Affliction (Status Effects in DFRPG)

[Stirge]

Hello! I was running into trouble creating some characters for the Worm campaign I've been running, mainly due to the lack of status afflictions in the Dresden Files RPG.  To fix this, I wanted to create a sister power to Incite Effect that focused more on getting specific advantages from invoking aspects.  While this can theoretically be done in the system already, I wanted a way to do it reliably and at Refresh cost that makes sense.  If this system works, I'm sure we can apply it to Spells eventually as well.

Affliction [-Varies]
Description: With your powers you can inflict a particular negative status effect on an opponent.  This may manifest in a variety of ways.
Skills Affected: Any.
Effects:
Affliction. Pick a type of effect and a skill that's related to that type of effect. You can use that skill to perform maneuvers related to that type of effect against anything you can touch.  As soon as you perform the maneuver, you may tag it immediately for an invoke that inflicts a specific status effect on the target (see below).  The target is afflicted by the status effect as long as the aspect remains.  If the target wants to remove the aspect, they must make a successful counter-maneuever against your initial maneuver roll (see pg. 207-208 of Your Story).   Unlike most maneuevers, you do not need to keep your attention on the afflicted target to maintain it.
(Rules Balance - Maybe there should be a cumulative bonus for people trying to overcome a maneuver, like +1 for each roll after the first?)
Inconvenience [-1]: At the cost of 1 Refresh you can inflict statuses that inconvenience your opponent.

Nausea: The target of this Affliction has to concentrate to do anything.  They cannot take supplemental or free actions.
Examples: Brain Freeze, Distraction, Headaches, Sickness.

Paralyze Limb: This power affects the opponent's anatomy.  The target of this Affliction takes a -2 penalty whenever they try to do anything with the targeted body part.  If the hands/arms are chosen, they receive a -2 penalty to Might/Weapons, if Legs are chosen they receive a -2 penalty to Athletics, if the head is chosen they receive -2 to Scholarship and Lore rolls, etc...
Examples: Brain Drain, Paralyze Limb.
Impair [-2]:  At the cost of 2 Refresh you can inflict statuses that impair your opponent.

Immobilization: Choose a set of limited set of actions that are blocked for your opponent.  They can't do your choice of Movement, Attacks, or Cast Spells/Use Abilities.  In essence this is a limited, persistent Block.
Examples: Power Sealed, Snare, Legs Frozen

Slow: Your opponents actions are slowed.  They receive a -2 to All Physical actions, their Alertness is considered 2 less (changing their intiative order).
Examples: Paralytic Poison, Time Distortion.

Sensory Loss: Your opponent loses a sense (Sight, Hearing, Smell/Taste, or Touch).  They cannot succeed Alertness checks with that sense and may have difficulties keeping track of others and their surroundings. (Needs more mechanical weight)
Examples: Blind, Deafen.
Debilitate [-3]: At the cost of 3 Refresh you can inflict statuses that debilitate your opponent.

Fear: The target must run away at the best of their ability, sprinting if possible.  After each move they may make a  counter-maneuever once an exchange (usually Discipline) as a free action to regain control of themselves.
Examples: Shock and Awe, Terrify

Stunned: The target cannot take actions until the aspect is removed. (Should they be allowed a supplemental move?)
Examples: Hypnosis Paralyzation, Trapped by a Barrier. (This defense vs. this power is usually tied to Discipline for mental effects or Endurance for physical ones)

Venomous: After this round, the target suffer damage every round with a number of shifts equal to the initial maneuver.
Examples: Poisoned, Set Afire
Safely Take Out [-4]: At the cost of 4 Refresh you can inflict statuses that take out your opponent at no risk to them.

Stasis: Your opponent is taken out but can’t be hurt or influenced in any way.   Those affected may make a counter-maneuever once an exchange (usually Discipline) as a free action to regain control of themselves.
Examples: Dimension Shift Away, Frozen in Time.

Shunt: Your opponent is teleported a long distance away (equal to a number zones up to 10 x your successful shifts).  Unlike other aspects, this one ends as soon as it is tagged.
Examples: Gust of Wind, Teleported Away
Dangerously Take Out [-6]: At the cost of 6 refresh you can take out an opponent in a way that makes them dangerous to other enemies.

