Mortal Question

[Katarn]

This seems like a no brainer, but consider any specific examples carefully:

I have a player who is playing a Pure Mortal, but is a Treasure Hunter for magical artifacts.  Is there any way he can use some of the mystical objects he obtains without losing the title Pure Mortal?  I can't think of any, but I was trying to cater to his idea.

[UmbraLux]

You can use powers for a scene* by paying the refresh cost in fate points.  Essentially what Murphy did in Mexico.  (Avoiding spoiler details.) 

You can also use someone else's potions if they've made them appropriately (put a shift of power into allowing use).

*Edit - you should also have a story based reason...such as finding said artifacts.

[sinker]

If you really want to, you could essentially have him take a stunt that allows him to use the "Buying things" trapping of resources with another skill that represents his ability to find cool mystic stuff (scholarship perhaps?) and then simply re-skin the stuff he buys as mystic stuff. That way he hasn't spent any refresh on powers, he's still pure mortal, but instead of pulling out a cell phone or a grenade he pulls out a mirror of communion or a potion of making things explode. Perhaps the stunt could even give a bonus considering that you're limiting the use of the buying things trapping to only mystic stuff.

[Haru]

Like UmbraLux said, the Temporary Powers (YS92) option would fit best here. But if a character would start using magical artefacts on a regular basis, I would argue, that he is no longer a pure mortal, since he is relying on magical means to do whatever he is doing.

[polkaneverdies]

Fate points for temp powers as the previous posters said.
If you mean keep iop that he finds and use them, that is a different story.
If he just wants to be considered vanilla mortal I would be ok with that. If he wants the pure mortal refresh bonus he would be out of luck.

That is a mechanical benefit to keep mortals competitive with equal refresh supes. It is needed since stunts tend to be less powerful than powers. Having an iop already gives the player the same advantage.

[Katarn]

I'm leaning towards using Temporary Powers.

Here's another possibility:  A homebrew stunt called Artificer (possibly an unusual [-2] due to its very nice effect) that allows a Pure Mortal to use mystical objects once/session or 3/story arc, that kind of thing.

Thoughts?

[UmbraLux]

Thoughts?

Personal opinion, if you have regular access to magical powers you don't get the extra two fate points for the Pure Mortal template.  That doesn't mean your character can't be mortal though.

[InFerrumVeritas]

I took a page from Marcone (one of the short stories) and the priest (another short story) and created this stunt for one of our players:

Buyer of the Arcane (Resources)
You have access to a small number of potions or other single use magical trinkets.  You have two potion slots per session.  The strength of the item is equal to your Resources skill.  You must still use Lore (or a Fate point) for declarations to fill open slots.

I think it's pretty balanced, all things considered.  You're getting a lot less than you would with a single point of Refinement.

In your character's case, you could use Burglary.

If you're uncomfortable with them having a number of slots, you could simply make it so that "Once per scene, for a fate point, you may declare that you have a potion or other single use magical trinket on hand."  The strength should still be limited by Resources or Burglary or whatever. 

[Sanctaphrax]

Not sure precisely how Buyer Of The Arcane is supposed to work, honestly. It looks too strong, but I can't be sure because I don't know what it does exactly.

[Becq]

Add in a second stunt that grants a bonus to Resources for the purposes of buying arcane stuff, and you have the makings of a "Pure Mortal" Crafter build...  :p

My opinion: the Pure Mortal bonus is a perk granted to those with no supernatural capabilities whatsoever, to balance out that lack.  Characters who have regular access to supernatural equipment should not get the Pure Mortal bonus.  (But would still be "Mortal" even without the bonus.)  Your mileage may vary.