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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: narphoenix on April 17, 2013, 02:56:52 PM
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Does anyone have any ideas for Stoicism (Mental Toughness) Catches (in general)?
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An easy one would be 'Mundane Trauma' - The individual is protected from supernatural forms of mental assault, but conventional means of torture and trauma are no less effective than they ould be against a comparable Pure Mortal.
Then, there's the situational Catches, such as 'while Church bells ring' (one of my favourites) - while the character can hear church bells ringing, their protection is compromised - or 'on the full moon', etc.
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Two ways to go about this: adapt regular catches (While in the presence of silver perhaps?) or go with a sort of "I know your weakness" model, where the user has a phobia, and knowing what that phobia is (like say, heights") allows you to adapt your attack to that weakness.
Phobia's actually lend themselves nicely to catches - there are common ones and rare ones, easier to figure out and harder to figure out, etc.
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Ok, so the character I'm writing this up for is a Muslim holy man who basically finds it fun to wander the world and save people. Do you think that "harm to innocents" could work? Like, if you flay him, he'll just laugh, but do the same to a child, and he'll sweat. If it works, how much of a rebate is it? I was thinking about +3 or +4 (anyone can take advantage of it, and it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to think it wouldn't be too hard to figure out his weak point).
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What about something that is generally taboo to the Muslim Faith as a catch?
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Islam isn't particularly about symbols, so I can't think of anything that particularly acts that way, at least not one that would really be Catchable. That's why I was thinking about the innocents thing.
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I don't know much about Islam, but what about days of rest, or food that is considered unclean.
Edit: just a quick google search so I'm not sure of the accuracy of the following quote:
"They are not allowed to eat pork, which is considered the most unclean of all meats. Dogs are also considered unclean. They cannot be eaten and can be kept only for the purpose of guarding herds and other property. Eating birds and beast of prey, donkeys, and mules is also prohibited. They are also forbidden to drink alcohol in any form or to gamble."
But you get the idea. Say the power doesn't work while drunk or in the presence of alcohol or while in a gambling den or....etc...
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I don't know much about Islam, but what about days of rest, or food that is considered unclean.
Edit: just a quick google search so I'm not sure of the accuracy of the following quote:
"They are not allowed to eat pork, which is considered the most unclean of all meats. Dogs are also considered unclean. They cannot be eaten and can be kept only for the purpose of guarding herds and other property. Eating birds and beast of prey, donkeys, and mules is also prohibited. They are also forbidden to drink alcohol in any form or to gamble."
But you get the idea. Say the power doesn't work while drunk or in the presence of alcohol or while in a gambling den or....etc...
I know that, and if he were to take a physical toughness power, I would have made the Catch Ethyl Alcohol in a heartbeat. But this is a mental toughness power. The only way I'd do it is if he were drunk. And the religion makes it quite clear, directly and indirectly, that alcohol is prohibited. Him drinking would be like Michael blaspheming. Hence, the innocents thing.
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Yeah...my take on catches is a bit more liberal than most peoples. Maybe the mere presence of the object of his catch is enough to shake his concentration thus allowing mental attacks to pass unhindered.
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I figured. But I'm feeling very clever for the innocents Catch, and I can't find much wrong with it.
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I think it's a good way to do it. Heroes in almost any media or Genre will have a casual disregard for their own well being but break instantly for loved ones or random innocents.
My only concern would be that the idea of a child being tortured could make others at the table uncomfortable. I'd make damn sure beforehand that you get everyone's ok.
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My only concern would be that the idea of a child being tortured could make others at the table uncomfortable. I'd make damn sure beforehand that you get everyone's ok.
One, it doesn't necessarily have to be a child. It just has to be an innocent (as far as he knows) person.
Two, I like to play the horrors of the Dresdenverse a lot. And everyone who knows me knows this.
Three, the guy is a holy man who can use Soulfire (and I know magic is unaffected by Stoicism), though not full magic (it's a really high powered game he'd be in: base 27 refresh). The Denarians are basically required foes. And they have a track record.
Four, how much would you put the Catch at?
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My question is how would you make apply to him differently than every other character? Most characters could be affected in some way?