Dominate: Your opponent must follow commands you make to the best of their ability.  You do not gain any special way of communicating with your target.  Those affected may make a counter-maneuever once an exchange (usually Discipline) as a free action to regain control of themselves.
Examples: Charmed, Possessed by a Spirit.

Petrify: Your opponent is unable to do anything, including perform a maneuver to free themselves (though others might be able to).  They may concede otherwise any action done against them while they are afflicted can take them out. (Serious balance issue)
Examples: Force Choke, Petrification, Stroke.
Upgrades: This ability has most of the upgrades that Incite Effect does (Potent gives an additional +2 bonus to performing the Maneuever, for instance).  There are also lots of potential Limitations. Affliction (Hyposis) might be Stun [-3] with a Limitation: This aspect ends if the target is attacked [+1/2 Refresh].

Comments/criticism/suggestions and any other help is welcome!

[Sanctaphrax]

Huh.

The basic idea (you can do a special maneuver where there's no tag but there is a special effect) is solid, but many of the example effects are too strong.

I mean...instant take-out effects? Probably not a good idea. At least not for that Refresh cost.

Especially since with the basic +2 bonus and the fact that you get to choose your skill you'll rarely fail to afflict someone. With Potent, it's basically a forgone conclusion.

Suppose I took Potent Domination At Range. That's 8 Refresh, affordable for a Submerged character. Now I can turn anyone I can see into my slave forever. And realistically they're not likely to resist, since I'm rolling from 9. 9!

If I were you I would remove the +2 bonus that everyone gets. Then I'd rewrite the list of possible effects. If you're going to include instant-win effects, they should be really really really expensive.

[Stirge]

Sanctaphrax - Thanks so much for taking the time to respond!  I took out the +2 bonus that Incite Effect/Emotion Touch normally granted.  You're right, choosing what skill attacks and defends is already a big advantage.  Potent can be taken for [-1] if they want the +2 bonus.

Instant take out effects - These probably aren't very PC-friendly but I know they exist in the Worm universe so I wanted to create a model for it.  That said, I actually think Potent Domination at Range for 8 Refresh (now at only +2 instead of +4) is actually fair.  You still have to see them coming, and you have little Refresh left for defensive abilities at the Submerged level.  I actually think the flexibility of Evocation/Thaumaturgy and either Refinement II or Sponsored Magic is worth more than a single, albeit powerful trick.

I also need to rewrite it a bit, but I wanted them to be able to make a counter-maneuever every round as a free action which should help (edited Dominate with that erratta).  If the character wants something more permanent, they probably need Enthrallment.

I still think Take Out effects need to exist, it's just a matter of pricing (I'm going to aim to balance them considering a Refresh of ~10-12, the game breaks down in many ways after that point anyways).  Any thoughts?

[Sanctaphrax]

Letting people roll to break free every round helps a lot. But that still makes the Power effectively permanent against the mentally weak. Which is a problem.

I think it might be a good idea to let people take Consequences to protect themselves against Afflictions. Instantly taking someone out is a lot fairer if they can use Consequences. Maybe let Toughness/Immunity provide some protection too.

Mind if I take a shot at re-writing the affliction list?

PS: I think the Venomous upgrade for Claws/Natural Weaponry could be covered by this. It's a pretty similar effect, after all.
PPS: Not needing to keep your attention on the target to keep the Aspect up is normal, I think.

[Stirge]

Permanent powers -> Well, I had this part italicized but perhaps this might be needed:

"(Rules Balance - Maybe there should be a cumulative bonus for people trying to overcome a maneuver, like +1 for each roll after the first failed check?)"

That sounds like the direction to go, but it needs better wording probably.

Consequences -> A house rule in my IRL game (a fairly common one I think?) is that you can take Consequences to boost a roll by that amount.  So a runner might sprain their ankle getting a +4 and Moderate consequence to get that extra speed or a fighter might break his arm putting extra force into an attack for a +6 bonus and Severe consequence.  Maybe something along those lines would work here, like forcefully hitting your head on the ground to shake off the compulsion.

Please take a shot at re-writing the affliction list!  I feel content with brainstorming ideas, but I haven't gotten enough grasp on the system to word them right or balance them properly yet.

Venomous -> The Venomous affliction is listed because that's what inspired it.  I wanted to separate it from Claws (it makes a lot of sense for pyrokinetics, especially).

