[RPM] Advice on Charms and Elixirs

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by johndallman

So that's what guns like the 2mm Kolibri or the Liliput were for! The point wasn't to do damage, but to deliver charms at range. You could carry several low-capacity pistols easily.

Someone get Doug on this - what's the stats for these two? :D The Kolibri looks uniquely terrible.

[ajardoor]

I believe the SOP (Paraphernalia Pro) perk (which can be bought as a Magic Perk as per Magical Styles) would let you organise and Fast-Draw your charms and elixirs better.

[dcarson]

Are there any rules on the size of an object you can apply a charm to?

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Bruno

For me, YES. All of the above...

I'm also a stellar example of Absent Minded*, due to drain bamage.

Well, as you say, you have an excuse (and the disad to bring it up "in play" so to speak).

That said I see people doing the keys dance all the time, and finding things in purses is notoriously difficult.

But these people? Most of them have no excuse.

My Mom is like that every morning, she can never remember where she left her keys. I just sigh and shake my head. My keys are always right where they belong (but again, I have an SOP Perk*).



* But there has to be a happy medium between "disadvantage" and "advantage", a space in which the character will generally keep track of their mystical nick-nacks, but still allow for occasional forgetful misplacing mishaps. And I don't think it's "constant memory rolls".

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by johndallman

So that's what guns like the 2mm Kolibri or the Liliput were for! The point wasn't to do damage, but to deliver charms at range. You could carry several low-capacity pistols easily.

Originally Posted by dcarson

Are there any rules on the size of an object you can apply a charm to?

No. But you could use the rules for creating RPM foci from The Hunter's Reliquary article as a base. Hmmmm.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Someone get Doug on this - what's the stats for these two? :D The Kolibri looks uniquely terrible.

Hans has already done them, in Pulp Guns 1. The Kolibri is 1d-3pi-, which seems to mean that it reliably does one point of damage if you shoot someone in the torso, and they aren't wearing any armour. The Liliput is 1d-2pi-, which means you can do two points, but usually won't. Both have Acc 0, and very short 1/2D range, but they only weigh about 0.5lb.

In the 1930s occult horror game, where characters are required to be female and to be unlikely to believed by the police, the GM suggested Kolibri pistols, but none of the players took him up on them.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Bruno

The Kolibri looks uniquely terrible.

How can you resist a pistol with a muzzle energy of 4 J (3 ft-lb)?

Seems like you'd be better off just throwing rocks.

At least they're not measuring it in dyn-cms.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

How can you resist a pistol with a muzzle energy of 4 J (3 ft-lb)?

Seems like you'd be better off just throwing rocks.

At least they're not measuring it in dyn-cms.

My guess is that there's an intimidation factor as well. People see "gun" and freeze, not stopping to think.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Are you honestly trying to convince me that you routinely forget which pocket your keys are in, how much money is in your wallet, where you stowed your stuff in your tote bag, which wrist your watch is on, etc?

If you always put the Fireball charm in your left pocket, the Healing charm as a necklace, the Deathtouch charm is the fake stone in your ring, and so forth, then those would indeed be easy to keep track of. When you have a dozen charms crafted for the situation and stowed away in various locations, it may be difficult to keep track of what you put where.

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Seriously? Have you ever fired mixed rounds? It's not that hard. If you always load in a specific manner (EG: Dispelling Round, then Hollow Point, then Tracer, then Silver-Anti Shifter, then Fireball, lastly Explosive Fireball) and you always start one the same round (Explosive Fireball), then "two clicks over" is always the same round (Hollow Point). From there you know what charmed bullet is where.

Again, if you always do things in a specific manner, it might not be as difficult to keep track of, but I don't think that's usually the case for RPMists. As for your later point of keeping track of bullets, I feel this is a step beyond that - for that, you simply need to keep in mind how many bullets you have fired. For this, you need to keep in mind how many bullets you have fired, which chambers those specific bullets were in, and, unless using something like the nail polish trick, which chamber you are currently on.

"You have a revolver with 6 chambers, each loaded with a different bullet. Chamber 1 has HP, 2 has +P, 3 has API, 4 has Tracer, 5 has HEMP, and 6 has FMJ. You have fired your HP and Tracer rounds, and now need to fire API. How many chambers do you need to skip to get to API?"
Looking at that question, it's easy - the next trigger pull would be HEMP, so you skip it, FMJ, HP, and +P, or 4 chambers. If I asked someone this question, it would probably take them more than a second to work it out - and that's not in the heat of battle.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Varyon

If you always put the Fireball charm in your left pocket, the Healing charm as a necklace, the Deathtouch charm is the fake stone in your ring, and so forth, then those would indeed be easy to keep track of. When you have a dozen charms crafted for the situation and stowed away in various locations, it may be difficult to keep track of what you put where.

In my case this is why I developed my SOP. I always put things in specific places (because growing up I had a fabulously bad memory, still do - I probably have a low level of Absent-Minded as well).

Anyone who has a profession that has similar amounts of gear stowage and a need for rapid retrieval in stressful situations also develops these practices, cops, soldiers, security guards, etc. Are you suggesting that everyone of them has an SOP perk?

Sure, if the team RPMist hands you a bag of charms and you aren't familiar with stowing and using them, then yes, have the PC have a hard time remembering where they stowed X charm or what Y charm looks like as they dig threw their kit.

Again, if you always do things in a specific manner, it might not be as difficult to keep track of, but I don't think that's usually the case for RPMists.

If they routinely deal with large numbers of charms they will either develop a system* and stick with or die**.


* Presuming Monster Hunters characters. For the desk jockey who has a handful of "make-my-day-easier" charms sure, he might never need to access them in a hurry. He might even have a Quirk or full disad making remembering to even bring them harder.

** Which is beginning to suggest to me they all have an SOP Perk.

But I still want an intermediate step betwixt "Forgetful" and "Anal-Retentive", I think applying varying degrees of Situational Awareness can work for this (for most of my games this would never come up as I run ACTION!).

As for your later point of keeping track of bullets, I feel this is a step beyond that - for that, you simply need to keep in mind how many bullets you have fired. For this, you need to keep in mind how many bullets you have fired, which chambers those specific bullets were in, and, unless using something like the nail polish trick, which chamber you are currently on.

"You have a revolver with 6 chambers, each loaded with a different bullet. Chamber 1 has HP, 2 has +P, 3 has API, 4 has Tracer, 5 has HEMP, and 6 has FMJ. You have fired your HP and Tracer rounds, and now need to fire API. How many chambers do you need to skip to get to API?"
Looking at that question, it's easy - the next trigger pull would be HEMP, so you skip it, FMJ, HP, and +P, or 4 chambers. If I asked someone this question, it would probably take them more than a second to work it out - and that's not in the heat of battle.

If they've never fired a gun loaded this way, yes I agree. But this is a matter of familiarity.

Oh... hey, yeah, Familiarity. I like that. Make it a Familiarity penalty to remember odd load-outs during Situational Awareness tests. If they practice with a particular load-out, they can take it as a Familiarity.