Gnome Golems and Evil Weight Loss

[Archangel62]

I am debating running a game of this for one of my groups and I wanted some advice/rules assistance on a couple of things that came to mind. One of them involved someone that made and sold specialty lawn gnomes who actually turns them into little golems, using them to commit robberies and the like (not robbing the person who bought them but places near them). The other idea is a bit more complex, but it boils down to a clinic opening up that offers quick, easy and cheap weight loss. Coming in you give a blood sample and drink a mixture. The potion amps up the metabolic rate, the blood is to produce a thaumaturgical spell that lets the caster(s) in the clinic draw off the life energy that comes from the boosted metabolism, essentially they get the energy from all the burned off fat. Any thoughts on this would be welcome.

[Ghsdkgb]

Name them "Adipose Gnomes"

[Richard_Chilton]

The potion amps up the metabolic rate, the blood is to produce a thaumaturgical spell that lets the caster(s) in the clinic draw off the life energy that comes from the boosted metabolism, essentially they get the energy from all the burned off fat. Any thoughts on this would be welcome.

If it was just the weight lost it would be easy to handle with a transformation affect (or aspect)...

How about the potion put the sticky aspect "losing weight" on the client and the thaumaturgical inflicts the moderate consequence 'Some of my life essence is missing", which the caster somehow stores as minor consequence...
No, here's a better idea.  The spell gives the Aspect "Unwitting Mystic Assistant" which the caster can then tags (using the mystic link) during a ritual to assign a minor consequence to the victim.  Which means that the spell would have be enough to take out the victim, assign an Aspect (with a duration), and inflict a consequence (which is delayed).  Which sounds complicated, but the caster could do up those spells when he had free time to kill and use the resulting life energy in time critical rituals.

AS for the gnomes... Maybe making a deal with a group of shy gnomish spirits.  They get to inhabit the statues in exchange for giving their lord (i.e. summoner) tribute.  Or perhaps an Aspect "My Gnomes are Golems" since I don't see them as combat capable.  Say that one physical stress will shatter their bodies or at least crack them and when cracked they stop working.

Maybe a stunt for the contacts skill called "Gnomes are Golems" - giving the Golems more freewill but having them friendly (or beholden) to their creator? Give a prereq of being able to enchant and requiring the upkeep of one scene a day to work on the Gnomes...

In someways the clinic is easier.  There aren't many rules for  minions in DFRPG - maybe Paranet will fill in the blanks by doing a sheet for Binder or another "I summon / make my minions" type character.

Richard

[Haru]

The gnomes are a neat idea. I had a similar idea with a chloromancer once, who animates houseplants to open doors and windows (imagine a bonsai ent). Maybe the gnomes are actual gnomes who are working for the sorcerer. He provides them with an item that can turn them into painted terracotta figures, so they can be sold as regular garden gnomes and go on their burglary tour.

The idea of a clinic is pretty cool, but I am kind of missing the downside. If the people are ageing drastically during that process, they will probably get a bad reputation, after all, who is vain enough to want to get thin only to look old? Your writeup now sounds like that doesn't happen and is actually a win-win situation. A drastic downside for the patients should be involved to get the players to investigate. Maybe the Steven King route, so the transformation won't stop, until the people are thin as skeletons and their whole life force is used up. Or the Dr Who route, that the fat is transformed into something else.

[Archangel62]

The gnomes are a neat idea. I had a similar idea with a chloromancer once, who animates houseplants to open doors and windows (imagine a bonsai ent). Maybe the gnomes are actual gnomes who are working for the sorcerer. He provides them with an item that can turn them into painted terracotta figures, so they can be sold as regular garden gnomes and go on their burglary tour.

The idea of a clinic is pretty cool, but I am kind of missing the downside. If the people are ageing drastically during that process, they will probably get a bad reputation, after all, who is vain enough to want to get thin only to look old? Your writeup now sounds like that doesn't happen and is actually a win-win situation. A drastic downside for the patients should be involved to get the players to investigate. Maybe the Steven King route, so the transformation won't stop, until the people are thin as skeletons and their whole life force is used up. Or the Dr Who route, that the fat is transformed into something else.

The actual plan with the 'downside' isn't so much aimed at the person running the clinic as it is at the players. See the person running the clinic is going to be using the energy for multiple spells/rituals/etc. And an easy weight loss plan that actually works will have a LOT of public support, to the point where if they want to go after the guy after bodies start piling up...well things will be difficult to say the least.

[Sanctaphrax]

I'd also give the weight loss a downside, because I dislike the idea of magical free lunches.

Did you ever read that old thread about ways to make money with magic?