Attention -> As written, most maneuvers reset to a +0 value when the victim of it is out of sight (check out pg. 206-207, its on one of those).  I was surprised, too. Lots of little rules in the game.

[Sanctaphrax]

Permanent powers -> Well, I had this part italicized but perhaps this might be needed:

"(Rules Balance - Maybe there should be a cumulative bonus for people trying to overcome a maneuver, like +1 for each roll after the first failed check?)"

That sounds like the direction to go, but it needs better wording probably.

By "overcome" do you mean "defend against" or "remove the aspect created by"?

If the latter, sounds good to me.

Consequences -> A house rule in my IRL game (a fairly common one I think?) is that you can take Consequences to boost a roll by that amount.  So a runner might sprain their ankle getting a +4 and Moderate consequence to get that extra speed or a fighter might break his arm putting extra force into an attack for a +6 bonus and Severe consequence.  Maybe something along those lines would work here, like forcefully hitting your head on the ground to shake off the compulsion.

Sounds good to me.

Venomous -> The Venomous affliction is listed because that's what inspired it.  I wanted to separate it from Claws (it makes a lot of sense for pyrokinetics, especially).

Oops, missed that. I must be blind.

Attention -> As written, most maneuvers reset to a +0 value when the victim of it is out of sight (check out pg. 206-207, its on one of those).  I was surprised, too. Lots of little rules in the game.

The Aspect is still there, though. It's just easier to remove.

(Then again, I don't think anyone actually uses that rule.)

Please take a shot at re-writing the affliction list!  I feel content with brainstorming ideas, but I haven't gotten enough grasp on the system to word them right or balance them properly yet.

Will do.

[Sanctaphrax]

It occurs to me that these effects could be positive as well as negative. Dunno whether you should be able to target yourself.

Also, some of these have non-standard durations.

Debating whether or not to specify which skills are used to inflict/defend/remove these Aspects.

So here goes...

1 Refresh effects have an effect that's roughly as strong as a normal Aspect tag, or noticeably stronger but also situational.

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Nausea: The target has to concentrate to do anything. For them, supplemental actions inflict a -3 penalty rather than the usual -1.
Examples: Brain Freeze, Distraction, Headaches, Sickness.
Duration: Normal.

Weaken: The target's strength is sapped. They suffer a -1 penalty to Might, and inflict 1 less stress with muscle-powered attacks. You may apply this effect multiple times to the same opponent, but one counter-maneuver suffices to remove all Aspects from this effect.
Examples: Weakened, Drained, Tired.
Duration: Normal.

Berserk: The target flips the hell out and attacks wildly. They get +1 to attack and inflict +1 stress, but get -1 to defend and can't run away or take non-aggressive actions.
Examples: Barbarian Rage, Blinding Hatred.
Duration: Normal.

Inspire: The target is filled with good feelings. They get +2 to defend against fear, despair, lust, and other negative emotions.
Examples: Emotionally Fortified, Inspired, Joyful.
Duration: Normal.

2 Refresh effects are noticeably stronger than a normal Aspect tag.

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Immobilization: The target is immobilized. Any attempt by the target to move faces a block with strength equal to the result of the maneuver roll.
Examples: Snared, Legs Frozen.
Duration: Normal

Peace: The target is made peaceful. Any attempt by the target to attack or otherwise act aggressive faces a block with strength equal to the result of the maneuver roll.
Examples: Filled With Compassion, Peace-Bound.
Duration: Normal

Anti-Magic: The target's powers are sealed. Any attempt by the target to cast a spell or otherwise use magic faces a block with strength equal to the result of the maneuver roll.
Examples: Power Sealed, Drained.
Duration: Normal

Paralyse Limb: Select the head, arms, or legs when you use this power. If you select the arms, the target suffers a -2 penalty to Might, Guns, Fists and Weapons. If you select the legs, they suffer a -2 penalty to Athletics and Stealth. If you select the head they suffer a -2 penalty to Scholarship, Alertness, Investigation, and Lore. These penalties don't affect attempts to remove the Aspect, and the GM can choose not to apply them if they feel they are inappropriate for a given roll.
Examples: Brain Drain, Paralysed Limb.
Duration: Normal

Shield: Invisible force protects the target. They get armour 2 against all physical attacks. If combined with other armour, this adds 1 to the other armour's rating instead.
Examples: Protected By God, Skin-Tight Force Field.
Duration: Normal

Shunt: The target is moved elsewhere. Elsewhere must be within 4 zones.
Examples: Wind-Carried, Teleported.
Duration: Instant

Venomous: As Venomous Natural Weaponry.

