Custom Power List

[sandchigger]

What Bibliophile20 said. If you want to cut off your own hand, I'll go ahead and assume you know what you're doing well enough to really hurt yourself and thus will get by your Catch.

[Tedronai]

A) I certainly hope, for that character's sake, that they've got bucketloads of FPs to drop on their control roll.
B) With Inhuman Recovery, a moderate consequence clears at the speed of a mild consequence, which lasts for one full scene after healing begins.  That would be, assumedly, the end of the scene following their nova-bomb.
C) If this nova-bomb, for whatever reason, fails to eliminate every remaining opponent in the scene, that practitioner is unlikely to last the scene without also taking, at least, a severe consequence.

D) Self-inflicted harm bypassing a toughness power is relatively easily justified, but even that could be said to simply overwhelm the power's protection, instead, given appropriate fluff.  Having self-inflicted harm bypass a recovery power is less easily justified.  The harm has already been done before the power has any effect, so there is no justification of 'it has to bypass the power for it to happen, it has to happen to get what you want, so it has to bypass'.

[BumblingBear]

Simply note that physical stress and Consequences that have been self-inflicted with Blood Magic cannot be healed with recovery powers and bypass Toughness. 

Or, if you want to be nice--the character did, after all, pay for the power--then have the recovery power work, but at the speed and efficacy of the recovery power one rank below what they have.  So, for Blood Magic-induced stress and Consequences, Inhuman Recovery would have no effect, Supernatural would work as Inhuman, and Mythic would function as Supernatural.

This solution works for me.

I don't mind min/maxing - especially in casters since they have so many weakpoints.

My only problem is when attacks from a 14 refresh character can get in the 50 stress levels.

That level of Wizard should not be able to challenge Mab and seriously be able to hurt her sorta thing - especially not using a power that costs 1 refresh.

I'm ok with sponsor debt because emissaries only get power with a price.  Physical consequences are a hell of a lot easier to get rid of than sponsor debt.

[Viatos]

Yeah, Blood Magic is intended to benefit from the common houserule that self-inflicted stress bypasses powers. If the logic bothers you, think of it like Pattern Damage in Mage - for those unfamiliar, essentially self-inflicted magical damage involves fraying away the threads of your own essence, bypassing all defenses (you're partially unmaking yourself on a cosmic level) and unnatural healing. The time it takes you to heal is the time it takes your essence to recover, and while you can draw on your own essence as a power source, it is beyond the reach of a PC (before going off the chart in terms of power level, at least) to restore that essence with magic, as this is close to creating permanent life from nothing.

On a related note, a different take (with an eye towards the ever-popular 'young dragon' PC archetype)...

Natural Channel [Spellcraft, -1]
Musts: Channeling; taking this power prevents upgrade into Evocation
Natural Channel: Your magic is more then your soul's expression; it soaks into your bones, flows through your blood. You may use Endurance in place of Conviction and Fists in place of Discipline for spellcasting. This physical harmony is not without danger, however; the mental stress of spellcasting becomes physical stress, bypassing any Toughness powers or similar defenses.

As a power, you're essentially swapping two trappings with a few small drawbacks (using a more vulnerable stress track, cannot later expand into Evocation). Discipline and Fists are pretty evenly matched; one is a very useful defensive skill and the other is a potentially very useful attack skill. Endurance has higher utility then Conviction, but since you're now casting from it, that general utility becomes restricted. Thoughts?

[Tedronai]

For a power improving channeling, but banning any later upgrade to evocation, I think I might recommend removing channeling's prohibitions regarding refinement (allowing Refinement to be used for Specialization bonuses, though still observing the 'pyramid')

[BumblingBear]

For a power improving channeling, but banning any later upgrade to evocation, I think I might recommend removing channeling's prohibitions regarding refinement (allowing Refinement to be used for Specialization bonuses, though still observing the 'pyramid')

That would be the same thing as evocation but with one extra refresh.

You need 3 trees to specialize with any degree of efficiency.  It costs 1 point of refresh for each new school of magic, so channeling with 3 schools of magic would be 4 refresh instead of the 3 for evocation.

My solution is to allow a stacking straight shot refinement bonus to channeling, but only allow half of the refinement bonus.

For instance, a character with water channeling could have 3 points of refinement that would translate into +3 Water control.  The number of the bonus cannot exceed lore.

Refinement for focus items would work as usual.

