Costumed Vigilante Template

[Taran]

I'm running a medieval campaign and much of it will take place in the wilderness.  I could see Wizards Constitution being very useful in it...but there aren't too many costumed vigilante's around...all this to say, that in a modern setting, I'm not sure it makes a big difference in balance.

[studer]

San: How does a Pure Mortal recover from an Extreme Consequence like a maimed beyond recovery limb? How does a Pure Mortal explain away the aches, pains, and extended recovery that comes with now being 40 instead of late 20s? Seems to me like these are things worth having. Why *not* take Wizard's Recovery if it's free? What's the downside? I'm not suggesting that it should be a -1 Power for all templates, but I see it as a reasonable limitation on this particular one. I know we're all adults and should play like it, but then why do we need rules at all? Most of us get attached to our characters, even when they start off as Giovanni Condottiere, Mob Thug (Joe the Human Fighter) and try to wring every bit of good out of characters that we can. Since a lot of Costumed Vigilantes are going to be the party's muscle and meatshield, the ability to not get old and be able to recover from anything short of death or completely destroyed body parts is pretty useful.

(On an aside, am I misunderstanding Extreme Consequences? I know you can remove them at Major Milestones, but does this apply even if there's no logical reason? A character who's arm had been lopped off and not reattached in time, or paralyzed from the waist down could just remove that consequence by declaration or does there have to be a possible explanation? I understand that the Dresdenverse is not Twilight 2000, but we still need to follow the logic/rules of realty of the setting.)

[studer]

Llayne: if a version of Batman has a utility belt like Adam West's did, that would be an Item of Power and have the character Concept fall under the Costumed Vigilante Template. Otherwise, it's just a matter of having a character with a high Resources Skill. What do Casey Jones (TMNT) and the Punisher (Marvel) have that would make them not a Pure Mortal?

I used Costumed Vigilante for the Template name because it was the best name I could come up with at the time, it's not meant to be a straight jacket. Perhaps Pulp Hero or More Than Human would be better names. Casey Jones is just a tough guy with a golf bag full of baseball bats and hockey sticks. He fits right in under Pure Mortal. Nick Fury or the Black Panther aren't. They're faster, stronger and tougher than even an Olympic champion. They can't be made with a Pure Mortal Template, although Black Panther could be an Emissary of Power, but how do you make a character similar to Nick Fury or Captain America with the templates in the book? Characters like the Hulk or Superman are beyond the power levels of most games, but they would work under this template with a higher allowed Refresh penalty.

Mostly I made up this template to try and sell to the person who runs the DFRPG on letting me play this kind of character, so it's not for a Supers game.

[studer]

The main two objections I am seeing to the template are Wizard's Constitution shouldn't cost anything (per the rules) and the limit on the amount of Powers purchased, but those are easily tweaked. Otherwise, it is an OK template? Could these kinds of characters (Nick Fury, Captain America, ie better than human but not game unbalancingly so, and not in servitude to a supernatural superior. Nick Fury makes his boss mad, they can't pull his powers). Does it break the theme of the Dresdenverse? Would you allow something like this in your game as a GM?

[Tedronai]

The Scion template, in a kitchen-sink setting such as the Dresdenverse, already allows for virtually free reign in designing the powers selection of a character if the player is willing to put a mild effort into planning and the creation of the 'parent' entity, so that's no issue.  Moreover, Scions are not inherently beholden to any higher authority (though one may try to impose their rule upon them, as with many Changelings), so the lack of such a relationship is not itself an issue.

The only issues (aside from the Wizard's Constitution & refresh cap that you mentioned) I forsee are those of the tone of the game, which will already vary from one table to another sufficiently that I do not see any inherent problem with this template in that regard.  I would advise caution in its use, of course,


On a larger scale, I, personally, do not see particular purpose in the use of Templates at all save as 'cheat sheets' for new players that have trouble when presented with too many options.  For my own purposes, and those of other players I know to be sufficiently experienced, I suggest simply requiring that any and all powers (and even stunts) chosen are supported by the character's aspects, most importantly by their High Concept.  With a good understanding reached between the player and the GM at the time such an aspect is created (ex. during character creation or at an appropriate milestone), the lists of 'musts' and 'options' presented by Templates become wholly obsolete.

[GryMor]

A template is supposed to be, on some levels, a framework for the source of a power set. This doesn't really feel like that, and doesn't really feel like it would fit into the setting. That said, you can end up with 'Costumed Vigilantes' with nearly any of the existing templates, especially Emissary of Power, Scion and Focused Practitioner.

[Sanctaphrax]

San: How does a Pure Mortal recover from an Extreme Consequence like a maimed beyond recovery limb? How does a Pure Mortal explain away the aches, pains, and extended recovery that comes with now being 40 instead of late 20s? Seems to me like these are things worth having.

