Summon Support / Soc Eng Assistance Requests

[Tinman]

First I want to say that I'm the GM for the game in question.
I was trying to create a power for a PC. The PC is a US Navy SEAL & he's in a magic heavy world hopping game.

I want him to be able to Summon backup of various types depending on the situation. Like being able to summon a fire team/squad, a mortar team, machinegun team or even occasionally (maybe with a really good summon roll) an air support asset (helicopter or strike fighter).

As it will be a cross world game the backup/assist must be summonable but the power should be flexible enough to summon different units. Also, I want to summon not just the item (a mortar or heavy machinegun) but the guys who use it too.

My initial thoughts were to base it on the assistance requests from GURPS Social Engineering & SE: Pulling Rank. OR base it on Snatcher (BB.86 & Powers.76).

My bigest problem is I have no idea how to build this power.
Any ideas or help would be awesome. Thanks.

[Tinman]

The more I'm thinking on it, perhaps I need a summonable version of allies like in powers p.41? However, I'm unclear as to how to make the different types of support (modular?) & how to vary the power level of support vs the roll to summon.

That's one reason I like the AR concept from social engineering. It give modifiers for 1) the power level of what assistance your asking for (backup vs SWAT vs artillery strike) and appropriateness of the request.

[RyanW]

Weird random thought: use a reflavored version of Divine Favor.

And now I want to run a character that has the divine favor of John Frum.

[Tinman]

Originally Posted by RyanW

Weird random thought: use a reflavored version of Divine Favor.

Use divine favor how?
Also, where is divine favor? It's not in the basic book.
Edit: NVM, found the Divine Favor book. Checking it out now.

[oneofmanynameless]

Well... okay. I've got two different suggestions depending on which you prefer.

Allies with Conjurable is a solid option. Pyramid 3.105 "Cinematic Magic" introduces a new enhancement for Conjurable Allies called "Adjustable" that I love for this sort of scenario and use all the time. It allows you to summon things within a defined group with cost scaling based on the versatility of the group. I'd probably do an ally group with such abilities.

The second one, and my preferred option here, is to give them a "highly accessible" fairly high point patron (probably 20-25 cp base) (mystical military, or whatever you want to call the organization behind these allies), with a power modifier on it, and the "Special abilities" modifier for "Unusual reach in time or space", and let them use social engineering rules to make requests of their patron. GURPS Divine Favor gives clerics a similar treatment where their god is a patron and they make requests for aid (it gives guidelines for how much of a request a miracle is and I think those could be useful to you here even though you're looking at airstrikes instead of pillars of fire.) I'd personally call it a power and have a talent. I would make Talent and Rank the same advantage for this purpose and use Arithmetic of Rank from Social Engineering as rough guidelines for a starting point of how much assistance they could call at once.

I'd also consider using one of the above as the basic advantage but have a whole power of abilities that you could purchase as "Pre-assigned backup" that you don't have to make formal requests for. Call the power "The Military". This could include summonable allies for Fire-team buddies or a dedicated helicopter support, it could include potent innate attacks that model air strikes or mortor strikes or even hand-held weapons like assault rifles, side-arms, RPGs, etc. It could include scanning senses for aerial reconnaissance, etc. Maybe even things like Rank with "Cosmic" if he can use his super power to pull rank with other military organizations he encounters. GURPS Horror has a "Power" called "The State" which defines a lot of advantages and abilities that suite being a MIB from the secret government as a power, and you could draw inspiration from it for other abilities for "The Military" as a power.

EDIT: since you're already looking at Divine Favor my suggestion is to replace the miracles in that book with ones you make out of the abilities I described as per the "The Military" power.

[Tinman]

First, thanks for all the suggestions.

Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless

The second one, and my preferred option here, is to give them a "highly accessible" fairly high point patron (probably 20-25 cp base) (mystical military, or whatever you want to call the organization behind these allies), with a power modifier on it, and the "Special abilities" modifier for "Unusual reach in time or space", and let them use social engineering rules to make requests of their patron. GURPS Divine Favor gives clerics a similar treatment where their god is a patron and they make requests for aid (it gives guidelines for how much of a request a miracle is and I think those could be useful to you here even though you're looking at airstrikes instead of pillars of fire.) I'd personally call it a power and have a talent. I would make Talent and Rank the same advantage for this purpose and use Arithmetic of Rank from Social Engineering as rough guidelines for a starting point of how much assistance they could call at once.

I think this is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. However, I think I want to limit the patron to AR requests only & not the other support patrons provide.

I'd also consider using one of the above as the basic advantage but have a whole power of abilities that you could purchase as "Pre-assigned backup" that you don't have to make formal requests for. Call the power "The Military". This could include summonable allies for Fire-team buddies or a dedicated helicopter support, it could include potent innate attacks that model air strikes or mortor strikes or even hand-held weapons like assault rifles, side-arms, RPGs, etc. It could include scanning senses for aerial reconnaissance, etc. Maybe even things like Rank with "Cosmic" if he can use his super power to pull rank with other military organizations he encounters. GURPS Horror has a "Power" called "The State" which defines a lot of advantages and abilities that suite being a MIB from the secret government as a power, and you could draw inspiration from it for other abilities for "The Military" as a power.

Wouldn't the above be redundant with the Patron/AR power though?

EDIT: since you're already looking at Divine Favor my suggestion is to replace the miracles in that book with ones you make out of the abilities I described as per the "The Military" power.

[Fiendmercury]

Think the most exactly model, without using pyrimds is to have some sort modular habilites that only fit the specific alies you want to summon, Like MH (Only alies, only that list of allies) or something. As you say you are the gm pricing it should not be a problem.

However the patron idea uphead is very interesting i may say.

Other way is to have all alies listed and the weaks ones buyed as a alterantive habilites, then you can fill all of it with unrealiable in a way that you set up the range of their appearance. The first allie apears on roll of 3 to 6, the second one on roll from 7 to 9 and so on. That way the ability to summon help will always work (once you will cover results from 3 to 16) but the help the guy will get will depend on the value you have seted up. As gurps use 3d6 instead of 1d100 it should give some work to calculate the probabilities, but i think it suit what you want.

[Tinman]

Fiendmercury, It would be simplest to use the allies. However, I'm not sure how to price them.

For example a mortar team of 3 guys each a mook from Action-2 (ea 5% of starting points) so ally group = 6 pts*. However, the 81mm mortar makes them much more powerful than 3 guys with pistols or rifles.
According to Powers p.138- Arms Control, suggests that a support weapon should be worth an extra 25 points. So that's 31 pts*.
Also, a helicopter gunship would be worth 104 pts*.

* All of the above assume a limit of 3/day on the summoning.

All those prices are way out of a PC's price range (it's a campaign stating at 250 pts).

If it was done through a Patron & ARs though to could cost 25-30 points to call for support (though less reliable).

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Tinman

I want him to be able to Summon backup of various types depending on the situation. Like being able to summon a fire team/squad, a mortar team, machinegun team or even occasionally (maybe with a really good summon roll) an air support asset (helicopter or strike fighter).

Another way to do it, albeit a bit twisted, would be Duplication. He's a SEAL, he can do all the jobs apart from the air support ones. If he has Duplication, he needs a way to get different sets of equipment, but it saves a lot of questions about "What happens if the summoned allies get killed?", "Do they remember previous summonings?" and things like that.

[Tinman]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Another way to do it, albeit a bit twisted, would be Duplication. He's a SEAL, he can do all the jobs apart from the air support ones. If he has Duplication, he needs a way to get different sets of equipment, but it saves a lot of questions about "What happens if the summoned allies get killed?", "Do they remember previous summonings?" and things like that.

The big problem with that is he'd need to duplicate 3+ of himself & the heavy weapons and/or the helicopter he's summoning. Also, the competence of duplicating himself is much higher than a mook machinegun crew. Finaly, I want it to be summoned mooks not himself.