3 Refresh effects drastically increase or decrease a character's effectiveness.

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Blind: The target is blind. They suffer a -2 penalty to melee attacks, a -2 penalty to defence rolls, a -2 penalty to movement attempts, and a -4 penalty to ranged attacks. Area attacks are not penalized, though. They automatically fail sight-based Alertness rolls. Maneuver and block actions similar to the penalized actions may also be penalized, at the GM's discretion. Characters who have The Sight open or an appropriate Supernatural Sense are immune to this effect.
Examples: Blinded, Shrouded In Darkness.
Duration: Normal

Grow: The target grows. They get +3 to lift and break things, inflict 2 additional stress with their muscle-powered attacks, get +1 to attempts to cover ground with Athletics, and have 2 additional armour against physical attacks. However, they get -4 Stealth and physical attacks aimed at them get +1 to hit.
Examples: BIG, Enlarged.
Duration: Normal

Shrink: The target becomes tiny. Their physical attacks inflict 4 less stress and all physical attacks inflict 4 additional stress to them. Add 2 to their Stealth and to their Athletics defence rolls. All attacks from normal-sized foes count as ranged against them for the purpose of selecting defence skills, and they suffer a -2 penalty to sprint rolls.
Examples: Tiny, Shrunken.
Duration: Normal

Slow: The target's actions are slowed. They may only move 1 zone per round with a sprint roll, and may not take supplemental move actions. They take a -1 penalty to all physical actions, and always act last in an exchange. If they have Speed Powers, ignore all of these effects and remove the Speed Powers instead.
Examples: Paralytic Poison, Time Distortion.
Duration:Normal.

4 Refresh effects render their targets useless for as long as they last. Effects this powerful are rarely positive.

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Stasis: The target cannot act or be acted upon.
Examples: Dimension Shift Away, Frozen in Time.
Duration: The GM secretly rolls 4 fudge dice. If the result is -2 or lower, 1 exchange. If it's -1, or 0, 2 exchanges. If it's 1, 3 exchanges. If it's 2, 4 exchanges. If it's 3 or higher, until the end of the scene.

Stunned: The only actions the target can take are attempts to remove this effect.
Examples: Hypnotic Paralysis, Trapped by a Barrier.
Duration: Normal.

Shunt: The target is moved elsewhere. Elsewhere must be within 20 zones.
Examples: Gust of Wind, Teleported Away.
Duration: Instant

Fear: The only actions the target can take are attempts to remove this effect. Whenever they fail to remove this effect, they sprint away from you as fast as they can.
Examples: Shock and Awe, Terrify
Duration: Normal

6 Refresh effects render their target useless while providing some other benefit to their user for as long as they last.

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Dominate: The only actions the target can take are attempts to remove this effect. Whenever they fail to remove this effect, you can dictate an action for them to perform.
Examples: Charmed, Possessed by a Spirit.
Duration: Normal

Petrify: The only actions the target can take are attempts to remove this effect. Attempts to remove this effect suffer a -2 penalty and do not benefit from a cumulative +1 bonus for each repeated attempt.
Examples: Force Choke, Petrification, Stroke.
Duration: Permanent unless removed

10 Refresh effects win fights instantly, and often have other useful applications.

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Death: The target dies.
Examples: Dead
Duration: Instant

Transform: The target becomes something else. A frog, a mouse, a knife, Barack Obama...anything you want, as long it's not magical or technologically complex. This can reduce their physical abilities or render them unable to act, but cannot make them more capable. Their mind initially remains intact, but will gradually warp to fit their new body.
Examples: Transformed Into A Frog, Transformed Into A Mouse, Transformed Into A Knife, Transformed Into Barack Obama
Duration: Permanent

Supreme Shunt: You send the target somewhere else. The place you send them must be on the Earth and must contain air, but otherwise there are no limits to where you can send someone.
Examples: Teleported.
Duration: Instant

Not totally confident in these, but I think they're a respectable attempt.

Writing these, I think making people roll against the initial maneuver roll might be too harsh. If it happens to be really high, that could get unfair. Maybe make them roll against the skill instead?

