[Basic] Advantage of the Week: Mana Damper and Mana Enhancer

[Plane]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Mana Damper [10, 20 or 30] is a supernatural mental advantage.
Mana Enhancer [50 or 100] is likewise a supernatural mental advantage.

I know something like "Requires HT roll" can change mental advantages into physical ones, but can anyone think of any other ways?

I could see for example this being some kind of always-on feature of certain bodies/races rather than minds, but adding "requires HT" prevents it from being always-on.

[Anders]

I would say that making a mental advantage physical is a +20% enhancement, similar to making it another attribute. I'm sure there's some way to game it, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

[ericthered]

These advantages feel very niche to me. I don't use the standard magic system much, and when I do, these advantages feel like another layer of exotic beyond simply using the new system. Its worth noting that they don't see use in base DF templates.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Anders

I would say that making a mental advantage physical is a +20% enhancement, similar to making it another attribute. I'm sure there's some way to game it, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

I would say that's redundant since if you make it physical then the resisting attribute would also be changed.

[awesomenessofme1]

I don't think there's any difference between physical and mental disadvantages, though? In practical terms? The only thing I can think of is whether they require enhancements to use with Modular Abilities.

[Anders]

Like I said, I can't think of any way to game this - but players are clever buggers and will find a way.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1

I don't think there's any difference between physical and mental disadvantages, though?

There is if minds can move between bodies. That isn't a common situation, but when it happens, the distinction is vital.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by johndallman

There is if minds can move between bodies. That isn't a common situation, but when it happens, the distinction is vital.

There's also which maneuver you use (ready or concentrate) and attribute you roll against (HT or Will) when doing stunts.

Will being cheaper than HT to buy up might be balanced out by Concentrate being harder to do than Ready, like how concentration is impossible if anyone is grappling you but you can still do readies w/ a DX roll

[GnomesofZurich]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

That's the Darksword books, innit? I remember reading the back cover blurb and being turned off, but "catalysts" appear to be a thing there.

That's it, thanks! Those books had their moments.

[kirbwarrior]

Should Twisted and Wild Mana Generator be part of this conversation or will those come later?

I really like the idea of Damper and Enhancer, but I dislike the execution. Part of that is Mana Levels in general are also just weirdly done (The jump between Low and Normal is big, Normal and High is fairly invisible, High and Very High absurd, None to Low probably even bigger). Another is the level limits, why is Enhancer only 2 levels? What if a character concept makes sense to always have Very High even in No Mana (or, which has come up in my games, in anything other than none)? Why can't Mana Damper drop VHM to None? I kind of like how Control Mana can do things (making magic easier or harder by a modifier up to level) but that isn't the same thing and comes with different problems.

Originally Posted by Crystalline_Entity

I once tried to build a character with mana enhancer with gadget limitations. He was meant to have some sort of reality shard that enabled magic and superscience to work in a small area surrounding the object. It turned out to be too expensive for my point budget - the smaller Area Effect radius for Mana Enhancer effectively makes it half as effective as regular Area Effect, and Mana Enhancer is expensive already - though given the utility I don't think it's overpriced.

I think I might have made up "Superscience Enhancer" myself by analogy with turning Mana Enhancer into "Sanctity Enhancer" from Boardrooms and Curia, though I could just have forgotten where I saw it!

Part of that could possibly be solved with Multiplicative Modifiers. A gadget of -50% is a pretty big downside and likely even worse the bigger the Area Effect because it'll be more obvious your gadget is amazing.

Originally Posted by Anders

I would say that making a mental advantage physical is a +20% enhancement, similar to making it another attribute. I'm sure there's some way to game it, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Changing an ability from mental/physical/social to another is a feature, usually baked into other modifiers (for instance, Based on IQ can make an IA mental and something being psychic might blanket across the board as mental). Changing an advantage from one to the other absolutely carries abuse (Modular Abilities is just one example).