Pure Mortals and Items of power

[Mattyg2787]

Hey,
I've just finished reading the DFRPG front to back (couple of times) and I'm throwing together a character for a mates game.
It will be submerged power levels but I still want to play a pure mortal who has spent his life hunting things that go bump in the dark.
I was curious though, can a pure mortal carry an item of power(like a gun that actually hurts the stuff in this game?)
How would it work?
Thanks

[Tedronai]

A character can be an un-'enhanced' human who happens to be in possession of an Item of Power, but that character would not qualify for the Pure Mortal template, nor that template's accompanying Refresh bonus.

[Mattyg2787]

so do i actually need to use templates in this? I can't see any other template that covers what in looking at.  minor talent is the only one

[Tedronai]

The actual necessity and benefit (or lack thereof) of templates is rather a disputed subject on these boards.

The rules do endorse the creation of custom templates if your particular gaming group chooses to use templates, so concepts like this one can still work.  The content of that template would be up to your gaming group, although I'm sure members of this forum would have a few ideas if you were interested.

Personally, I'd just advise that players work with the GM to outline the general scope of powers that their High Concept (and possibly other aspects) justifies at the start of play, and then adjust that as necessary during the course of the campaign to reflect in-game developments.  I'd leave templates entirely out of it unless there's a player asking what sort of powers a White Court Vampire / Wizard / werewolf / etc typically has access to.

[UmbraLux]

Whether or not templates are 'required' tends to change from group to group.

One thing I'll point out though, a Pure Mortal's advantage is lots of fate points.  That's really their only advantage.  When you create one you actually don't want a lot of stunts (or even minor powers if allowed).  Instead, keep a pile of free refresh and concentrate on thinking up Declarations for every situation. 

[admiralducksauce]

I have a player in my game who is a Pure Mortal with NO stunts. He starts each session with a TON of Fate Points, he accepts nearly every Compel, and so whenever he needs to lay the smackdown on something, he can easily declare that he has ammunition to handle the thing and then drops 3-4 FP on his attacks because his Aspects all involve hunting monsters at some level.

A pure mortal with a shotgun can be very effective and versatile. Maybe not as good as Cheaty McMinMax's spellcasting monstrosity of the week, but I'd think real hard about giving up that pure mortal bonus just for some kind of magic gun.

[InFerrumVeritas]

Ultimately, I think you'll find a magic gun less useful than +2 fate points per session.

Carry a gun, have that gun be an aspect.  Take a stunt or two that makes you badass with a gun.  Then spend those fate points to declare that you've got the right bullets to deal with the current supernatural threat (satisfy catch, whatever).  Or have a high lore/take a lore stunt that helps with rolling those declarations.

[Sanctaphrax]

Sure, you can have an Item Of Power and no other abilities. It's not all that different from being a mortal, really, since you get +2 Refresh either way (assuming it's a big item).

You don't need to, though. Very little in this game can't be killed with an ordinary gun.

[Praxidicae]

My personal favourite for this type of situation is still the "Runcrafted Ammunition" character. Taking Ritual (Crafting) and 1/2 Refinement with most/all of the enchanted item slots devoted to "potions" that are 1 shot bullets/arrows/grenades.

[Tedronai]

Make them multi-use, get the accompanying multiplicative increase in total output, carry a shotgun or a revolver (or both) and call your 'potions' custom 'speed loaders' that pass their effect onto otherwise mundane ammunition when they're used to load a gun.

[Praxidicae]

Make them multi-use, get the accompanying multiplicative increase in total output, carry a shotgun or a revolver (or both) and call your 'potions' custom 'speed loaders' that pass their effect onto otherwise mundane ammunition when they're used to load a gun.

I might not be running on all cylinders here, but a potion is explicitly a single use item, so how would you get it to be "multi-use"? I could see doing this through an enchanted item (the aforementioned speedloaders), but not a potion slot (without using multiple potion slots).

[Tedronai]

I might not be running on all cylinders here, but a potion is explicitly a single use item, so how would you get it to be "multi-use"? I could see doing this through an enchanted item (the aforementioned speedloaders), but not a potion slot (without using multiple potion slots).

The RAW is actually of two minds on this issue:

A frequency specialization allows you one more use
per session. A strength specialization increases
the effect strength of your basic enchanted items
by 1 (note, any increases to the basic strength
are applied before cutting it in half for an alwayson
item). In the case of potions, this can create
stronger potions, or ones that you can get two
uses out of.

(bolding added)

vs.

A given potion can only be used once, period,
but it doesn’t face a surcharge for being usable by
someone else.

This leads me to the conclusion that potions CAN be made multi-use (since that is explicitly allowed) but not in the normal normally available manner by way of reducing power, only by means of frequency specializations.

[Becq]

Yeah, I noticed that contradiction, too.  Then after letting it stew for a bit, I think I've come to the conclusion that maybe its more a matter of being worded unfortunately rather than being contradictory.  Basically, I think that the last quote was intended to set forth an exception for potions only to the rule about spending a mental stress to gain an extra use of an enchanted item.  So in other words, yes, a potion can have multiple "servings", but once the potion is used up, it's done, and you can't use it again by spending mental stress.

Here's a simple re-wording that clarifies what I think the designers meant (ie, my take on RAI, not RAW):

A given potion slot can only be used"filled" (by converting it into a potion) once per session, period, but it doesn’t face a surcharge for being usable by someone else.

[Mr. Death]

Further, it fits with the fluff and canon if potions are more malleable in function than an enchanted item.

To my mind, the total strength of a potion should be set when the potion's made--but you should be able to do things like split it between two people for a lesser effect (Harry and Susan in Storm Front) or drink half now, half later for lesser effect (like the flight/float potion in Changes).

[Radecliffe]

So in other words, yes, a potion can have multiple "servings", but once the potion is used up, it's done, and you can't use it again by spending mental stress.

Yes, I think that is what they meant also.  When contradictions occur chapters apart I usually suspect that someone just failed to cross reference properly but when it occurs on the same freakin' page, that generally tells me someone just failed to properly express their intent and it didn't get caught in the proofreading.