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Old 05-30-2022, 09:52 PM   #41
Prince Charon
 
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

Something that I'll probably post to A More Scientific Golden Age, later, but thought it should go here first for review:

Mask of the Heroic Daredevil

Seemingly a simple domino mask, but whomever wears it gains several traits (enough to turn an above-average person into a decent pulp hero):

Attributes
DX+2 [40]

Advantages
Charisma (Spirit, -10%) 3 [14]
Daredevil (Spirit, -10%) 5 [68]
Obscure (Vision; Defensive, +50%; Stealthy, +100%; Anti-Targeting, -20%; Spirit, -10%) 9 [40]
Rapier Wit (Spirit, -10%) [5]
Visualization (Reduced Time 7, +140%; Spirit, -10%) [23]

Subtotal: 190

Disadvantages
Code of Honor (Hero's) [-10]
Sense of Duty (Friends) [-5]
Trickster (15) [-8]
Quirks: Flamboyant and Trademark. [-2]

Subtotal: -25

Skills
Acrobatics [DX/H] [12] DX+2
Cloak [DX/A] [4] DX+1
Sabre [DX/A] [4] DX+1

Power Techniques

Serendipity (H) Acrobatics-5 [5] Acrobatics-1
Super-Climbing (H) Acrobatics-2 [2] Acrobatics-1
Super-Jump (H) Acrobatics-2 [2] Acrobatics-1
'Tis But a Flesh Wound (H) Acrobatics-7 [6] Acrobatics-2

Subtotal: 35

Total: 200

Notes

The mask is haunted by the spirit of its first owner, an 18th century masked adventurer/pulp hero; the disadvantages listed are the price the wearer pays for power. The Trademark is chosen by the wearer, but they must choose something.

If damaged, the mask repairs itself at the rate of the wearer's natural healing.

Daredevil as a leveled advantage comes from GURPS Supers. For purposes of Power Stunts as Spells, it usually serves as the core advantage, while Acrobatics serves as the core skill.

The listed power techniques are not the only ones available, just the ones which the user instinctively knows. The Serendipity technique includes 'Wishing, +100%' and 'Spirit, -10%.' The Super-Climbing technique grants Super Climbing 4 (Spirit, -10%), and the Super-Jump technique allows Super Jump 1 (Spirit, -10%). 'Tis But a Flesh Wound is Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction (Spirit, -10%) 2.


Thoughts?
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Last edited by Prince Charon; 05-31-2022 at 09:35 PM.
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Old 05-31-2022, 06:46 AM   #42
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

Given the cinematic nature of this, I'd be inclined to work Impulse Buys into it somehow. The most natural approach would be to incorporate an appropriate Wildcard Skill (e.g., replacing Acrobatics with Move!, replacing Cloak and Saber with Swashbuckler!, or maybe even adding Fake! for both the quick wit it represents and for the improved skill defaults across the board) and use the resulting Wildcard Points (one per 12 points spent on the Wildcard Skills) to buy successes, provide player guidance, and take flesh wounds — all of which are described in Basic Set.
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Old 05-31-2022, 07:45 AM   #43
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
...

Skills
Acrobatics [DX/H] [12] DX+2

...

Techniques

Serendipity (H) Acrobatics-5 [5] Acrobatics-1
Super-Climbing (H) Acrobatics-2 [2] Acrobatics-1
Super-Jump (H) Acrobatics-2 [2] Acrobatics-1
'Tis But a Flesh Wound (H) Acrobatics-7 [6] Acrobatics-2

...

The listed power techniques are not the only ones available, just the ones which the user instinctively knows. The Serendipity technique includes 'Wishing, +100%' and 'Spirit, -10%.' The Super-Climbing technique grants Super Climbing 4 (Spirit, -10%), and the Super-Jump technique allows Super Jump 1 (Spirit, -10%). 'Tis But a Flesh Wound is Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction (Spirit, -10%) 2.


Thoughts?
I'm not following how these power techniques work. Why are they techniques of Acrobatics? Are they defaulting from some other power?
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Old 05-31-2022, 07:53 AM   #44
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

They're “Abilities Used At Default” Stunts from Powers, where the Ability that they're defaulting off of is Daredevil. A literal reading of the rules would require a penalized Will roll to do this; but Prince Charon is using a “skills for everything” variant to make it an Acrobatics roll instead.

It does seem somewhat fishy; at the very least, it ought to be based on Will, not DX.
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Old 05-31-2022, 09:43 AM   #45
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

Quote:
Originally Posted by dataweaver View Post
They're “Abilities Used At Default” Stunts from Powers, where the Ability that they're defaulting off of is Daredevil. A literal reading of the rules would require a penalized Will roll to do this; but Prince Charon is using a “skills for everything” variant to make it an Acrobatics roll instead.

It does seem somewhat fishy; at the very least, it ought to be based on Will, not DX.
Ah. Okay, that makes sense now. It would have been clear to me if Acrobatics had been listed as the "Power Skill" for Daredevil somewhere - or if I hadn't missed it if it were. And I agree; I think, at the very least, a Will-Based Acrobatics roll for Serendipity.... But a flat Will-roll does seem to be a better fit.

