Request A Character

[Sanctaphrax]

You don't have to give everyone Haki. You need to purchase a stunt to add a new trapping to a skill, so that's what would have to happen for a character to get Haki.

Then it's not a Presence trapping. It's a trapping for whichever skill you buy the Stunt for.

In the sense that their attack still went through their incorporeal form? Or that they missed?

Went through, I think. Wouldn't swear to it though.

Game-wise it's the same either way.

That's the one I was looking at, actually. With costly, I meant in terms of stress. Yes, consequences are a thing, but still. As written, the power doesn't even allow mental/physical Toughness powers to help, and with how much Haki is throw around by New World users, I don't think you can justify it.

If you want using Haki to have a cost, you can't really go lower than this. And I think four shots per fight is usually enough, though some characters might demand Powers that give extra stress boxes. I'm not sure why you think it bypasses Mental Toughness; far as I can tell it just ignores armour and extra physical stress boxes. Which is necessary balance-wise, because of the whole 1-Refresh Mythic Toughness thing. But Paranet Papers Mental Toughness should work fine with SMA.

Of course, it's also possible to narrate an attack as using Haki even if you're not spending stress on it.

[Saracen]

Then it's not a Presence trapping. It's a trapping for whichever skill you buy the Stunt for.

Sure, but you need justification for such things, don't you? You shouldn't just put it under Contacts because that's your character's best skill. It needs to make sense. Thematically, Presence makes the most sense, then Conviction. Maybe Discipline, but that's stretching it for me.

If you want using Haki to have a cost, you can't really go lower than this. And I think four shots per fight is usually enough, though some characters might demand Powers that give extra stress boxes. I'm not sure why you think it bypasses Mental Toughness; far as I can tell it just ignores armour and extra physical stress boxes. Which is necessary balance-wise, because of the whole 1-Refresh Mythic Toughness thing. But Paranet Papers Mental Toughness should work fine with SMA.

I assumed additional mental stress boxes were not mentioned because the custom power preceeded Mental Toughness from the Paranet Papers. Whoever created it probably only specified the additional physical boxes because only those existed at the time. Anyway, it can work and I'm warming up to the idea, although I still find it more "canon" to have Haki linked to Presence. With SMA, though, it's sort-of linked to Conviction (indirectly) which is the next best thing, in my mind. Any fight against a Logia user is going to leave you in terrible shape, but I guess that's staying true to the manga. How would you handle this?

Spectral Strike (2 stress): The enhanced attack interacts with spirits and other immaterial things as though they were solid.

Does this completely nullify the Physical Immunity of Logia Fruits?

[Sanctaphrax]

Sure, but you need justification for such things, don't you? You shouldn't just put it under Contacts because that's your character's best skill. It needs to make sense. Thematically, Presence makes the most sense, then Conviction. Maybe Discipline, but that's stretching it for me.

Arms haki could be Fists, Guns, Weapons, or Might. Observation haki could be Alertness or Investigation. Supreme king haki could be Intimidation.

So there's a fair bit of wiggle room. At least if you're not using multiple types of haki.

I assumed additional mental stress boxes were not mentioned because the custom power preceeded Mental Toughness from the Paranet Papers. Whoever created it probably only specified the additional physical boxes because only those existed at the time.

I'm pretty sure it was intended to work with Resilience, but not with Stoicism. Since PP Mental Toughness is designed for spellcasting, it ought to be allowed with Supernatural Martial Arts too.

We might be able to ask the original author, but I don't remember who it was. Might even have been me. It was years ago.

Anyway, it can work and I'm warming up to the idea, although I still find it more "canon" to have Haki linked to Presence. With SMA, though, it's sort-of linked to Conviction (indirectly) which is the next best thing, in my mind. Any fight against a Logia user is going to leave you in terrible shape, but I guess that's staying true to the manga.

I'm thinking that the hit-Logias part could be free, along with the tanking-attacks part. Haki could be four Powers: a new one for basic arms haki, Supernatural Sense for basic observation haki, Supernatural Martial Arts to expand both, and a new one for the haki of the supreme king.

Speaking of supreme king haki, it's probably just a weak mental attack with an infinite number of targets. Maybe without rolling, since it seems very binary: it works or it doesn't.

Spitballing here:

HAKI OF THE SUPREME KING [-2]
Description: Whatever
Skills Affected: Presence, Conviction, Intimidation
Effects:
Something. As an action, you can make a mental attack against any number of targets within your line of sight. Use your skill - 3, they defend with their Conviction, Presence, or Discipline. Everyone rolls 0 automatically. Weapon rating is your skill. You can only target people once per scene.
Something else. You can maybe defend people from this Power somehow, since the Marineford battle didn't have all the mooks falling unconscious as I remember it.

How would you handle this?

Spectral Strike (2 stress): The enhanced attack interacts with spirits and other immaterial things as though they were solid.

Does this completely nullify the Physical Immunity of Logia Fruits?

I'd say no. It obviously wasn't written with One Piece in mind, and I don't think it should be that easy to beat down Logia users.

