Area-Limited Powers

[Rob Crawford]

I'm trying to come up with the pricing for a power that is only usable in a certain area. I've looked through Powers, Psi, Supers, and Characters, and the closest I've come is the "Environmental" limitation, but that doesn't quite fit my model.

The idea is a "hedge priest" who works with the "local spirits". I want to model it on Divine Favor, but with penalties based on how far you are from your home base -- to reflect the less familiar nature of the "local spirits". I'm thinking a -1 (to all rolls for this power) for every 5 miles from home.

Would this be a -20% limitation?

Thanks!

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Well ...

Reliable is +5% per every +1 to use. Reversing that: Not Reliable, Variable, up to -X, -5% per every -1.

So if the maximum penalty is -4, then -20% is reasonable.

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by Rob Crawford

I'm trying to come up with the pricing for a power that is only usable in a certain area. I've looked through Powers, Psi, Supers, and Characters, and the closest I've come is the "Environmental" limitation, but that doesn't quite fit my model.

The idea is a "hedge priest" who works with the "local spirits". I want to model it on Divine Favor, but with penalties based on how far you are from your home base -- to reflect the less familiar nature of the "local spirits". I'm thinking a -1 (to all rolls for this power) for every 5 miles from home.

Would this be a -20% limitation?

Thanks!

Check Fantasy. I think there's something on it in there.

EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, I think Fantasy only talks about a Dependency on a limited area.

I think what you want is a variety the Accessbility limitation. Size of the limitation based on the amount of time spent at "home base." Modify the Accessibility by...something. That's the best I have without my books.

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by Sunrunners_Fire

Well ...

Reliable is +5% per every +1 to use. Reversing that: Not Reliable, Variable, up to -X, -5% per every -1.

So if the maximum penalty is -4, then -20% is reasonable.

I believe the opposite of the Reliable enhancement is "Hard to Use." Listed in Powers as an alternate form of the ____ limitation. Sorry for the blank.

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by Jerander

I believe the opposite of the Reliable enhancement is "Hard to Use." Listed in Powers as an alternate form of the ____ limitation. Sorry for the blank.

Powers, pg 107. Alternate form of the Untrainable modifier. :)

-3 per level, -5% per level, up to a limit of -12. So -5/-10/-15/-20% for -3/-6/-9/-12 to use.

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by Sunrunners_Fire

Powers, pg 107. Alternate form of the Untrainable modifier. :)

-3 per level, -5% per level, up to a limit of -12. So -5/-10/-15/-20% for -3/-6/-9/-12 to use.

Nice! That's it!

So, somehow limiting the Accessibility with the Hard to Use with Variable...That should get you close. I'll have to play with it when I have more mental space.

[munin]

This is an example of a mundane countermeasure (p. P20):

"If the power loses much of its utility – or just doesn’t work – in a reasonably common environment ... add -10% to the power modifier."

In this case the reasonably common environment is simply being away from local spirits. Dungeon Fantasy 7 has a similar example for devotees of city gods (p. 11) -- high or very high sanctity in the city's temple, normal sanctity within the city's limits, and low sanctity outside the city -- worth -10% on their power modifier ("Highly Localized, -10%" on Power Investiture).

The exact details of what "local" means is up to the GM. In a fantasy setting I think I'd define local as the distance you can travel and get back home in the same day (anything more is a trip, and thus not local) -- about -1 per mile, perhaps. But -1 per 5 miles isn't unreasonable if you assume horseback travel (and some familiarity with spirits up to 50 miles away).

[Orienda]

Another possible route is to use skills for powers and use area knowledge as the activation skill. You can then use the default levels for different areas to represent familiarity with different areas.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Jerander

Check Fantasy. I think there's something on it in there.

EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, I think Fantasy only talks about a Dependency on a limited area.

What I call the Site-Based form of Dependency... a useful model for some supernatural tropes. You might be able to base a limitation on that, but I think working from Environmental might be easier.

[Rob Crawford]

Originally Posted by munin

In this case the reasonably common environment is simply being away from local spirits. Dungeon Fantasy 7 has a similar example for devotees of city gods (p. 11) -- high or very high sanctity in the city's temple, normal sanctity within the city's limits, and low sanctity outside the city -- worth -10% on their power modifier ("Highly Localized, -10%" on Power Investiture).

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for!