The Man with No Name's Revolver. Item of Power help

[Sanctaphrax]

Using fluff as a basis for mechanical balance is a very bad idea.

So the "the swords are really epic, therefore they should have powers nothing else does" argument doesn't fly with me.

No matter how epic the story behind something, it should still use the same ruleset as everything else.

Also: The Divine Purpose is basically just a matter of compels. And compels are not bad things. They Swords simply don't have "quite a price".

PS: True Aim comes from the Sword Of The Cross writeup. It gives +1 to Weapons. No meaningful restriction. Could easily be adapted to boost Guns.

Heh. I wrote the above before seeing the second post from finnmckool. Having read that post now...finn makes my point pretty well for me.

[UmbraLux]

Using fluff as a basis for mechanical balance is a very bad idea.

I find this ironic in a game where narrative and story affect mechanics all the time.   

Heh. I wrote the above before seeing the second post from finnmckool. Having read that post now...finn makes my point pretty well for me.

I think finnmckool was arguing for keeping some powers unique. 

Shrug, my reasons have already been stated.  Variety is a Good Thing (TM).   

Anyone care to post what they think would be the Correct stats for the weapon? I'm still kinda lost on that.

"Correct" is whatever you and your fellow gamers enjoy.  That said, here's one take...

The Man with No Name's Revolver [-2 total]
Effects:
It Is What It Is.  A weapon 2 Revolver.
Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, this item cannot be broken except with a magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.
[-1] Purpose.  "Forged from the swords of the dead, the revolver is Weapon:3 when used in pursuit of vengeance or justice."
[-1] Did he fire six shots or only five? "No need to count how many shots, Revolver never needs to reload."
[-1] Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?  "Gain +2 to Threats and +1 to Interrogation attempts when the victim is looking at you behind the barrel of your gun."
[+1] One-Time Discount. It's a big revolver, not easy to hide, oh and its shiny

[finnmckool]

That's a valid point, Sancto, but I'm with UmbraLux. It just seems that denying the Catch, as a rule, is pretty powerful stuff, and shouldn't be tossed around lightly. Now my Question back is, your concerns about people keeping the Sword's power of "denying the Catch," are those concerns about limiting the mechanics of what can be done by players? Because my feelings on the matter are all world/story/context based. Because while I appreciate the separation of mechanics and fluff, I feel that fluff isn't, necessarily JUST fluff. Or is this a separate conversation?

[Sanctaphrax]

Disordered thoughts:

-I know that finnmickool was trying to argue against me, but I'm pretty sure he ended up explaining my main point anyway.

-Purpose looks underpowered.

-One of the reasons I like this game is that there's almost no fluff in it. Seriously. Aspects are a form of mechanics, as are FP and compels. When people say that FATE isn't about mechanics, I raise an eyebrow. Because unlike, say, D&D, this game has mechanics for basically everything.

[Ochosi]

*sigh*. If it's one rpg canard that wears down the soul, it's the idea that players have to take a backseat to NPCs. Not PCs -- the players themselves.

There is no aspect of the setting -- none -- that does not exist for the players' entertainment. And that includes the GM -- they're all social equals. As such, if the group is made happy by the given power level of a game object, even though it may rival or surpass some NPC, then that object is an inherent good. Demanding that the group supress their preference is no different than persons in real life becoming desperately concerned that a stranger, in the privacy of that stranger's home, may be doing something that the said persons don't approve of.

(click to show/hide)

Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy. -- Mencken

This is made more clear by the fact that the setting doesn't even implicitly, not even reaching explictly, trump the power level of the artifact at issue. Who's to say that the only thing that the swords do is what they've been seen to do? Who's to say that the swords' power levels and abilities aren't affected by their weilder? Those swords could be more powerful than what's been seen. Or they could be a lens for the true power of their weilder and contain little magic in and of themselves. The swords' uniqueness is also unconfirmed, and the virtue of said uniqueness is a totally fact-free matter of opinion: it is purely a matter of taste. (It would be fun for some if powerful artifacts, regardless of the source, followed similar patterns, for example.) This world background's metaphysics have been staggeringly unexplained. And since the author of said background's name is up above our text box in titanic 72-point type, we can safely conclude that that was intended as a design feature. Indeed, the rpg's vagueness on basic aspects of magic isn't always a feature -- it's often a flaw for some -- which is why we're here.

If someone sits down and plays the Dresden Files rpg and decides that her PC servant of Vishnu has more cosmic juju in her gear than anyone elses toys have in the universe and her group loves the concept, not only are they not "wrong,"* they're playing a roleplaying game right.

*The worst they could be is directly contradicting canon, and that's clearly not going to be the case until Butcher's next rumored book "Christ Rulz, Vishnu Drulz" hits the shelves. I find that rumor highly dubious.

[fantazero]

I can understand if everyone in your game was a Knight of the Cross and you had 4-5 swords floating around.

I personally dont like the 4th nail of the cross, I think theres so much more in the real world to keep coming back to Christianity of a certain era seems lazy, to me.
Then you throw in, Fairies, BCVamps, and all that of the Dresden world and their should be tons of "Items of Powers" that are more interesting than pointy metal.

I am also thinking of just flat out stealing this Item of power for my ongoing game and making it a Fairy Weapon that they give to mortal to kill other fairies, or something.

Thanks for the write up, interesting conversation all around

[ALurker]

Desert Eagle and co pack significantly more punch than the .50 cal handguns from the latter half of the 1800s.  You might be able to barely squeek into weapon 3 but you'd have to be using modern, custom made ammunition. The "very special" comes from it being an Item of Power not from the purely physical aspects, so it needs to be a Power to boost damage.

It is perfectly possible that like the Swords of the Cross it was reforged (or since it is a gun, maybe remade would be more appropriate). Thus, it being a modern handgun is plausible.

[fantazero]

It is perfectly possible that like the Swords of the Cross it was reforged (or since it is a gun, maybe remade would be more appropriate). Thus, it being a modern handgun is plausible.

ITS A MAGIC GUN!
but it looks like this


Smith and Wesson 500 (ITs for Bears/Moose/Helicopters ;-)

[ALurker]

ITS A MAGIC GUN!
but it looks like this


Smith and Wesson 500 (ITs for Bears/Moose/Helicopters ;-)

If you're going for as powerful as possible I would suggest a Pfeifer Zeliska .600 Nitro Express. It is significantly more powerful than the Smith and Wesson 500 (it just isn't a "production" revolver so it is really expensive).

[computerking]

ITS A MAGIC GUN!
but it looks like this


Smith and Wesson 500 (ITs for Bears/Moose/Helicopters ;-)

"It shoots Through SCHOOLS!"