Spare Character Concepts

[UmbraLux]

Duplicio I see as a block against Alertness that the enemy has to surpass in order to land a successful attack, similar to a veil. The way I see it working is, when she casts it, a pair of illusory doppelgangers pop out and maneuver around Lian on the battlefield, with the Alertness roll representing the enemy's ability to sort out which one's real. A failed roll means they pick the wrong target and can't attack her directly, a successful Alertness roll means they target the real deal and can act directly against her.  Indirect attacks, like going 'Screw it' and filling the zone with fire or simultaneously attacking all three images via a spray attack, might work, of course.

I'd rephrase it as a block against perception.  You seldom, if ever, block a single skill.  Most blocks target a class of actions such as movement, attacks, maneuvers, or perception.

[Mr. Death]

Yeah, that makes sense. Mostly I singled out Alertness because I felt that would be the one most applicable to a fight--Investigation I saw as needing more time to assess something, Lore I saw as too imprecise. But I'll reword it and leave it up to the player or GM to decide.

[ways and means]

Alpha
High Concept: Derived Artificial Intelligence Alpha
Trouble: A child to this world
Aspects: A ghost in the shell, Assuming Direct Control, Born of Data, Humanities Child, The Logic of Morality 

Skills:
+5 Scholarship, Lore
+4 Contacts, Resources
+3 Conviction Discipline
+2 Investigation Alertness
+1 Rapport, Deceit

Machine Possession [-4]
Alpha can possess any machine within a 100 meter of his current body or over any radius if his consciousness is inhabiting the internet. To do this Alpha must make a hacking roll (scholarship) vs the machines security. Machines he possess are immune to hexing whilst he is in them as they become part of his body. These bodies are then controlled by Alpha's scholarship (hacking) skill (if he takes over a car he can drive it with Scholarship etc).

No Physical Body [-3] Alpha does not have a biological body and therefor cannot die like a normal person he is immune to long term physical consequences once he possess a new body.

Refresh 1

[Sanctaphrax]

Power level and bottom of skill pyramid seem to be missing.

Custom Powers need a more complete treatment.

[ways and means]

Fenton

High Concept: Temple Dog Shifter
Trouble: A dogs etiquette
Other Aspects: So I am a Dog, Older than I look, Tied to the Spirit World, Righteous Indignation,  On the side of the little people   

Skills
5: Alertness, Fists
4: Discipline, Athletics
3: Conviction, Might
2: Survival, Empathy
1: Rapport, Presence

Powers

Supernatural Sense (Senses) [–2] Temple dogs can
detect unnatural presences & supernatural influences,
with enough detail to know whether it’s time
to attack or just growl.

Sacred Guardian [–1]

Man Change [-1]
You can turn into a man this is almost exactly identical to beast change, Fenton picked up this ability from his father who forgot who he picked it up from.

Human Form [+1]
Affecting:
The Bark [–2]
Inhuman Recovery [-2]

Refresh Cost: -7
Total Refresh: 1

[Sanctaphrax]

I think he's got one extra aspect.

What skills does he have when he changes shape?

The broken-ness of Sacred Guardian is somewhat mitigated by the uselessness of The Bark.

[ways and means]

I think he's got one extra aspect.

What skills does he have when he changes shape?

The broken-ness of Sacred Guardian is somewhat mitigated by the uselessness of The Bark.

He has the same skills, I just used beast change to justify him turning into a person (so he could actually role-play) I suppose I could of just used Human Guise but I thought people would cry fowl.

[Sanctaphrax]

Eh. If it has no mechanical effect, don't charge for it. See Wizard's Constitution.

[KnightOrbis]

I just realized where you got the name Fenton from, took me long enough.

[Centarion]

I figured I'd post this here so other people can use it. The setting I created this for is a supernatural LA, where gang violence is prevalent and the gangs are controlled by supernatural baddies.

The basic back story is that his mother got pregnant at a part when she was young (early 20's), even though she wasn't normally promiscuous. His father was a WCV, who, for some reason didn't kill his victim (and likely was not aware he got her pregnant). He grew up in a gang infested neighborhood, and life was rough for him and his mother, who was eventually forced to prostitute for, and then killed by the Bloods (who in this setting are run/enthralled by Red Court Vamps). Near the beginning of his high school career he grew into his supernatural handsomeness and was the most popular guy in school (at least with the ladies), a clued in teacher noticed this and, after talked to him, deduced he was a WCv. She helped him by teaching him about his heritage and training him to control his hunger. 

