Homebrew Stunts

[Silverblaze]

To be clear, it's the Zatoichi stunt I think should be a Power.  It goes beyond removing negatives to giving bonuses.  And the bonus itself is too broad for a stunt anyway. 

Just my opinion of course.

Oh, well then I agree.

[Sanctaphrax]

It is indeed possible to run the effects of blindness as a penalty, but I think that the default assumption is for it to qualify as a compel. And I'd really not add to the list stunts which require an unusual interpretation of the rules to work.

Thousand Yard Stare is already around here someplace.

Presence Of The Alpha, both versions of Animal Magnetism, and Actions Speak Louder Than Words all seem pretty good. I'll clean them up and put them on the list unless someone objects.

Zatoichi might work as a stunt providing a benefit against an opponent who is visually impaired. Or as a reflavoured True Aim power.

Parry Everything and Fire Resistance are not meant to be supernatural at all.

Parry Everything seems that way because it is badly written.

Fire Resistance is not too unrealistic, I think. Aren't some people harder to burn than others?

[The Mighty Buzzard]

Fire Resistance is not too unrealistic, I think. Aren't some people harder to burn than others?

Not really, no.  Everyone pretty much burns the same, sunburns and pigmentation aside.  Fire walking and such can be done by anyone who knows how, though it does help to have well calloused feet.  If you think you've seen an example where someone actually is fire resistant to some degree, there was a trick to it.

[Silverblaze]

I mean no insult when I say that some stunts are close to supernatural.  It's a game...

Some people are so good at what they do it seems impossible.  In a game that sense of almost impossible seems overinflated...nothign wrong with it.  As opposed to the powers in the book which are normally impossible, that mortals should not have.  I see a pretty large difference.  There are lots of shades of grey in there.

The term mortal stunts - sometimes gets interpreted in such a fashion that people demand too much realism out of it.  I don't mind blurring hte lines a little.  Otherwise I have too much realism in my fantasy roleplaying game.  (too much science in my fiction so to speak.  Keep in mind I like my science as much as the next guy, but there are places it doesn't belong.)

[Sanctaphrax]

Hm. Odd. Some people are harder to cut or bruise than others, but fire affects everyone equally?

Ah well. Maybe I should change that stunt to offer a bonus to Endurance for defending against heat.

And don't worry, Silverblaze. I wasn't offended. But I kinda screwed up while writing Parry Everything, and it keeps on coming back to bite me.

[Silverblaze]

Hm. Odd. Some people are harder to cut or bruise than others, but fire affects everyone equally?

Ah well. Maybe I should change that stunt to offer a bonus to Endurance for defending against heat.

And don't worry, Silverblaze. I wasn't offended. But I kinda screwed up while writing Parry Everything, and it keeps on coming back to bite me.

If it's an issue, we can resolve it, the write up for the stunt I mean. 
Do we want it to parry thrown weapons and melee only?  Or do we want it to parry bullets? lasers, and magic?  All of the above?

Personally, I think someone good with a weapon should be able to parry a fist or a thrown knife without a stunt.

As for fire resistant: My own father used to work in a plastic production plant.  They had to handle plastic at rediculous degrees of heat.  he can still handle hot metal far better than most people I know.  I'm not sure if it applies to fire persay, but i assume he could walk through a small fire not much worse for wear. (assuming nothing combustible burst into flame etc.)

So, while scientifically human flesh has a combustion point and a metling point like everything else...and according to physics it is basically the same for everyone...tehe is no reason it can't remain a stunt.

[The Mighty Buzzard]

Yeah, he was taking less stress from it but the consequences would have kicked in at the same time.  And it was likely only for the portions of his body that had built up heat callouses or had heat receptor nerve damage.  I can't mentally make that situation jive that well with how DFRPG handles stress vs consequences.  But then it's fantasy, so it's not going to bug me as long as it doesn't get taken to a ridiculous level.

Personally, I think armor:1 vs heat/fire would be the least complicated way to go, mechanically speaking.  Anything stronger than that and I'd say it falls into being a Power rather than a stunt.

[Silverblaze]

Pretty sure that's how it is written on the homebrew stunt master list.

Not certain, I'll go check.

Results:

"Fireproof: You are incredibly resistant to fire and extreme heat in general. You have a natural armour score of 2 against fire."

