Stephen King - Style 1 Trick Ponies

[furashgf]

How do you design a minor talent with some supernatural power OTHER than those listed directly on the power sheet. e.g., Stephen King novels often feature 1-trick ponies - psychokinesis, telekinesis, etc. Those aren't listed anywhere. They're essentially, I think, like evocations - but it's the only thing they can do, there's no focus, they can charge up/bleed off power and take backlash. It's not "focused practitioner," because it's just evocation with that one ability.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[MijRai]

How do you design a minor talent with some supernatural power OTHER than those listed directly on the power sheet. e.g., Stephen King novels often feature 1-trick ponies - psychokinesis, telekinesis, etc. Those aren't listed anywhere. They're essentially, I think, like evocations - but it's the only thing they can do, there's no focus, they can charge up/bleed off power and take backlash. It's not "focused practitioner," because it's just evocation with that one ability.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

That would use channeling, in most cases. For others, you can make up a power.

[Haru]

The Minor Talent description suggests a -1 or max -2 refresh cost ability. Looking at the sample abilities, most of them seem like a permanent version of an evocation maneuver, putting their power level at about 3. With that in mind, you could have every evocation or thaumaturgy effect with power or complexity up to 3 (or 6 with 2 refresh cost) be a minor talent.

Another way you can go is to just say "I want the character to be able to do [special power]" and roll with it. Define how the power works, what the character will be able to do and not do with his power and you're good to go.

[Richard_Chilton]

Some of those one trick ponies have multiple tricks...

Firestarter comes to mind.  Technically all the girl could do was make fires, but as she grew in power I would have broken out the higher level stuff into their own powers.  If one shift can light a match and two steps heat water then burning concrete and tossing fireballs would need a ridiculous number of steps - unless they were their own powers costing refreshes.  So she could use "Start Fires", or "burn concrete", or "toss fireballs" depending on what she wanted to do.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong and she just had one power with a huge number of successes.

Richard

[MijRai]

Some of those one trick ponies have multiple tricks...

Firestarter comes to mind.  Technically all the girl could do was make fires, but as she grew in power I would have broken out the higher level stuff into their own powers.  If one shift can light a match and two steps heat water then burning concrete and tossing fireballs would need a ridiculous number of steps - unless they were their own powers costing refreshes.  So she could use "Start Fires", or "burn concrete", or "toss fireballs" depending on what she wanted to do.

She started with Fire Channeling, and grew to Evocation later from what I see. First pyro, then tele, then more.

[furashgf]

Could one of you write this out as a series of powers with their refresh cost for me?

[finnmckool]

Literally just give them channeling for evocation time mancies or ritual for thaumaturgy type mancies. Like, kinetomancy=channeling ectomany=ritual. Guy in my game is a kinetomancer. He doesn't do telekinesis so much as augments/redirects force. It's just channeling. -2 refresh.

[furashgf]

Thanks!