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Old 09-06-2019, 01:15 AM   #1
Anders
 
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Default [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

Can you afflict someone with Duplication to create an evil twin that will attack them?

I'm thinking Cosmic (+300%) should be enough to create a temporary copy of *all* their gear (not just Signature Gear) and making it an evil twin waives the "does 2d damage if he dies" clause.
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Old 09-06-2019, 01:36 AM   #2
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Default Re: [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

The value of Duplication is normally fixed because it effectively creates an Ally based on your own stats, should that perhaps mean that if the Afflicter is in control (as opposed to a Beneficial Affliction where the target would be in control) that ought to be a "lesser copy" reduced to the Afflicter's point value?

B36 is where Allies conveniently follows Affliction, for this example....

For comparison's sake: if it were possibly to Afflict something like "Allies" (it isn't: it has to be physical or mental, not social) then the value of the point cost should probably be % of target if beneficial and % of user if normal.

100% point total allies (ie could be a clone) are base [5], Constantlyx4 brings this up to [20], if you add +150% in enhancements (minion+50% and summonable +100%) that brings it up to [50] which is more costly than B50's Duplication [35]. Probably because of how they average out HP during merging which is sort of like the Sympathy limitation to some degree.

Maybe it would be more balanced to adjust the dupe's point value down (or up?) to match the user's point value?
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Old 09-06-2019, 01:39 AM   #3
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Default Re: [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

I tried the Allies route but if I want to duplicate an entire party to fight their evil twins I wound up at 432 points. Now, don't get me wrong... this should be an expensive ability. But I wanted to see if the Affliction (Duplication, Area Effect) would be cheaper. Of course, it also allows a resistance roll but I can live with that.
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Old 09-06-2019, 06:25 AM   #4
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Default Re: [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

An "evil twin" is a canonical Enemy (p. B135) and afflicting a disadvantage (which is really what you are trying to do) is a lot cheaper than an advantage-based affliction.

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Originally Posted by Plane View Post
…(it isn't: it has to be physical or mental, not social)…
I wouldn't get hung up on that. If you "cast a spell" (afflict someone) to turn someone in a crowd into another person's ally, that's fine.

And anyway Powers (p. P41) explicitly mentions that the Summonable enhancement changes Allies from a Social trait to a "supernatural ability" (assumedly Mental).
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Old 09-06-2019, 06:37 AM   #5
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Default Re: [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

I'm thinking it may be too cheap. Besides I feel on shaky ground limiting and enhancing disadvantages.

Edit: Looking at it, an evil twin would be worth -10 points. Appearing, constantly that quadruples it to -40 points. 4 points for an "Evil Twin" affliction is, I think, far too cheap. Even if we put a Cosmic, +300% on that, for "appears with full gear" and another +100% for "Conjured"... that ups it to 20 points, which I still think is far too cheap. Looking at the kind of danger this spell poses it should, I think, be worth something in the 150-200 point range.
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Last edited by Anders; 09-06-2019 at 06:53 AM.
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Old 09-06-2019, 06:53 AM   #6
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Default Re: [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

Inflicting an enemy instead was my instant reaction to this. A frequency of ‘Constantly available’ would make sense for x4 cost and Summonable for +100%, too.
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Old 09-06-2019, 07:06 AM   #7
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Default Re: [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

Here are my two attempts (neither inflicts an enemy; I'll think about how to do that):

Quote:
Statistics: Allies (100%; Constantly; 6-10 people; Adjustable, +100%; Conjured, +100%; Accessibility, Only to attack own party, -50%; Cosmic, Appears with gear, +300%; Maximum Duration, 1 minute, -65%; Ranged, +40%; Terminal Condition, when mirror self is knocked out or killed, -50%; Sorcery,-15%) [432].
Quote:
Affliction (Will; Mirror, Mirror, +1,370%; Area, 2 yards, +50%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Malediction 2, +150%; Reduced Duration, 1/3, -5%; Sorcery, -15%; Terminal Condition, Defeat Twin, -10%) [156]. Notes: “Mirror, Mirror” is Duplication (Cosmic, Fully Equipped, +300%; Evil Twin, +0%; Magic, -10%) [137].
What I'm trying to do is "Mirror, Mirror" from Artillery Spells. Enraged Eggplant has a version (he has converted most of Magic to Sorcery), but I didn't like it.
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Old 09-06-2019, 09:25 AM   #8
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Default Re: [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anders View Post
Edit: Looking at it, an evil twin would be worth -10 points. Appearing, constantly that quadruples it to -40 points. 4 points for an "Evil Twin" affliction is, I think, far too cheap. Even if we put a Cosmic, +300% on that, for "appears with full gear" and another +100% for "Conjured"... that ups it to 20 points, which I still think is far too cheap. Looking at the kind of danger this spell poses it should, I think, be worth something in the 150-200 point range.
Blindness, which renders you effectively useless in combat, is only worth 5/level as part of an Affliction. Quadriplegic is only 8/level. I think you're overestimating how cheap it is.
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Old 09-06-2019, 03:19 PM   #9
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Default Re: [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

That's true. Hmm... meditate upon this I shall.
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Old 09-06-2019, 10:32 PM   #10
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Default Re: [Sorcery] Afflicting someone with Duplication?

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Originally Posted by munin View Post
An "evil twin" is a canonical Enemy (p. B135) and afflicting a disadvantage (which is really what you are trying to do) is a lot cheaper than an advantage-based affliction.

I wouldn't get hung up on that. If you "cast a spell" (afflict someone) to turn someone in a crowd into another person's ally, that's fine.
It feels like ignoring the physical/mental restriction is some kinda cosmic rule-breaker enhancement worth at least +50%. Sort of like with Modular Abilities if you want to do physical instead of (+50) or in addition to (+100) mental ones.

Quote:
Originally Posted by munin View Post
And anyway Powers (p. P41) explicitly mentions that the Summonable enhancement changes Allies from a Social trait to a "supernatural ability" (assumedly Mental).
I agree, since it takes a Concentrate maneuver to do. P154 lists some other transient advantages that use Concentrates...

The upper-right box mentions
any ability that requires an IQ, Will, or Per roll to use is mental, while one that calls for a ST, DX, or HT roll is physical, unless the GM specifies otherwise.
So maybe it could be changed to physical if you put "requires HT roll" on it? Or perhaps it's possible to make an ability BOTH if you have requirements to roll both types of attribute?

Did we ever get any clarification on what B38 meant by "appears nearby" when they are summoned, or "if he is physically present" for being able to dismiss them? Not sure whether that's touch or to go with B101's "Assume that range is 100 yards" and allow people to take stuff like "reduced range" or "melee-attack" on "Allies" to save points.
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