That's just me, though.

[Saracen]

Arms haki could be Fists, Guns, Weapons, or Might. Observation haki could be Alertness or Investigation. Supreme king haki could be Intimidation.

I disagree. I see this from a pretty different perspective. If you want Haki, it needs to be based on Presence/Conviction. If you want the effects Haki gives you but under another skill, make a custom power with a different name and theme. Mechanically, they could be (virtually) the same, narratively they will differ.

I'm thinking that the hit-Logias part could be free, along with the tanking-attacks part.

So it downgrades Physical Immunity? Every Toughness Power of Devil Fruit users? And with "the tanking-attacks part", do you mean just having the option to roll Endurance, or would you make also applying armor free? 

HAKI OF THE SUPREME KING [-2]
Description: Whatever
Skills Affected: Presence, Conviction, Intimidation
Effects:
Something. As an action, you can make a mental attack against any number of targets within your line of sight. Use your skill - 3, they defend with their Conviction, Presence, or Discipline. Everyone rolls 0 automatically. Weapon rating is your skill. You can only target people once per scene.
Something else. You can maybe defend people from this Power somehow, since the Marineford battle didn't have all the mooks falling unconscious as I remember it.

I'm not sure I get it:

Luffy (or whoever) uses his Presence (or whatever) minus 3 without rolling it, that's the attack against the Presence (or whatever) skill value of the targets. Luffy's whole Presence (or whatever) is then applied as Weapon rating against whoever is hit.

Did I get it right?

I'm not sure about Something Else. I think it's reasonable that some mooks at Marineford would resist it on their own.

I'd say no. It obviously wasn't written with One Piece in mind, and I don't think it should be that easy to beat down Logia users.

That's just me, though.

No, no. I agree.

Anyway, it would be awesome to play a game set in the One Piece world. I think the DFRPG rules would fit it pretty well. Someone should set it up!

[Sanctaphrax]

I disagree. I see this from a pretty different perspective. If you want Haki, it needs to be based on Presence/Conviction. If you want the effects Haki gives you but under another skill, make a custom power with a different name and theme. Mechanically, they could be (virtually) the same, narratively they will differ.

If you look at how Zoro uses Haki, though, it's all about his superlative sword mastery. Force of personality and will don't seem to enter into it. Same goes for Mihawk.

And in the Skypeia arc, Mantra seemed like an extra sense. Probably Alertness based.

So it downgrades Physical Immunity? Every Toughness Power of Devil Fruit users? And with "the tanking-attacks part", do you mean just having the option to roll Endurance, or would you make also applying armor free?

Yes.

And I'm thinking you could roll Endurance and use the result as armour.

Luffy (or whoever) uses his Presence (or whatever) minus 3 without rolling it, that's the attack against the Presence (or whatever) skill value of the targets. Luffy's whole Presence (or whatever) is then applied as Weapon rating against whoever is hit.

Did I get it right?

Yes. So if Luffy has Superb Presence, you need a skill of at least 3 to avoid taking a weapon 5 hit. Everyone tough in One Piece ought to have that, but mooks don't. So they collapse by the thousands.

I'm not sure about Something Else. I think it's reasonable that some mooks at Marineford would resist it on their own.

Some, sure. But I got the impression that since they had their own monstrous Haki on their side, being Haki-blasted wasn't really a concern for them.

[Saracen]

If you look at how Zoro uses Haki, though, it's all about his superlative sword mastery. Force of personality and will don't seem to enter into it. Same goes for Mihawk.

I think it's made pretty clear that Haki is based on force of personality/will. Sure, it gives a boost to Weapons/Fists etc., but it's born from Presence/Conviction. Do you think Luffy wouldn't be able to coat swords with his Haki if he wanted? Would he have to use Weapons to do it?

And in the Skypeia arc, Mantra seemed like an extra sense. Probably Alertness based.

Same here. It gives a bonus to Alertness/Investigation (also Athletics, with its premonition thing, and Emphaty with its... empathy thing), but it's personality based. To me, it's to be put under Presence.

And I'm thinking you could roll Endurance and use the result as armour.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Some, sure. But I got the impression that since they had their own monstrous Haki on their side, being Haki-blasted wasn't really a concern for them.

I'm not convinced but I'm sure we will know more in the future.

[Powderdry]

If you're still doing this, I'd love a Booker DeWitt from Bioshock Infinite, or Joshua Graham from Fallout New Vegas.

[Sanctaphrax]

I think it's made pretty clear that Haki is based on force of personality/will. Sure, it gives a boost to Weapons/Fists etc., but it's born from Presence/Conviction. Do you think Luffy wouldn't be able to coat swords with his Haki if he wanted? Would he have to use Weapons to do it?

Even in real life, all abilities are born from will. And that's doubly true in One Piece, where you can stay pregnant for almost two years through sheer determination. But that doesn't mean you use Conviction for everything.

If you look at how Zoro acquires and improves his Haki, he does it all through swordsmanship. He became vastly better at Haki not by honing his will or his charisma or anything like that, but by training under the world's greatest swordsman.

