this figure may vary)
These modifiers add up to -75%, to be applied to the cost of the advantage of the fetish. A 10-point advantage as a fetish costs 2.5 points, a 40-point one costs 10 points. Don't round fractions yet, we will use the unrounded result in our next formula (respectively +25% and +100% for these two examples).

The next formula is the creation of the fetish:
affliction 1 (insert fetish cost here, in %; malediction, no resistance roll, +100%; PM spirit, the ability works by binding minor spirits to the item, -25%; accessibility, requires a small, well-crafted, self-made item, -40%; costs fatigue, 3FP payed by the maker at the moment of creation, -15%; extended duration, permanent, +150%; limited use, the user can only enchant one fetish per day, -40%; preparation required, the user performs a 10-minute ritual to empower the item, -30%). Total cost: +100% + cost of the fetish, where 1 point equals 10%. For our examples, that would be +125% and +200% respectively, making for a [23]-point and a [30]-point power.

I haven't figured out yet how I would let the skill 'create fetish' (Will/H) function in the process, but I'll work something out.

Thank you for reading this far :-)
I think this is an acceptable and more or less adequately-priced power. Of course, it would have to be bought separately for each type of fetish, probably as an alternative ability (Powers, p11) and of course sharing the same 24-hour cooldown.

Some stuff I did is not stated in the RAW, but is not explicitly forbidden either. Most of all, I'm wondering what you think about the idea of using the modified advantage cost in the affliction formula. Does this break any rules, or does it seem more or less correct? Or did I make some other horrible mistake?