Author Topic: Harry's Stats plus Assorted Other Stat Revisions (Small Favor through Cold Days)  (Read 207942 times)

Offline Locnil

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Seems to me there's actually a difference between "mortal" and "has free will", but oh well.

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Seems to me there's actually a difference between "mortal" and "has free will", but oh well.

There totally is. But it seems unlikely to be a distinction Corpsetaker would care about if there were power at stake (as is demonstrated by her negative Refesh). I mean, the Darkhallow wasn't going to leave it's user mortal, yet she went for that.

Offline Sanctaphrax

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When taking someone out via Thaumaturgy as a means of transforming them, you can shift their skills around. I see no reason this wouldn't apply to yourself as well, and it's clearly what she was doing.

I dunno whether that's possible, but if it is the extra effect should certainly cost extra.

I don't think so. She gave no indication of keeping memories or any such thing.

We've seen very little of her. So that's not too meaningful.

Would you argue that Biomancy couldn't swap two people's appearances perfectly?

I would argue that it couldn't swap to people's appearances perfectly for 3 shifts.

What you're doing here would allow 3-shift body-swaps.

Doing body-swaps on Supernaturals is a trickier issue...possibly impossible (or impossible without losing your magic, which is what I'd go with), or Capirocorpus likely would've been walking around in some sort of superhuman monster, not a young human girl.

If you're giving yourself Powers through body-snatching, you need to pay for those Powers. That ought to cover the necessary difficulty difference.

Offline Deadmanwalking

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I dunno whether that's possible, but if it is the extra effect should certainly cost extra.

Sure, I'd be perfectly willing to charge a Fate Point (or Tag, if allowing that sort of thing) per skill swapped (which, at only Might and Endurance at most is only 2 FP), and say that, barring milestone enhancements or consequences, any changes wear off over time (say, one adventure or so) as your habits of exercise probably have more to do with that than your body per se.

We've seen very little of her. So that's not too meaningful.

True enough, just saying.

I would argue that it couldn't swap to people's appearances perfectly for 3 shifts.

Yeah, I'm cool with that. Well, I'm cool with 4-5 shifts for it, anyway, which is gonna be more common. Actually, thinking on it, 6-7 or maybe 8-10 depending on how you rule doing it to two people. 5's the real absolute minimum (3+Zone). It's really not that useful an effect, all things considered. It lets you look different...and that's it.

It's also Lawbreaking, most times, though there are ways around that, I suppose.

What you're doing here would allow 3-shift body-swaps.

Only if they have crap mental stress, and as discussed above. But yeah, basically. It's Lawbreaking, but beyond that, I see no reason for it to be difficult. It's not particularly advantageous, after all. Really no more than looking like another person, which is pretty easy.

If you're giving yourself Powers through body-snatching, you need to pay for those Powers. That ought to cover the necessary difficulty difference.

That works for PCs who wish to keep free will. It doesn't explain why already negative Refresh people like the Corpsetaker won't do it.

Offline Sanctaphrax

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Yeah, I'm cool with that. Well, I'm cool with 4-5 shifts for it, anyway, which is gonna be more common. Actually, thinking on it, 6-7 or maybe 8-10 depending on how you rule doing it to two people. 5's the real absolute minimum (3+Zone). It's really not that useful an effect, all things considered. It lets you look different...and that's it.

Looking like other people, with a built-in limitation, is a 2 Refresh Power. It's a reasonably big deal.

And for what it's worth, transformations normally require enough shifts to fill a consequence slot that's roughly equal in magnitude to the effect. This is clearly an Extreme-level effect, so I think you should add 8 to the required take-out margin. More if the victim has other consequences to resist with.

That works for PCs who wish to keep free will. It doesn't explain why already negative Refresh people like the Corpsetaker won't do it.

Sorry, that was poorly explained.

I meant she'd have to pay the ritual shifts that'd be needed to grant permission to buy those Powers permanently. Which is probably quite a lot.

There isn't much in the way of real rules for buying Powers, but it's clear that Grevane or whoever can't just buy 100 Refinements. Even if it wouldn't meaningfully effect his Refresh total.

You need some kind of narrative permission to buy Powers. Like a big ritual that changes your nature fundamentally, or lots of hard training.

I was suggesting that the costs of a "permission to buy Powers" ritual ought to be included in the cost of snatching a Powered body. Not for balance reasons, just because it shapes the setting in a good way.

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Looking like other people, with a built-in limitation, is a 2 Refresh Power. It's a reasonably big deal.

That version gives you +4 to Deceit to impersonate them, too. A bonus that big on almost any activity is worth at least one Refresh. This one very likely wouldn't grant any such bonus. Well, it might, but only if you poured more power yet into it, as the shifts of effect would seem likely to replace any such roll.

A 4 shift effect can also conjure a sword, which is possibly Weapon 3 and better than the Claws power, too. And Glamours is pretty much all easily duplicated with pretty low-level rituals...or easily surpassed by higher level ones (and can sub-in for Mimic Form sans +4 bonus as well, now that I think on it). Thaumaturgy being potentially better than particular powers when used properly is nothing new.

