Homebrew Stunts

[Sanctaphrax]

Instinctive Defence sounds good. Once I get around to updating the master list, that's what I'll call it.

[devonapple]

How does this one sound:

Suave (Rapport): You are gifted at talking your way past people – you may use Rapport for the Brush-Off trapping instead of Intimidation. Rapport-based Brush-Off attempts give the target with more of a "starstruck" attitude than "intimidated."

Should I find another trapping for it to address, or is this one powerful enough?

[Sanctaphrax]

I think that's strong enough. Why would you think otherwise?

[devonapple]

I think that's strong enough. Why would you think otherwise?

I was unsure whether or not to add another Trapping for it to fulfill.

[Sanctaphrax]

Yes, I understand that. It seems that my question was unclear.

What I meant to ask is: why would you think that moving the Brush-Off trapping to Rapport would be worth less than a stunt? One trapping per stunt is generally the rule, although it's not ironclad.

[devonapple]

Yes, I understand that. It seems that my question was unclear.

What I meant to ask is: why would you think that moving the Brush-Off trapping to Rapport would be worth less than a stunt? One trapping per stunt is generally the rule, although it's not ironclad.

I was seeing a few which had two trappings. I was also wondering if should add something about Rapport-based Brush-Off attempts causing more of a "starstruck" impression than "intimidated."

[Sanctaphrax]

Sure, why not? It increases the flavour without increasing the power.

[Sanctaphrax]

Got some new stunts, some newish stunts, and one old stunt that I had forgotten about. I'm not too certain about the quality of these stunts, though, so I'm not adding them to the master list yet. Does anybody have any constructive (or destructive) criticism?

Alertness

Protector: You are an expert at the protection of others. Whenever you use a skill to create a block to protect another character, add two to your roll.

Craftsmanship:

Bunker Builder: You know how to make effective fortifications. Given time, you may fortify a zone with your Craftsmanship skill. Your Craftsmanship roll than functions as a block against entry to that zone and ranged attacks into it. Unlike most blocks, fortification is not removed as soon as it is defeated unless the action that defeated it was intended specifically to remove the fortification.

Deceit:

Illusion Of Grandeur: Making a good first impression is all about misrepresenting yourself. You may use your Deceit skill instead of your Rapport skill to make a good first impression. 

Fists:

Kick The Bruise: It really hurts to take two hits to the same place. Whenever you tag or invoke a consequence to benefit a Fists attack, that attack inflicts two extra stress.
Touch Of Emotion: Mental attack, physical attack, what's the difference? You may use your Fists skill for your Incite Emotion power.
Storm Of Punches: A great warrior fights as well against a thousand enemies as he does against one. You may take a -2 penalty to a Fists attack in order to have that attack affect everyone in the zone (except yourself, of course).

Lore:

Occult Ceremonies: Is there really that much difference between a seance and a play? Pick a type of ritual. You may use your Lore skill instead of your Performance skill to perform that type of ceremony.

Stealth:

Among The Seaweed: You are a master of submersible subterfuge. Add two to your Stealth as long as you are at least partially underwater.

Presence:

Social Weaponry: The right gear can make a lousy point seem brilliant. Pick an item and a social skill. As long as you possess that item, all social attack that use that skill inflict two additional stress. Don't pick a pair that makes no sense, please.

[UmbraLux]

Got some new stunts, some newish stunts, and one old stunt that I had forgotten about. I'm not too certain about the quality of these stunts, though, so I'm not adding them to the master list yet. Does anybody have any constructive (or destructive) criticism?

Alertness

Protector: You are an expert at the protection of others. Whenever you use a skill to create a block to protect another character, add two to your roll.

Shouldn't this be a stunt for the skill used to create the block?  As written it doesn't seem to affect alertness but would potentially affect everything from Athletics to Weapons.  Disicipline is potentially problematic - with some creativity most armor, blocks, and veils could be phrased as 'protecting another'.

Craftsmanship:

Bunker Builder: You know how to make effective fortifications. Given time, you may fortify a zone with your Craftsmanship skill. Your Craftsmanship roll than functions as a block against entry to that zone and ranged attacks into it. Unlike most blocks, fortification is not removed as soon as it is defeated unless the action that defeated it was intended specifically to remove the fortification.

How does this differ from a Declaration using Craftsmanship?  May want to give it a +1...

Deceit:

Illusion Of Grandeur: Making a good first impression is all about misrepresenting yourself. You may use your Deceit skill instead of your Rapport skill to make a good first impression. 

Looks interesting...

Fists:

Kick The Bruise: It really hurts to take two hits to the same place. Whenever you tag or invoke a consequence to benefit a Fists attack, that attack inflicts two extra stress.
Touch Of Emotion: Mental attack, physical attack, what's the difference? You may use your Fists skill for your Incite Emotion power.
Storm Of Punches: A great warrior fights as well against a thousand enemies as he does against one. You may take a -2 penalty to a Fists attack in order to have that attack affect everyone in the zone (except yourself, of course).

