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Old 10-02-2019, 09:19 PM   #1
DoctorJerk
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Default A Very Slow Leech Aura

I'm having trouble stat-ing out an ability that needs to be cheap.

The situation is this: I'm playing a 175pt character (hereafter referred to as Xh) amongst a group of ethically grey, but ultimately righteous, heroes. Some god or other made Xh with the intent to follow a course of action that would result in a global chaotic catastrophe. Thus, he needs to play at being a hero, so he can live long enough to become the villain. He doesn't try to hide this, but he doesn't make it obvious, either. Rather, he openly proclaims his love of chaos and frequently performs actions that have no moral leaning, just that they cause excitement and ruckus, even if it means casting a drunkenness spell on an ally during diplomatic undertakings, or exposing the carefully planned heist of some local criminals, just prior to the operation.

Xh recently made a deal with a demon that he pulled from the metaphorical fire. He gives the demon a ride on his soul and performs services for it, and the demon bestows significant power on him over time. A real basic familiarity contract in which the familiar is controlled exclusively by the GM and is subject to plot devices. It's prudent to Xh that the other characters don't know about this deal or the demon, so any benefit he gets must be easy to hide.

To this end, I've devised an extremely subtle version of leech, but I don't know if it's exactly legal or CP-balanced. I've been roleplaying this character well, doing things like forgoing control rolls for disads like Trickster and Overconfidence, and giving up turns in combat to laugh at an ally that screwed up or the misfortunes of an enemy Xh Afflicted with a Curse, so I think the GM is providing some leniency. Given Xh's nature and likely fate, this is supposed to be a slightly munchkin-y character so some use of rule loopholes or mechanics exploitation is fine.

The proposed leech works like so: Every whole hour spent within a 16yd radius (32yd diameter) of Xh's presence, Leech 3 has been considered to have been active on all valid targets ('allies' included) for the equivalent effect of 1 second. Normal resistance rolls apply by the end of that hour. This only saps FP and only bestows FP to Xh or his Specialized Energy Reserve(ER). This means that every 1 hour you spend in a reasonable distance to Xh, you will have lost 3 FP and Xh's FP or his ER will go up by 1 for each person affected. The idea is that the demon can't quickly pull energy from people without them noticing who the effect is coming from, so he has to drag it out of them slowly, in chunks. If they leave the AoE, the demon loses all progress on sapping their energy.

Here's how I've built it: Leech (3HP/sec) (1 Second/Exposure Delay; Always On (effects are dangerous); Area Effect (16 yd); Aura; Granted by Familiar; Magical; Malediction (Receives -1/yd range); Melee Attack: Reach C; No Signature; Onset (Exposure Time) (Delay 1 hour); Steal FP (only drains FP)) [21]

And the ER to go with it: Energy Reserve (Magical) (18) (Granted by Familiar; Special Recharge) [11]

The problem is that I couldn't find anything in the books that specifically works like the bold/underlined limitation. I had to add that in manually and gave it a 0.2* cost modifier. Every limitation I could find didn't address the idea that this version of Leech only ticks once over an interval of time longer than a second. As far as I could tell, without it Leech would just tick for the first time after an hour of being in Xh's presence and would continue to tick every second thereafter which, while powerful and clever, is incredibly expensive.

Is there a better way to stat this for around about the same price? If not, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Is this custom limitation fair? Is the ability too strong for its price?

Last edited by DoctorJerk; 10-02-2019 at 09:48 PM.
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Old 10-02-2019, 09:48 PM   #2
awesomenessofme1
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Default Re: A Very Slow Leech Aura

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoctorJerk View Post
I'm having trouble stat-ing out an ability that needs to be cheap.

The situation is this: I'm playing a 175pt character (hereafter referred to as Xh) amongst a group of ethically grey, but ultimately righteous, heroes. Some god or other made Xh with the intent to follow a course of action that would result in a global chaotic catastrophe. Thus, he needs to play at being a hero, so he can live long enough to become the villain. He doesn't try to hide this, but he doesn't make it obvious, either. Rather, he openly proclaims his love of chaos and frequently performs actions that have no moral leaning, just that they cause excitement and ruckus, even if it means casting a drunkenness spell on an ally during diplomatic undertakings, or exposing the carefully planned heist of some local criminals, just prior to the operation.

