Modeling Limited Intellectus?

[Ursine Enigma]

Greetings to the forum!

A forum search didn't turn up much; my search fu here is still Mediocre.  Has anyone given it a try?  I imagine a very high refresh with points shaved off for various limitations, but have no idea what the baseline should be.  All help gratefully accepted.

Thanks in advance.

[bobjob]

I wouldn't even model it after a power. I'd do it as an Aspect that can be tagged to justify anything within the purview of the intellectus.

[Haru]

What he said.

[wyvern]

I'd model it as a power that requires an associated aspect, and gives you the ability to make a relevant declaration once per scene, for free.  Cost then depends on how relevant its scope is, and how many free declarations you get.  A place like Demonreach might give, say, two free declarations per scene, at the cost of one refresh - since most of the time, things aren't happening on the island anyway.  Shagnasty's pain infliction sense might cost more like two refresh for one declaration per scene, though, since it will always be using it.

[Sanctaphrax]

Why not just use Supernatural Sense?

[Cadd]

Yeah, I'd probably do Supernatural Sense, most likely coupled with and Aspect...

[Ursine Enigma]

Supernatural Sense would probably be the core, but is Broad Sense enough?  What kind of range could it have?

The power I'm trying to model is for Skittter from Worm.  Intellectus seems the best match for her absolute awareness of any invertebrate within 1000 feet, as well as limited access to what the animal is sensing.  I didn't want to hijack the more general Worm character thread, so I started this one.

I know the power as described in the serial might not map exactly &/or might be game breaking, but as an exercise it's helping me learn the system.  Thanks!

[Locnil]

Greetings to the forum!

A forum search didn't turn up much; my search fu here is still Mediocre.  Has anyone given it a try?  I imagine a very high refresh with points shaved off for various limitations, but have no idea what the baseline should be.  All help gratefully accepted.

Thanks in advance.

IIRC there a custom power in the master list that essentially modelled it as Beast Change/True Shapeshifting. Essentially, it let you re-allocate your skill points across all categories, including social and mental ones. The justification as that by focusing on it, you can gain general knowledge of how to do something.

[Sanctaphrax]

Oh, hey, I thought I recognized your name.

Supernatural Sense is definitely what I'd use for Skitter's swarm sense. Her senses are definitely more potent than what one sense is supposed to offer, so I'd charge 2 or 3 Refresh for the Skitter package. Either by breaking her senses down into multiple different senses or by charging extra for one extra-strong sense.

The mechanics for Supernatural Sense are pretty loose, so questions of range and the difficulties of rolls will need to be worked out between you and your GM.

IIRC there a custom power in the master list that essentially modelled it as Beast Change/True Shapeshifting. Essentially, it let you re-allocate your skill points across all categories, including social and mental ones. The justification as that by focusing on it, you can gain general knowledge of how to do something.

I checked the list and didn't find the Power you're talking about. There is a mental Beast Change equivalent called Composite Personality, but I don't think it fits intellectus very well.

Intellectus of War and Eye Of Providence are kind of intellectus-like, but they're not mechanically like Beast Change.

PS: I missed your reply in the RPGnet thread, Ursine Enigma. So here goes...

-I don't think Human Guise is necessary because Taylor always looks human.
-Sponsored Magic doesn't really fit Taylor because Taylor isn't a spellcaster.
-If you want an IoP-like limitation for Skitter's swarm, you might want to try out the Limitation custom Power. It's on the list.
-Be careful with Venomous, its mechanics are a bit vague and given the way you're using it there's a chance it might be unfair.

[Ursine Enigma]

I thought I recognized your name[/url].

Hello again;  thanks for pointing me to this forum.

>>>Supernatural Sense is definitely what I'd use for Skitter's swarm sense. Her senses are definitely more potent than what one sense is supposed to offer, so I'd charge 2 or 3 Refresh for the Skitter package. Either by breaking her senses down into multiple different senses or by charging extra for one extra-strong sense.

The mechanics for Supernatural Sense are pretty loose, so questions of range and the difficulties of rolls will need to be worked out between you and your GM.<<<

The GM is new to the system, too, so we're working closely to get the right balance.



>>>-I don't think Human Guise is necessary because Taylor always looks human. <<<
I was just using that as a cost guide.
>>>Sponsored Magic doesn't really fit Taylor because Taylor isn't a spellcaster.<<<
Agreed;  I can't see her using foci, etc.  Some of the fan made self-sponsored stuff made me consider that route;  the Incite power works better, though.
>>>-If you want an IoP-like limitation for Skitter's swarm, you might want to try out the Limitation custom Power. It's on the list.<<<
Thanks, I'll look at it.
>>>-Be careful with Venomous, its mechanics are a bit vague and given the way you're using it there's a chance it might be unfair.<<<
Venomous was the GMs idea;  he's excellent at balancing things in game, but have you noted any particular problems?

Thanks for the help!

[Sanctaphrax]

I've never actually used Venomous, but I have read it, and I'm honestly not sure whether you get to tag the Aspect created when you use it. Or whether you can stack instances of poison on a single target. Or which of your Fists skill and your Fists roll sets the poison's attack strength.

You should probably make sure your GM agrees with you about what the Power does.

As for the balance issue, I just noticed that you seemed to be getting it at a discount by "trading in" your weapon rating. Which might be problematic. It might not be, but...worth keeping an eye on.

[Ursine Enigma]

You should probably make sure your GM agrees with you about what the Power does.

As for the balance issue, I just noticed that you seemed to be getting it at a discount by "trading in" your weapon rating. Which might be problematic. It might not be, but...worth keeping an eye on.
[/quote]

We'll be balancing all the characters against each other this weekend.

As to Venomous at a discount, if I drop the the Physical & Potent upgrades, that's 2 refresh freed up, & venomous is a 2 refresh power.  What am I missing?

[Sanctaphrax]

As to Venomous at a discount, if I drop the the Physical & Potent upgrades, that's 2 refresh freed up, & venomous is a 2 refresh power.  What am I missing?

Normally you can only get Venomous by taking Claws first. And you can't use Claws while using Venomous, since Venomous doesn't care about weapon ratings. So having to buy Claws isn't always ideal for people who want Venomous.

You're getting around that limitation. I don't know Venomous well enough to know whether that'll be an issue.

[Mrmdubois]

So with Skitter's multi-tasking, out of combat it's not really a problem, in combat what if you could just use one Maneuver to set up several fragile Aspects, but keep only one free tag for yourself?  Or something?  I mean, narratively it just has to -look- like you're multi-tasking.

Or maybe a time delayed effect going on in the background.  Devote supplementals to it so your rolls suffer across the board.  Fail a roll lose the whole shebang.  Activate the effect as your turn and it dishes out a little something extra?

Plus, a lot of what Taylor does with her bugs is sensory, so you could always be using those Supernatural Senses at the same time as performing another task, which is kinda multitasking.

I've thought about how I'd build Taylor too and I always figured I could get by on Supernatural Senses and Incite Effect and not miss out on the multitasking much though.

[Ursine Enigma]

Currently I'm thinking of Pack Instinct (invertebrates) + Echoes of the Beast + Supernatural Sense as a package to model what she does.  Free actions for sensory stuff & the area effect selective on her Incite cover most of it, as well as Incite's option to prolong effects.

Are those 'affect area' attacks considered to automatically hit, & targets just defend against damage?