Were-arachnid help

[perfectwashu]

I'm going to be involved in a game in the next few months and was thinking I would try a were-form spider.
Clearly spider walk and dimunitive size are pretty straight forward.
Was also considering claws: venomous which would clearly fit.
However I was thinking, obviously would need GM approval, of creating my own power for the web though.
I was looking at breath weapons, however I didn't see it fitting particually well as it's not really ranged or a weapon.
So I was thinking making it like a stunt where it adds an extra trappings to a skill, one in which it would allow to tag certain aspects like entangled if given enough time to prepare.
I was wondering what peoples thoughts are for the actual mechanics and the skills it use, maybe survival?

[austinmonster]

you COULD have something along the lines of Gaseous form to represent getting split into a MASS of spiders.  Imagine getting shot and exploding into a massive cloud of spiders!  that would be terrifying/amazing.

And while we are on that topic, if you took the Werewolf: The Apocalypse slant on werespiders, you could have one of your little spiders crawl into someone's brain and take over their body - which fits into the domination power just perfectly.

[wyvern]

Hm.  Yeah, survival seems like a reasonable choice for crafting webs.  Lore might work too, or Craftsmanship.  Really depends on what sort of flavor you want to go with for the character.

And do remember, one of the options for Echoes of the Beast is a single extra skill trapping - though that defaults to being usable in both human and shifted forms, which might not be appropriate for webbing.

If you want a standalone power for webbing, I'd say it'd be -1 refresh, and provide a basic (non-combat) webbing power, requiring a few minutes of preparation to create webs of reasonable size and effectiveness, and provide a +2 bonus to whatever the appropriate skill check is for crafting stuff out of spiderwebs.  You'll also want to work out the values for various related checks - such as how hard it would be for someone to break out after you wrapped them up in webbing, or what sort of defense / armor / stress capacity / stealth value a webbing across a hallway might have.  This sort of thing is up to your GM, and may need to be adjusted if the power proves to be, in actual use, either too strong or too weak.

[smoore]

I don't see a problem using Breath Weapon as the basis but instead of a Weapon:2 it generates a Block:2. I'd probably use the grapple rules, ie you don't have to roll to hit but they have to roll Athletics or Might to overcome the block each round or be stuck and not able to do anything else. Once they over come it have it go away/be destroyed.

[CMEast]

I created an arachnanthrope myself (my own word) and because of the web problem, I just based it on a hunting spider (wolf spider, trapdoor spider... that sort of thing). I did use poisonous fangs but I skipped diminutive size because I preferred the idea of being a giant spider from their worst nightmares

I also skipped echoes of the beast, figuring that an insects 'echoes' are too alien, but I think that's a flavour thing. I'll post the character below. Hope it helps!

Submerged - 10 Refresh, 35 Skill points

Name: Cassandra 'Cassie' Weaver
High-Concept: Arachanthrope cat-burglar
Trouble: The Spider inside her
Invoke - Can be a useful bonus when doing anything spider like i.e. Hunting people. Killing people. Eating people. Knitting and crochet.
Compel - Can be bad when she's doing anything that doesn't involve hunting, killing and eating people. Or weaving. Especially when she is given an appropriate opportunity to do so.

Background: A Tangled Web
Brought up in an atmosphere of manipulation and distrust, she quickly learnt that to get what you want, you've got to take it. It wasn't long before she was lying, cheating and stealing; taking advantage of everyone she met and every opportunity she saw, coming up with elaborate schemes to leave her blame-free and in a position of power. With her talents, and the thrill she took from stealing, she eventually turned her hand to serious theft and she proved to be as adept at avoiding security systems as she was at avoid the various lies and manipulations attempts her parents used against her. Her skills also helped her navigate the complicated and vicious world of criminals
Invoke - She's an expert at manipulation and deception. She can create and enact complicated plans with ease. She's used to dealing with criminals.
Compel - She's an almost pathological liar and struggles to tell the truth about anything. She cannot trust others as she thinks everyone is as bad as she is.

Rising Conflict: To a spider's eyes, all are flies.
Hearing that there were some particularly rare and valuable curious at the house of a local politician, she decides to break in and see what she can find. After discovering the secret room that the blueprints had promised, she soon discovered his secret; he was a Were-Rat! Excited at the idea of gaining the same power, convinced that she could become an even greater thief with this power, she quickly repeated the ritual as detailed in his journal; knowing that he wouldn't be back from his event for another hour.
Two hours late, she's eaten him. It turns out that turning in to a tiny Were-Rat in front of a 6' long Were-Spider isn't a good idea. That ritual put her in touch with her totem animal, the creature that most matched her inner-nature, and she was rather pleased with the results. Not bad for a nights work, not only had she unlocked the kind of power she'd always wanted, she'd also managed to grab a spot of dinner too!
Invoke - Hunger for power, hunger for control, hunger for the flesh of weaker creatures; spiders are skilled at exploiting every weakness to satisfy their hunger.
Compel - To a spider, everything that moves is edible! If she sees weakness in someone then she doesn't help them, she takes advantage.

-------------------------Powers - 10 Refresh -------------------------------

[-1] Beast Change
[+1] Human Form

[-2] Inhuman Speed
[-2] Inhuman Strength
[-2] Inhuman Toughness
[-2] Inhuman Recovery
[+3] Catch - Silver

[-3] Claws - Venomous
[-1] Spider Walk

[-9]-Total

-------------------------Skills (35), Stress and abilities -------------------------------

----Human skills----
Superb: Burglary, Stealth
Great: Alertness, Athletics
Good: Deceit, Rapport
Fair: Contacts, Guns, Resources
Average: Conviction, Driving, Endurance, Presence Scholarship

--Stress--
Physical: OOO
Mental: OOO
Social: OOO

----Spider skills----
Superb: Endurance, Fists
Great: Might, Athletics
Good: Alertness, Stealth
Fair: Burglary, Intimidation, Survival
Average: Conviction, Intimidation, Investigation, Presence, Scholarship

--Stress--
Physical: OOOO(OO)
Mental: OOO
Social: OOO

One additional Physical Mild Consequence.
Armour: 1 (Inhuman toughness)
When breaking or lifting objects, Might is considered to be Epic (inhuman strength)
When grappling, Might is considered to be Superb (inhuman strength)
When rolling for initiative, Alertness is considered to be Epic (inhuman speed)
When dodging, Athletics is considered to be Superb (and it's Fantastic when sprinting) (inhuman speed)

Oh, as a were-form her catch is silver. That's +2 for out easy it is to get silver and +1 for researching into were-creatures.

[perfectwashu]

Cheers for the idea's liking how they sound, shall have to forward them to the GM and see how he feels.