Help with statting a character

[gonnamove]

Hi there! I'm a long time lurker, first time poster, and I needed some help balancing a character concept. My GM for this campaign said he was fine with the balance, but I'm still a little hesitant (I'm usually the gm, but he's wanting to run this one.) We also have a few newbies to Fate, and I don't want to be stealing the spotlight from them.

Here's the basic incomplete character (at Submerged):
Name:Adrian Sherlock Spencer
HC: (Former) Best P.I. in SLC
Trouble:Addicted to (Name of magical drug here.)
Other: Nobody knows you when you're down and out, Just a man in a monster's world.

Skills:5: Alertness
         4: Stealth, Contacts
         3: Athletics, Endurance,

Stunts: Inspector: Use Alertness for Examination Trapping of Investigation
           

Powers (this is where I need the most help.):

Item of Power: Magical Drugs
What it is: A small bottle of pills. [+1] because easy to hide
-Human Form[+1]: It takes him some effort to take the pills.
-Feeding dependency[+1] effecting
      -Inhuman Focus [-2]: Gives +1 to Dodge(Athletics),+1 to Attacks involving focus(aiming gun, fencing, throwing knives and the like.), and +1 to Passive Awareness(Alertness), and Examination(Investigation).
      -Inhuman Recovery [-2]
      -Inhuman Tougness [-2]
                 The catch: Massive Trauma? (Unsure about this) [+3]
      -Feel No Pain [-3]

Total Refresh -7[3 Fp]


So the idea behind the pills is they highten his perceptions at lower dosages, and allow him to block out pain at higher ones, but he runs the risk of overdosing. Thus feeding dependency. The inhuman toughness and recovery are to represent an increased tolerance to pain combines with his body functioning at a higher level. But he wouldn't have total recovery, nor does it grant him actual physical armor.

I thought about trying to model this around the houseruled feeding dependency and limitation, but I got a little confused. I do like the way feeding dependency represents the struggle to use power but not too much.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Sanctaphrax]

Everything except the Powers looks fine. The Powers are a little iffy, but not too bad. Let's go over them:

Item of Power: Magical Drugs
What it is: A small bottle of pills. [+1] because easy to hide

Looks fine to me.

-Human Form[+1]: It takes him some effort to take the pills.

Dunno about this. Does he actually transform?

Does he have to take a supplemental action or something to take a pill each scene if he wants to access his Powers?

Human Form feels kind of redundant with Item of Power and Feeding Dependency already there.

-Feeding dependency[+1] effecting

The thing you're dependent on is the drug, right?

But don't you have an unlimited supply of that? It's an Item of Power, after all. Not much of a weakness if you can just reach into your pocket to satisfy it.

      -Inhuman Focus [-2]: Gives +1 to Dodge(Athletics),+1 to Attacks involving focus(aiming gun, fencing, throwing knives and the like.), and +1 to Passive Awareness(Alertness), and Examination(Investigation).

Homebrew building block Powers are tricky, but I think this one is probably fine. At least at the Inhuman Level, not being combined with Speed or other accuracy-boosting Powers.

      -Inhuman Recovery [-2]
      -Inhuman Tougness [-2]

Looks fine.

                 The catch: Massive Trauma? (Unsure about this) [+3]

I don't think this is a good plan. What does it really mean that massive trauma bypasses your Powers? Because you usually can't tell whether you've suffered massive trauma until you've already taken Consequences, and then it's too late for Toughness to be negated.

You mentioned that you don't get the armour from Inhuman Toughness and that you can't heal everything. I think those problems would make a better Catch.

      -Feel No Pain [-3]

Looks fine.

PS: I think you might have miscalculated your total Refresh cost.

[gonnamove]

Dunno about this. Does he actually transform?

Does he have to take a supplemental action or something to take a pill each scene if he wants to access his Powers?

Human Form feels kind of redundant with Item of Power and Feeding Dependency already there.

The idea was that he needed to take the pills using a supplemental in order to access his power. No physical transformation though. But I can see how it's a little redundant, and may just be me power gaming.

The thing you're dependent on is the drug, right?

But don't you have an unlimited supply of that? It's an Item of Power, after all. Not much of a weakness if you can just reach into your pocket to satisfy it.

This is the part I needed a little help on, and I probably should've been a little more specific. I want to represent the dangers of him taking the drug, and the risk of overdose. The hunger track would be resisted by endurance, with consequences representing the physical strain, or him losing powers by taking lower amounts of the drug. So at his low level of normal dependence scene-to-scene, it'd only be a 2 stress hit, but at the highest levels it'd be anywhere from 6 to 9, which I felt represented the danger well.

I don't think this is a good plan. What does it really mean that massive trauma bypasses your Powers? Because you usually can't tell whether you've suffered massive trauma until you've already taken Consequences, and then it's too late for Toughness to be negated.

You mentioned that you don't get the armour from Inhuman Toughness and that you can't heal everything. I think those problems would make a better Catch.

I agree. No total recovery and no armor from toughness look perfect. Would that be statted at a +3?

Thank you for the feedback, Sanctaphrax!

[Sanctaphrax]

The idea was that he needed to take the pills using a supplemental in order to access his power. No physical transformation though. But I can see how it's a little redundant, and may just be me power gaming.

...

This is the part I needed a little help on, and I probably should've been a little more specific. I want to represent the dangers of him taking the drug, and the risk of overdose. The hunger track would be resisted by endurance, with consequences representing the physical strain, or him losing powers by taking lower amounts of the drug. So at his low level of normal dependence scene-to-scene, it'd only be a 2 stress hit, but at the highest levels it'd be anywhere from 6 to 9, which I felt represented the danger well.

