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MrNexx
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Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio
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 Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 2:19 pm Post subject: Disadvantages, Advantages, and Special Abilities |
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This is a transcription and conversion of the Disadvantages, Advantages, and Special abilities (DASA, because I am lazy) system from the d6 material (Space, Adventure, and Fantasy). It is still rough, so I invite you to put comments on the linked document and here, so problems can be discussed. Before you comment here, check the document; that will get updated.
For those not familiar with the d6 system DASA material, the rank of the DASA is expressed in Skill Dice... a Rank 3 Disadvantage adds 3 skill dice, a rank 5 Advantage or Special Ability costs 5 skill dice. Most abilities are between rank 1 and rank 3, and the rank is shown in as (Rx), where x = the rank. 4 points of Disadvantage can be turned into 1 die of attributes
There will be multiple posts; at least 3, and perhaps more if the character limit gets hit. I realize these are absurd walls of text.
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Last edited by MrNexx on Sat May 29, 2021 11:10 am; edited 2 times in total |
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MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio
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| Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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Disadvantages
Disadvantages provide one skill die per rank. A maximum of 10 dice of disadvantages is recommended.
| Quote: | Achilles’ Heel (R3)
The character has a particular serious weakness. It is not something that most other characters find especially dangerous or inconvenient, but the character suffers severe modifiers to difficulties or even damage when exposed to it. Some examples include:
Allergy: A reasonably common things that she cannot always avoid strongly affects the character. When exposed to the allergen, the character must generate a Moderate Strength or stamina total (as an action) or she takes 3D in damage. The character can resist the damage through applicable defenses, but she has to generate the stamina total as an action every round she is exposed to the allergen.
Cultural Allergy: The same as above, but there is some social situation that causes the character to freeze (exposure to nudity, the sight of police, etc.) and lose all Critical Success rerolls until the condition is gone.
Environmental Incompatibility: The character is sensitive to something in the environment: an extreme of temperature, the chemical content of rain water, a component of the atmosphere, or something similar. Exposure to this without the proper protection causes the character to take a -4 modifier to his damage resistance total or a +1 modifier to all difficulties (which increases by +1 per minute exposed) until the character is out of the harmful situation. Example: The high quantity of carbon monoxide produced by some combustion engines may poison a plant creature. When in the presence of these engines (for instance, when in a big city where these sorts of engines are used), the character must have an air filter on at all times.
Metabolic Difference: The character needs more life support (typically food) than “normal” and begins to take damage after hours of malnutrition. For food, the character eats the equivalent of twice as many meals per day as the average Human. For instance, the character must eat a meal every four hours or, every hour after the four are up, the character lose six Body Points or one Wound level, which cannot be recovered except by eating. As another example, three times per day, a different character may need to eat twice as much as a normal Human.
Nutritional Requirements: The character must ingest an element not commonly consumed by Humans (blood, dead Human flesh, etc.) to survive. Often, the character encounters prejudice because of this, and she certainly develops physical problems if she fails to consume this substance in a reasonable amount of time.
Rot: The character’s body is rotting. She periodically loses pieces of herself (such as fingers and toes) and must pause to fuse them back on (this is a simple action but takes a round to perform). The character suffers no damage from this, but it should inconvenience her. For instance, in combat, the character’s fingers might fall off, causing her to drop her weapon — this makes an excellent Critical Failure complication.
Vulnerability: A particular form of attack or interaction affects the character much more severely than other characters. For example, a character with a vulnerability to firearms might “freeze up” when he sees another character point a gun at him — making the other character +5 to hit him (most likely during the first round of combat only). Another character might automatically apply +10 to the difficulty of any attempts to resist another character’s con attempts. (The less likely the situation is to occur, the greater the difficulty modifier.)
Restrictions/Notes: The Achilles’ Heel should be very serious, but not “instant death” for the character. There should always exist some way to avoid it (not easily), or some chance that the character can counter it. The more likely it affects the character, the less it actually should do. It’s equally possible that the Achilles’ Heel imposes different modifiers under different circumstances.