They aren't things worth having.

Aches, pains, and missing limbs are not bad things. The problems they cause are expressed through Compels, which pay for themselves.

There's no particular reason not to take Wizard's Constitution, but there's also no particular reason to take it.

You have to remember that you are not your character. An Aspect like CLINICALLY DEPRESSED sucks for your character, but it doesn't have to suck for you. Same principle here, but it's the other way around.

PS: You can represent mildly superhuman characters through Stunts and Aspects and high Skills. I'm not too comic-savvy so I don't know for sure whether that'd work for Nick Fury, but it might.

[Richard_Chilton]

This looks like an interesting Template.

Somehow, when I picture costumed vigilantes in the DV I start thinking of a minor character from Simon R Green's Nightside series - Ms. Fate, the Nightside's own transvestite superhero.

Off the wall heroes like that one and flawed, Punisher types seem more appropriate for the DV than Captain America and other "justice always triumphs" type heroes.

Richard

[nick012000]

How does a Pure Mortal recover from an Extreme Consequence like a maimed beyond recovery limb?

Robotic arm.

[Ghsdkgb]

Robotic arm.

Or a one-time deal with a Fae.

My question is, why are you bothering with an upper limit on Refresh? What's the problem with letting the power level of the campaign dictate those terms? In any moderately high powered campaign, you're mandating that characters of this template must necessarily be weaker than the rest of the party, for seemingly no reason.

[studer]

Thanks for the input.

All: I fully agree that this Template is not for all games, but in a world where Faeries, wizards, shapechangers, etc are real...well, we have folks in this world who try to play superhero. Nobody'd try this in Harry's world? Not for all games, but certainly possible.

GryMor: Emissary of Power is beholden to someone else for their power. Focused Practitioner is limited to Channeling and/or Ritual. The Scion is not so much a template as a concept with some suggestions. It also doesn't exactly fit the why and wherefore of how this type of character gets their powers. A Scion is the offspring of a human and something else. The idea behind this new Template is to allow a character that has things like Inhuman or Supernatural <ability> or a person to whom literally blending in the shadows or climbing up walls is innate to themselves. These things can be done as a Stunt or high Skill, but are also available as a Power. The Stunts are cheaper, but the Powers are less fallible.

Nick & Ghsdkgb: good points, but they have their own drawbacks.

Ghsdkgb: The upper limit on Refresh spent on initial powers is the Template's drawback. An Emissary of Power has the drawback of being reliant on a superior's good will. The Costumed Vigilante (super powered individual) Template's drawback is a restriction on the amount of initial powers. I went with -6 as an arbitrary limit that allowed a lot of interesting combinations. The -6 limit applies to Powers only, the character can still spend up to their full Refresh limit on Stunts. That being said, the -6 Refresh limit on Powers can be adjusted up or down by the GM to fit the needs of their game. A Minor Talent Template character only allows a max of -2 Refresh spent on a smaller list of Powers, so I figured I had to give the new Template some kind of restriction.

San: PS: I like your idea of no Templates.

[Mr. Death]

If you want to exclude Pure Mortals, I'd recommend renaming it. Costumed Vigilante conjures up the image of Batman, Nite-Owl, Rorschach, The Question, etc. I'd go with something like "Superhero" to imply the superpowers are part of it.

[Lavecki121]

Ghsdkgb: The upper limit on Refresh spent on initial powers is the Template's drawback. An Emissary of Power has the drawback of being reliant on a superior's good will. The Costumed Vigilante (super powered individual) Template's drawback is a restriction on the amount of initial powers. I went with -6 as an arbitrary limit that allowed a lot of interesting combinations. The -6 limit applies to Powers only, the character can still spend up to their full Refresh limit on Stunts. That being said, the -6 Refresh limit on Powers can be adjusted up or down by the GM to fit the needs of their game. A Minor Talent Template character only allows a max of -2 Refresh spent on a smaller list of Powers, so I figured I had to give the new Template some kind of restriction.

Still the restriction is odd. No other template has restrictions like that. They have requirements (such as wizard) but none of them limit you.

[studer]

Mr. Death: noted Was thinking of "More than Human" and would need to change the "Secret Identity" Trouble Must to something else, or as a possibility. It's a good trouble for any kind of adventurer, really.

Lavecki121: as I pointed out above, Minor Talent gives you a whole lot less than this Template. Regardless, individual GMs can and should modify to suit their game, or reject it entirely if it doesn't make a good fit with their conception of the Dresdenverse.

[Lavecki121]

The character may then take a single, one refresh cost (or, with approval, two refresh cost) ability from Supernatural Powers (page 158). Specifically, the Minor Ability and Psychic Ability categories should be considered, but the GM may allow the player to look further afield.

It still has the qualification that you can take more