I'm actually not sure whether Luffy can use haki through items. From a game rules perspective, though, I see no reason to prevent him from doing so.

If you're still doing this, I'd love a Booker DeWitt from Bioshock Infinite, or Joshua Graham from Fallout New Vegas.

I know almost nothing about those people. If you post descriptions, though, I'll get to them if and when I revive this thread.

[Saracen]

Even in real life, all abilities are born from will. And that's doubly true in One Piece, where you can stay pregnant for almost two years through sheer determination. But that doesn't mean you use Conviction for everything.

No one in the manga ever says that Zoro uses his swords so well thanks to his will, or that Nami drives an incredibly hard bargain thanks to her will, or that Sanji cooks a mean stew thanks to his will.

But it is said, explicitly, that Haki is the force of personality/will.

By the way, I would imagine that, if ever there was a roll for the two-years-pregnant thing ( ), Conviction definitely modified Endurance, there.

If you look at how Zoro acquires and improves his Haki, he does it all through swordsmanship. He became vastly better at Haki not by honing his will or his charisma or anything like that, but by training under the world's greatest swordsman.

That's an assumption. We don't know what Mihawk taught him and how.

I'm actually not sure whether Luffy can use haki through items. From a game rules perspective, though, I see no reason to prevent him from doing so.

And roll Weapons to do it?

Anyway, it just sounds wrong to me. It would be like saying that any wizard using a staff, rod, wand or any such foci to cast spells, would have to roll Weapons to do it. The magic comes from their Conviction, not from their stick or their ability to wield it. Or take an enchanted item, for example. You might wield your Force Stick with the Weapons skill, but the strength of its effect comes from Lore. (By the way, could I have just stumbled upon a good way to handle Haki? Through enchanted item slots?)

[Sanctaphrax]

I had a reply plotted out in my head, but then I realized that we've been trending towards a non-skill-based arms Haki implementation anyway. So it's all a bit pointless to argue.

I really dislike the concept of agreeing to disagree, so I won't ask you to do that. But I'm abandoning the field here, so to speak.

(By the way, could I have just stumbled upon a good way to handle Haki? Through enchanted item slots?)

I don't think so. Enchanted items are very versatile, Haki seems pretty narrow. I guess it's a decent way to handle the cost of Haki, though.

[Saracen]

I had a reply plotted out in my head, but then I realized that we've been trending towards a non-skill-based arms Haki implementation anyway. So it's all a bit pointless to argue.

I really dislike the concept of agreeing to disagree, so I won't ask you to do that. But I'm abandoning the field here, so to speak.

Actually I was just about ready to post the infamous "let's agree to disagree", but then I thought about enchanted items and went "one more try!".

I don't think so. Enchanted items are very versatile, Haki seems pretty narrow. I guess it's a decent way to handle the cost of Haki, though.

Not only the cost (I'm assuming you meant the refresh?), imo, also the way you can run out of uses, the way you can go beyond them but you have to take stress for it, and the way the effect strength is based on a skill (which is what I would prefer, obviously). Haki is certainly more limited, but, unlike items, it's also something you can't take away from the user, which I believe balances it somewhat. Basically something like this custom power:

(click to show/hide)

[-3] Spell-like Abilities
You have 2 spell-like abilities you can use twice per day each – or you may use one by taking a 1-point mental stress hit. You aim SLAs with Discipline or an other thematically appropriate skill. Their power is equal to your Conviction or your Lore, whichever is higher, and you can have any Evocation or Thaumaturgy effect as an SLA. However, once chosen those abilities are fixed and cannot be changed. You may lower the Power of an ability when initially chosen by a number to increase its number of uses by the same number – though it still costs 1 point of mental stress to use.
[-1] Improved Innate Magic
You have more varied spell-like abilities available than normal. Each time you take this ability, you get four new SLAs, each one following the same rules as your original SLAs. Instead of new SLAs, you may take an existing SLA more than once, adding up the total number of uses.
[-1] Potent Innate Magic
Your innate magic is stronger than normal. Each time you take this ability add 1 to the Power and number of uses of each SLA you have. You may take this ability a number of times equal to your Lore or Conviction.

[Sanctaphrax]

By cost, I meant the cost to use it. Stress, slots, whatever.

Anyway, I'm not very keen on the enchanted item approach. I don't like its incompatibility with other abilities, I don't like how much versatility you have to cut out to make it work, and I don't like the build incentives it creates. Items are generally at their best when you focus on them primarily, but haki is generally used alongside a well-developed set of other abilities.

[Saracen]

Let's agree to disagree.

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[jberger990]

An artificial angel. One of ten created angels created by increasing the amount of one of the 10 Sephirot in the souls of infant children. This particular one has an abundance of Keter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life_(Kabbalah)

[Herlaking]

If people are still doing requests than I would like to see the mythological version of Cu Chulainn, and more specifically I want to see how the Warp Spasm would impact the character. Use whatever Refresh level you think is necessary.