Skills
Superb (+5): Conviction
Great (+4): Investigation, Weapons
Good (+3): Empathy, Endurance, Presence, Rapport
Fair (+2): Alertness, Athletics, Contacts, Lore
Average (+1): Discipline, Guns, Resources, [ooc=Scholarship]English, German[/ooc]

Stunts
Leadership (Presence)
Riposte (Weapons)
Scene of the Crime (Investigation)

Powers
[-0] Bless This House (housed Application of Righteousness extra brings it to a +0 because the GM never uses it).
[-1] Guide My Hand
[-1] Holy Touch
[-2] Righteousness

What are your stats? And how much Refresh are you working with?

Depending, you might not need anything, a mortal stunt might be the way to go, or just having some extra Refresh might be cool. Though, on the low Fists thing, them touching you also does them damage, which is enormously cool, since having, say, Ghouls taking stress when they hit you is both useful and funny.

Whoa, wait, really? You mean it works in reverse? And I don't have to spend a fate point for it. Wow, that's actually really kind of cool!

Matter of opinion. I'd personally say Holy is free, especially to a Champion of God who already has access to it in a variety of ways (paying for it two or more times is silly), but yeah, some people would say it's -2.

Well, that's what I'll go with. I'd rather have a weak -2 than a too strong -1. Now to see if I can't figure out how to make Holy Touch useful.

Long story short, I'm playing a Champion of God and I'm looking to get some use out of my Holy Touch power. The problem is, I have two things working against me. The first is that my character is really liberal Unitarian - about the only things he finds offensive to his faith are Vampires and Demons. The second problem is that so far we have not run into either of these creatures (and it doesn't appear that we'll be doing so any time in the near future).

So, how do I actually get some use out of my power I spent my precious refresh on? What tricks can I pull with it?

And if this power really is useless in this game, does anyone have a suggestion for a power swap?

Anyway, I definitely wouldn't call this item overpowered.

Sadly, he does not agree. According to him this weapon is balanced. Well, he's the one who made it, so I'm not surprised he things that. I'm actually thinking about dropping the weapon, as it really doesn't do what I wanted.

I'd like to get a few more eyes and opinions on this item of power. It's for a character of mine (Champion of God, if that matters). I think it's pretty balanced but I wanted to get a few more opinions. Is it too powerful? Not powerful enough? Just right?

[-3] Solomon's Guard
Description
When the old wise king Solomon passed from the land of the living, the guardian angel that protected him set aside its sword, its duty complete. The sword did not join its master in retirement but instead appeared to those who shared its purpose, to protect and serve.

Solomon's Guard, also known as the Shining Blade, is a short sword of angelic make. Its blade is slightly longer than a man's forearm and made of a silvery material flecked with gold that is as strong, if not stronger, than steel. Three words are inscribed in Latin on both sides of the blade: 'Duty, Honor, Sacrifice'.

Musts: You must have a calling or destiny to inherit Solomon's Guard, one that coincides with its purpose, usually is represented by a High Concept.
Skills Affected: Alertness, Conviction, Empathy, Lore, Weapons
Effects:
Angelic Origin. This blade was wielder by an angel and shared in the angel's nature, making this weapon a powerful holy symbol in its own right. Its very touch is like holy water or that of a cross or other symbol of faith backed by the belief of the possessor.

Divine Light. Solomon's Guard is lit from within by a soft white light. It provides a diffused glow that is sufficient in strength to illuminate one zone of mundane darkness.

Divine Purpose.  Solomon's Guard may only be swung with true selfless purpose in mind and heart; if this is not the case, the bond between the Knight and the Sword is broken and may only be restored by undergoing some sort of trial of faith. When swung without such purpose in mind and heart, the blow does not land (any attack roll automatically fails), the bond is immediately broken, and the sword falls from the wielder's hand.

Basically, the GM and player should look at the description above as a guideline for how to compel the high concept attached to the sword - your character might be tempted to use the sword for selfish reasons, and could either receive a fate point to stay his hand or succumb to the temptation and lose the sword temporarily. If another takes up the sword and swings it selfishly, your Knight is still responsible for how the sword is used, with similar repercussions.

Duty. While wielding this weapon, you cannot be turned from your duty. When swung in keeping with its purpose, Solomon's Guard grants a +1 to the wielder's Weapons skill.

Honor. The honor of this blade illuminates the wielder's path. In the presence of acts this blade finds to be dishonorable, it glows fiercely, alerting the wielder to danger. It provides you with a +1 bonus to Empathy when detecting lies, +1 to Alertness while Avoiding Surprise, and +1 to the Mystic Perception trapping of the Lore skill.

Sacrifice. While wielding Solomon's Guard in defense of others, the blade hardens your Convictions into a brilliant aegis.  You gain Armor:2 against all physical stress). When facing an opponent offensive to your faith, you may spend a fate point to increase it to Armor:4 for the duration of the scene.

It's a Sword. Solomon's Guard always takes the form of a sword, though the precise type of sword may change through the ages. As a sword, it possesses the damage and other attributes of any sword (page 202).

Unbreakable. As an Item of Power, it cannot be broken, save through dedicated magical ritual predicated upon perverting its purpose.

Discount Already Applied. As an Item of Power, Solomon's Guard already includes the one-time discount (page 167). This means that if the character possesses more than one Item of Power, the one-time discount will not apply on that second item. If Solomon's Guard is the second or subsequent artifact the character gains, the refresh cost is –5.

I consider Bless This House to be almost worthless on its own, but okay.

Even if you're worried about the power level of Bless This House as you've written it, please let me remove the restriction on using both trappings of it at once. It has little effect on the ability's power, and it's inelegant.

What would you think of an upgrade that improves the protection and lets you protect others?

Hell, modify it as you see fit, I don't mind. Though in our home games we finally just decided that Bless This House was worth -0 refresh. Now we're trying to get a few more powers put together.

And upgrade that improves the protection and lets you protect others would totally be useful. Though more and more I'm starting to think that it might be better done as a new power. That way those of us who feel that Bless This House sucks can must make it -0 and add the new power, while those who think it works well can instead keep it at -1 refresh.

Wow that seems a little bit unfair as powers go, I spend a fate point to stop Merlin from using evocation for 5 rounds (8 shifts no problem).

I'd suggest rewriting it as a block.  As is it has the potential to be overpowering and worse (IMO) requires everyone to start tracking "modified refresh" (which isn't really defined).  Additional things to track just slows the game down.  Beyond that, how do you figure the 'modified refresh' of a wizard with a bunch of refinements?

All right, consensus is that this is much too good and poorly designed. This is good to know. Still, I like the concept of the power and would like to continue tinkering with it a bit.

The idea of using a block is a good one. Is this more balanced and workable?

Condemn the Wicked. You can use Conviction to perform Blocks that prevent a creature for using a single power of your choice. Spend a fate point, name a single power the target possesses, and roll Conviction. This block persists until the target overcomes it with a successful Conviction or Discipline (target's choice) roll, which can be made as a free action once per round.

Looks good. Mind if I reword these and add them to the master list?

Not at all, though I felt that my wording was pretty good. Tried to follow the books as much as possible.