Xh recently made a deal with a demon that he pulled from the metaphorical fire. He gives the demon a ride on his soul and performs services for it, and the demon bestows significant power on him over time. A real basic familiarity contract in which the familiar is controlled exclusively by the GM and is subject to plot devices. It's prudent to Xh that the other characters don't know about this deal or the demon, so any benefit he gets must be easy to hide.

To this end, I've devised an extremely subtle version of leech, but I don't know if it's exactly legal or CP-balanced. I've been roleplaying this character well, doing things like forgoing control rolls for disads like Trickster and Overconfidence, and giving up turns in combat to laugh at an ally that screwed up or the misfortunes of an enemy Xh Afflicted with a Curse, so I think the GM is providing some leniency. Given Xh's nature and likely fate, this is supposed to be a slightly munchkin-y character so some use of rule loopholes or mechanics exploitation is fine.

The proposed leech works like so: Every whole hour spent within a 16yd radius (32yd diameter) of Xh's presence, Leech 3 has been considered to have been active on all valid targets ('allies' included) for the equivalent effect of 1 second. Normal resistance rolls apply by the end of that hour. This only saps FP and only bestows FP to Xh or his Specialized Energy Reserve(ER). This means that every 1 hour you spend in a reasonable distance to Xh, you will have lost 3 FP and Xh's FP or his ER will go up by 1 for each person affected. The idea is that the demon can't quickly pull energy from people without them noticing who the effect is coming from, so he has to drag it out of them slowly, in chunks. If they leave the AoE, they take their energy and the demon's progress with them.

Here's how I've built it: Leech (3HP/sec) (1 Second/Exposure Delay; Always On (effects are dangerous); Area Effect (16 yd); Aura; Granted by Familiar; Magical; Malediction (Receives -1/yd range); Melee Attack: Reach C; No Signature; Onset (Exposure Time) (Delay 1 hour); Steal FP (only drains FP)) [21]

And the ER to go with it: Energy Reserve (Magical) (18) (Granted by Familiar; Special Recharge) [11]

The problem is that I couldn't find anything in the books that specifically works like the bold/underlined limitation. I had to add that in manually and gave it a 0.2* cost modifier. Every limitation I could find didn't address the idea that this version of Leech only ticks once over an interval of time longer than a second. As far as I could tell, without it Leech would just tick for the first time after an hour of being in Xh's presence and would continue to tick every second thereafter which, while powerful and clever, is incredibly expensive.

Is there a better way to stat this for around about the same price? If not, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Is this custom limitation fair? Is the ability too strong for its price?
Succubi in GURPS Horror have Leech with a very high level of Takes Extra Time (level 10/-100% iirc). I see no reason why this version couldn't use an even higher amount, RAW at least. Level 11 or 12 would fit in fine for one hour, depending on how you want to round.
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Old 10-02-2019, 10:01 PM   #3
naloth
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Default Re: A Very Slow Leech Aura

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoctorJerk View Post
Here's how I've built it: Leech (3HP/sec) (1 Second/Exposure Delay; Always On (effects are dangerous); Area Effect (16 yd); Aura; Granted by Familiar; Magical; Malediction (Receives -1/yd range); Melee Attack: Reach C; No Signature; Onset (Exposure Time) (Delay 1 hour); Steal FP (only drains FP)) [21]

And the ER to go with it: Energy Reserve (Magical) (18) (Granted by Familiar; Special Recharge) [11]

<snip>

Is there a better way to stat this for around about the same price? If not, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Is this custom limitation fair? Is the ability too strong for its price?
Leech is already a touch ranged ability that requires contact with your target. It's one of the few abilities that requires Ranged to be usable at a range even before you add Malediction. It may seem odd but rather than having Melee, you actually need Ranged instead before you can take Malediction. I'd take Emanation after that to center the effect on you without affecting you.

