Afflict Vow - consequences when broken

[PK]

Originally Posted by Anders

Hmm... I also want it to be able to inflict things like blindness and sterility

Do so, then. Anything not involving damage -- Blindness, Terminally Ill, etc. -- is a simple case of using Affliction (Disadvantage) to force consequences+Mitigator upon the target for the duration of the geas. Sterility is a special case, since it's a feature and thus not normally available for Affliction. In this particular case, I'd say that throwing a custom +10% enhancement on Affliction would be balanced for "if you break the geas you become sterile."

(And anything involving damage is most easily modeled as Innate Attack with a supernatural Delay.)

[Anthony]

The issue of mitigators is something of a pain. Let's say you have the ability to afflict a 100 point disadvantage, which the victim can avoid by taking the equivalent of a 10 point disadvantage, and the victim knows it. This can't possibly be worse than a 10 point disadvantage.

Actually, it seems like some sort of 'alternate disadvantage' scheme would be convenient. Maybe something like:

Alternate Disadvantage: you may choose between one of two disadvantages. Point value is for the lesser disadvantage, whichever it may be, with a limitation for the magnitude of the greater -- perhaps -20% for <2x value, -15% for <4x value, -10% for <8x value, -5% for more.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Anthony

The issue of mitigators is something of a pain. Let's say you have the ability to afflict a 100 point disadvantage, which the victim can avoid by taking the equivalent of a 10 point disadvantage, and the victim knows it. This can't possibly be worse than a 10 point disadvantage.
....

Cuchulainn had dual gesa of never refuse hospitality and never eat dog meat.

Sounds like minor vows, eh?
Until the villain invites him inside and offers a meal of dog. He ate, and died.
Consequences for breaking vows can be far out of proportion to anything they normally could inflict.

[scc]

One thing to keep in mind when using mitigators like this is that that the more mitigators you put on the disad the cheaper it gets and the harder it gets for someone to avoid breaking it.

For example putting a single Vow as a mitigator on a disad gives it a -15% cost, putting two on it gives a -30%, making it both easier to buy whatever it is that inflicts both the disad and the Vows/mitigators and makes it hard for the person to avoid breaking one or both of the Vows

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by scc

One thing to keep in mind when using mitigators like this is that that the more mitigators you put on the disad the cheaper it gets and the harder it gets for someone to avoid breaking it.

If something has two mitigators, you can negate the disad by complying with either mitigator -- you don't need both.

[Genesis]

Originally Posted by Anthony

If something has two mitigators, you can negate the disad by complying with either mitigator -- you don't need both.

I'd agree - if you want the AND condition, you should make it a single mitigator with a larger value.

[Prince Charon]

In general (not counting specific examples like sterility or blindness), I'd probably give the witches the Curse power from Psionic Powers p45 (with the 'Probability Alteration, -10%' limitation swapped out for 'Magic, -10%', if necessary), with the 'Extended Duration: Permanent (+150% or +300%)' enhancement replacing Reduced Duration or Increased Duration, and a Nuisance Effect limitation of something like 'Must declare a mitigator when casting' (functionally, adding a tenth and eleventh level to the psi ability, if you use those rules, with the note that at level ten, the caster must declare both a mitigator and a way to completely break the curse, while at level eleven, only the mitigator need be declared, and you have your classic Celtic Myth ability to inflict Gesa).

If afflicting the geas requires eye contact rather than skin contact, you'd also want to drop the 'Contact Agent, -30%' and 'Melee Attack, C, -30%' limitations, replacing it with 'Vision Based, -20%', or if you're using Power Techniques, have them buy Evil Eye as a technique, which I've statted to Curse -4.

[Cheezal]

What genre is the game setting? I presume since you say you have witches involved it's fantasy/magic...

Are you using magic or powers?

There are several spells that do exactly what you want.

lesser geas,greater geas for the geas itself, creates a permanent vow if that's what you impose with the geas..
by the nature of the spell if you break it,it imposes some penalty.

I was looking myself into sacrificial magic the other day and vows can even be made on a person can extend to the afterlife if its unfulfilled.
Think I read that in fantasy.

you can then spirit broker them.

Strike barren will cause sterility. and blindness would be easy to accomplish...

You can still create knacks of these,but you need a similar power/advantage and add a magical limitation to it.

I'm not up on afflictions fully yet,but I'm sure you could link it then to some innate attack.

[scc]

Originally Posted by Anthony

If something has two mitigators, you can negate the disad by complying with either mitigator -- you don't need both.

Originally Posted by Genesis

I'd agree - if you want the AND condition, you should make it a single mitigator with a larger value.

Actually you have to satisfy them all. The sample cybernetic replacement parts from UT have: "Cybernetic replacement parts for specific body locations are bought as a crippling disadvantage with the Mitigator (-70%) limitation. This limitation is assumed to include the effects of the Electrical, Maintenance (1 person, monthly) (p. B143), and Unhealing (p. B160) disadvantages for that
body part."

If I only have to satisfy one of them, I can do that for the Maintenance, which is the cheapest of those Mitigators, or the cheapest part of it, and my cybernetic eyes are no longer destroyed by electricity and they heal normally

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by scc

Actually you have to satisfy them all. The sample cybernetic replacement parts from UT have: "Cybernetic replacement parts for specific body locations are bought as a crippling disadvantage with the Mitigator (-70%) limitation. This limitation is assumed to include the effects of the Electrical, Maintenance (1 person, monthly) (p. B143), and Unhealing (p. B160) disadvantages for that body part."

If I only have to satisfy one of them, I can do that for the Maintenance, which is the cheapest of those Mitigators, or the cheapest part of it, and my cybernetic eyes are no longer destroyed by electricity and they heal normally

I didn't follow your second paragraph, but your example (in the first) does not disagree with Anthony nor Genesis. It is not multiple instances of Mitigator, but rather many mitigators rolled into one Limitation.