I don't think this is power-game-y, but I don't think it's a perfect fit either. With Feeding Dependency you can clear your stress by eating some of your "food", which only works as long as your food is somehow limited or difficult to acquire.

And I don't think you're really transforming into another form, either. So both Powers only half fit.

Unfortunately I don't have a good solution for you unless you want to use Limitation.

I agree. No total recovery and no armor from toughness look perfect. Would that be statted at a +3?

Thank you for the feedback, Sanctaphrax!

I dunno. That Catch doesn't really fit the guidelines given in Your Story, so the costing formula can't really be applied to it.

If you were using Limitation, I'd give you +2 on the assumptions that you'd be going unarmoured fairly often and that you'd be threatened with wounds that wouldn't heal fairly often. If those assumptions are wrong, +1 would be more appropriate. The thing about Limitation is that its value varies from game to game.

And you're welcome.

[finnmckool]

If he has to keep making the pills, and they're not easy, quick or cheap to make, then I can see the feeding dependancy being a thing, but your GM has to hold your to it and get nit-picky about it. If they're not that type of GM, then yeah, something else should be worked out.

I would also add a long term complication with it of Dimineshing Returns. The more pills he takes, the more reliant on them he gets, the more he HAS to take at one time to get the effect he used to get from one pill. And then add a "killing your liver." I just think this would be accurate and fun (though not necessarily balanced). So that could be a compel the GM could pay you "Two doesn't cut it. Take three? Or don't get one of the effects of the pill?" Something like that.

[Taran]

I have a character who does it the opposite.  He needs the pills AFTER he uses his powers.  His powers are a medical issue that kind of sit in the background but when he taps into them it can play havoc on his body.  The pills alleviate any side-effects from the powers.  So, failed hunger checks are the result of fall-out from his powers and the drugs cure that.  I made the drugs incredibly hard to come by and were dolled out by an organization that used them to control the character.

Obviously, your character works differently but my point is the feeding dependency should work more in that order than the other.  I think they work fine as an Iop that gives you Human form attached to a bunch of powers.  If you want them to have an addictive element where you start relying on them more often to get supernatural boosts, then I'd just make an aspect that the GM can compel.

[gonnamove]

So I've been working with the feedback, and I've made a few changes to the character. Regarding human form, I decided that it does affect his appearance, by at the lowest level making the whites of his eyes blood red, and at higher levels making his whole body flushed with red, and raising his body temp. When investigating, he normally would be wearing sunglasses to cover his eyes, so he may not always be able to use them discreetly.

Regarding Feeding Dependency, I realized it’s not the pills he would need to take to remove his stress, but detoxing procedures to lower the stress. So it'd technically be Feeding Dependency (Detox Pills), not Feeding Dependency (Magical Pills).

He also has a dealer for the drugs, and although not explicitly controlled by them, it could come into play later as a complication. The addictive part of it would probably be handled by compels, to keep him taking the pills even when he risks life to do so.

That being said, anybody have any more thoughts? If I should use limitation for some things, could someone help me write that out?

So here is how his sheet would go after the feedback:

Name: Adrian Sherlock Spencer
HC: (Former) Best P.I. in SLC
Trouble: Addicted to Dragon's Blood
Other: Nobody knows you when you're down and out, Just a man in a monster's world.

Skills: 5: Alertness
         4: Stealth, Contacts
         3: Athletics, Endurance,

Stunts: Inspector: Use Alertness for Examination Trapping of Investigation
                       Paranoid? Probably: +2 to alertness to avoid surprise.
Powers:

Item of Power: Dragon's Blood [-5]
These pills grant the user certain supernatural powers, at the expense of their health. Not actually blood from a dragon, but called that because of the effect it has on the whites of the eyes, and the fact that it raises the users body temperature to potentially dangerous levels.
What it is: A small bottle of pills. Easy to conceal [+1]
-Human Form[+1]: Causes his eyes to become bloodshot, and his skin flushed + elevated body temp.
-Overdose Risk (Feeding Dependency: Detoxification) [+1] effecting:
      -Inhuman Focus [-2]: Gives +1 to Dodge (Athletics), +1 to Attacks involving focus (aiming gun, fencing, throwing knives and the like.), and +1 to Passive Awareness (Alertness), and Examination (Investigation).
      -Supernatural Sense (Dark vision) [-1]: Can see in dimly lit places with no penalty.
      -Inhuman Recovery [-2]
      -Inhuman Toughness [-2]
                 The Catch (Limitation): No Total Recovery, No armor from Toughness [+2]
      -Feel No Pain [-3]

Total Refresh -7 [3 Fp]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, you guys have been super awesome!

[Sanctaphrax]

Looks fine to me.

The Supernatural Sense is kind of weak, though.

And you'll have to make sure that you and your group are on the same page regarding the way that Feeding Dependency works.

[gonnamove]

Looks fine to me.

The Supernatural Sense is kind of weak, though.

And you'll have to make sure that you and your group are on the same page regarding the way that Feeding Dependency works.

Yeah I'll probably work on that supernatural sense. I just didn't want him to look stupid walking around dark crime scenes with sunglasses on. I'll also make sure my GM is on the same page, which I'm sure he will be.

Thanks again for the help.

[narphoenix]

Yeah I'll probably work on that supernatural sense. I just didn't want him to look stupid walking around dark crime scenes with sunglasses on. I'll also make sure my GM is on the same page, which I'm sure he will be.

Thanks again for the help.

If you give him Cloak of Shadows, it lets him see in the dark *and* get a Stealth bonus for the same refresh.