Example: A character who has allergy to small airborne particles might and suffer +3 to the difficulty of all actions when in a dusty room or riding in a vehicle on a dirt track but +5 when in a desert. Or, the character might suffer 3D in damage every time he’s in a dusty place.
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| Quote: | Achilles’ Heel (R4)
The character’s weakness is even more severe than the Rank 3 version of this Disadvantage. Some examples include:
Allergy: The same rules apply as for Allergy, save that the character cannot perform any actions except running away while exposed to the allergen.
Cultural Allergy: The same rules apply as for Cultural Allergy (R3), save that not only does the character lose all Critical Success rerolls if exposed to the specified social situations, she also is at +1 to all difficulties.
Environmental Incompatibility: The modifier to the damage resistance total goes up, or the condition is more likely to occur, or the modifier increases each round.
Rot: The character loses major parts of his body periodically due to rotting (such as limbs) and must pause to replace them. Doing so requires no skill total but does take three rounds to perform. The trigger that causes this to take effect should occur no less frequently than a Critical Failure during combat and interaction rounds.
Symbiosis: The character is bound symbiotically to another, drawing strength or energy from her. Symbiosis can be either physical or mental. For every 100 meters by which one character is separated from the other, the character loses one pip (cumulative) to either their physical attributes (Dexterity, Mechanical, and Strength) or their mental attributes (Knowledge, Perception, or Technical). (Remember: three pips equal one die.) If the character’s symbiote is killed, the character loses 1D from the attributes affected until she can convince another character to willingly bond with her (the bonding process should be simple — like sharing blood — but willing participants must want it to
happen). For an extra rank in this Disadvantage, the character is bound both mentally and physically to another, and loses from both sets of attributes if separated. For the separation to equally affect the “host,” he must also have this version of the Achilles’ Heel Disadvantage.
Restrictions/Notes: Additional ranks of the Achilles’ Heel Disadvantage indicate even more deadly situations. See Achilles’ Heel (R3) for other notes |
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| Quote: | Advantage Flaw (R1)
This Disadvantage is linked to a particular Advantage or set of skills. Whenever the character uses it, there is some a chance for a negative modifier or roleplaying disadvantage. Here are some examples for certain Advantages:
Contacts: The Contact helps the character, but he is either “annoying” about it or a “hard bargainer.” Where a normal Contact would assist the character for an almost negligible fee, the Flawed Contact will haggle and nag until “rewarded.” Some reason should exist why the character would want to keep the contact happy.
Cultures: When the character gets hints or knowledge about a culture, he knows everything except some sort of critical piece of information. Or, if the character has the “sweeping knowledge” of lots of cultures, his interpretations sometimes are almost totally wrong (gamemaster option). In order to make this Flaw work, the character should not find out about the error until it would be “interesting.”
Equipment: In most cases, some sort of minor mechanical imperfection exists in the equipment that no normal means can fix. For equipment that requires a skill total, gamemasters could either add 3 to the difficulty of all actions using it, or, on a Critical Failure, the equipment won’t work or malfunctions. For equipment that wouldn’t normally require a skill total, occasional side effects could happen or maybe it requires a periodic Moderate skill check of some kind to keep operating.
Skills: If the character fails at the skill check with one of a set of three related skills, she can’t reroll Critical Successes either until the end of the scene or until she succeeds at the skill check.
Wealth or Funds: The character cannot access his wealth easily. Either it is tied up in red tape most of the time (especially if the character has most of the money invested), or he has to go somewhere to get it (such as having a fortune back on a distant planet), or someone else (reasonably friendly) has control over it and doesn’t always release it easily.
Restrictions/Notes: In general, at Rank 1, a flaw should not debilitate a character or take away his Advantage on a regular basis — but it should make it a little less of a sure thing. |
| Quote: | Advantage Flaw (R2)
This Disadvantage works in exactly the same manner as Advantage Flaw (R1), above, but with more serious results. If the Flaw came into play occasionally (like every time the character visited a desert), it now comes into play much more frequently (like when he is in any dry environment). If the Flaw made things a little more difficult, then the Flaw makes things a lot more difficult (the difficulty modifier doubles from the Rank 1 version).
