Author Topic: Judge Dredd's Lawgiver gun - help me balance it.  (Read 1280 times)

Offline Discipol

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 800
  • I use this for magical purposes. Honestly!
    • View Profile
Judge Dredd's Lawgiver gun - help me balance it.
« on: June 06, 2011, 12:15:01 PM »
Hi, I made this gun for my character. He is a refresh 8 caster with channeling: spirit and thautamargy, and is a gunslinger. he is gonna be a white wizard soon, and i want this as an item of power for him to compensate the limited spellcasting. As we recently met Tittania and went into the big leagues, my team mates will get mytic level powers, and maybe some sort of physical or magical immunity, I think this gun will balance it out.

Please tell me about how to fix it, our GM

This is the link
Frank Power: Picture
High Concept: "Emissary of the Crystal Dragon, Crystalax", Trouble: "A debt I will never afford to pay."
Aspects: "Modern-day Gladiator.", "Authority p

Offline Discipol

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 800
  • I use this for magical purposes. Honestly!
    • View Profile
Re: Judge Dredd's Lawgiver gun - help me balance it.
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2011, 09:06:54 PM »
No takers?  ;D common don't be shy.
My team mates, a Wolverine type char will get mythic regen and magic invulnerability. This item should give me a fighting chance against something like that.

Another will turn into a loup garoux but a bear. Toughness, magic immunity and strength and Might based attacks.

Another has air magic, and fey powers.

Another is vanilla mortal and the most dangerous of them all.

I am not gonna pvp, but they are good examples of well built enemies. The power of the gun comes from flexibility, and the modes can be upped to more diversity, but no magic in it.
Frank Power: Picture
High Concept: "Emissary of the Crystal Dragon, Crystalax", Trouble: "A debt I will never afford to pay."
Aspects: "Modern-day Gladiator.", "Authority p

Offline Becq

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 1253
    • View Profile
Re: Judge Dredd's Lawgiver gun - help me balance it.
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2011, 11:42:04 PM »
My thoughts:

"3 times +3 Block versus detection as being anything other than a gun. So the DC to detect is 9." - You can't add three blocks together.  That said, I don't think your end result is terribly far from unreasonable.  The power creation rules indicate that you should get about 2 shifts of effect from each point of power, and that the first point can have a bit of extra benefit.  So requiring an Epic (+7) roll to detect the magical properties of the weapon (3 for the first refresh, +2 for each of the others) seems right.  This would be an 'always on' ability, not a three-use ability.

"You are the target(Guns): When the target defends and tags its aspects they are only worth +1. If a reroll is used, you may lock down one of the dice of the 4df leaving the reroll to involve only the other 3 diced (just like the stunt Unshakeable)."  I understand where you were going here, but I don't feel entirely comfortable with reducing the effectiveness of another character's personal aspects.  I'm more comfortable with putting modifications like this on people's use of external aspects (like scene aspects or maneuvers, or use of other people's aspects), like you did in one of the other variants.  Alternatively

"Forced release(Guns): If the enemy defends against a Ricochet, Max can forgo his next action in order to remove the aspect of Human Shield, etc. at +1."  I'm not entirely sure how to interpret this.

"Inhuman Strength, applied to the gun: +3 when breaking to objects + 2 extra stress general."  I'd change this to "+3 when breaking to objects +2 extra stress general"  -- that is, remove the reference to Inhuman Strength, because holding the gun shouldn't give bonuses to grappling, for example.

"Claw, poison, in the form of Claw, fire."  As written, this would count as a melee attack.  I think you'd need to base this on Breath Weapon, instead.  Given that the two are identical except that the ranged one costs an extra point, it seems reasonable to allow you to apply 'Venemous' to the Breath Weapon attack.  Though this would cost 4 refresh, which is too much.

Offline Discipol

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 800
  • I use this for magical purposes. Honestly!
    • View Profile
Re: Judge Dredd's Lawgiver gun - help me balance it.
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2011, 06:47:19 AM »
forced release: if the bullet misses, the kidnapper drops the girl, or if he is hiding behind a box, he is forced to move away from there, at the cost of my next move.

inhuman strength: you are right

claw: i need a dot on the target, venomous claws do that, the ranged part does not. I would forgo the stress entirely, i am only interested in the dot.

ty for ure time
Frank Power: Picture
High Concept: "Emissary of the Crystal Dragon, Crystalax", Trouble: "A debt I will never afford to pay."
Aspects: "Modern-day Gladiator.", "Authority p

Offline devonapple

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 2165
  • Parkour to YOU!
    • View Profile
    • LiveJournal Account
Re: Judge Dredd's Lawgiver gun - help me balance it.
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2011, 07:36:15 AM »
I think I would allow the Venomous Claws as a sort of short-range-only incendiary attack.

I'd go with Becq on the magical veil of the default setting being only +7 or so.

It seems to me that using Modular Powers to buy Stunts is a little bit of a short-change: as such, this item doesn't feel too overpowered, even with the liberties taken re-skinning the stunts, like Unshakable.

I'd want some other way to model the explosives, though. Ultimately, just dealing additional Stress to a structure is effective in taking it down. Maybe say "Ignores 3 points of a structure's integrity (effectively, its armor), deals 4 additional stress."
"Like a voice, like a crack, like a whispering shriek
That echoes on like it’s carpet-bombing feverish white jungles of thought
That I’m positive are not even mine"

Blackout, The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

Offline Discipol

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 800
  • I use this for magical purposes. Honestly!
    • View Profile
Re: Judge Dredd's Lawgiver gun - help me balance it.
« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2011, 07:40:52 AM »
oh, we have yet to destroy buildings, wasn't aware of the armor part tho it makes sense.

If you think about it, the gun in its essence is a tool, and these stunts are just using the tool in a particular way. The powers are limited, but custom stunts are really flexible.

Sure 7 to hide its a gun is good as 9. Not impossible but hard.

I would like the explosive part to work a bit better than just a spray attack :|
Frank Power: Picture
High Concept: "Emissary of the Crystal Dragon, Crystalax", Trouble: "A debt I will never afford to pay."
Aspects: "Modern-day Gladiator.", "Authority p