Luke Tellman

High Concept: White Court Virgin Barkeep
Invoke: When making use of the powers of my heritage, or tending bar.
Compel: Others may dislike/distrust/try to kill Luke if they found out his heritage. Also compelled to keep Luke acting in keeping with his nature (seducing girls, feeding, partying).
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trouble: The Hunger Always Threatens
Invoke: Because of his constant battle with his Hunger Luke has experience keeping it in check. Further, his experience controlling his Hunger may help him with some uses of Discipline to control his emotions for other reasons.
Compel: To force Luke to feed, potentially more deeply than he wants, on women he seduces. Potentially also compelled to cause him to automatically fail a Feeding Dependency roll (by some amount) or to encourage him to take on more of the powers of his heritage (during a stressful scene appropriate to such a power).
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aspect: Supernaturally Handsome
Invoke: To make use of his stunningly good looks.
Compel: When Luke lets his ego cloud his judgement. When people are jealous of him.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aspect: Grew Up on the Streets
Invoke: When trying to sneak around, break into houses and notice signs of trouble. Being a street urchin taught Luke how to be stealthy, street smart, and “provide” for himself. Can be used to justify having a knife available when reasonable, Luke needed “personal protection” on the streets. Also can be used to with contacts when the roll has to do with acquaintances from the old neighborhood.
Compel: Luke is often haunted by his rough upbringing, he has a soft spot for children, especially those in danger or under the thumb of gangs. Compel this aspect to force Luke to go far out of his way to help a kid. This could also be used to show signs of Luke’s street upbringing in polite company, but only when Luke is already extremely flustered he has learned the ways of polite society, and his Rapport reflects this. Further, he is very good at controlling his emotions via Discipline because of his Trouble. Also, were he to crack a bit, the “rough around the edges” vibe might just add to his charm, especially with people who dislike smooth talking.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aspect: Dirty Fighter
Invoke: To ambush or otherwise deal a cheap shot to a target (potentially also fights dirty in social conflicts).
Compel: When Luke is forced to face an opponent on a level playing field.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aspect: I Hate Vampires!
Invoke: To make use of knowledge about vampires or techniques for fighting vampires learned during years of searching for info to take them down.
Compel: If Luke ever tries to be civil around Red/Black/Jade Court Vampires. May also hinder him when dealing with the White Court, but he probably wouldn't attack them on sight (he just has daddy issues with them, not murderous rage).
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aspect: Smooth Talker
Invoke: When using social skills to smooth talk someone, either to lie, convince them of my point of view, or get their panties off.
Compel: When being direct would suit Luke’s needs better. When an opponent dislikes smooth talkers.

Power Level: Up to Your Waist

Skills:
• Great (+4): Rapport
• Good (+3): Discipline, Athletics, Stealth
• Fair (+2): Weapons, Deceit, Burglary, Empathy
• Average (+1): Alertness, Contacts, Endurance, Presence

Supernatural Powers:
Emotional Vampire [-1]
Incite Emotion (Lust, Lasting Emotion) [-2]
Supernatural Good Looks [-1]
Description:
- You are supernaturally good looking. Folks attracted to people of your gender cannot help but notice you, and those not attracted to your gender may reconsider their sexuality. You turn heads when you enter a room. You gain a +2 bonus to any Rapport roll related to seduction. Further you gain a +1 bonus to any use of the Charisma trapping of the Presence skill where looks could be a factor.
- Additionally your stunning good looks and skill in seduction make it easier to Incite Lust in others. When using Incite Emotion, you may use Rapport instead of Deceit to Incite Lust. You may apply +1 of your seduction bonus to Maneuvers and Attacks made with Incite Emotion (Lust), and the full bonus to blocks provided the Lust is directed at yourself.

Adjusted Refresh: 3

The Supernatural Good Looks power was designed to be a bit less powerful (socially) as compared to Flesh Mask, however, because of the nature of the character as an emotional vampire, who's primary attack is Incite, it may end up being a bit strong for the cost. I personally do not think of the trapping change as something requiring a cost (I view it more like just choosing a different skill when picking the Incite Power to start, I just felt it was unnecessary to house rule a existing power when I was making a new one anyway). Also, the +1 to attacks and maneuvers with Incite is not really an extra power in my mind (this is how I justify the power in my mind, which may be dangerous), it is just clarification that the Rapport bonus to seduce can be used when seducing supernaturally (it only works when the lust incited is directed at yourself), and that the bonus is only +1 on attack or with stacking (maneuvers) for balance reasons. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated, I have not play tested it.