Restrictions/Notes: Having circumstances that effectively take away the complete benefit of the Advantage is certainly within the bounds of Advantage Flaw (R2), and those circumstances can occur reasonably often (no more than during one quarter of a normal adventure, however). They will force the player to roleplay and to think about ways to get around the Flaw or to try other options, rather than just relying on a particular Advantage, Special Ability, or skill set.
Example: If a character has a set of skills with the Flaw that they only work at night — a Rank 2 Flaw if only about a quarter of the character’s normal adventuring occurs during the daytime — that would force the character to rely on other abilities and his wits during the daytime. The rules for Advantage Flaw (R2) are otherwise the same as Rank 1. |
| Quote: | Advantage Flaw (R3)
This rank takes on some of the characteristics of an Achilles’ Heel (R3), but more in direct relationship to an Advantage, an attribute, or a large set of skills. The rules for the flaw are the same as for Advantage Flaw (R2), but the effects are even more severe. Not only does the character lose the benefits of the Advantage or attribute (or undergoes a condition that essentially negates it), but he also suffers an additional Disadvantage.
Example: Your character has this Disadvantage attached to her Metaphysics attribute. Every time she uses her special mental abilities, she taps into the general mood of the people around her. If the people near the metaphysicist experience strong or negative emotions, the character gets a nasty headache, causing her to immediately lose the ability to use her mental powers and her player to be unable to reroll any Critical Successes until the end of the scene.
Example: A character has Equipment (R3) — a really powerful weapon. But, whenever
the character suffers a Critical Failure using the weapon, it not only runs out of ammo, but the character experiences some sort of feedback at a moderate damage total (maybe the weapon’s normal damage minus a specific amount). The character then has to recharge the weapon (either through the use of a Price Disadvantage or by waiting until a major break in the adventure’s action, most likely).
Some other examples:
Infection: Under certain circumstances, the character passes along select abilities and characteristics to another character. The character has an infection score of Strength +2D. (This is not a skill and players may not raise it except by taking additional ranks in this version of the Disadvantage.)
The gamemaster and the player should determine how the character spreads the infection. It could happen as the side effect of an attack, through physical contact, or through some other means. When the character performs the requisite action, he generates an infection total (which does not count as a separate action). The target generates a Strength or stamina total as well (which does not count as an action). If
the character’s infection total exceeds (not equal to) the target’s Strength or stamina total, the target is infected.
An infection passes certain Special Abilities and Disadvantages to the target (specified by the player and the gamemaster when the player gives the character this Disadvantage). It is possible for the infection to pass more ranks in Disadvantages on than Special Abilities, but is not possible for it to pass more ranks in Special Abilities than Disadvantages.
Keep in mind that the infected character may well hate the character responsible for his new state, so the infecting character may have gained an Enemy. In fact, there should exist some overwhelming reasons why this is actually bad for the infecting character — it is a Disadvantage, after all.
Gamemasters who do not feel that the Enemy Disadvantage is enough of a negative could also work in other sorts of Advantage Flaws as side effects of spreading the infection.
For an extra rank in the Advantage Flaw: Infection Disadvantage, the infection die code increases to Strength+4D. Also, the penalties for infecting another characters should be more severe — maybe the character infected then knows things about the infecting character that will give him an advantage over his enemy, or perhaps the infecting character temporarily loses abilities or attribute pips.
Minor Stigma: There is something that the character cannot do without performing the “proper rituals” before or after (a fighter whose cult must “purify” him after killing someone; a mentalist who cannot use Metaphysics without special equipment).
Stench: The character smells terrible due to one of his Advantages or just because he exists. Add 6 to the difficulty of all sneak attempts, as everyone can smell him coming. This also affects interaction attempts, giving them at least a +1 to the difficulty.