I understand why it is 2 armor.  I could still it as a usefukl stunt at +1...but less so...

 By system, homebrew stunts are encouraged to add a larger bonus when the amount of times it will come in handy is more limited.  They are supposed to offer a smaller bonus when they are more likely to be useful.  (Weapon focus homebrew stunt, for example adds a +1) 

By extension: if fire proof was only against heat, not actual fire the bonus may be +3...since heat is usually accompanied by fire, thereby making the stunt les useful.  (i'll agree that bigge bonuses begin to lean towards supernatural.  I already went through this song and dance though.

 I'll agree to disagree on a few maaters like this if it helps.

[Belial666]

A girl weighing eighty pounds, with skin thin enough to see most of her veins through and who never faced real hardship or major pain in her life might well faint from a minor burn in her little finger and go into shock from anything worse.
A big man weighing two hundred and eighty pounds, with thick skin and a lot insulating fat that a flu shot is hard to do, that has been burned by fire, acid, electricity, corrosive organics more than once (per burn type) and likes playing with fire, high voltage, hydroflyoric (sp?) acid and explosives on a regular basis is going to be annoyed if he, say, accidentally burns his leg on a hot iron resulting in a 3rd degree burn. The same man might be far less tough if faced with the aforementioned flu shots to the point of not having done one for over a decade.

Or so I am told... 

[Silverblaze]

Pretty sure we're getting into a debate about science vs personal experience.  these things never go well.  I happen to know things that contradict science.  9this is where people ask me like what and try to prove me wrong.)  To be honest, I don't care what statistics say.  i've seen the law of averages basically shattered, by dice rolling.  ( not all dice are created equal yes I know.)

Bottom line, things need to be slightly fudged in games or it gets unfun and too much like work.  I'm sure plenty of people will disagree.  That's fine...but it is all so very very off topic.

Can we all agree that stunts do not have to accurately represent what can be done in real life? 

back on topic:  New Stunt: (inspired by this latest conversation)

Ultimate Arguement of Logic: Use Scholarship to make attacks in social combat.  (this might exist already)  if so...let it be used as defense in social combat?

[Blackblade]

Here's one I just thought of:

Minions, Attack (Presence): You might not be good at fighting people, but you sure know how to point at a target.  You can use Presence as an attack in physical conflict so long as you have at least one minion for each point of Presence you have.  The weapons value of the attack is determined by the weakest weapon any of you minions are using.  This does not allow you to make spray or zone-wide attacks.  This stunt requires the Contacts stunts "The Boss" and "Minions."

[Silverblaze]

Here's one I just thought of:

Minions, Attack (Presence): You might not be good at fighting people, but you sure know how to point at a target.  You can use Presence as an attack in physical conflict so long as you have at least one minion for each point of Presence you have.  The weapons value of the attack is determined by the weakest weapon any of you minions are using.  This does not allow you to make spray or zone-wide attacks.  This stunt requires the Contacts stunts "The Boss" and "Minions."

Does it take up the actions of the mintions that round?

[Blackblade]

Does it take up the actions of the mintions that round?

No.  While the minions are the ones doing the actual shooting in the narrative, mechanically, it's the player who's making the attack.  If the minions would normally get their own turns in the exchange, they would keep them.

[Silverblaze]

I'd be mildly hesitant to allow it.  Socialites can be good at combat without turning social skills into combat skills.  I don't make the decisions on what gets added to the Master list, but I don't think I'd let it fly if I ran a game.

[Sanctaphrax]

I think we already have Scholarship social stunts. If not, I'll add some.

And watch what you say about statistics. It happens to be my field of study.

The mechanical effects of Parry Everything are fine. The description, however, implies physically impossible things. So it needs to change.

I wasn't sure about whether Fireproof should have been armour 1 or 2. That one was a toss-up.

I kinda like Minions, Attack! but it doesn't work very well if the minions are fully statted characters. If they're background fluff, then it's fine. I guess I could rewrite it so that the minions are treated as equipment rather than characters. Actually, I think I'll do that. I'd like to have some more stunt trees on the list.

But first: why would you not allow it, Silverblaze? I'm willing to be convinced here.

PS: Are you speaking from personal experience, Belial?