[Stirge]

Great progress, wrapping positive effects in there is perfect!  Looks like Affliction needs a new name, suggestions?

I feel like you should be able to target yourself (you technically could with Incite Effect) and most characters who have these powers in fiction are able to do so.

I don't think specifying skills should happen unless its a suggestion - or, maybe its worth [-1] to change (like the Alternate Magic Paradigm upgrade).  As there's a billion ways to 'Immobilize' someone - whether it's poison (Gun [dart] vs. Endurance), a bola (Weapons [?] vs. Might), a martial arts technique (Fists vs. Athletics) or psychic powers (Discipline vs. Discipline).

I agree, the check (DC or dice check in D&D) should probably equal the user's skill and not roll.  I'm worried about making it too weak though - maybe there should be one upgrade for +2 DC and another for +4?  It's a tough balancing situatoin.

I think the power can be worded so that you don't have to have a duration tag underneath it for most of them.  It can simply be something like "Unless stated otherwise, the following powers have a duration of..."

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1 Refresh -> Weaken seems more complicated than it needs to be, but it's interesting which is a plus.  This reminds me that penalties caused by Affliction needs to not count when the target is trying to make a countermanuever.  Inspire seems too weak, maybe +1 to all rolls and bump it up a category?  If that's the case it might need a shorter duration.

2 Refresh -> I love your use of Blocks in this category.  We should note that unlike normal blocks, overcoming one made by Affliction doesn't cancel the effect, is just lets them act for that round.  I feel like it should take a minimum of 1 action to remove an affliction.

Shield -> Should this be a more permanent Block maneuever perhaps?  Again, we might want to limit this to the Rank of the skill. 
Shunt -> Should this need a note the area has to be safe?  I could see this being overpowered, esp. greater versions simply shunting the target up.
Venomous -> I think it should be restated, because they might choose to change some of the skills used.

3 Refresh -> I'm not sure I like Grow/Shrink. Mechanically they should line up with their corresponding powers.  I'd rather use a homebrewed type of Grant Powers to achieve those effets.

Slow -> Instead of heavily punishing Speedy characters, I think their Speed should be downgraded 1 level (Mythic becomes Supernatural, etc..)

4 Refresh -> I don't think Stasis' duration should be so random.  Clockblocker's version is, but I see that as a Limitation his power has.  I love your wording of Stun/Fear.  I'm not sure if they're worth 4 Refresh at Touch ability (Is it as strong as Channeling + Ritual, Evocation + Refinement, Supernatural Stat, etc...?)

6 Refresh/10 Refresh - Love these.  I'm actually going to use 'Transformed into a Knife' on one of my NPC's :-)

Great work Sanct.  Gonna mull on this some more for sure.  I think 1-2 more revisions and it will be easily usable by others.

EDIT - Other Effects that might be statted:
Clone! (-8/10 Refresh? xD).  Confusion/Madness (act, but randomly?), Memory Loss (this is a tough one), buff powers (also difficult, probably needs a powers overwrite to do it.  I feel like there could be a 'Refinment' ability that works on almost any power).  Backlash (attacks affect themselves). Cursed (stray effects/missed attacks redirected to them)

Characters this helps us stat: Clockblocker (Stasis), Grayboy (Transform more than Stasis. The mind warping part even fits), Taylor (she probably has Variable/Modular abilities, and can easily do Area effects of Nausea or single target Immobilization), an Adepts (Area Stun - Hypnosis), Valefor (maybe...), Bonesaw's darts, Myrrdin, some power-negating trumps (Maybe an Aura upgrade to help with folks like Hatchetface?) and a bunch others

[Sanctaphrax]

Great progress, wrapping positive effects in there is perfect!  Looks like Affliction needs a new name, suggestions?

Nope. Names aren't my thing.

I don't think specifying skills should happen unless its a suggestion - or, maybe its worth [-1] to change (like the Alternate Magic Paradigm upgrade).  As there's a billion ways to 'Immobilize' someone - whether it's poison (Gun [dart] vs. Endurance), a bola (Weapons [?] vs. Might), a martial arts technique (Fists vs. Athletics) or psychic powers (Discipline vs. Discipline).

Yeah, but I don't want to randomly screw people for not having the right skills. As-is, a character with solid Athletics, Endurance, and Discipline can be fairly confident in their durability. I'd like to preserve that.

