Interpertation of The Catch

[blackicedp]

ok so i am a little confused on how "the catch" works. 

I am having a discussion with one of my friends and we keep going back and forth on how we interpreted the catch.

Stats and background follow this link
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/dresden-files-new-orleans-the-big-easy-has-never-been-so-tough/characters/remy-bellefonte

Character influence: Movie: Bullet Proof Monk, anime show: Avatar (though I might drop the Channeling power)

I am trying to make a physical tank + a Face.  meaning that i want my character to be on the front line taking all the damage (or at least trying) and then for social situations i am trying have a character that will allow us to find contacts or talk to peoplel.  but what i can't do is mental attacks, Investigation, Buy things, Know things.  i am VERY much a specialist for waist deep.  Since i know i am going to be in a team situation i know i can specialize and get away with it. 


here are the rules, and how i think i was able to fit into them all
 
Š. If your abilities only protect you against something specific, you get a +2 discount. If they protect you against everything except something specific, you get nothing.  ----

+2; Only physical objects (Bullets, Fists, sticks, knives, car) not including Magic, wind, fire, explosions; if that is too generalized then I can narrow it down to Guns or Range weapons

Š. If the Catch is bypassed by something that anyone could reasonably get access to, but usually doesn’t carry on them (like cold iron), you get a +2. If it is bypassed by something only a rare class of people in the world have (like True Magic), you get a +1. If it is bypassed by something only one or two people in the world have access to or could produce (like a Sword of the Cross), you get nothing. Even the mere presence of the thing that satisfies your Catch will cause you discomfort (and may be grounds for a compel or something similar). ---

+2; fire is easy to find or having something explode around me.  i see it as anyone can get ahold of fire. now using fire or explosions in a very effective way like a flamethrower or grenade might be a rare class but getting bug spray with lighter, molotov cocktail (alcohol/gas with a rag), gas can with lighter, or finding something that explodes isn’t a rare class. 

Š If almost anyone with an awareness of the supernatural knows about the Catch or could easily find out (like from the Paranet, or Bram Stoker’s Dracula if you’re a Black Court vampire), you get a +2. If knowledge of the Catch requires access to specific research material that could be restricted (like a wizard’s library), you get a +1. If knowledge of the Catch requires knowing you personally to learn about it (like the effect of Judas’ Noose on Nicodemus), you get nothing. --- 

+1 requires a little research to find out that only physical objects.  i can go all three levels.  Watch the movie "Bullet proof Monk" and thats me, i even ripped the name right out of the movie. +2...in any wizards library my order is listed under Eastern monasteries. with all my powers and hindrances +1....a very small amount of people know about me or the order...+0
 
what i took was Supernatural Toughness and Inhuman Recovery for a -1 Refresh after adding the catch to it.  What does everyone else thing? i am very newto the game and this is my first character.

[Sanctaphrax]

I think that "physical objects" is too broad a category to count as something specific. Guns only is probably fine, but still pretty powerful. Truth is, the catch rules aren't perfect. Immunity to bullets costs the same amount as immunity to cold. Ultimately, you need to talk to your GM. Maybe he could let you use it for a while as a trial run, and then see if it's too powerful.

Really, it doesn't matter if your character is too powerful unless he starts making the game less fun for someone. There's no need to worry about a strict interpretation of the rules.

[Becq]

First of all, I'll preface this by saying that I'm not terribly happy with the way The Catch was written up; I think that there were some errors and/or oversights.

That said:

* "Physical" is far too broad.  I think the book is looking for something as specific as the examples given for 'exception' Catches, which means a single reasonably rare thing.  So, for example, if your catch was that it protects against *only* fire, then fine.  If you were protected against shotgun pellets, then fine.  Even "guns" (or rather, "bullets") seems too common to me to be worth +4 points, given that it's probably the second most common means of physical attack today (after fists).  (Yes, I do mean +4, because by definition anything that qualifies for this bonus automatically qualifies for the next bonus, as well.)  But per the rules, "bullets" seems like it would qualify.