In play (from a meta-game perspective) the idea fr this character is that he will slowly become more vampiric (as he is forced to use his emotional vampire to feed to overcome challenges), and then once he had dependency he is forced to feed harder to keep his hunger sated (we are using a house ruled hunger similar to one I found on these boards, that makes use of on camera feeding, forces some stress even when you win the feeding failure check, and doesn't let hunger clear outside of feeding on camera or skipping scenes).

Again any feedback would be great, I hope you like it. If you want I can post all the phase stories, but they are probably too long for this post.

Centarion

[Sanctaphrax]

Looks like a solid character.

But Supernatural Good Looks looks a bit too strong to me. Switching trappings is worth something on its own, and +1 to Incite Emotion attacks is probably worth a Refresh on its own.

PS: Have you seen the Incite Emotion rewrite I'm working on?

[Centarion]

Ya, the fact that it looks overpowered is what I was worried about, but I am not sure if it actually is. Basically, in real game terms, it is adding +1 to incite attacks and maneuvers, but only when you are fine with the target trying to have intercourse with you (you don't want to use it on a troll, for example). Ya sure, it gives a +2 bonus to seduce someone normally, but really, that isn't a mechanical advantage considering I already had a +2 bonus to seduce them with my Incite power. The +1 to presence was thrown in for flavor, you make an impact when you enter a room, but I don't know if it will come up/how important that will be (I have never rolled this in a game before).

As I mentioned above, I don't know if i agree that the switching skills thing should cost anything, the reason being that a power for [-1] that was exactly Incite Emotion (Lust) but said use rapport would be fine, you could just pretend I took that instead. Skills do the things they do as written, at least partly for balance reasons (you cant just dodge with guns for free, that is OP), but if you are spending a refresh for a power, I feel like which skill (of the reasonable options) it uses doesn't really matter (you are adding a trapping either way). Also, it isn't like Rapport is a much stronger skill than Deceit (it may actually be weaker IMO), it was really a flavor choice for me. (This power could have been Supernaturally Deceptive, and done the same thing, but with lies and incite, and would probably be much much stronger).

In any case, do you have any suggestions to improve it? I understand that my perspective on this is distorted because I made this thing. I was able to rationalize to myself why it was fair (by comparing to Flesh Mask and True Aim, saying this is weaker than both and sort of combines them), but of course, a power that does multiple things but slightly more limited may be better than one that does only 1 thing better (and it may not be much weaker than True Aim, however, I can foresee circumstances where I cannot use my bonus since the creature is to terrifying to seduce, and it doesn't come attached to a weapon 3 sword that ignores catches). There I go rationalizing again derailing my own thought.

I could see toning it down (so it costs 1), I want to maintain the bonus on Incite, that was the major benefit to the character, and the flavor of the power, that was the reason I came up with it in the first place, but we could alter or put restrictions on the bonuses so it makes more sense. I could also see making it a [-2] power (and maybe renaming it Inhuman Good Looks to be on theme, but of course if the looks were inhuman people may not be attracted  ) and adding stuff to it, I just dont know what (or how much).

I have not seen your Incite Emotion rewrite, I searched for it but didn't find it, and I would love to read it.

Thanks a bunch for the help (should this be in another thread, I don't want to derail this one, though it doesn't seem to see much action).

[Sanctaphrax]

Basically, in real game terms, it is adding +1 to incite attacks and maneuvers, but only when you are fine with the target trying to have intercourse with you (you don't want to use it on a troll, for example).

Yes you do.

Takeout narration is up to the player. This Power does nothing to restrict it. I can have that troll feel lust for whatever I want, or I can just make it pass out from emotional overload. As long as the table is OK with that, of course.

Ya sure, it gives a +2 bonus to seduce someone normally, but really, that isn't a mechanical advantage considering I already had a +2 bonus to seduce them with my Incite power.

Incite requires physical contact, can't inflict social stress, and does not provide its bonus to non-conflict seduction rolls.

As I mentioned above, I don't know if i agree that the switching skills thing should cost anything, the reason being that a power for [-1] that was exactly Incite Emotion (Lust) but said use rapport would be fine, you could just pretend I took that instead. Skills do the things they do as written, at least partly for balance reasons (you cant just dodge with guns for free, that is OP), but if you are spending a refresh for a power, I feel like which skill (of the reasonable options) it uses doesn't really matter (you are adding a trapping either way). Also, it isn't like Rapport is a much stronger skill than Deceit (it may actually be weaker IMO), it was really a flavor choice for me. (This power could have been Supernaturally Deceptive, and done the same thing, but with lies and incite, and would probably be much much stronger).