Weaken seems more complicated than it needs to be, but it's interesting which is a plus.

The stackability might not be strictly necessary.

Inspire seems too weak, maybe +1 to all rolls and bump it up a category?  If that's the case it might need a shorter duration.

+1 to all rolls is a recipe for trouble. My idea for Inspire is that it was a narrow Aspect you could tag endlessly. Maybe the bonus could be set aside for a reroll?

I love your use of Blocks in this category.  We should note that unlike normal blocks, overcoming one made by Affliction doesn't cancel the effect, is just lets them act for that round.  I feel like it should take a minimum of 1 action to remove an affliction.

Well, it's mostly just spellcasting blocks that disappear like that.

Shield -> Should this be a more permanent Block maneuever perhaps?  Again, we might want to limit this to the Rank of the skill.

That could work too.

Shunt -> Should this need a note the area has to be safe?  I could see this being overpowered, esp. greater versions simply shunting the target up.

I didn't think of that.

Maybe just say that the movement must be horizontal? Moving someone into traffic or whatever seems fair enough to me.

Venomous -> I think it should be restated, because they might choose to change some of the skills used.

Sure, in the last draft.

3 Refresh -> I'm not sure I like Grow/Shrink. Mechanically they should line up with their corresponding powers.  I'd rather use a homebrewed type of Grant Powers to achieve those effets.[/quote]

That could work too.

Slow -> Instead of heavily punishing Speedy characters, I think their Speed should be downgraded 1 level (Mythic becomes Supernatural, etc..)

I considered that, but it seemed too easy for Speedy types. Slow's normal effects are pretty brutal, I wanted them to be brutal for people with Mythic Speed too.

I don't think Stasis' duration should be so random.  Clockblocker's version is, but I see that as a Limitation his power has.

I wanted it to be impossible to remove the Aspect with counter-maneuvers. Needed something to balance that out.

I love your wording of Stun/Fear.  I'm not sure if they're worth 4 Refresh at Touch ability (Is it as strong as Channeling + Ritual, Evocation + Refinement, Supernatural Stat, etc...?)

Thanks. And I think they're probably worth the full 4 Refresh. Hold Person is a pretty powerful spell, or so I hear.

[Stirge]

Names - Aid/Affliction, Blessing/Bane, Bestow, Gift, Curse. Hrmm...

Skill Screwing -> Alright.  Let's give Defensive options for whoever purchases the power but limit them to Athletics (or Fists, if vs. a touch attack) / Endurance / Discipline?  Offensive stats seem much more secondary to me, people are going to game those anyways.  We can have a [-1] upgrade where another stat could be used with 'GM Approval' with specific powers.  Like giving someone a riddle they must solve before they can take any actions (Scholarship)?  Whatever the skill chosen is, it has to be thematically appropriate.

Weaken - I think it's fun enough to be fine.  It's a good model for similar powers.

Inspire - Not sure where to go here.  But all positive things should probably last a number of exchanges = to the ability they're tied to (since that ability probably won't be needed at all otherwise).  +1 to all rolls might be okay if it only lasts 3-5 rounds.  Maybe specify, "When Inspiring a target, choose Offensive, Defensive, or Non-Combat rolls. The target gets a +1 bonus to them for the duration."

Blocks - Wow, I've been playing that one wrong.  I had looked at spellcasting blocks and Grapples and thought that was true for all Blocks.

Shunt - Horizontal, currently unoccupied space sounds good to me.  If the user can't see the area (higher levels of Shunt) - the power automatically shifts them to the nearest unoccpied point that's within range.

Slow - I think a compromise will work the most appropriate.  Targets with Inhuman speed and below are affected as usual, those with Supernatural Speed act as though they don't have it and characters with Mythic Speed are downgraded to Inhuman Speed.  (Basically, Slow moves them down 2 shifts of Speed).

Stasis Duration - Let's make it the same as positive effects. Duration = # of rounds of the defining ability.  And we should move it up to 6 since it can be a great benefit as well as an offensive maneuver.  The Limitation you listed would be a good [+1/3 Refresh] limit.

Stun/Fear - Hold Person is a powerful spell, but it's not that devestating at touch range.  I still think these are -3 given that [-4 at Range] that said, I won't argue too much if that doesn't convince ya.  That said, maybe 'Touch' range in the DFRPG isn't as annoying a factor as it is in D&D (I have way more experience with the latter than the former).  It seems to be a huge limitation to me. Edit- Upon further reflection, I just realized how severe the strength of these powers can be.  You're probably right to peg it at [-4] - the victim of it can't do anything but stop and try and take it off.