EDIT: Another way to think of this is as using Thaumaturgy as a skill replacement for disguise, with shifts equalling out to the difficulty to spot the fakery. Forcing it on someone's harder than that, but that's really all that's meaningfully going on here. It's a bit more permanent than most such effects...but that's as much of a disadvantage as advantage in many ways.

And for what it's worth, transformations normally require enough shifts to fill a consequence slot that's roughly equal in magnitude to the effect. This is clearly an Extreme-level effect, so I think you should add 8 to the required take-out margin. More if the victim has other consequences to resist with.

Or require taking out the people in question. That does explicitly work, too.

Sorry, that was poorly explained.

I meant she'd have to pay the ritual shifts that'd be needed to grant permission to buy those Powers permanently. Which is probably quite a lot.

There isn't much in the way of real rules for buying Powers, but it's clear that Grevane or whoever can't just buy 100 Refinements. Even if it wouldn't meaningfully effect his Refresh total.

You need some kind of narrative permission to buy Powers. Like a big ritual that changes your nature fundamentally, or lots of hard training.

I was suggesting that the costs of a "permission to buy Powers" ritual ought to be included in the cost of snatching a Powered body. Not for balance reasons, just because it shapes the setting in a good way.

Hmmm. That'd probably work...but it's still a little shaky as an in-world justification...
« Last Edit: January 11, 2013, 07:18:20 AM by Deadmanwalking »

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Name: The Skavis

Aspects:
High Concept: Heir to House Skavis
Trouble: Waging Covert War
Other:
'Priscilla'
Tough Bastard

Skills:

Superb: Deceit,
Great: Fists, Resources, Weapons,
Good: Athletics, Endurance, Lore, Presence, Rapport,
Fair: Alertness, Discipline, Empathy, Investigation, Stealth,
Average: Burglary, Contacts, Conviction, Intimidation, Scholarship,

Stunts:

Makeup Artist (Deceit) (-1)
Takes One to Know One (Deceit) (-1)
No Pain, No Gain (Endurance) (-1)

Powers:

Emotional Vampire [–1]
Human Guise [+0]
Incite Emotion (Despair; At Range, Lasting Emotion) [–3]
Inhuman Strength [-2]
Inhuman Toughness [-2]

Feeding Dependency [+1] affecting the following powers:
Supernatural Strength [–2]
Inhuman Speed [–2]
Inhuman Recovery [–2]
The Catch [+0] is True Hope.

Total: -16 Refresh

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OOOO(OO)
Social: OOOO
Hunger: OOO
Armor: 1.

My interpretation of the Skavis, fom White Night. A dangerous, very tough to kill, foe. Basically, I thought that the fight scene, and being the heir to House Skavis showed a bit more skill and badassness than the RPG's stats indicated. His Great defenses simply were not sufficient for the attacks he wound up facing. He has Supernatural Strength basically because Inhuman seems insufficient to warrant the verb 'smite' on an unarmed blow. And I saw no evidence of veils, 'Priscilla' was always front-and-center, really, just a skilled actor.

Other White Court from that book probably upcoming, mostly because why not?
« Last Edit: January 11, 2013, 07:55:11 AM by Deadmanwalking »

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Name: Madrigal Raith

Aspects:
High Concept: White Court Vampire
Trouble: Underestimating His Opponents
Other:
Twin Brother of Madeline Raith;
I Must Have Justine;
Darby Crane;
Greedy;
Fear and Lust;

Skills:

Great: Deceit, Intimidation, Weapons,
Good: Athletics, Endurance, Guns, Presence, Resources,
Fair: Alertness, Contacts, Discipline, Rapport, Stealth,
Average: Burglary, Conviction, Empathy, Fists, Scholarship,

Stunts:

Takes One to Know One (Deceit) (-1)
Sex Appeal (Rapport) (-1)
Lunge (Weapons) (-1)

Powers:

Emotional Vampire [–1]
Human Guise [+0]
Incite Emotion (Lust, Fear; Lasting Emotion) [–3]

Feeding Dependency [+1] affecting the following powers:
Inhuman Strength [–2]
Inhuman Speed [–2]
Inhuman Recovery [–2]
The Catch [+0] is True Hope.

Item of Power [+1] effecting;
Physical Immunity [-8]
The Catch is that it only applies to magic [+5]

Total: -14 Refresh

Stress:

Mental: OOO
Physical: OOOO
Social: OOOO
Hunger: OOO
Armor: 0.

And here's Madrigal. All in all, a much less scary guy, though his Item does help more than a bit. He's really a pretty simple critter to stat, too.

Offline Locnil

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Wasn't it mentioned he didn't usually feed on lust anymore?

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Wasn't it mentioned he didn't usually feed on lust anymore?

Sure, but he still can, y'know? He didn't lose the ability, just the inclination.

In other news, Harry's Advancements updated once again (including a correction on what Harry buys after Proven Guilty).

Offline Locnil

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Ah, I see. It was a misreading on my part.

