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Old 07-24-2020, 07:50 PM   #1
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Odd Afflictions [Powers/Supers]

I was just curious what are the odd types of afflictions that you have used in your games? Here is one of mine to get things started:

Blessings of Intimacy: Affliction (HT; Accessibility, Only during consensual sex, -30%; Advantage, Covenant of Rest, +10%; Advantage, Daredevil, +150%; Advantage, Extra Option (Godlike Extra Effort), +10%; Advantage, Luck, +150%; Advantage, Sanitized Metabolism, +10%; Advantage, Spirit Contract (Deity), +10%; Aura, +80%; Blood Agent, -40%; Divine, -10%; Extended Duration, 1000x, +120%; Melee, C, -30%; Onset, Exposure Time, 1 minute, -30%) [50]. Notes: The practitioner, usually a member of the clergy of a goddess of fertility or goddess of sex, blesses a sexual partner with a number of advantages (two major and four minor).
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Old 07-29-2020, 11:24 AM   #2
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default Re: Odd Afflictions [Powers/Supers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
Accessibility, Only during consensual sex, -30%;
Aura, +80%;
Blood Agent, -40%;
Melee, C, -30%
Regarding this set of modifiers you've built in, it most closely reminds me of how the Leech 2 of the Succubus is modified on H66

It doesn't have Melee since unlike Affliction, Leech is melee by default...

It prices "requires sexual intimacy" as -25%. Despite the term "intimacy" having sometimes-romantic-sounding implications, given how the lore of succubi work, I don't think it's meant to imply consent, so charging another -5% for the consensual version sounds good to me.

It uses Contact Agent -30% instead of Blood Agent -40% meaning Succubi probably can initiate the attack via a broader number of touches than someone using Blessings of Intimacy, since BA requires contact with one of the target's mucous membranes while CA could work on touching bare skin or porous clothing.

I know porous clothing includes cloth ("breathable") so a succubus in theory could use Leech through something like a cotton t-shirt, but it would need to be "sexually intimate" touching of that t-shirt, however one defines that.

That makes me wonder how you would technically establish that, like if just the succubus has to consider it intimate, or if the target would as well, and if the latter, if some kind of rolling is involved to have a target interpret "the succubus is patting me down" as sexual instead of something else (thieving, checking for weapons, annoying)

Time is the other obvious large difference since Aura makes BOI a free attack (albeit one requiring 1 minute of contact due to Onset) while Succubi's TET 10 requires >1>2>4>8>15>30>1m>2m>4m>8 minutes of consecutive ready maneuvers after making a grapple (and maintaining it) prior to making the attack maneuver to take the HP.
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Old 07-29-2020, 12:07 PM   #3
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: Odd Afflictions [Powers/Supers]

I believe that the Succubus Leech was supposed to be rather passive, with her victim engaging in sex while she is passively receiving them. A more active version might be Leech 1 (Accelerated Healing, +25%; Accessibility, Sex, -25%; Blood Agent, +40%; No Signature, Mundane, +25%; Steals FP, -25%) [15]. The Succubus is capable of draining up to 1 FP per turn, though she will likely wait to drain her partner until her partner starts to finish ('finishing' takes around 15-30 seconds, which gives her plenty of time to drain them dry). The victim will feel exceptionally exhausted, but they will likely blame their sexual activity rather than their sexual partner.
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Old 07-29-2020, 03:07 PM   #4
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default Re: Odd Afflictions [Powers/Supers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
I believe that the Succubus Leech was supposed to be rather passive, with her victim engaging in sex while she is passively receiving them.
H66 says "ADSP is caused by succubi" and I think "Awareness During Sleep Paralysis" is meant to be represented by the "Sleep" (H12) attack she can use to immobilize them. It's also a contact agent (doesn't need to be sexual though) which can be used instantaneously and if they fail the save it lasts at least 100 minutes, plenty of time to do 12 rounds of 8-min-apiece Leeches.

If they resist, a succubus could just keep using it over and over again until they failed (no cost to attempt, brute force approach) but if someone was immune then they do have ST+2 and Constriction Attack, so they could just hold them down until they were done. Doing a bear hug (MA117) on their torso until they fall unconscious would one approach to use, but since that would be done via depleting FP (preventing succubus from leeching it) they would probably avoid that, and just try to pin them and maintain the pin and defend against 'Break Free' maneuvers for 8 solid minutes.

Unless "intimacy" requires "subject must be conscious" I think they'd find it easier to just knock out their targets. There doesn't seem to be any benefit to having them away. Some variation of Doleovore (pain) and Metuovore (fear) based on lust (bonus HP drained if they are consciously aroused) might make sense for some succubus variants though, and might explain why they'd keep them awake.

The "sleep" affliction alone doesn't really line up with the idea of ADSP though, since it knocks unconscious and doesn't imbue awareness My guess is that's what "Nightmare" (also H12) is used for: the subject is unconscious but afflicting the 'nightmares' disadvantage gives them "awareness" of what the succubus did because presumably if you Afflict:Nightmare you can choose the nightmare?

I don't really understand what the motive would be in a succubus showing the victim what happened though, especially since Nightmares can cause FP loss which is bad because the Succubus would want them to regain as much FP as possible for their next feeding...