A Power that can be used with any skill is more powerful than one limited to one skill. So trapping switches have a value, albeit a rather small one.

Honestly, I don't mind opening up Incite Emotion. But it's important to remember that you are making it more powerful when you do so.

In any case, do you have any suggestions to improve it? I understand that my perspective on this is distorted because I made this thing. I was able to rationalize to myself why it was fair (by comparing to Flesh Mask and True Aim, saying this is weaker than both and sort of combines them), but of course, a power that does multiple things but slightly more limited may be better than one that does only 1 thing better (and it may not be much weaker than True Aim, however, I can foresee circumstances where I cannot use my bonus since the creature is to terrifying to seduce, and it doesn't come attached to a weapon 3 sword that ignores catches). There I go rationalizing again derailing my own thought.

Personally, I'd make Supernaturally Good Looking not relate to Incite Emotion. It doesn't feel natural to me, since Incite Emotion is largely psychic force and not real social interaction.

I could see toning it down (so it costs 1), I want to maintain the bonus on Incite, that was the major benefit to the character, and the flavor of the power, that was the reason I came up with it in the first place, but we could alter or put restrictions on the bonuses so it makes more sense. I could also see making it a [-2] power (and maybe renaming it Inhuman Good Looks to be on theme, but of course if the looks were inhuman people may not be attracted  ) and adding stuff to it, I just dont know what (or how much).

Why not just take Rapport-based Incite Lust, and a Rapport stunt to make it better?

I have not seen your Incite Emotion rewrite, I searched for it but didn't find it, and I would love to read it.

Yo.

[Centarion]

Yes you do.

Takeout narration is up to the player. This Power does nothing to restrict it. I can have that troll feel lust for whatever I want, or I can just make it pass out from emotional overload. As long as the table is OK with that, of course.

The power as I wrote it requires that the lust be directed towards the user (to make use of the bonus at least), that said your point about takeout narration is totally valid. 

Incite requires physical contact, can't inflict social stress, and does not provide its bonus to non-conflict seduction rolls.

My read on incite was that you could absolutely use it to perform non-conflict seduction rolls. I cant imagine I would be using Rapport to seduce someone not in my zone, but I guess that could happen and is a benefit. I was not thinking about the use of this in social conflicts (although with my character any social conflict revolving around seduction would likely instantly turn into a mental conflict).

A Power that can be used with any skill is more powerful than one limited to one skill. So trapping switches have a value, albeit a rather small one.

Honestly, I don't mind opening up Incite Emotion. But it's important to remember that you are making it more powerful when you do so.

I understand the power as I wrote it was confusing on this point. The power should have noted that you use Rapport instead of Deceit, so it is still only usable with one skill. It really isn't more powerful then.

Personally, I'd make Supernaturally Good Looking not relate to Incite Emotion. It doesn't feel natural to me, since Incite Emotion is largely psychic force and not real social interaction.

Why not just take Rapport-based Incite Lust, and a Rapport stunt to make it better?

The feel I was going for was that you were so good looking that it was easy to incite lust in other people (a truly supernatural level of good looks). It wasn't so much adding to your psychic force as lowering their defense against your incite (subtracting from their roll is mechanically the same as adding to your roll and it was cleaner IMO to phrase this way).

Basically, I was trying to do what you suggest, and this was my attempt at a Rapport stunt (except a power, so slightly better, it is one of my aspects and I am a supernatural being who's job is to look good after all). I should have just taken Rapport based incite lust (that is mechanically what this does anyway) but I was trying to avoid houseruling that power by just tacking the houserule onto this one.

Do you have a good suggestion for a power that makes incite lust better? The reason I made this power was that I didn't want to make just a numbers power like +1 to incite. It is boring, and though perfectly valid in the rules seems munchkiny (though I have to admit this is more powerful, what does that say) if only because it has no flavor and a fairly significant mechanical benefit. I have read a bunch of your custom powers and like them a lot, so I would love to get your suggestion on a [-1] or [-2] cost power improving incite lust, especially something that is more flavor than numbers, or provides a less crunchy benefit.

Thanks a bunch.

PS: I read your Incite Effect rework, it seems to be mostly the same as my take on Incite from the book (plus a bunch of added extra trappings). A few questions, you interpreted the book's Incite Emotion to also grant the +2 to blocks (at least, that is what your new version does, I did not read it that way when I read the section in the book), is this balanced (you implied you play tested some of your Incite Effect)? You interpreted the book as requiring fists in order to make contact with Incite Emotion with At Range, doesn't this make the power incredibly weak without At Range since the target then gets 2 defense rolls (and also slow down play), my interpretation was that if you were in the same zone it wouldn't be that hard to make contact, and that they just defended with their Disciple (unless there was a reason you couldn't touch them, such as they had a speed power).   