[Sanctaphrax]

Skill Screwing -> Alright.  Let's give Defensive options for whoever purchases the power but limit them to Athletics (or Fists, if vs. a touch attack) / Endurance / Discipline?  Offensive stats seem much more secondary to me, people are going to game those anyways.  We can have a [-1] upgrade where another stat could be used with 'GM Approval' with specific powers.  Like giving someone a riddle they must solve before they can take any actions (Scholarship)?  Whatever the skill chosen is, it has to be thematically appropriate.

I dunno, maybe.

But all positive things should probably last a number of exchanges = to the ability they're tied to (since that ability probably won't be needed at all otherwise).

Why?

+1 to all rolls might be okay if it only lasts 3-5 rounds.

No. That gives everyone +1 to all non-time-sensitive rolls. Not okay.

Slow - I think a compromise will work the most appropriate.  Targets with Inhuman speed and below are affected as usual, those with Supernatural Speed act as though they don't have it and characters with Mythic Speed are downgraded to Inhuman Speed.  (Basically, Slow moves them down 2 shifts of Speed).

I think it would be more appropriate for people with Inhuman Speed to lose it and suffer a lesser effect, but otherwise sure.

Stasis Duration - Let's make it the same as positive effects. Duration = # of rounds of the defining ability.  And we should move it up to 6 since it can be a great benefit as well as an offensive maneuver.  The Limitation you listed would be a good [+1/3 Refresh] limit.

That's not a Limitation, though. It's sometimes very beneficial.

And honestly, I don't think the defensive uses are all that great. It's rare for someone to be so vulnerable that their side would be better off if they weren't involved in the fight.

[Stirge]

New thoughts on Affliction.  I'm mostly happy with the effects and costing of the actual Afflictions themselves but part of my goal is not just making it for superheroes but also allowing crazy Wuxia swordsmen and terrifying spellcasters.  Balance-wise I haven't thought these through much but I wanted to get your initial opinion on it, Sanctaphrax.
Affliction

An Affliction is a kind of aspect you can tag for a special Invoke for Effect.  As long as the aspect remains on the target (until the duration is completed or the target uses a maneuver to remove the aspect), they suffer from a debilitating status effect.

Characters can perform Afflictions through one of three ways - they can use it directly with a touch using Incite Effect (and can upgrade it normally), they can inflict it as part of a Technique with their weapons, or they can cast them as spells with Learned Spell.

Incite Effect (Power) [-X] - Choosing to Incite Effect with an Affliction removes the +2 bonus to maneuvers that would normally be gained.  A character can pair up a single Incite Effect: Damage and Affliction together into one attack by taking the Side-Effect [-1] upgrade.  All upgrades to one regarding range, area, and persistence apply to to the other.

Technique (Stunt) [-1] - A character can afflict a target with a status effect as part of their attack.  Choose a single Affliction to add to your techniques, you may add a technique as part of an attack roll by subtracting a number of shifts on the roll to hit equal to the Affliction’s Refresh cost.  This may be combined with any other offensive options the character has, such as the Wall of Death stunt.  This ability can be taken multiple times, each time the character can choose an additional technique to learn.

(Optional Rule - Perhaps for two Techniques learned, the character gets a +1 to attack rolls when adding a technique to their attack?  This would potentially allow high refresh weapons experts to compete better with spellcasters).

Learned Spell (Stunt) [-1] - A spellcaster can add an Affliction to their spell by adding a number Shifts of Power equal to the Affliction’s Refresh cost.  This may be combined with other spell parameters, such as making it an area spell at the cost of 2 Power and similar. This ability can be taken multiple times, each time the character can choose an additional Affliction to learn.

A spellcaster without this feat can add an Affliction to their spell, albeit at the cost of 2 points of Power per Affliction Refresh cost.  Adding an Affliction to an item costs 1 Crafting Power per Refresh if the character has the appropriate Learned Spell, or 2 Crafting Power per Refresh otherwise.
With this system, I could see a Wind Swordsman with the Shunt Technique take on two bad guys.  He jumps in the middle of them, uses Wall of Death to split up his attack as well as Shunt to move each of them 4 zones away from him - in opposite directions.  I could see Cassius or another snake-themed sorcerer lacing all their Evocations with Poisonous aspects.  This is better suited for a mid to high refresh game, but would create interesting options for epic warriors who normally don't have much to do but move and swing.

