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Font Redux [WIP]; Empowering the powerless
Topic Started: Dec 23 2016, 05:44 PM (1,568 Views)
GuardianTempest
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+8:00 GMT || Unlucky & Miserable
Excellent work, it'll be a while before I can offer feed back as I need to analyze it. Although I feel like some wordings can be revised for coherence. Like how you get additional characteristic dots equal to your Current to be distributed or something like that.

Asset concepts:

Power
Add additional rolled dice to your next attack equal to half the Hit Points you lost since your last turn? Or get an extra boost in damage now but the next successful attack hits you harder?

Speed
Early-access Celerity, with the ability to gain an extra Half Action or Full Action at the cost of getting fatigue, losing Hit Points, getting critical damage, or just losing your next turn.

Versatility
I don't know if such an idea can be mechanically implemented. Essentially you get a static penalty to everything proportional to how hard you try to "spread out" and do different things.

Defense
Maybe increasing your resistance to a certain damage type, but you make yourself more vulnerable to another.

Magic
You may have a Psychic Phenomena roll be treated as a damage roll (that deals E damage), reduced by armor. If it's too weak, then lose HP equal to 1/10ths of the roll, round up?

Would implementing a "Hierarchy of penalties" be too cumbersome?
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Doc
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Just a Guy
GuardianTempest
 
Excellent work, it'll be a while before I can offer feed back as I need to analyze it. Although I feel like some wordings can be revised for coherence. Like how you get additional characteristic dots equal to your Current to be distributed or something like that.

Agreed. There's a lot of it that I think needs to be tweaked and reworded, I'm just putting the proverbial pen to paper to have a better idea where to go with it.

GuardianTempest
 
Power
Add additional rolled dice to your next attack equal to half the Hit Points you lost since your last turn? Or get an extra boost in damage now but the next successful attack hits you harder?

I think the theme for each of these should probably be something akin to "Going so dangerously beyond what you should be capable of as to require a full system shut down lest you expire from sheer overexertion" (Eisenritter mentioned SCRAM - that is, the emergency shut down of a nuclear reactor - so I figured I'd try and work with that). It's the theme I'll try to work into each of your ideas, so bear with me.

Anyway, for a Power one, I'd probably just have it be a straight increase to a Physical Characteristic based on an amount of Potential spent, to a maximum of doubling your original score. Have it last until your next turn, wherein you can choose to spend the same amount to keep it going. Then, have it all come back to bite you at the end - losing an amount of dots in the affected Characteristic for a number of rounds, to a minimum of zero. And if you go to zero, you just fall over until it wears off.

GuardianTempest
 
Speed
Early-access Celerity, with the ability to gain an extra Half Action or Full Action at the cost of getting fatigue, losing Hit Points, getting critical damage, or just losing your next turn.

Early access to a form of Celerity's a good start, I think. Probably something like "Get an extra Full Action that you can split up into two Half Actions, lose your next turn" maybe? Would probably have to mention the whole "Can't Half Action and Full Action in a turn" thing, but... eh.

GuardianTempest
 
Versatility
I don't know if such an idea can be mechanically implemented. Essentially you get a static penalty to everything proportional to how hard you try to "spread out" and do different things.

Perhaps something about rapidly reconfiguring your Supercritical State without dropping it, taking damage for every point shifted around? Or maybe 'learning' skills on the fly at the cost of 'forgetting' other ones?

GuardianTempest
 
Defense
Maybe increasing your resistance to a certain damage type, but you make yourself more vulnerable to another.

Probably as you said, souping up your defense just to lose it elsewhere. It might be easiest to just do it as "Gain some amount of Resilience for now, lost that same amount later" like the Power thing, but I'm not sure I'd want to go that route. Something about Reactions might be more interesting to work with.

GuardianTempest
 
Magic
You may have a Psychic Phenomena roll be treated as a damage roll (that deals E damage), reduced by armor. If it's too weak, then lose HP equal to 1/10ths of the roll, round up?

In keeping with the mentioned theme, some variant of supercharging a spell while losing the ability to use magic for a while would be most appropriate. However, I dig the idea of having more control over Psychic Phenomena. Perhaps holding it off, or having some weird interactions with Pushing a spell?