Once per hour sounds like "Recharge: Hourly" instead of a .2 multiplier.

Instead of getting 3 levels, I'd use the One for One mod from powers and only do one level. Each FP drained is an ER healed. You can also save a few points if it only recharges the ER.

Leech normally wouldn't allow you to drain multiple targets at once, but since the interval is so slow I'd probably just hand waive the rest especially if you consider it a trade off that targets must be in the area for a full hour for each FP drained.


Upon further consideration, I'd probably forgo the whole Leech aspect. Most targets will recover fatigue faster than they are losing it from this attack. Just call it a special recharge on the ER pool that it recharges based on hanging out with groups of people.

Last edited by naloth; 10-02-2019 at 10:05 PM.
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Old 10-02-2019, 10:09 PM   #4
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: A Very Slow Leech Aura

I do not believe that you can take Area Effect with Malediction, only Cone. Since Aura requires Melee Attack and Leech is not technically a Melee Attack, I believe that would likewise be illegal (honestly, Leech does not really need Aura, since it requires ongoing contact rather than touch).
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Old 10-02-2019, 10:13 PM   #5
DoctorJerk
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Default Re: A Very Slow Leech Aura

Quote:
Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1 View Post
Succubi in GURPS Horror have Leech with a very high level of Takes Extra Time (level 10/-100% iirc). I see no reason why this version couldn't use an even higher amount, RAW at least. Level 11 or 12 would fit in fine for one hour, depending on how you want to round.
That particular limitation is balanced toward the ability going off after the extra time, but also continuing to to tick each second afterward. It's used on succubi to represent the idea of them using fun activities as the 'grapple' maneuver, then the ability going off at 1 tick per second as long as you're still 'grappled' after the elapsed delay, not a single tick once an hour. For this limitation to bring point cost to a level comparable my proposed build, it would take at least level 22, but that would require someone to be within Xh's presence for 512 hours for 1 point to Xh's FP per victim, which limits possible victims to an impractical degree. Interestingly, under this build, Leech could be elevated to 15 for only 53 points and would drop just about anyone within a couple seconds while they'd have a slim chance to identify the threat. Hilarious, and suitable to Xh's character, but extremely unlikely to see use.
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Old 10-02-2019, 10:24 PM   #6
awesomenessofme1
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Default Re: A Very Slow Leech Aura

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoctorJerk View Post
That particular limitation is balanced toward the ability going off after the extra time, but also continuing to to tick each second afterward. It's used on succubi to represent the idea of them using fun activities as the 'grapple' maneuver, then the ability going off at 1 tick per second as long as you're still 'grappled' after the elapsed delay, not a single tick once an hour. For this limitation to bring point cost to a level comparable my proposed build, it would take at least level 22, but that would require someone to be within Xh's presence for 512 hours for 1 point to Xh's FP per victim, which limits possible victims to an impractical degree. Interestingly, under this build, Leech could be elevated to 15 for only 53 points and would drop just about anyone within a couple seconds while they'd have a slim chance to identify the threat. Hilarious, and suitable to Xh's character, but extremely unlikely to see use.
Are you sure about that? I don't remember reading it anywhere, and it doesn't make much sense to be honest.
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Old 10-02-2019, 10:24 PM   #7
DoctorJerk
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Default Re: A Very Slow Leech Aura

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
Leech is already a touch ranged ability that requires contact with your target. It's one of the few abilities that requires Ranged to be usable at a range even before you add Malediction. It may seem odd but rather than having Melee, you actually need Ranged instead before you can take Malediction. I'd take Emanation after that to center the effect on you without affecting you.

Once per hour sounds like "Recharge: Hourly" instead of a .2 multiplier.

Instead of getting 3 levels, I'd use the One for One mod from powers and only do one level. Each FP drained is an ER healed. You can also save a few points if it only recharges the ER.

Leech normally wouldn't allow you to drain multiple targets at once, but since the interval is so slow I'd probably just hand waive the rest especially if you consider it a trade off that targets must be in the area for a full hour for each FP drained.


