Home is Where I Hang My Hat (power)

[Taran]

I'm playing with a power that I might eventually take for a character who will be doing lots of travelling and sleeping outdoors.

Basically, it creates a threshold in a place where one didn't exist before.

-1 Home is Where I Hang My Hat
Affects Conviction

Requirement: You need some kind of physical threshold - like a room, a cabin, the light of a camp-fire, a small clearing - to represent the boundry of the threshold and a symbolic link, like a hat hanging at a door or making campfire.

It requires a small blessing or ritual: Make a conviction roll at Fair +2, and the area will have an effective threshold of 0.  This takes one hour(on the time chart) but it can take less time if you put extra shifts in reducing the time.  Likewise, if you fail, you can take more time.  Additional zones can be affected by adding +1 to the difficulty of the roll for each additional zone.  So, a small cabin with 3 rooms (3 zones) would have an effective difficulty of +4.

The threshold lasts until the next sunrise or until the link is removed from the location.  The threshold is stationary.

This theshold can be affected or improved by powers like "Bless This House" or can be used to place wards.  Wards disappear at sunrise when the threshold goes away, regardless of the duration of the wards.

So...Too easily abusable?  Not really that powerful?  Probably needs tweeking...Comments, questions?

[Bjornaer]

A camping game. Cute!

The area lit by a fire is rather dynamic. If the fire flares up, does the bad guy get bounced away into the darkness?

[Taran]

A camping game. Cute!

The area lit by a fire is rather dynamic. If the fire flares up, does the bad guy get bounced away into the darkness?

Nah...you just specify a zone.  Either the creature is in the zone(in the fire-light) or out of it.  I suppose you could make declarations to drive creatures back, but really, with the flexible nature of zones, if the creature wasn't in the zone in the first place, what's the difference if it suddenly flares up and makes the zone a few feet bigger?  The creature would still be outside of it.  But yeah, there could be cool declarations from both the allies AND the enemies!

But it gives enemies a chance to take down the threshold by getting rid of the symbolic link (by dowsing the fire, for instance)

[KOFFEYKID]

I wrote up this power a long time ago:

Home is Where You Make It [-1] This character carries his threshold with him, he may, with or without any special objects, setup a threshold with a value of two given adequate time to prepare (5-15 minutes). If the threshold is being setup in the open, then the size is up to the GM. It can be used to strengthen the existing threshold of a building by one. This power stacks with "Bless this House".

[Taran]

I wrote up this power a long time ago:

Home is Where You Make It [-1] This character carries his threshold with him, he may, with or without any special objects, setup a threshold with a value of two given adequate time to prepare (5-15 minutes). If the threshold is being setup in the open, then the size is up to the GM. It can be used to strengthen the existing threshold of a building by one. This power stacks with "Bless this House".

Yeah, I seem to remember this.  I just couldn't find it with a search.

I like the idea of a roll for those times when time is of essence.  I also like the idea of having some kind object to anchor the threshold.  It makes protecting that anchor a factor in a conflict.  Declarations could also factor in on the roll:  "I use holy water and sprinkle the area" would allow a tag.

The one thing I wasn't sure of was the strength of a threshold.  2 seemed powerful for something that is basically transportable...but I don't really know, hence the reason for posting it here.

[KOFFEYKID]

The way I decided upon the value was the old standby:

1 refresh = 2 points of effect, generally speaking.

The fact that it can last a bit longer than general is opposed by the fact that it takes time to set up.

[Sanctaphrax]

Looks weak to me. A threshold of 0 is not very useful.

PS: KOFFEYKID's Power is on the list. Which is much easier to search than the forum.

[Taran]

Looks weak to me. A threshold of 0 is not very useful.

A threshold of 0 lets you set up a potentially huge ward on a bigger area.  I could see that as powerful.  As a stand-alone power, It's not too hot, I guess.

Thresholds have always come across to me as very powerful since they force supernatural creatures to drop powers.  If you think a +2 threshold would be balanced then I'd do it that way and include the threshold booster.  I still like the roll to set it up in any case.

[Mrmdubois]

I like it, but I think the thresh hold only makes you drop a number of powers of Refresh equal to the thresh hold rating, right?