GuardianTempest
 
Would implementing a "Hierarchy of penalties" be too cumbersome?

Almost certainly, which is sorta a shame.
Edited by Doc, Sep 1 2017, 02:40 AM.
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Doc
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Just a Guy
Just some off-the-cuff assets. Feedback would be appreciated, of course.

Powerful Dynamo


Hastened Dynamo


Arcane Dynamo
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GuardianTempest
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+8:00 GMT || Unlucky & Miserable
This reply is waaaay overdue. You know, this might serve as a redux of the Undaunted.

I'm not an expert so take anything I say with a grain of salt (especially you, visitors).

Super-gigantic pile of replies


That was lengthy but I can't put this off forever. We need other people posting their thoughts in this thread.
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Doc
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GuardiantTempest
 
Potential sounds nice, not so sure about Current. It's more of a steady flow and this WIP Font is more....Aptitude. Or some other power-themed name.

Right. When it comes to electricity in general, there's stuff like diodes and capacitors, but I dunno if going that route is even the best idea here.

GuardianTempest
 
Maybe twice power stat for something basic. I would've suggested that you can go "Negative" but the Gemini already took it so there's that. We still need to figure out resource recovery. I know we can't just rip off the Paragon since this draft is supposed to be standalone.

Hmmm, since we're a living energy turbine, I suggest automatically recovering Potential in Supercritical State (and only in that state), equal to half of your Current (round up) at the beginning of your turn. Since you can spend twice as much per round, you can still run dry in the late game despite recovering 5 points of Potential each round. The boons can be offset by the fact that the player is heavily penalized (if not outright prevented) from spending Potential outside of his Supercritical State, which itself is temporary....well assuming he doesn't just keep spending.

It seemed like a good idea when I was typing that paragraph.

That's certainly a start. It's only really problematic in that a Font as currently being discussed obviously wants to be burning through their resource points, as they get very efficient at putting up big numbers by doing so. They also can just flat-out spend more of them than most people, so they need a pool big enough to actually do that with. It's a hard balance point to hit.

I think a mid-size pool (like, 15-ish total, probably) with somewhere between Promethean and Vampire in speed/ease of recovery might be the way to go, I'm just not sure how to get there in a thematically appropriate way.

GuardianTempest
 
I would reword that to "temporary Characteristic dots equal to Current" or something along those lines, but that's just me being picky. Still, it's just a concept draft so there's plenty of other ways it can be said. If there's one suggestion I have for this, is that there would be a 1-round cooldown after stopping before you can go critical again, to incentivize staying in Supercritical.

Agreed.

GuardianTempest
 
True, it is a gimmick that you said you wanted to place here so I won't oppose it. Is there a mentioned limit to the maximum amount of improvements? Or can I cram +5k0 damage on my already +10k0 attack? Does this allow me to make attacks from scratch because I sorta forgot. (assuming I can just cram advantages on a plain attack). Now that I think about it, adding rolled damage dice would be the most common addition so I pitch the idea of having the ability to increase an attack's damage roll with resource points...unless another homebrew has already done that.

I don't mention a limit, and I don't remember offhand if there's one inherent to Sword Schools/Gun Kata. Either way, I'm sorta indifferent to the concept of what amounts to +10k4 (with one extra die left over) on an attack. Like, yeah, that probably puts you up to a nice 10k10 damage or whatever, but... eh? Resilience at that point is doing its damndest to make those numbers not as impressive as they should be, and just stacking even more Exit Wound Kata or Knockout Blow is more likely to actually let you one shot everything ever.

I think a few Exalts have done +Xk0 to damage, but it's been a while.

All that said, I'm totally open to ideas on different powers to put there.

GuardianTempest
 
This seems pretty good and encourages the player to blow their cover from the get-go. Although TN 15 becomes sorta irrelevant in the late-game. Just spitballing concepts, maybe make it TN 20 instead? Or use Current like the Revised Daemonhost uses Arcanoi when rolling for Torment. Or maybe give a different penalty/requirement altogether, like losing Hit Points since you're forcing yourself to channel energy when you're not ready yet, much like forcing a car to go turbo immediately.

The only thing I don't like is the name, since it's not really an illusion of normalcy and more like a boundary that requires you to unleash before passing through. I'm certain there's a good choice of technical words that evoke the "mandatory restraint" out there.