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Name: Vittorio Malvora

Aspects:
High Concept: Spellcasting White Court Noble
Trouble: Betraying My House
Other:
Quicker Than The Eye
Cowl's Apprentice
Smart And Vicious
Outsider-Powered

Skills:
 
Great: Athletics, Conviction, Deceit, Guns, Intimidation, Weapons,
Good: Discipline, Endurance, Fists, Lore, Presence, Resources,
Fair: Alertness, Burglary, Contacts, Investigation, Scholarship, Stealth,
Average: Everything else.

Stunts:

On My Toes (Alertness) (-1)
Deep Cover Operative (+2 Deceit to all rolls used to directly maintain his cover) (Deceit) (-1)
Takes One to Know One (Deceit) (-1)

Powers:

Sponsored Magic: Outsider [-4]
Emotional Vampire [–1]
Human Guise [+0]
Incite Emotion (Fear; At Range, Lasting Emotion, Potent Emotion, Scene Wide) [–6]
Inhuman Speed [-2]

Feeding Dependency [+1] affecting the following powers:
Inhuman Strength [–2]
Siupernatural Speed [–2]
Inhuman Recovery [–2]
The Catch [+0] is True Hope.

Total: -20 Refresh

Focus Items:

Sword [+1 Offensive Control with Outsider Magic]
Amulet [+3 Complexity with Outsider Magic]

Stress:

Mental: OOOO
Physical: OOOO
Social: OOOO
Hunger: OOOO
Armor: 0.

Vitto's explicitly faster than Thomas, hence the Supernatural Speed and initiative booster. He's also seriously good with knives and a sword. His magic appears to be all Outsider-powered, at least to me, so I went with that. He seemed to need a Deceit advantage to put one over on the entire White Court, hence Deep Cover Agent. His mental attack didn't seemed to be that much worse than other really powerful White Court, the main advantage it's Outsider powered nature giving it was the ability to effect a whole group of people (which isn't a listed thing, sadly, but I've always felt is a -2 Refresh enhancement on a power). His Focus Items are because he does what Thaumaturgy he does both well and fast.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2013, 02:10:30 PM by Deadmanwalking »

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Name: Leonid Kravos, the Nightmare

Aspects:
High Concept: Sorcerer’s Ghost
Trouble: Driven By Vengeance
Other:
Something to Prove;
The Nightmare;
Plenty Of Minions;
In Your Dreams;
Good At Nothing But Hurting People;

Skills:

Great: Lore, Discipline, Intimidation, Presence,
Good: Conviction, Deceit, Empathy, Fists,
Fair: Alertness, Contacts, Investigation, Stealth,
Average: Burglary, Endurance, Rapport, Scholarship,

Powers:

Evocation [–3]
Ritual: Diabolism [–2]
Lawbreaker (First) [-2]
Lawbreaker (Fourth) [-2]
Spirit Form  (Poltergeist) [-5]
Swift Transition (No Mortal Home) [-1]
Physical Immunity [-8]
The Catch is standard ghost stuff [+2]
Mimic Form [-2]
Mimic Powers [-4] [While Mimicing Harry, his Ritual becomes full Thaumaturgy, he gains the Sight and he gains a level of Refinement, and his Conviction becomes Superb. Stats shown below include these bonuses.]

Total: -27 Refresh

Specializations:

Evocation: Elements (Air, Fire, Spirit); Power (Spirit +1),
Thaumaturgy: Control (Psychomancy +1), Complexity (Psychomancy +2);

Stress:

Mental: OOOO (+1 Minor Consequence)
Physical: OOO
Social: OOOO
Armor: By spell or item effect.

Judging by Harry's judgment of Kravos as a magical hack I didn't think he warranted full Thaumaturgy. It's possible Diabolism is the wrong name for the variety of Ritual he has, but it's basically some summoning of nastier critters and transformation and disruption to mess people up (including mentally). It's only good for hurting people, as per Harry's description of Kravos.

Eating Harry's magic, per my interpretation, gave him the same powers as Harry (Thaumaturgy, The Sight, and Refinement)...but not necessarily the same specialties or uses, those being based on his own proclivities. Just like eating Kravos's magic back improved Harry's own proclivity for hurting things...specifically his fire magic.

This version also keeps Lawbreaker, basically because why not? Doesn't seem like becoming a ghost would make you worse at that stuff. You can't gain an new Lawbreaker stunts as a ghost, but you keep what you've got, IMO.

Offline Locnil

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Where did Vittorio use magic?

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Mostly? In calling up the uber-ghouls. Unlike, say, Thomas, he has no good reason to be associated with the Deeps, and opening portals to the Nevernever wherever you like is either spell-work or worldwalker, and as it's an Outsider powered ability magic seemed more likely. Harry also refers to his mind-mojo as a spell, and while that's not quite how I statted it, it seems a worthwhile thing to acknowledge. Also, he referred to Cowl as 'Master' which implies an apprenticeship of some sort, and if not in magic, in what?

It can definitely be argued he lacked it, but I think there's decent support for the idea of him having it. OW also gives him magic, and while I disagree with the stats in there in their particulars, they're still a pretty good source in many ways.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2013, 10:31:59 AM by Deadmanwalking »