[Sanctaphrax]

The power as I wrote it requires that the lust be directed towards the user (to make use of the bonus at least), that said your point about takeout narration is totally valid.

The way you wrote is a bit ambiguous, actually. Whether you need to aim the lust at yourself depends on how you interpret an oddly-placed comma. 

My read on incite was that you could absolutely use it to perform non-conflict seduction rolls. I cant imagine I would be using Rapport to seduce someone not in my zone, but I guess that could happen and is a benefit. I was not thinking about the use of this in social conflicts (although with my character any social conflict revolving around seduction would likely instantly turn into a mental conflict).

Incite Emotion requires physical contact. I wouldn't let you touch me in normal conversation, even if you're pretty.

And the Power does not say that you can use it for non-conflict seduction. You can use it for lust-inflicting maneuvers and blocks, which is not the same.

I understand the power as I wrote it was confusing on this point. The power should have noted that you use Rapport instead of Deceit, so it is still only usable with one skill. It really isn't more powerful then.

Yes it is.

See, if you had to use Rapport it wouldn't be stronger. But letting people choose to take the Rapport version or the Deceit version makes the Power as a whole stronger.

The feel I was going for was that you were so good looking that it was easy to incite lust in other people (a truly supernatural level of good looks). It wasn't so much adding to your psychic force as lowering their defense against your incite (subtracting from their roll is mechanically the same as adding to your roll and it was cleaner IMO to phrase this way).

Eh, I dunno. I'm honestly not sure whether your interest in someone matters at all when they use Incite Lust.

Basically, I was trying to do what you suggest, and this was my attempt at a Rapport stunt (except a power, so slightly better, it is one of my aspects and I am a supernatural being who's job is to look good after all). I should have just taken Rapport based incite lust (that is mechanically what this does anyway) but I was trying to avoid houseruling that power by just tacking the houserule onto this one.

Makes sense.

Do you have a good suggestion for a power that makes incite lust better? The reason I made this power was that I didn't want to make just a numbers power like +1 to incite. It is boring, and though perfectly valid in the rules seems munchkiny (though I have to admit this is more powerful, what does that say) if only because it has no flavor and a fairly significant mechanical benefit.

I'd rather make any Power that makes Incite (whatever) better into part of Incite (whatever). But that's just semantics...I like the idea of a lust-based mental grapple, or area-of-effect lust. So I included those in my version...if I had any other good ideas, they'd be in that rewrite.

I have read a bunch of your custom powers and like them a lot, so I would love to get your suggestion on a [-1] or [-2] cost power improving incite lust, especially something that is more flavor than numbers, or provides a less crunchy benefit.

Thanks a bunch.

Thanks and you're welcome.

It might be possible to work out something that doesn't directly link to Incite Lust that is nonetheless very useful with it.

Something that penalizes people's Discipline, perhaps. Or maybe a broad-spectrum Rapport boost. Like Inhuman Charm or something.

PS: I read your Incite Effect rework, it seems to be mostly the same as my take on Incite from the book (plus a bunch of added extra trappings).

It is. The differences are fairly superficial, it's more of an expansion than a rewrite.

A few questions, you interpreted the book's Incite Emotion to also grant the +2 to blocks (at least, that is what your new version does, I did not read it that way when I read the section in the book), is this balanced (you implied you play tested some of your Incite Effect)?

I think that you can use the bonus when making blocks. But it's up for interpretation, as is whether you can use the bonus on attacks. I figured that applying the bonus to blocks and not to attacks was fair, so I made that interpretation clearly correct.

You interpreted the book as requiring fists in order to make contact with Incite Emotion with At Range, doesn't this make the power incredibly weak without At Range since the target then gets 2 defense rolls (and also slow down play), my interpretation was that if you were in the same zone it wouldn't be that hard to make contact, and that they just defended with their Disciple (unless there was a reason you couldn't touch them, such as they had a speed power).

Good catch. It's only supposed to be one defence roll, but it's supposed to offer a wider choice of defence skills.

I'll make that clear.

I figure that in a gunfight, people will try not to let you touch them. Letting them dodge or block your attacks as though they were Fists attacks seemed like the best way to represent that.

I considered removing the touch requirement entirely, but...I don't want to make Incite Emotion much better than it is. It's already pretty good, and I feel as though I'm pushing it a bit by letting people use Resources or whatever already.