TN's below 30 are sorta irrelevant late-game. 5 dice in DtD average 30, and it only goes up if you have ways to jack up that roll. It's the same reason stuff like Shocking doesn't actually matter after, like, level 2.

Now that said, I still accept your reasoning. I'd probably try and tack on something like "This TN increases by 5 for every point spent past the first."

Also, agreed on the name. It's late where I am, so words are failing me when it comes to a good alternative name, but still.

GuardianTempest
 
Yes I think there is but I feel like it would be better as a spell. Also, it's unclear what the bonus described is. Extra penetration? Attack roll bonuses? Damage rolls? How about (depending on how your Font energy is fluffed) you can apply temporary weapon mods, spending Potential equal to the mod's cost? And the maximum amount of mods is half your Current, round up? (Progression would be 1/1/2/2/5) Admittedly it does seem pretty powerful when you consider the amount of mods up there.

It's also more in the realm of a tinkering exalt, I feel. I certainly agree that it could use more clarification on what supercharging an item does (as you show, that's a very broad description), but I think it should stay within the realm of just making an item generically better to sorta keep in the theme of the Font not having enough real control to do such specific improvements.

It also probably would be better as a spell, so if somebody wants to take it for that purpose, go right on ahead. Ideas on a replacement would be appreciated, of course.

GuardianTempest
 
Hmm, let's consider interesting mechanics that haven't been added before...but what? Maybe you can slot in here the ability to increase damage rolls with Potential as I mentioned earlier. Alternatively, my second suggestion would be something small: Whenever you spent Potential on a test, you add a static bonus equal to the amount spent (or twice that). I could be wrong and another exaltation out there has already done something like that, but I'm not sure.

There's also the fact that, in core rules, you can only spend resource points on skill tests. Maybe a good power is that you can spend resource points on almost all kinds of tests that follow the XkY format. Characteristic tests, wealth tests, focus power tests (although magic is a finicky thing so maybe not).

I'm sorta digging that second idea. Call it something like Universal Battery and just let the Font spend Potential on tests they otherwise couldn't.

GuardianTempest
 
Nothing wrong with the original version of being able to spend a lot more resource points than normal. I understand the effect you're going for but I think it would be simpler if you could say "You do not need to spend Potential or gain fatigue to maintain your Supercritical State." Other alternatives include doubling your duration and regaining a portion of spent Potential (if you spent more than one).

I'm only saying that because turning off and immediately turning back on as a Free Action still leaves that "flicker" of power that seems to trigger my dumb pickiness at wanting things constant. >.>

Which is fair. I'll leave it as-is for now to get a bit more feedback on it, but all the same...

GuardianTempest
 
Normally I'd oppose making the boost require a per-round clause but extra kept die is powerful. Also, how would it work with Constitution? Lastly, if you're unable to act, would you be paralyzed? Stunned? Helpless? Fall prone?

In the case of any Characteristic that gives you more of a resource like HP, I'd probably say you don't get any bonus to that. I'd assume they're helpless for the duration, and leave whether they fall over up to the player - I've certainly seen media where characters 'stall out' but remain standing, so I won't say that they can't do that.

GuardianTempest
 
Seems reasonable, although making it cost two points means that the asset is useless at Current 1. Maybe you can spend 1 Potential for a Half Action but you can only do one Half Action on the following turn. Another suggestion would be adding a clause akin to "One instance of this ability must resolve before you can do it again."

Well, a Font can spend 2 points at Current 1 by zapping a point of HP away, so they can totally use it at Current 1. All the same, I can dig letting them get a Half Action now at the cost of later.

GuardianTempest
 
Magic is a powerful thing and I've little experience with it. Still, do be careful especially with modifying spell combos. Additional instances of Energy Meteors and Magic Missiles might break the game. The cost of not being able to cast for a while might offset that but we need other people's opinion.

It certainly is powerful, which is one of the reasons Atlantean is as good as it is. At this point, I'm personally indifferent if Font even has an asset about being good at magic, so I'm definitely open to just not having one and going a different route. But as you said, other opinions would be very appreciated on this matter.
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GuardianTempest
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+8:00 GMT || Unlucky & Miserable
Gigantic pile o' replies


As the amount of things I can respond to grow smaller...
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Doc
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Just a Guy
GuardianTempest
 
Special Attacks/Trick Shots have a hard limit of twice your Martial Level in Style Points (10 as a Grandmaster), and for every point past said Martial Level, you need a disadvantage when making your Special Attack. I was wondering if added points would count towards that limit and such.

