Pure Mortal with Items of Power

[DMS]

Hey World,

I'm starting a new campaign/adventure/nerd-session, and one of my players wants to roll a Pure Mortal, but also to give him an Item of Power.  He mentioned it at the end of our session last night (we spent like two and half hours on City Creation, and bumped up against everyone's spouse-enforced bed times), so I don't know what exactly he was thinking of using for an item, but I wanted to bounce some ideas off of you all before I green-light it.

So:  penny for your thoughts?

I'm of the opinion that Supernatural Powers are outside the realm of Pure Mortals, and that includes Items of Power.  I'm trying to think of instances in the novels in which a mortal shlub gets a hold of a magical item, and the best I can do is Butters being Bob's master in the later books.  In game terms, I don't want to unbalance things by giving the mortal character the +2 to Refresh and the Item of Power.  I think that it's within the scope of his High Concept to have magical stuff (he's a thief of magical stuff), so my concerns are more of the balance variety.

[polkaneverdies]

He can have a iop and still be a considered a "pure mortal" by himself and the in game creatures. What he can't do is have an iop and get the +2  mortal bonus.

The pm bonus primary function is to provide some game balance to mortals since powers are stronger than stunts. If he buys a power then he no longer needs the extra oomph to compete with the others. (Especially considering that the iop rebate will make the power even cheaper).

Story wise= pure mortal; system wise= supernatural

[Haru]

Well, there is nothing more to add, polka is spot on there.

[DMS]

That's similar to my own thoughts.  I'm just looking for some ethos to back up my statements come next session, so thanks to both of you.

[Tedronai]

A Pure Mortal possessing the accompanying bonus can possess and make use of IoPs so long as they retain narrative justification each and every scene to pay through the nose for the item as a Temporary Power.
As soon as they lose the narrative justification, they lose the ability to purchase the Temporary Powers represented in the IoP, and even if they retain possession of the item, they lose its benefit.
If they choose to stop paying through the nose each and every scene, then they lose the benefits (which can be regained by starting those payments back up so long as they have narrative justification at the time of payment).


I wouldn't recommend doing this.

[JDK002]

Yup yup, if a character has any supernatural powers on his character sheet for ANY reason, he must give up the +2 refresh bonus. 

I would highly suggest being very hard-nosed about this rule if need be.  You would be surprised how often threads pop up about how their pure mortal character is different and should be allowed to take powers and keep the refresh bonus.

[Mr. Death]

Yeah, what the others said--in the story, for instance, Charity is considered nothing more than a mortal. But as far as game terms are concerned, she has a bunch of Faith powers. Likewise with Michael, Sanya, and Shiro.

[DMS]

Thanks to all of you.  That answers my question.

[JDK002]

A Pure Mortal possessing the accompanying bonus can possess and make use of IoPs so long as they retain narrative justification each and every scene to pay through the nose for the item as a Temporary Power.
As soon as they lose the narrative justification, they lose the ability to purchase the Temporary Powers represented in the IoP, and even if they retain possession of the item, they lose its benefit.
If they choose to stop paying through the nose each and every scene, then they lose the benefits (which can be regained by starting those payments back up so long as they have narrative justification at the time of payment).


I wouldn't recommend doing this.

Oh dear lord never ever do this.  Not only can I get convoluted and confusing, but it's argueably an abuse of the temporary powers mechanic.  Temporary powers are supposed to be temporary.  Not something you pay into every single scene to avoid paying refresh.

The issue of losing the +2 then paying FP to get the bonus bak is a whole other canof worms.  It's basically creating an entire character concept around abusing a rule.

[Vairelome]

Oh dear lord never ever do this.  Not only can I get convoluted and confusing, but it's argueably an abuse of the temporary powers mechanic.  Temporary powers are supposed to be temporary.  Not something you pay into every single scene to avoid paying refresh.

The issue of losing the +2 then paying FP to get the bonus bak is a whole other canof worms.  It's basically creating an entire character concept around abusing a rule.

I think Tedronai's point was that in this case, applying the rule makes the mechanical details so grossly inefficient that it would be dumb to call it an "advantage."  In order to get two extra base refresh, you'd be spending FPs like water every scene, in the process eating up way more FPs than the two extra refresh are generating.  I wouldn't really call it "abusing a rule" when it's the dumb player that's tied down, and the rule wielding the whip and thumbscrews.

[Tedronai]

I think Tedronai's point was that in this case, applying the rule makes the mechanical details so grossly inefficient that it would be dumb to call it an "advantage."

^This.^

The price you end up paying under the Temporary Power rules readily exceeds the combined advantage gained by not paying Refresh for the powers and by retaining the Pure Mortal Bonus.