Restrictions/Notes: Advantage Flaw (R3) takes a powerful Advantage and turns it into a worse-than-useless Disadvantage for a comparatively brief period of time. A single Advantage can have more than one Advantage Flaw, and, if the character wants, several Flaws of various ranks can link to one Advantage. See other ranks of Advantage Flaw for more information and examples. |
| Quote: | Age (R1)
The character is a teenager or just past middle age. And, since this is a roleplaying game and not real life, he’ll stay that way. In general, characters who are “too young” often have to roleplay through episodes where they are not taken seriously, where they are ignored, and where they have less rights and control than older characters. Those who are “too old” get treated in much the same way — characters in their prime often defer to the character, but they also treat the character as if he were infirm or possibly senile.
Restrictions/Notes: In general, the gamemaster should try to treat the character as if he were “too old” or “too young” and have fun with it. Game mechanics are seldom required, as good roleplaying can make things work here, but if they become necessary, add 3 to the difficulty of intimidation and persuasion actions performed by the character that his age would bother (a young character trying to lead a group of experienced characters, or an older character trying to convince younger characters that he is “with it”). A character may only have one version of Age. |
| Quote: | Age (R2)
The Disadvantage is the same, only more so. Instead of being a teenager, the character is a preteen child. Instead of being just past middle age, the character is old. The roleplaying situations are basically the same, but the effects are more dramatic.
Restrictions/Notes: An old character receives +1 to the difficulty of physical actions — those that rely on Dexterity, Mechanical, and Strength — that require unusual exertion (running, jumping, fighting, etc.). A young character adds 1 to the difficulty of all mental actions — those that use Knowledge, Perception, or Technical — when attempting to
solve “adult” problems or interact with adults. Players should roleplay both versions true to type. Two Disadvantages suitable for association with this one include Reduced Attribute (especially for Age: Old) and Hindrance.
Characters may be “young” or “old” and not take this Disadvantage. Older characters in good shape have no problems jogging, lifting, fighting, or whatever, and young, intelligent people can often interact and think just as well — if not better — than adults. This Disadvantage addresses those characters, young and old, who can’t keep up as easily.
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| Quote: | Bad Luck (R2)
The character is exceptionally unlucky. This Disadvantage is under the gamemaster’s control most of the time. The easiest way to handle it is, whenever the player rolls a Critical Failure but something bad happens (in addition to taking away the highest die in the roll). The gamemaster can choose from not allowing the player to reroll Critical Successes until the end of the scene, the character losing an action during the next round, or invoking some sort of strange but not too terrible “bad luck effect.”
Example: A character with Bad Luck is running from a group of mercenaries that he’s been fighting for some time. He tries to jump across a reactor shaft when the player rolls a Critical Failure on the dice. Well, the character probably failed in the climb/jump attempt (so he falls), but, instead of being able to grab for a cable or a lower ledge, the character’s belt gets caught on a hook. Now, the character has to free himself before
the mercs come around the corner and blow him away.
Restrictions/Notes: A character may take Bad Luck (R2) if he already has the Good Luck or Great Luck Special Ability. The character might even, on occasion, use the benefits of the Good Luck or Great Luck Special Ability to get out of trouble or partially negate the effects of Bad Luck (R2) — that’s the way it works. Also, the gamemaster should remember that the character has Bad Luck (R2) — not the player. If the player gets into a consistent “streak” of rolling Critical Failures on the dice, then the gamemaster should start “skipping” the invocation of Bad Luck (R2) occasionally — more than three or four occurrences of Bad Luck (R2) during an adventure is a little much. |
| Quote: | Bad Luck (R3)
The rules for this Disadvantage are the same as for Bad Luck (R2). However, a Critical
Failure or a total equal to one more than the die code of the skill or attribute causes Bad
Luck (R2) to activate. (For example, if the character has 5D in a skill and rolls a total of
6 on the dice — which is one more than the die code in the skill — the Disadvantage comes into play.) The effects are exactly the same, only the gamemaster might make the setbacks more uncomfortable.
Restrictions/Notes: See Bad Luck (R2).