[Taran]

I like it, but I think the thresh hold only makes you drop a number of powers of Refresh equal to the thresh hold rating, right?

Yes... so in a feet in the water game, it could potentially potent.  But the time factor balances it?  So if I combined my own with Koffeykid's it'd look like this:

-1 Home is Where I Hang My Hat
Affects: Conviction

Requirement: You need some kind of physical threshold - like a room, a cabin, the light of a camp-fire, a small clearing - to represent the boundry of the threshold and a symbolic link, like a hat hanging at a door or making campfire.

It requires a small blessing or ritual: Make a conviction roll at Fair +2, and the area will have an effective threshold of 2.  This takes one hour(on the time chart) but it can take less time if you put extra shifts in reducing the time.  Likewise, if you fail, you can take more time.  Additional zones can be affected by adding +1 to the difficulty of the roll for each additional zone.  So, a small cabin with 3 rooms (3 zones) would have an effective difficulty of +4.

The threshold lasts until the next sunrise or until the link is removed from the location.  The threshold is stationary.

Additionally, this power boosts any existing threshold by 1.**

This theshold can be affected or improved by powers like "Bless This House" or can be used to place wards.  Wards disappear at sunrise when the threshold goes away, regardless of the duration of the wards.



**I'm not sure about this part.  It makes it almost always better to take this power over Bless this House.

[Mrmdubois]

Bless This House is generally considered pretty bad and gets house ruled often anyways.

[Taran]

Right.  bless this house becomes very useful when combined with this power, though.  This power also makes Bless this house an even worse choice given the choice between the two.

I just thought of an add-on to this power and I'm not sure how to add it - whether it would be additional refresh or if it would just increase the required roll when setting up the threshold (or boosting an existing one).

Holy Ground: If the Link used on the threshold would satisfy the Catch of a Creature, any attacks made against such creatures while they are within the threshold also satisfy their catch - if they haven't already lost those powers due to the power of the threshold.

eg: Using a Holy Symbol to anchor your threshold would satisfy the catch for any vampires who trespass onto the threshold.

Using an iron nail would satisfy the catch for fae, etc...

[Sanctaphrax]

Yes... so in a feet in the water game, it could potentially potent.  But the time factor balances it?  So if I combined my own with Koffeykid's it'd look like this:

-1 Home is Where I Hang My Hat
Affects: Conviction

Requirement: You need some kind of physical threshold - like a room, a cabin, the light of a camp-fire, a small clearing - to represent the boundry of the threshold and a symbolic link, like a hat hanging at a door or making campfire.

It requires a small blessing or ritual: Make a conviction roll at Fair +2, and the area will have an effective threshold of 2.  This takes one hour(on the time chart) but it can take less time if you put extra shifts in reducing the time.  Likewise, if you fail, you can take more time.  Additional zones can be affected by adding +1 to the difficulty of the roll for each additional zone.  So, a small cabin with 3 rooms (3 zones) would have an effective difficulty of +4.

The threshold lasts until the next sunrise or until the link is removed from the location.  The threshold is stationary.

Additionally, this power boosts any existing threshold by 1.**

This theshold can be affected or improved by powers like "Bless This House" or can be used to place wards.  Wards disappear at sunrise when the threshold goes away, regardless of the duration of the wards.



**I'm not sure about this part.  It makes it almost always better to take this power over Bless this House.

I wouldn't worry too much about obsoleting Bless This House. I intentionally did exactly that with Divine Protection, so obviously I won't criticize other people doing the same.

That being said, I don't think that benefit really fits the power all that well. If I were you I'd swap it for an upgraded version of that Holy Ground trapping. Somthing like: All "holy" Catches are satisfied within the threshold.

It's hard to judge threshold-related Powers since the threshold rules are so vague, but I think that what you have there is probably fine. Even with that "+1 to existing thresholds" bit.

[Taran]

That being said, I don't think that benefit really fits the power all that well. If I were you I'd swap it for an upgraded version of that Holy Ground trapping. Somthing like: All "holy" Catches are satisfied within the threshold.

Sorry, but I don't know what you're saying here.

Keep the power as is (without the +1 boost to an existing threshold) but add a the Holy catch thing as an automatic?  Or should the holy catch thing increase the cost?

[Sanctaphrax]

The former. Sorry for the confusion.