Perhaps it's just me but I dislike the 'Touch of Emotion' stunt.  Doesn't fit my image of a WV.  Regarding 'Storm of Punches', have you considered phrasing it as a Spray Attack?  (Similar to Wall of Death for Weapons.)

Lore:

Occult Ceremonies: Is there really that much difference between a seance and a play? Pick a type of ritual. You may use your Lore skill instead of your Performance skill to perform that type of ceremony.

I'm not entirely clear on this one - are you performing it for entertainment or effect?

Stealth:

Among The Seaweed: You are a master of submersible subterfuge. Add two to your Stealth as long as you are at least partially underwater.

As situational as this is, you may also want to add something along the lines of "...the difficulty of moving stealthily through water borders is reduced by 2."

Presence:

Social Weaponry: The right gear can make a lousy point seem brilliant. Pick an item and a social skill. As long as you possess that item, all social attack that use that skill inflict two additional stress. Don't pick a pair that makes no sense, please.

Well...I've been following the social weaponry thread and I'm not entirely convinced.  Most seem better as an aspect.  But, if it is allowed / used, why would it require a stunt?

[Sanctaphrax]

Thank you, Umbralux. That's the sort of thing I'm looking for.

Protector is linked to Alertness because I couldn't think of any other skill to link it to. And it isn't supposed to affect magic. That's why it says, "when you use a skill." I guess I'll have to make that clear.

Bunker Builder may or may not be necessary depending on the GM. As a rule of thumb, I assume that special actions like this one require stunts or powers to perform.

Touch Of Emotion isn't intended for White Court Vampires. It's intended for monsters that want to use mental attacks in a more clearly violent way, like demon-possessed zombies. Does that make it better in your eyes?

Storm Of Punches is very much not supposed to be a spray attack. Spray attacks are very different from zone-wide attacks.

Occult Ceremonies is intended for entertainment. The ritual isn't a magical one. This stunt comes from a priest character who would perform human sacrifices in front of a crowd.

I guess Among The Seaweed could use a little more juice. It depends on the game, though.

Social Weaponry exists because letting people use random items as social weapons sounds like a bad idea to me. If you want to inflict extra stress, you should take a stunt.

Anything else?

[bibliophile20]

My attempt at building a stunt chain for MacGyver-type characters. 

Bricoleur (Craftsmanship): You are skilled at improvising when making, breaking, or repairing something.  All of your Craftsmanship declarations and assessments made in the art of Bricolage ("to make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are at hand (regardless of their original purpose)") are at a +1

Skilled Bricoleur (Craftsmanship, requires Bricoleur): Your creativity at improvising is unparalleled; You take no penalty for having inadequate tools and materials except in extreme circumstances.

Master Bricoleur (Craftsmanship, requires Skilled Bricoleur); Your skill and resourcefulness are unparalleled.  Your creations are cobbled together two time increments faster than normal, and last two time increments longer than they would otherwise. 

[Sanctaphrax]

Stunts look good, bibliophile. Mind if I add them to the master list?

PS: the master list will be edited in the next two days. Anyone with criticisms should make them now.

[bibliophile20]

go for it.

[Sanctaphrax]

Just a few more before I update the list. As always, please feel free to criticize.

Athletics

I Grew Up Doing This: You are very familiar with a certain environment, and you find it easy to navigate its obstacles. Pick an environment. Add two to your Athletics skill when using it to bypass barriers in that environment.

Discipline

Landscape Weapon: Within your domain, the earth and sky are nothing more than your weapons. Attacks that you make with the Demense power are Weapon: 2.

Fists

Demense-Assisted Combat Focus: It's easy to win a fight when you control the world around you. Add one to all attack rolls in which you tag or invoke an aspect created with
Demense.
Demense-Assisted Combat Specialization: It's easy to win a fight when you control the world around you. All attack rolls in which you tag or invoke an aspect created with Demense inflict two extra stress.

Survival

Maelstorm-Weathering Indifference: Let the the lightning bolts flash. They can't hurt you. Add two to any roll that you make to resist environmental attacks.
Fronteirsmen Have To Improvise: Making stuff out of the things around you is an integral part of wilderness survival. You may use your Survival skill for improvised Craftsmanship.

[Peteman]

Endurance: Take The Hit.

Requirements: combination of total Physical Stress Boxes and armor equal to at least 5, called Protection (i'd get a better name, but I gotta go soon).

You know how to use your natural toughness, supernatural toughness, size and/or armor to maximum effect. When facing an attack whose Weapon Rating is 3 less than your Protection, you can use Endurance to defend, rather than Athletics. Furthermore, enemies who gain a bonus to hit due to Hulking Size lose it as you are using your massive bulk to withstand their tiny weapons.  You may not apply bonus Physical Stress from Toughness powers if the attack would satisfy your Catch.

I kinda want to make it a trapping of Endurance rather than a stunt, since this is far weaker than most "replace trapping X with the following skill" stunts.