Upon further consideration, I'd probably forgo the whole Leech aspect. Most targets will recover fatigue faster than they are losing it from this attack. Just call it a special recharge on the ER pool that it recharges based on hanging out with groups of people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
I do not believe that you can take Area Effect with Malediction, only Cone. Since Aura requires Melee Attack and Leech is not technically a Melee Attack, I believe that would likewise be illegal (honestly, Leech does not really need Aura, since it requires ongoing contact rather than touch).
Before I wrote this up, I found this thread regarding the relationships between Malediction, Area Effect, Ranged, and Leech. Should address what you cited as incompatible. If there's more current errata on this, I haven't found it yet.
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Old 10-02-2019, 10:32 PM   #8
DoctorJerk
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Default Re: A Very Slow Leech Aura

Quote:
Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1 View Post
Are you sure about that? I don't remember reading it anywhere, and it doesn't make much sense to be honest.
RAW, Takes Extra Time, just delays the time required to activate an ability, it doesn't space out the intervals of damage. It'd be for something like making a continuous laser beam attack require a slow build-up of energy before firing its 30 bu damage/sec
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Old 10-02-2019, 10:40 PM   #9
naloth
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Default Re: A Very Slow Leech Aura

Quote:
Originally Posted by DoctorJerk View Post
RAW, Takes Extra Time, just delays the time required to activate an ability, it doesn't space out the intervals of damage. It'd be for something like making a continuous laser beam attack require a slow build-up of energy before firing its 30 bu damage/sec
Takes Extra Time also has two other often overlooked restrictions. You have to take a series of maneuvers (Ready or Concentrate) that reset if interrupted. Also, it's only valid for abilities that work fast enough to be used in combat.

Recharge makes sense if your ability readies itself after a while. Takes Preparation makes sense if there's something you have to do to get it ready to be used again.
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Old 10-02-2019, 11:04 PM   #10
DoctorJerk
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Default Re: A Very Slow Leech Aura

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
Leech is already a touch ranged ability that requires contact with your target. It's one of the few abilities that requires Ranged to be usable at a range even before you add Malediction. It may seem odd but rather than having Melee, you actually need Ranged instead before you can take Malediction. I'd take Emanation after that to center the effect on you without affecting you.
I'll find the link to the Kromm or PK post (I forget who said it) that makes the following point clear, but there's a careful distinction made between a ranged aura and an emanation. Emanations are a single pulse of power at a time, in which the resistance roll needs to be made at time of contact, which is why you can dive for cover to dodge this. An aura, on the other hand, is a constant 'touch' attack. Thus if you turn it into an AoE, it's considered to be in constant contact with everything within its range, excluding the originator. This is why Aura requires the Melee Reach C limitation; you can't extend it further than its natural reach, unlike an emanation ability, which can be enhanced to be projected and seem to originate from places besides its wielder.

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
Once per hour sounds like "Recharge: Hourly" instead of a .2 multiplier.
Recharge specifically says it can only be used once per recharge interval. For this ability that would mean a single pulse once an hour and would not account for someone who entered the leech field 30 minutes after someone else did, nor would it account for someone who only just entered the field. As modeled, I want the victims to have to spend an entire, uninterrupted hour within the field to be affected.

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
Instead of getting 3 levels, I'd use the One for One mod from powers and only do one level. Each FP drained is an ER healed. You can also save a few points if it only recharges the ER.
Ooh! Where is this? Is it named something other than "One for One" in the book? I haven't found this yet.


Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
Upon further consideration, I'd probably forgo the whole Leech aspect. Most targets will recover fatigue faster than they are losing it from this attack. Just call it a special recharge on the ER pool that it recharges based on hanging out with groups of people.
You're right, I forgot how quickly FP regenerates. I do want it to be harmful, though, even to the other players in the group. That's just part of the whole demon contract, callous, chaos-obsessed-manchild thing. Perhaps a missed sleep hazard would characterize this since they'd have to sleep to recover.

Last edited by DoctorJerk; 10-02-2019 at 11:21 PM.
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