[Marked By Power] Does anyone else houserule this to 0?

[Arcteryx]

Because as I see it, the power is as equally rife with liability as it is with benefit - if played right. Hoping to hear arguments against it as I'm set to mark it down to 0 in my game.

[Tedronai]

Because as I see it, the power is as equally rife with liability as it is with benefit - if played right. Hoping to hear arguments against it as I'm set to mark it down to 0 in my game.

I'd say 'go for it'.  Just make it on a trial basis, and make sure the players understand that.
See how it turns out.  Then get back to us.

[wyvern]

The drawbacks of "Marked By Power" are... uh... hm.  Nope, no drawbacks to the power; it's just straight social bonuses.  Now, the power requires an aspect - "Owned By A Dragon" or whatever - and that aspect is certainly rife for compels... but compels give you fate points.  I'm not seeing where the liability is, here?

[Sanctaphrax]

I say no. +1 to all social skills is a big deal, and the downside is not terribly significant.

It's a good excuse for a compel, but that's actually about as much of an advantage as it is a disadvantage.

If you ruled that the consequences of being recognized weren't compels, I'd say -0 is reasonable.

[Arcteryx]

Ah, good point on the counter-balancing Aspect playing that side of things. That turns MbP into a cheap (i.e. no FP being blown, and +1) pseudo-invoke in social sits.

[wyvern]

That said, I do totally allow a PC to be Marked By Power without the actual Power of that name.  Take the matching aspect, and that's all you need... but if you want the nearly-permanent +1 to social skills, you have to pay the refresh.

[ARedthorn]

Only way I'd reduce it to a 0-cost is if you also attached penalty to the bonus: ie, you're Marked by the Power of The Great Bunny, and while some may scent the aura of power about you and pay heed (+1 to most social skills) those who recognize the source of your power rarely take you seriously at all (-1 to most social); or you're Marked by something great and nefarious- unless you're going incognito (no bonus), you only receive the social bonus w/ equally dark powers, or when using intimidate trappings (+1 to all social, situational)- with most others, you in fact receive a penalty to everything but intimidate (-1 to all social, situational... diplomacy tends to backfire. Badly.).

But at that point, you're still better off just working with compels to the high concept.

Edit: for the Great Bunny, I might consider that for a +0, all opponents aware of your supernatural-ness have their social defenses modified by Lore... the higher their lore, the less likely they are to take you seriously, and vice versa. No other bonus though.

[ways and means]

Marked by Power basically gives you a +1 across the board on all social combat (attack/defense) in all supernatural situations, when you also consider it can be used in mental combat as well (incite emotion is based off of social skills) it is one of the most powerful 1 refresh powers. Defiantly shouldn't be a +0 power.

[wyvern]

when you also consider it can be used in mental combat as well (incite emotion is based off of social skills)

I actually would not allow that in games I was running; my interpretation is that Marked By Power grants its advantages to social skills, not to skills-that-are-usually-social.  In other words, it works in the realm of social conflict, not mental conflict.  Similarly, if you had a "Quicker Than The Eye" stunt that let you use deceit for physical attacks (by extending the sleight of hand trapping), I would not allow Marked By Power to improve your physical attack rolls.

On the other hand, if you're in a situation where you're making a social attack using scholarship (perhaps trying to convince a learned scholar that you know what you're talking about), I'd rule that Marked By Power would apply - that's a social skill roll, even if the skill isn't normally used for social purposes.

I'm not trying to claim that your interpretation is necessarily wrong, here; I can see how you could make an argument for it.  But I do think it's worth posting to make sure people reading this thread can see that there exists an alternative viewpoint.

[ways and means]

Actually after Night Fear I know my interpretation is correct (or at least canon) in Night Fears, Spirit Form's Variable Visage gave a +2 to incite Emotion mental attacks for the ghosts who used it.

Variable Visage. As a spirit, your form may
change somewhat in response to your mood
or idea of self, causing you to appear more
fearsome or beautiful, granting a +2 to
appropriate social actions based on appearance
(Intimidation for a fearsome appearance,
Rapport or Deceit for a beautiful one).
Usually this is as an exaggeration of your
“normal” appearance in some way.

Your Story p170

 They obviously treat inciting emotions as a social action which makes Marked by Power relevant even by your definition.

[Masurao]

Actually after Night Fear I know my interpretation is correct (or at least canon) in Night Fears, Spirit Form's Variable Visage gave a +2 to incite Emotion mental attacks for the ghosts who used it.

Variable Visage. As a spirit, your form may
change somewhat in response to your mood
or idea of self, causing you to appear more
fearsome or beautiful, granting a +2 to
appropriate social actions based on appearance
(Intimidation for a fearsome appearance,
Rapport or Deceit for a beautiful one).
Usually this is as an exaggeration of your
“normal” appearance in some way.

Your Story p170

 They obviously treat inciting emotions as a social action which makes Marked by Power relevant even by your definition.

Don't you think that using Variable Visage to give you a scary face might be used as a Maneuver, which then allows a tag for that +2? Other than that, this power is quite clear in that it can be meant to scare the living daylights out of someone, so I could see how it would work well with Incite Emotion (Fear). Marked by Power, on the other hand, has a circumstantial bonus, depending on whether you're recognized or not. This may help you intimidate someone, but why would it make you mystically scarier? If Variable Visage might be used to create a giant maw, lined with rows of sharp teeth that is mystically scary.

[ways and means]

Being touched and changed (it is a power so it is more than just reputation) by a massively powerful entity would very likely make you more mystically terrifying especially if your patron is a terrifying creature to being with.   

[wyvern]

...(or at least canon)...

Oh, joy, this discussion again.  We've got different definitions of canon; for an example, I don't treat any of the custom stunts or powers from OW as being things a player can simply assume are available for their PC.  So I'm not going to treat anything from Night Fears as being canon, either.  Potentially useful reference?  Sure.  An example of one way that someone could run a particular scenario?  Sure.  Absolute word-of-god if you don't play like this you're doing it wrong?  Not a chance.

And I'm going to leave it at that.  I wasn't trying to convince you, anyway - I know from prior conversations that that's not going to happen.

My point was simply that your view is not universal, and other readers can discuss the rules with their own gaming groups and come to whatever conclusion they like.

[ways and means]

Sorry I wasn't saying your opinion was wrong just that mine was in line with the developers who I accord a degree of sovereignty with regards to their own work.

[Sanctaphrax]

I am developing a strong dislike for the term "canon".

It usually signals the beginning of an unpleasant discussion.