* As above, it seems that anything that qualifies for the first +2 by definition qualifies for the second +2.

* I would go with +0 for awareness.  Most monks (or people in general) don't exhibit this kind of power, so I don't think that any reasonable level of research into fighting against monks would lead an opponent to think they should bring a flamethrower in order to have a chance at killing you.  You are probably the only person in the world who has this power, even considering you (the player) got the idea from a movie.  Even if you assume the movie exists in the game world (which it probably does).

* As a clarification, note that your Recovery would *only* help in recovering from bullet wounds, due to the Catch.  (You may have already realized this.)

In any case, I'm not sure this really recreates the idea from the movie.  If I recall correctly, the character in question was *fast*, not durable.  He was bulletproof by way of having an uncanny ability to be somewhere else, not by having bullets bounce off him.  And it wasn't just bullets, it was anything that could reasonably be dodged.  Am I remembering correctly?

If so, here are a couple of ways to do it:

1.  Buy a stunt.  Call it "Can't be hit!" and give yourself, say, a +1 to dodge, and another +1 to dodge while sprinting or using full defense.  This is quite a lot weaker than the movie, but has the benefit of *not* being a power (so you could keep the pure mortal bonus).
2.  Create a custom power.  Call it "Inhuman Reflexes [-2]" and give yourself +3 to dodge, and another +1 to dodge while sprinting or using full defense.

In addition to either of the above, it would probably be worthwhile to get the "Paranoid? Probably." stunt, which gives a bunus to surprise rolls.  Either that, or you might be able to get a stunt/power that gives you the ability to dodge even when surprised (this would not count as full defense, though).  I think that might be too much for a stunt, but would probably qualify as a [-1] power.  Oh, and give yourself a very high athletics!



I'd do a custom power a bit more similar to the Speed power, instead.  I don't think the character actually moved any faster, though, so I'd dump the initiative and movement bonuses and just go with a boosted dodge ability.  So perhaps it might be something along the lines of -1 refresh for a +2 to dodge

[luminos]

Think of the guidelines for the catch as representing how much the catch will show up in play.  Thus, a +6 catch will show up all the damn time, but on very rare occasions your character will have bad-ass damage resistance.  A +0 catch, on the other hand, will show up rarely if ever.  If you have a nemesis, he may have worked out how to use your catch against you for a big showdown, and sometimes someone will stumble on it by accident, but for the most part, you are literally a tank.

How this works with the specific rebate guidelines.
Breadth:  Does the catch protect against a lot of stuff, or just one thing.  Blunt force, or cutting, could be middle cases worth a +1, but for the most part this should be all or nothing.  If it protects against physical damage then I'd be inclined to treat it as +0 for this part.  Again, the rubric I think you should use to judge this is how likely is this to come up in play.  If there are a whole lot of non-physical physical attacks, like if you know you are going to be focused on fighting wizards in the campaign, then I'd say +1.  Otherwise, this catch covers just about every conventional way of hurting someone

Accessibility:  How likely are you to run into someone who has the means to get past your catch?  This one is pretty straightforward, but I sometimes like to think of it in terms of applicability as well, to get by tricky edge cases.  This means that a catch which is easy to obtain, but difficult to deploy in a damaging manner is given a smaller rebate than otherwise.  For this one, non-physical stuff is an easy +2.  Anyone can get access to explosives or fire and weaponize it.

Researchability:  This one was explained well enough in the rules that it shouldn't require too much clarification.  There is a secret about this however: you can pick out whatever rebate you want from it.  Don't try to be "realistic" about pricing this rebate.  Instead, approach it from the angle that this rebate determines what is realistic.  If you price it as a +2, then it doesn't matter that your catch is the wool of a black sheep born on midsummer's eve, everyone still knows its your catch despite how weird it is.