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| Quote: | Bad Luck (R4)
The same as Bad Luck (R2) and Bad Luck (R3), but the character suffers the effects on a Critical Failure or a total equal to or less than two more than the die code of the skill or attribute. (So, if the character with a skill of 5D rolls a 6 or 7, then the Disadvantage is activated.) The minimum effect is that the character loses her actions on the round and probably something disastrous happens.
Restrictions/Notes: See Bad Luck (R2) and Bad Luck (R3). Since Bad Luck (R4) can have such devastating effects, the gamemaster might want to overrule occurrences of it. For example, if, during a standard scene of an adventure, a character is trying to persuade a shopkeeper to sell him an item at a better price, he might roll a low total on the dice. The gamemaster could have something disastrous happen — the shopkeeper keels over with a heart attack just as the chief of police walks in and the character is suddenly suspected of murder — but does it serve any purpose in the adventure? Possibly, but if it doesn’t, save it until later. Then, when the character is at the climax of the adventure and he doesn’t roll a disastrously low total — but the gamemaster feels a “dose of bad luck” would improve the story — he can use that as an excuse. Players should understand that Bad Luck is arbitrary and will often occur at the worst possible moment. |
| Quote: | Burn-out (R1 or more)
Under a certain set of proscribed circumstances, the Advantage goes away — permanently. The player and the gamemaster should work out the circumstances, with the following criteria:
1. The Burn-out should have a chance of occurring about once or twice an adventure.
2. The Burn-out should be something the character can avoid — but she might not want to avoid it.
3. A logical reason for the Burn-out to occur should exist.
4. Both the player and the gamemaster operate under the knowledge that the Burn-
out will occur at some point.
Some examples of when a Burn-out could occur include:
> An opponent soundly defeats the character in an adventure or subjects him to a particular uncommon attack (and thus, for example, he loses the respect of his Contact or foster Culture).
> The character completes a particular mission of great importance (this would probably only happen after several adventures, but it is something the character wants to complete for some reason).
> A character’s Advantage is somehow negated (a Contact who has a good chance of being killed, a piece of Equipment that someone is trying to steal or destroy, etc.).
This Disadvantage is worth a number of ranks equal to one-half (rounded up) of the Advantage with which it’s associated.
Restrictions/Notes: Any Advantage could have the possibility of Burn-out. Just think of a logical (or, perhaps, supernatural) reason an Advantage would go away. There should exist a decent chance that it could go away, but the character should have some chance of avoiding that occurrence ... for a while. |
| Quote: | Cultural Unfamiliarity (R1)
The character is an outsider to the “mainstream” culture of the society he spends the most time in. The player should decide on the character’s native planet, which is somewhere with a different culture than the one he is normally in. Alternatively, he could be an android who hasn’t been programmed with all of the correct social skills. Bigots might get in the way of the character, and the character might not always “know” things
about the setting that natives would automatically understand.
Example: A character might be from a recognized and generally well-liked alien species but work on Human planets. Nonetheless, the character is from an alien culture and so might see some things differently.
Restrictions/Notes: At the worst, gamemasters can treat the Disadvantage like Prejudice (R1), but, most often, the character is just unfamiliar with aspects of the mainstream. Characters cannot usually take this Disadvantage more than once. Gamemasters may choose to disallow this Disadvantage if their campaigns have no single “mainstream” culture.
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| Quote: | Cultural Unfamiliarity (R2)
The character is of a culture almost totally different from the “main-stream” he operates in. The character should constantly make mistakes and social gaffs. All attempts at streetwise or similar “getting around town” skills should have +6 to the difficulty (at least). In addition, the character should probably have trouble with the native language (he could even take the Disadvantage Language Problems).
Restrictions/Notes: The rules are the same as for Cultural Unfa-
miliarity (R1). |
| Quote: | Cultural Unfamiliarity (R3)
The character is, in all respects, an alien. Whether he’s from another planet with a completely different culture or from some exotic and near-unimaginable locale, he just doesn’t fit in (socially, and, most likely, physically). Otherwise, this Disadvantage works exactly the same way as the other rank versions.