Right. At the time I'd originally done that, I figured that it could break the limit with the only restriction being how much you'd want to invest into it, but (in keeping with the overcharging theme) it might be appropriate to force the Font to spend double points to go past the normal Style Point limit.

GuardianTempest
 
Alright, although if your Constitution drops does your HP total fall too? Assuming you didn't already lose too many Hit Points.

Probably not. I never personally liked the idea of a Barbarian in D&D falling over dead just because they stopped being angry, so I wouldn't want to do that here.
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Traskus
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So, sudden insight. For wording pedantry, I suggest you change it to "has access to" instead of "knows of" for martial technique advantages. Does it allow adding spells to combos or does it allow for creation of combos?

Quote:
 
[*]Overcharge Item: A Font may spend Potential to temporarily enhance an item or object they are touching as a Free Action. These enhancements last until the Font’s next turn, and can take the form of either a +Xk0 bonus or a +X bonus (where applicable), where X is the amount of Potential spent. If X exceeds the Font’s Current, than the item will need to rest for a number of rounds equal to the difference between X and Current after the enhancement wears off, lest the item break or otherwise cease to function.


What am I looking at? Does it increase damage? Does it add mods? To make wording tighter, the rest can be (X-Current) rounds.

3* can be a rip from champion. +1 resilience and maybe a dot or two somewhere while transformed.

5* starts well but reducing the critical state by 2 rounds in lieu of a resource point is a non-option imo. 1 round makes it an actual decision.

Arcane dynamo's final penalty to spellcasting is a bit much. Spending the resource is good enough of a price, especially on a resource-heavy thing like this.
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Doc
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Traskus
 
So, sudden insight. For wording pedantry, I suggest you change it to "has access to" instead of "knows of" for martial technique advantages. Does it allow adding spells to combos or does it allow for creation of combos?

It allows both. I won't pretend I'm particularly good at wording, but that's what this bit is meant to imply:
Sudden Insight
 
For Spell Combos and Combo-OK spells, spending Potential lets the Font add a Combo-OK spell they know with a level equal to the amount of Potential spent to the combo (or create a combo in the case of a Combo-OK spell).


Traskus
 
What am I looking at? Does it increase damage? Does it add mods? To make wording tighter, the rest can be (X-Current) rounds.

Yes, it increases damage. Along with whatever other things you can convince the GM fits into that definition of "+Xk0, or +X in applicable situations." Since mods fall into neither of those, it doesn't add mods. It can add +Xk0 damage, it can add +X penetration, but it can't add the Flaming mod or whatever.

With that in mind, I'm all ears for a way to phrase it in such a way as to actually get that point across.

Traskus
 
5* starts well but reducing the critical state by 2 rounds in lieu of a resource point is a non-option imo. 1 round makes it an actual decision.

Well, Giving 200% allows them to get 16 rounds of Supercritical State if they spend a point of Potential at the end of the duration of the Supercritical State, which they can promptly turn around to use as 8 points of Potential that have no spending cap. If you'd rather have it be 16... well, I'll just have to disagree.

Traskus
 
Arcane dynamo's final penalty to spellcasting is a bit much. Spending the resource is good enough of a price, especially on a resource-heavy thing like this.

It probably shouldn't be as big of a penalty (perhaps just cut it down to 1 round, independent of spell level), but I think it still needs to exist. Otherwise, it's basically just a more expensive version of Quicken Spell - which, as one of Atlantean's big tricks, should probably have a significant downside to it.
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Doc
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Overcharge Item: A Font may spend Potential to temporarily enhance an item or object they are touching as a Free Action. These enhancements last until the Font’s next turn, granting +Xk0 (to rolls) or +X (to flat values), where X is the amount of Potential spent. If X exceeds the Font’s Current, than the item will need to rest for (X – Current) rounds after the enhancement wears off, lest the item break or otherwise cease to function.

Just a quick redo of Overcharge Item for clarity (hopefully).
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