[devonapple]

Natural Channel [Spellcraft, -1]

I like the poetry of this ability, but I think Discipline still makes sense for even this sort of casting. If forced to provide an alternative, I would propose that Athletics (instead of Fists) sub for Discipline, but Athletics is already a pretty loaded skill. I also feel that Conviction still accurately reflects one's inner will, even if that magic is coming from within. But if I had to find an alternative, Endurance makes the most sense to me.

If the goal is for a sort of Martial Artist type of "magic," then a new version of Channelling using Fists/Athletics/Endurance makes more sense. But if we're just cannibalizing the caster's body, then maybe this can just be a Supernatural Stunt that switches from Mental Stress to Physical Stress, without changing around the base spellcasting skills.

[BumblingBear]

I like the poetry of this ability, but I think Discipline still makes sense for even this sort of casting. If forced to provide an alternative, I would propose that Athletics (instead of Fists) sub for Discipline, but Athletics is already a pretty loaded skill. I also feel that Conviction still accurately reflects one's inner will, even if that magic is coming from within. But if I had to find an alternative, Endurance makes the most sense to me.

If the goal is for a sort of Martial Artist type of "magic," then a new version of Channelling using Fists/Athletics/Endurance makes more sense. But if we're just cannibalizing the caster's body, then maybe this can just be a Supernatural Stunt that switches from Mental Stress to Physical Stress, without changing around the base spellcasting skills.

I kind of like where you're going with this.

I think I would houserule for channelers that they could take stacking stunts that give +1 to discipline or conviction (chosen at time of taking the power) for the sake of evocations.

I've always felt that someone specializing in one aspect of magic should be more powerful.  Not much more powerful than a wizard, and they pay for that extra oomf with a lot less versatility.  As long as wisdom remains the cap for any such buffs, I don't think it is possible to break the system.

[ways and means]

Mind of Steel (mental immunity) [-8] you are absolutely determined to do something and nothing can stop you, nothing can make you doubt or question your motives besides the voice of doubt in the back of your mind. - You are immune to any mental stress other than self-inflicted stress.

[Tedronai]

That would be the same thing as evocation but with one extra refresh.

Actually, it'd be the same thing as evocation, but without the inherent specialization and with only one element to start out.  Oh, and you use different skills.  Not really a gamebreaker.

You need 3 trees to specialize with any degree of efficiency.  It costs 1 point of refresh for each new school of magic, so channeling with 3 schools of magic would be 4 refresh instead of the 3 for evocation.

...and this is a problem because?  They're spending more refresh to get what is otherwise a lesser benefit (since they still don't get the inherent specialization), in exchange for a relatively minor benefit of using different skills.

[BumblingBear]

...and this is a problem because?  They're spending more refresh to get what is otherwise a lesser benefit (since they still don't get the inherent specialization), in exchange for a relatively minor benefit of using different skills.

Exactly... which is why I can't see anyone ever doing it.  It would make much more sense from an immersion standpoint to just take evocation for another point of refresh, and from a min/maxing standpoint, it's super weak.

Either way this method of house ruling would not make any sense - at least not to me.

[Tedronai]

It wasn't recommended as a 'method of houseruling' but as an addendum for the proposed power if the creator was dead-set on including a potentially troublesome clause

[BumblingBear]

It wasn't recommended as a 'method of houseruling' but as an addendum for the proposed power if the creator was dead-set on including a potentially troublesome clause

Oh ok - I stand corrected.

[Sanctaphrax]

There are a couple powers I'm planning to make that I'd appreciate help with.

The first is one that hurts people who attack you. Like a porcupine. I'm thinking a version of Riposte here, that does not require you to sacrifice an action, does not let you use a weapon, and only works against unarmed attacks. Upgrades would let it work against other things and give it a weapon rating.

The second would create an environmental hazard around you. This one I'm less sure how to model.

[bibliophile20]

There are a couple powers I'm planning to make that I'd appreciate help with.

The first is one that hurts people who attack you. Like a porcupine. I'm thinking a version of Riposte here, that does not require you to sacrifice an action, does not let you use a weapon, and only works against unarmed attacks. Upgrades would let it work against other things and give it a weapon rating.

Broken, Borked, Beleted.

The second would create an environmental hazard around you. This one I'm less sure how to model.

How to model... feed some beans and burritos to a male skunk?  

Sounds like you want a power that, each round, every enemy/entity in the same zone as you must make a defensive roll against some damage or maneuver.  That about right?