Restrictions/Notes: See Cultural Unfamiliarity (R1).
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| Quote: | Debt (R1)
The character owes money, or something else valuable, to someone. In most cases, some sort of lending institution or credit house exists, and the payments aren’t too arduous. The character just has a harder time getting credit and has to turn over a substantial amount of any profits he makes on an adventure to the lender.
Restrictions/Notes: Players should take this Disadvantage if they intend for their characters to live up to it. The character should have a reason he doesn’t want to default on the debt, which the player works out beforehand. Also, Debt (any rank) with Enemy (any rank) can be an interesting combination — maybe the character is in deep to a loan shark or a manipulative and unscrupulous lender.
A character may have this Disadvantage with the Advantage Wealth (any rank), as long as there is some reason it can’t be just paid off. A character with Wealth (R3) (phenomenal resources) might be stuck in a contract where he has to turn over the profits of any adventure to someone, for example — he still has his wealth, but he has to cough up all the little neat things and rewards he gets at the end of the adventure (or the character has to persuade the lender/contract holder to let him keep them).
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| Quote: | Debt (R2)
The character owes a lot of money (or something else valuable) to someone dangerous, or the results of owing this debt are dangerous. For example, the character could owe his life to a really strange old scientist, and, every time that person needs a favor (usually going off somewhere dangerous and doing something suicidal), the character
has to drop everything and go.
Restrictions/Notes: The rules are the same as for Debt (R1). |
| Quote: | Debt (R3)
The character owes almost everything to someone or something. In the case of worldly goods, the character must turn over nearly everything to the “lender” at the end of an adventure — the character must “borrow” these things back at the beginning of the next adventure. And it is up to the gamemaster what the “lender” gives back. In most cases, this means the character is either Employed or under some similar sort of restriction.
Example: Your character might belong to a particularly strict cult or religion. She has to tithe all worldly goods (or, at least, a large portion of worldly goods) to the cult after every adventure. If she does not, she would be cast out — a fate she would not enjoy — or even hunted and killed. At the beginning of each adventure, the character must beg and persuade whoever is in charge to let her have any goods she needs.
Restrictions/Notes: Debt (R3) is so wide-sweeping that players may not usually combine in it with the lower versions or link to individual Advantages unless the player and the gamemaster are particularly inventive. A character with Debt (R3) might “owe” the possession of a Rank 3 or Rank 4 Advantage to a particular source (a character might have received Equipment from a multiple-system-spanning megacorporation source) and have to pay some sort of tithe (a sacrifice, all the money the character obtains, etc.) to get the use of the Advantage.
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| Quote: | Devotion (R1)
The character feels compelled to take certain actions out of love, an honor code, or a perceived duty to something else. The character may, at times, do things he finds morally questionable in order to achieve a greater good. With Devotion (R1), the character’s beliefs do not come into play very often. |
| Quote: | Devotion (R2)
The character with the Devotion (R2) Disadvantage believes very strongly in something and will attempt to persuade others of the truth of his beliefs. His patriotism or loyalty to an ideal plays a role in his day-to-day life. |
| Quote: | Devotion (R3)
At this rank, the character’s belief in the cause motivates almost all
his actions. The character would willingly die for his belief. |
| Quote: | Employed (R1)
The character has a job. Maybe the job relates to what the character wants to do during adventures, or maybe not. Regardless, the character wants to keep her job (or has to, for some reason), and she must take responsibility for missing work and fulfilling her obligations.
Restrictions/Notes: The player and the gamemaster might have to work to roleplay this, but an occasional conflict should arise between what the character wants to do and what she has to do. The character might even have to keep some activities secret or lose her job. Some examples include special ops for a government or private organization, bodyguard, mercenary, reporter, writer, holo-vid maker, private investigator, bounty hunter, and police officer. The less freedom the character has in making decisions during the adventure and what she wants to do during her working hours (and perhaps even her spare time), the greater the rank in Employed. |
| Quote: | Employed (R2)
The character works for someone, or something, that pretty much runs his life. When he goes on adventures, he either has to go through lots of red tape to get permission, or it’s because he was assigned the mission. As a result, the character has little free will regarding what he does or how he does it, and he should come into conflict with his employer on occasion. Also, since the character is an employee, if he is on a mission,
he usually has to turn over his share of the loot for corporate disposal — he’ll get something out of it, certainly, but not a full share.
