Building as an object of power?

[Erich]

I have an idea for a clued in bartender for an upcoming game and I got to thinking "what if the bar itself is alive?".
I don't mean can move around and speak, but alive in the same sense that the TARDIS is alive. I also envisioned that the building could be a kind of repository of information, sort of like Bob.
Any Ideas?
-E

[CMEast]

Do you mean that the building is a literal item of power? Or a separate object itself?

If the bartender becomes stronger just by being inside it ('behind this bar, I am god!') then an item of power is appropriate. I'd probably allow a +4 or +5 as the one-time discount due to the size and inability to move it.

If the bar itself is an animate object (haunted, genius loci, genuinely alive) then I'd skip the item of power rules and create it as an NPC, in the same way a characters wife, kid or pet would be. Then for information you could treat it as a roll on contacts to see if the bar knows what you need.

Alternatively, you could treat the bar as part of your character, it could be your own little corner of the nevernever, almost entirely separated from the rest of the nevernever (just don't try to use the cubicle in the ladies loos that says 'out of order' on the door) and the entrance is a permanent gate. That way you could take the Demesne power and have all the rules for using it there. For information you could perhaps tie in divination rituals in some way, either take ritual yourself and use your demesne to create aspects to use in the divination (scrying pools, runes etc).

[Drachasor]

If I were a GM, I'd lean towards just working it into the story as something that's not mechanically tied to your character (e.g. no refresh cost), since it isn't something you can move around.  A lot of what you seem to want isn't a big deal, imho.  The biggest parts are equivalent to a library and likely some sort of self-repair aspect if it gets damage (but money is handled in vague terms anyhow).  Maybe there'd be some plot devices with it, but that's also potential story hooks.

Anyhow, I'd try just talking to your GM about it.  Well, unless you are the GM.  I'd stat it out roughly as a creature of some sort, probably.

[Bruce Coulson]

That's what I was initially thinking; an independent entity (that the character has the deed for).  Although it could be taken as an Item of Power, my impression was that an Item of Power was something the character had more or less complete control of (we don't see the Swords fighting independently of their wielder, for instance), whereas something like Bob the Skull, although extremely helpful and loyal, ultimately acts according to its nature.

As the owner, you could change the theme of the interior, what's on the menu, signage, etc; but you can't alter the essential nature of the bar, or revoke any long-standing agreements concerning the location (not that you would WANT to...).  I could see 'Marked by Power' that would reflect your ownership and access to information (i.e. using the Bar's knowledge/memory); although probably there are a lot of things that the Bar CAN'T discuss, due to some non-disclosure agreement.

And, given the origin, there must be ways around the protections granted by the Mark...

[Erich]

Well Bruce,
I guess you can ignore the last part of the bar section on the e-mail I just sent you  .

Actually I am partial to the extra dimensional space sugestion. Imagine the beings who could come in from the Never Never side. Not to mention the bar could be bigger on the inside than the out, LOTS of possabilites there  .

[CMEast]

whereas something like Bob the Skull, although extremely helpful and loyal, ultimately acts according to its nature.

In the story that is totally true, but in game terms he's "a personified Lore check of, at the very least, Superb quality. Or you could simply regard him as a very high quality arcane library." - OW112

There's lots of flavour for him and he has his own wants and need (aspects)s which the GM can compel, or which can be used to create free tags but he doesn't have his own stats. He certainly could be created as an item of power but as he doesn't give powers to Harry it's not necessary.

Anyway, there's lots of ways you could make the bar up as an NPC, ranging from a few aspects up to stats for repelling attackers and communicating with the bartender. For that I'd personally just use modified psychometry rules though.

[Bruce Coulson]

For the campaign, the Bar sits on a site that's been Accorded Neutral Ground for a long time...say, since the Mound Builders had a civilization in North America.  The owner holds a Deed, granting certain privileges (and responsibilities) towards the supernatural community.  The new owner isn't clear yet on what all this might entail...

The owner can understand the Bar; others cannot, unless the owner allows this.  (Part of the privileges of holding the Deed.)

A Doorway to the Nevernever?  Well, that fits the general theme of the city, so I don't see why not.

Bigger on the inside than on the outside would tie the Bar a bit towards the Faerie side of things.  I'm not opposed to that, but are you sure you'd want that additional complication?

[Deadmanwalking]

There's also the possibility of using it as Sponsored Magic, the "Places of Power" version specifically, with the Bar as your Sponsor.

[theDwarf]

A Doorway to the Nevernever?  Well, that fits the general theme of the city, so I don't see why not.

Bigger on the inside than on the outside would tie the Bar a bit towards the Faerie side of things.  I'm not opposed to that, but are you sure you'd want that additional complication?

Demense [-1] plus whatever else needed to make the object.

Some lines from Mearns' poem "Antigonish" (often called "The Little Man Who Wasn't There" due to the hit song under that title)

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away...

I can easily see that refer to a stair with a door at the top that leads to the Nevernever.
I plan for something like this (literally stair with door to Nevernever) to be included in my character concept & story (I was contemplating it for that Alchemist character I have been working on).

Could well be that the door can only be opened by people of power (aka, able to open a 0-1 threshold to the Nevernever) and thus mere mortals will face a brick wall unless guided through (aka, the reverse of a standard threshold's affect on spirits).

Interesting how multiple people can come up with similar / same concept

[Bruce Coulson]

We're all drawing from the same source material, so it would be more surprising if we didn't come up with the same ideas...

In my case, only creatures with some connection to the Nevernever can open the door...unless the Owner desires otherwise.  By the same token, he can bar the door to all, or just 'unruly customers'.  (Awkward to throw someone out, only to have them come in through the 'back door'.)  Powerful beings might be able to overcome his ban, of course...