It's a good concept for sure. I'm just curious as to how you would utilize it to warrant such a huge rebate. I can see it coming up often if you like making "Joker" style villains. The kind that rarely fight, but their schemes would kill hundreds (or thousands) of innocent people.
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Malvora whispering fear of an innocent being hurt.
Skavis implanting thoughts that an innocent will be hurt, and that there is nothing he can do about it.
Warlocks attacking with visions of innocents being hurt.
A guy putting a knife to an innocent's neck and saying "tell me what you know."
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My concern would be that 'innocents' would almost be a social catch, rather than a mental one. But it could work.
My other concern would be, as a GM, remembering who knows what. Your bad guys wouldn't necessarily know the catch, and you're doing the player a disservice if you don't play to that fact.
A suggestion: rather than 'innocents' - go with a vice or negative emotion. For instance: the catch is rage: get him angry and his mental fortitude is shot. Or lust, or envy, or greed. Pick one: no one's perfect. Or even concern/worry, which would be a more thematically appropriate version of innocents.
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My concern would be that 'innocents' would almost be a social catch, rather than a mental one. But it could work.
My other concern would be, as a GM, remembering who knows what. Your bad guys wouldn't necessarily know the catch, and you're doing the player a disservice if you don't play to that fact.
A suggestion: rather than 'innocents' - go with a vice or negative emotion. For instance: the catch is rage: get him angry and his mental fortitude is shot. Or lust, or envy, or greed. Pick one: no one's perfect. Or even concern/worry, which would be a more thematically appropriate version of innocents.
I like this. If you use one of those emotions - and have an aspect tied to it - it could be compelled. Let's say it's "lustful thoughts" that is your catch(I like "concern/worry" better, but lust is easier for my example). You could have your mental toughness work against a WCV up until the point they succeed on maneuver to place an aspect or create some kind of consequence on your character that makes him lustful. While that aspect exists, you are vulnerable to mental attacks.
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I like this. If you use one of those emotions - and have an aspect tied to it - it could be compelled. Let's say it's "lustful thoughts" that is your catch(I like "concern/worry" better, but lust is easier for my example). You could have your mental toughness work against a WCV up until the point they succeed on maneuver to place an aspect or create some kind of consequence on your character that makes him lustful. While that aspect exists, you are vulnerable to mental attacks.
I like this idea (the worry one, specifically). Worry would have to be for someone else, though, not for himself (he's kind of old–like old for a wizard, old). But that just requires a slight modification to the attack. If I wanted to modify your example, I'd say a Malvora vamp maneuvering to make him scared for someone undeserving of bad things. Tag for effect, and his stoicism goes *poof*.
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I like this idea (the worry one, specifically). Worry would have to be for someone else, though, not for himself (he's kind of old–like old for a wizard, old). But that just requires a slight modification to the attack. If I wanted to modify your example, I'd say a Malvora vamp maneuvering to make him scared for someone undeserving of bad things. Tag for effect, and his stoicism goes *poof*.
My one other suggested requirement for this (probably goes without saying, but in case someone else likes this idea) is have at least one aspect, preferably the trouble aspect, be tied to this weakness. Or alternatively, have tying an aspect to the catch bump up the value of the catch by 1, since it's a bit more realistic to use.
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My one other suggested requirement for this (probably goes without saying, but in case someone else likes this idea) is have at least one aspect, preferably the trouble aspect, be tied to this weakness. Or alternatively, have tying an aspect to the catch bump up the value of the catch by 1, since it's a bit more realistic to use.
Well, I think the guy's Trouble THOSE WHO CAN'T NEED SOMEONE WHO CAN covers this pretty thoroughly. What do you think?
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What about the Catch being that his Mental Toughness is turned off on the Sabbath, on holy days, or during calls to prayer? I'm not sure what the cost would be for taking one of those conditions or any combination of them. The reasoning would be that whatever power blessed him with incredible mental toughness (Allah?) needs his heart and mind fully open during certain times of the day/week/year in order to maintain his spiritual purity. Those are times for reflection, confession, forgiveness of oneself and of others. When one has "shields up" they can't connect to that Higher Power in any real way.
What do you think?
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It's a little late for that now. Character is finalized.
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It is an interesting idea, though.