Restrictions/Notes: The rules are the same as for Employed (R1). Just make sure that “the job” is fairly inconvenient for the character, but there are reasons he doesn’t quit. Maybe he has the Wealth Advantage only so long as he has the Employed (R2) Disadvantage — that would be a good way of tying in the Disadvantage.
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| Quote: | Employed (R3)
The character is, essentially, a slave. This does not mean the character is poor or without means — just without free choice. The character does virtually everything because he must. For example, a character might be the head of a large corporation. But the only way things get done is for the character to do them or be there to oversee their getting done. Adventures only occur when they are in direct concordance with the interests of the “employer.” In all other ways, this Disadvantage is like its lower rank versions.
Restrictions/Notes: See Employed under the other ranks.
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| Quote: | Enemy (R1)
An individual or group has it in for the character. An Enemy who is a single person of power and influence no greater than the character might actually want the character dead. An Enemy (R1) of power and influence greater than the character simply wants to hassle the character for some reason. Maybe in the town the character operates, the law enforcement authorities have his name and picture on file — and they’ll use any excuse to run him in or hassle him because they think of him as a troublemaker. Or, perhaps, the character’s landlord throws everything out on the street if he’s one minute late with the rent, or the character’s boss always assigns him the most boring or most dangerous missions. The Enemy does not have to have a position in the character’s life — he can just be someone who, for some reason known to the gamemaster (and probably the player, but not always the character), has a grudge against the character.
Restrictions/Notes: There is no reason a player can’t use this Disadvantage similarly to an Advantage Flaw or as a complement to other Disadvantages or even Advantages. Maybe a character’s Contact is sweet and helpful (a secretary in the Pentagon who tells the character a little more about the mission he’s been assigned), but someone who influences the Contact is an Enemy (the secretary’s boss who has been trying to seduce the secretary and resents the fact that the secretary likes the character better) and sometimes makes it hard for the contact to help.
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| Quote: | | Enemy (R1) characters should either show up only occasionally (maybe once during an adventure), or they should be minor annoyances that can only be a real problem if the character doesn’t deal with them when they show up. Multiple Enemies of various ranks can be selected (just don’t go overboard). |
| Quote: | Enemy (R2)
The rules are the same as for Enemy (R1), only the character is more powerful, more annoying, and/or more a part of the character’s life.
Restrictions/Notes: It should be mentioned that killing the Enemy or running away should not get rid of the Disadvantage — at least not easily. At the very least, the character should have to go though a few adventures to “remove” the Enemy from his life. Usually, the character has to deal with the Enemy for quite a long time. Multiple Enemies can, of course, be selected. |
| Quote: | Enemy (R3)
Again, the rules are the same as for Enemy (R1) and Enemy (R2). Most likely, a group of people or a very powerful person hounds the character, wishing to kill or otherwise remove the character from the game setting. They often hurt people she knows and do vile deeds just because the character won’t like them. The Enemy (R3) should get involved in, directly or indirectly, most adventures the character goes on. Just about everything bad that happens to the character would please the Enemy — and he is probably responsible for a lot of them.