On the other hand, the FP can be recovered through sleep and the succubus can HELP with that, keeping them asleep to recover the FP first and then feeding on it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
A more active version might be Leech 1 (Accelerated Healing, +25%; Accessibility, Sex, -25%; Blood Agent, +40%; No Signature, Mundane, +25%; Steals FP, -25%) [15]
Since the H66 versions lacks No Signature there's probable an obvious supernatural element to the feeding which is why I think "Sleep" would be afflicted first to incapacitate them so they can't witness it.

They "charm and seduce their victims" which I imagine is done to get close enough to use the Sleep attack.

Perhaps "charm and seduce their victims" is why they would opt to use Nightmare? B144-145 mentions crit-failing the self-control roll for nightmares gives a perception/skill penalty, which could help in making them vulnerable to manipulation by the succubus's influence skills.

Since the "Sleep" and "Leech" attacks both lack "affect substantial", succubi can't attack substantial targets with them while insubstantial, so as Threshold entities (H27) they must manifest and be vulnerable to attack to feed, unless they try to feed on other spirits while insubstantial.

I've never heard of that, I'm surprised Leech doesn't have "substantial only" limitation to prevent them from just feeding on other spirits. Maybe a lot of spirits aren't valid targets due to being Sexless? M160's Lich/Wraith might be immune to a succubi's Leech 2 for example because if you're sexless then "sexual intimacy" is impossible?

B165 defines the quirk as more than sterility and there's immunity to seduction which would make it hard to get up close to use Sleep.

Since succubi can't see through walls, it probably also makes it very easy for spirits to hide from her, since they can just run through a nearby wall and she wouldn't be able to track them as easily as a mortal, whose paths would be guided by walls and who would leave footprints, smells, etc. Spirits who don't want a scary succubus to touch them could probably just float underground (effectively invisible if you can't see through solid earth) and then she wouldn't know where to go to try and touch them.
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Old 07-29-2020, 10:27 PM   #5
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: Odd Afflictions [Powers/Supers]

An interesting affliction for a succubi would be Affliction (HT; Advantage, Insubstantial (Advantage, Insubstantiality (No Vertical Movement, -10%; Projection, -50%; Temporary Disadvantage, Lecherousness (12-), -12%; Temporary Disadvantage, Xenophilia (12-), -8%), +200%; Extended Duration, 300x, +100%; Malediction, +100%) [50]. While material, the succubi pulls the soul of their victim out of their body and then gets to play with it for a few hours in her insubstantial form, though anything can see the victim's soul, which may cause interesting issues since they will appear to be running around naked.
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Old 07-30-2020, 11:38 AM   #6
oneofmanynameless
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: New Hampshire, USA
Default Re: Odd Afflictions [Powers/Supers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
An interesting affliction for a succubi would be Affliction (HT; Advantage, Insubstantial (Advantage, Insubstantiality (No Vertical Movement, -10%; Projection, -50%; Temporary Disadvantage, Lecherousness (12-), -12%; Temporary Disadvantage, Xenophilia (12-), -8%), +200%; Extended Duration, 300x, +100%; Malediction, +100%) [50]. While material, the succubi pulls the soul of their victim out of their body and then gets to play with it for a few hours in her insubstantial form, though anything can see the victim's soul, which may cause interesting issues since they will appear to be running around naked.
that's a great idea for an odd affliction. I've been compiling a grimoire of sex magic for a magic as powers game. I might have to include that or something like it.
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Old 07-30-2020, 12:39 PM   #7
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: Odd Afflictions [Powers/Supers]

It would also not be a bad idea for an ability in a supers campaign, as most supers would not have effective counters. It would be an interesting way of disabling your opponent, as they could suddenly become vulnerable to a host of insubstantial predators that are normally harmless to substantial characters.
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Old 07-30-2020, 02:39 PM   #8
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: Odd Afflictions [Powers/Supers]

A possibility for people who enjoy buffing themselves and their party members through flagellation:

Benedictions of Mettle (+1,150%): Affliction (Will; Advantage, DR 3 (Absorption, +100%; Bane, Benedictions of Mettle, -0%; Flexible, -20%; Force Field, +20%), +300%; Advantage, Lifting ST 3, +90%; Advantage, Mind Shield 1 (Bane, Benedictions of Mettle, -0%), +40%; Advantage, Striking ST 3, +150%; Advantage, Temperature Tolerance 2, +20%; Based on Will, +20%; Cumulative, +400%; Extended Duration, 1000x, +120%; Selectivity, +10%; Melee, 1-4, Dual, -0%) [125]. Notes: The Benedictions of Mettle are a dual whip-like attacks that increase the mettle of their targets by flaying the weakness from their essence (they can also be used to parry melee attacks). With each successful attack, the target gains DR 3 (Absorption, +100%; Bane, Benedictions of Mettle, -0%; Flexible, -20%; Force Field, +20%) [30], Lifting ST 3 [9], Mind Shield 1 (Bane, Benedictions of Mettle, -0%) [4], Striking ST 3 [15], and Temperature Tolerance 2 [2] for one thousand minutes times their margin of success of a Will roll. The maximum number of instances that an individual may benefit from the Benedictions of Mettle at any one time is equal to their Will.

Last edited by AlexanderHowl; 07-30-2020 at 02:43 PM.
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