Another thought: maybe instead of buying up techniques based on Acrobatics (though that is a pretty cool idea), spend some of those points on a Probability Alteration talent that will apply to all the possible techniques

At any rate, the Mask is pretty cool! Thanks!

EDIT: And after another look, I see that I just missed the note about Daredevil as the core advantage.
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Old 05-31-2022, 09:51 AM   #46
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

Some clarity might come from calling that section “Power Techniques” rather than just “Techniques”; without that, it's too easy to assume that the Techniques are somehow working off of the mechanics of the skill or attribute that's being rolled against — which they most definitely aren't.
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Old 05-31-2022, 09:40 PM   #47
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

OK, so I went back and made a couple of small edits. Does it look better, now?

I did think about basing the power stunts on a Will-derived skill like Meditation or Mental Strength, but thought that Acrobatics was more fitting for the concept.
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Old 06-04-2022, 08:23 AM   #48
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

The issue isn't so much that you're using Acrobatics as that you're using DX-based Acrobatics. Skills can be floated to other attributes, after all. And the rules for Using Abilities At Default call for either HT or Will; and Skills For Everything doesn't change that.

To change it, I'd require an Unusual Background, or perhaps a variant of “based on different Attribute” applied to Daredevil that changes the attribute used for Stunts instead of the usual rolls associated with Daredevil.
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Old 07-05-2022, 07:08 PM   #49
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

Quote:
Originally Posted by dataweaver View Post
The issue isn't so much that you're using Acrobatics as that you're using DX-based Acrobatics. Skills can be floated to other attributes, after all. And the rules for Using Abilities At Default call for either HT or Will; and Skills For Everything doesn't change that.

To change it, I'd require an Unusual Background, or perhaps a variant of “based on different Attribute” applied to Daredevil that changes the attribute used for Stunts instead of the usual rolls associated with Daredevil.
I keep meaning to reply to this and coming up blank, then forgetting about it for a while, and coming back again. The conclusion I've come up with is that we've been pulling out slightly different sets of tools from the toolbox that is GURPS, since I see nothing odd (and thus nothing requiring a UB cost) about using DX as the base attribute for Daredevil power stunts in this context. I see it more as a setting switch than something specific to the item.
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-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

Last edited by Prince Charon; 08-06-2022 at 12:06 AM.
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Old 11-19-2022, 01:22 AM   #50
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Default Re: [Magic-as-Powers] Power Stunts as Spells

My insomnia is being a pain, and I wrote up and posted this because the alternative was lying in bed being bored and annoyed. There may be errors.

Contemplating a core advantage for a variety of Standard Fantasy Dwarves in a Power stunts as spells setting:

Affliction (Advantages: DR+2 (Magic, -10%), +90% and Resistant to Corrosion +3 (Magic, -10%), +45%; Permanent until X, +150%; Magic, -10%; Nuisance Effect: Cannot power stunt a different failure condition, -5%; Objects Only, -20%; Only for items I make, -10%; Requires IQ roll, -10%) [33]

So, dwarves channel their magic in ways that cause anything they make to become more durable and longer-lasting, though they can with effort enchant items with other effects. The failure condition listed as 'X' above is personal and specific to the individual dwarf; 'until a shadow swallows the sun' (a solar eclipse), 'until the comet (that this dwarf was born under) returns,' 'until the user lies,' 'until the item is submerged in beer,' and so on. As long as the GM agrees that a condition is worth a +150% cost increase (which some of the above might not), it works. When buying magic items from a dwarf, be sure to find out what the failure condition is. Note that making single-use items is certainly possible, it's just that the item will tend to last in storage unless the failure condition occurs before it's used.

Buying off the Nuisance Effect requires great self-awareness, and is often the mark of a Master, though there are other qualifications. Having effectively no automatic failure condition (Permanent, +300%) is rare and impressive to the point of being legendary, though such dwarves have existed, and wanting to become one of them is a potentially-interesting ambition for a dwarven craftsman.

The core skill for the advantage (and thus for power stunts) is Symbol Drawing, with a specialty appropriate to your craft skill. So, a dwarven Master Builder would have Symbol Drawing (Sacred Architecture), a dwarven jeweler would have Symbol Drawing (Lapidism), a dwarven armourer or blacksmith would have Symbol Drawing (Wondersmithing), and so on (the first two are from GURPS Thaumatology: Urban Magics, while the latter is just something I think should exist in this setting, along with various others).

I kind of wonder how a culture might develop with this as a factor. If a dwarf's auto-fail condition is cyclic, all his or her items will fail at once, but you know that in advance, and can plan for it. If it's a singular event that isn't easily predicable (e.g. 'Permanent until the maker dies'), that's a bigger problem. If it's something specific to the item or the user, then they won't all fail at once, which at least makes that part easier. For example, all of Ulfric the Punctual's smithwork fails after seven years and seven days, so he always marks the date he completed an item in a visible location, and his work is quite popular. Leod the Bowyer's weapons are excellent for hunting, but each one's magic will fail if it's ever used to kill a dwarf.


Thoughts?
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Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

Last edited by Prince Charon; 06-16-2023 at 10:22 AM.
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