[Sanctaphrax]

Technique (Stunt) [-1] - A character can afflict a target with a status effect as part of their attack.  Choose a single Affliction to add to your techniques, you may add a technique as part of an attack roll by subtracting a number of shifts on the roll to hit equal to the Affliction’s Refresh cost.  This may be combined with any other offensive options the character has, such as the Wall of Death stunt.  This ability can be taken multiple times, each time the character can choose an additional technique to learn.

(Optional Rule - Perhaps for two Techniques learned, the character gets a +1 to attack rolls when adding a technique to their attack?  This would potentially allow high refresh weapons experts to compete better with spellcasters).

I think this is probably overpowered. Getting high-powered Afflictions for 1 Refresh is pretty crazy, and being able to do stress while you're at it is icing on the cake.

The attack roll penalty helps, but...it looks like you can inflict the penalty after rolling. Which isn't good.

Honestly, I'm not sure what the point of this is. The Incite Effect-based build seems to cover this concept better.

Learned Spell (Stunt) [-1] - A spellcaster can add an Affliction to their spell by adding a number Shifts of Power equal to the Affliction’s Refresh cost.  This may be combined with other spell parameters, such as making it an area spell at the cost of 2 Power and similar. This ability can be taken multiple times, each time the character can choose an additional Affliction to learn.

Definitely overpowered.

Like, ridiculously so.

Your average Submerged fight-wizard tosses around 7 shifts easily. With this, they can turn to stone anyone they can hit for only 1 Refresh!

And evokers don't miss much.

Scale it up a bit and things get even sillier. 10-shift evocations tossing around death or permanent transformation effects are quite possible. Spending 1 Refresh to swap weapon rating 10 for weapon rating infinity is just nuts.

Plus there's thaumaturgy, which normally charges way more for such effects.

A spellcaster without this feat can add an Affliction to their spell, albeit at the cost of 2 points of Power per Affliction Refresh cost.  Adding an Affliction to an item costs 1 Crafting Power per Refresh if the character has the appropriate Learned Spell, or 2 Crafting Power per Refresh otherwise.

No. Don't.

Just don't.

Don't give a massive stack of free powers to every spellcaster in the game. And absolutely don't let that stack be of theoretically unlimited length.

Really, spellcasting is not underpowered in this game. It absolutely does not need this boost.

[Stirge]

Ha, thanks Sanctaphrax.  You're a good rules-conscience.  I'm gonna work on it.  I don't care about making spellcasters more powerful, but I would like to give higher refresh fighters more interesting moves without them having to tap into spellcasting or similar.  Back to the drawing board! :-).

I'm making some good use of your version of the power with some NPC's I'm making for our Worm game, really excited to see how they'll turn out.

[Blk4ce]

A few thoughts of my own. Firstly, you have created the perfect example of Entropy spellcaster (you can even call it that way). Could be a whole evocation element dealing exclusively with curses.
-The shunt should differenciate whether the target is willing or not (and optionally organic/inorganic) not only the destination. And if the target is moving relatively to the caster.
-I don't understand the necessity of secrecy at stasis
-The transform could also have an RP mechanic to dispel i. e. kissed by a princess, bathing in cosecrated water at full moon.
-Spellcasters for ranged attacks, fighters for touch. Have you thought whether line of sight is a requirement?
-Put two proposing defensive skills as options for each. Alternatives are always better. Also, may I suggest Presence for mind-altering spells such as fear, apart from discipline?
-Use the power Incite (Name Placeholder) for casters and Technique for fighters (how about calling it calamity?). Since techniques come from mundane background they must have inaccessible afflictions (unless they can be explained) like transform, dominate.
-Lastly, for casters, have you considered grouping them? A character with the power Entropy (Least) (-1) can cast the afflictions of 1 refresh as manuever evocations. Same for
Entropy (Lesser) (-2)
Entropy (Minor) (-3)
Entropy (Moderate) (-4)
Entropy (Major) (-6)
Entropy (Severe) (-10)

EDIT: May I also suggest mental afflictions like Psychosis, Delusions, Dementia?