Author Topic: Newbies ask the darnest things  (Read 49196 times)

Offline Crazy Wilhelm

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #30 on: June 15, 2013, 09:48:01 PM »
YS compares it to the split between Alertness and Investigation with respect to the Presence trapping "Charisma." As it says, "As a rule of thumb, the GM may ask you to roll Presence to gauge impressions when you are not actively focusing your efforts on making one. Further, when you use Rapport to make a deliberate impression, you can call in Presence to complement the skill." Presence is used passively. You enter a social situation, and your Presence passively affects the people therein, like when you walk down a hall and Alertness triggers on its own (because of ninjas or something.) Presence is also your Reputation and Social Stress Track, so it's a big part of Social Fortitude. A tanky socialite needs a high presence to be able to resist their foes in Social combat. The Command trapping is also a big deal for teamwork stuff, like coordinating a big maneuver or something cool. Looking at the RAW vol.1, Rapport's trappings are pretty much just brass tacks actions for someone who has already initiated a Social Conflict, and not much else (except the Chit-Chat trapping, which is some aces stuff.)

Offline dplanken

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #31 on: June 16, 2013, 01:50:36 PM »
Does anyone have experience with someone having the ghost speaker power? My player has it, but beyond the obvious "a ghost comes to you and wants your help with x" and "rolll a contacts roll to see if the ghosts know anything" I don't know how to help him shine in my game.

Any ideas?

Offline Taran

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #32 on: June 16, 2013, 01:55:32 PM »
I'd invoke it to distract him during social situations :)

Offline UmbraLux

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #33 on: June 16, 2013, 02:39:17 PM »
Does anyone have experience with someone having the ghost speaker power? My player has it, but beyond the obvious "a ghost comes to you and wants your help with x" and "rolll a contacts roll to see if the ghosts know anything" I don't know how to help him shine in my game.

Any ideas?
He can also do a fair amount of information gathering (I had a player trading favors done in the physical world for information ghosts knew or could find out), use them as trackers / spies (for a favor again), find sites where people were killed recently (ghost, if there is one, may be too traumatized to speak), or even use them for minor maneuvers in the physical world (this either needs to be something the spirit is willing to risk existence on, cost a lot, or require the ability to command spirits).  Basically, anything a spirit can do he may be able to bribe them into doing for him...costs depending on how risky it is to the spirit, how much it aligns with the spirit's goals, and seldom having much to do with money.
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Offline McNulty

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #34 on: June 16, 2013, 02:44:58 PM »
Does anyone have experience with someone having the ghost speaker power?

No quite, but ghosts have a prominent role in our campaign so my advice is to you is to bake in some dead people in your storyline(s). It can start as a simple "there's an angry ghost in the attic" scenario, but once they actually try to solve the case and wander deeper into the rabbit hole, some awful truths will be revealed (necromancers, vampires, etc. etc. what ever suits the story).

Offline ReaderAt2046

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #35 on: June 17, 2013, 11:56:19 AM »

Also, you could rule that this means ghosts have to acknowledge him (so he bypasses their immunity Power), and then throw in a Agatha Hagglethorn or similar.

Offline Taran

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #36 on: June 17, 2013, 12:09:37 PM »
No quite, but ghosts have a prominent role in our campaign so my advice is to you is to bake in some dead people in your storyline(s). It can start as a simple "there's an angry ghost in the attic" scenario, but once they actually try to solve the case and wander deeper into the rabbit hole, some awful truths will be revealed (necromancers, vampires, etc. etc. what ever suits the story).

This.

Most cities have ghost stories and companies that do halloween ghost tours.  Research these and turn them into adventures, or as side quests to solve bigger plot issues.

Most ghost stories are very colourful and offer a lot in the personality of each ghost.

I had a character with ghost speaker.  the character was a cop who murdered his partner.  I made The partner into an npc who helped the character, now looking to redeem himself, solve mysteries.   He always went back to the same creepy car garage at the time of the murder to go chat with the ghost.

Offline ReaderAt2046

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #37 on: June 20, 2013, 02:51:07 AM »

What's the difference between Worldwalker and Swift Transition? Conceptually, both seem to allow you to jump in or out of the Nevernever pretty much anywhere.

Offline Troy

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #38 on: June 20, 2013, 03:13:29 AM »
What's the difference between Worldwalker and Swift Transition? Conceptually, both seem to allow you to jump in or out of the Nevernever pretty much anywhere.

It seems like Swift Transition is for creatures who have a natural affinity to the Nevernever... as in, that's where they belong. So they can pop in and out as they like.

World Walker makes portals, which allows a person to bring other people with you. It also conveys other abilities that make it easy to find places to make these portals, and navigate the Nevernever.

That's what it looks like.
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Offline Sanctaphrax

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #39 on: June 20, 2013, 07:16:36 AM »
It seems like Swift Transition is for creatures who have a natural affinity to the Nevernever... as in, that's where they belong. So they can pop in and out as they like.

World Walker makes portals, which allows a person to bring other people with you. It also conveys other abilities that make it easy to find places to make these portals, and navigate the Nevernever.

That's what it looks like.

Yep, I agree.

Except for one thing. I'm not sure that Swift Transition lets you pop back from the Nevernever whenever you like. It seems to be one-way, going by a legalistic reading of the write-up.

Offline Dracorex

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #40 on: June 20, 2013, 08:10:15 AM »
Swift Transition is two-way. It's the kind WCVs have, isn't it? That's how Thomas and Michael got back out in Grave Peril. Michael was complaining about how they came out in a 'flesh pit' or something; Thomas was protesting about how he can only jump in and out via 'places close to his heart', and that it was a 'gentleman's club'.

Offline Sanctaphrax

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #41 on: June 20, 2013, 08:25:56 AM »
White Court Vampires do not have Swift Transition. Transitioning at thematically appropriate places is probably a High Concept Invoke for Effect.

And while it seems as though it should be two-way, it doesn't actually say anything about going from the Nevernever to Earth.

Offline Quantus

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #42 on: June 20, 2013, 01:26:56 PM »
White Court Vampires do not have Swift Transition. Transitioning at thematically appropriate places is probably a High Concept Invoke for Effect.

And while it seems as though it should be two-way, it doesn't actually say anything about going from the Nevernever to Earth.
By the novels at least White Court Vampires are able to come back from the NN to the mortal world at those personally significant locations, and can navigate to and from them.  But as you say, that is not the same thing as Swift Transition.
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Offline Wordmaker

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #43 on: June 20, 2013, 03:30:46 PM »
I figured the way supernaturals can enter the Nevernever through thematic locations was a type of Common Ritual available only to them.

Offline McNulty

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Re: Newbies ask the darnest things
« Reply #44 on: June 21, 2013, 12:00:34 PM »
On a parallel storyline some of my players encountered a boogey man harrassing some elderly lady. They rightly posited that it is a some sort of fetch that gained an entry through a mirror (yes very basic, but most of us are not familiar with the books ;)). They're (somewhat surprising) solution was to bolt two iron bars across the mirror, thinking it will keep the fetch (being a creature of the fair folk) at bay. Will this work, or does the fetch have some tricks in the sleeve perhaps?