Restrictions/Notes: Enemy (R3) is a very powerful, and very important, Disadvantage. Many beginning gamemasters might not want to go to the trouble of creating and constantly maintaining a villain or group of villains relating to the character — but others will enjoy it. Talk to your gamemaster about this option before you select it. |
| Quote: | Hindrance (R1 or more)
The character has a minor physical or mental handicap that makes certain actions more difficult. The Hindrance could be a permanent physical injury, a particular mental block regarding certain types of activities, a limitation innate to the character’s species, or the result of age. The player and the gamemaster should work out some sort of affliction and then choose a group of related skills that get difficulty modifiers totaling +3. Some examples of sets of three skills getting a +1 modifier to the difficulty of each include:
Bad Knee: acrobatics, climb/jump, running
Rude: bargain, con, persuasion
Trick Shoulder: climb/jump, melee combat, throwing
Uncoordinated: acrobatics, melee combat, sleight of hand
Unobservant: investigation, languages, search
The players may use this Disadvantage to restrict one form of their characters’ movement. A two-meter reduction in one form of movement (running, swimming, jumping, or climbing) is equivalent to a +1 difficulty modifier, so a player could take a small movement restriction along with difficulty modifiers to skills. The minimum movement rate for a character is one meter.
Characters with a native environment requiring an alternative means of movement other than walking (such as swimming or burrowing) may take one rank of Hindrance: Atypical Move to represent the inability to walk or jump. Instead, the character uses his base Move to represent his base swimming or burrowing Move. Thus, a water-dwelling
character without legs and with this type of Hindrance would have a swimming Move of 10 (instead of 5), could not walk, and would be limited in the kind of jumping he could perform.
Players who wish to reduce their characters’ damage resistance total (to represent delicate physical natures) may take a -1 modifier to that total for each rank in this Disadvantage.
Restrictions/Notes: Players may use specializations — with gamemaster approval. Three specializations that the gamemaster thinks the player might have to use reasonably often (like investigation: find clues or firearms: energy weapons) could substitute for one general skill. Hindrance (R1) can be selected several times, as long as the gamemaster thinks it appropriate. Since it is very much the counterpart to the Skill Bonus Special Ability, additional restrictions and notes can be related to the ones found there.
Each additional rank in Hindrance increases the total difficulty modifier by +3, which may affect the few skills in a Rank 1 group or can increase the number of skills covered by the Hindrance. |
| Quote: | Illiterate (R1)
A character can be considered Illiterate for one of two reasons. The first is simply due to her inability to read. The other reason is if she did not speak the local language (an immigrant arriving in a new country or an explorer among natives, etc.). She may be an extremely intelligent and well-read person, but she has difficulty exhibiting that in her new country. She receives a +6 difficulty modifier in addition to any other modifiers when attempting to read or write anything. |
| Quote: | Infamy (R1)
The character is about as well known as a character with Fame (R1), but for different reasons. The odds of being recognized are the same as for Fame (R1), but the reaction is quite different. The character experiences hostility, prejudice, and intentional slights — in game mechanic terms, the character should have the difficulty of all interactions increased by at least +3.
Restrictions/Notes: There is a reason for this negative attention. Either the character did something, is accused of having done something, or is suspected of having done something not particularly pleasant, or the character has, through other strange circumstances, earned a “bad rep.” Sometimes, this Infamy will help the character — but it shouldn’t help too much. If the character has a combination of Fame and Infamy (by selecting both options), then maybe he’s earned a reputation like Wyatt Earp or Jesse James in the Old Terran Old West — certain people would look up to him or respect him, and there would be definite fear there most of the time, but there would also be a lot of people who would enjoy seeing the person leave or die. Of course, Infamy (R1) should be something minor — maybe the character is a former criminal, or he did something questionable in the past and was cleared. People are not overtly hostile, but they are unfriendly when they recognize him. Several ranks of Infamy can only be selected if the character is infamous for multiple reasons — but the effects should be cumulative, and this can only be done if the gamemaster thinks it is appropriate. A character with Infamy (R3) would hardly have to worry about Infamy (R1) in most cases, so it would not be a proper combination. |
| Quote: | Infamy (R2)
The character is, most likely, wanted for a crime of a fairly serious nature, or he did something (or is thought to have done something) in the past that makes him hated and reviled by most people. The rules are essentially the same as for Infamy (R1) and the recognition chances are similar to Fame (R2), but the modifier to interactions usually should be at least +6.
Restrictions/Notes: As stated under Infamy (R1), unless combined with Fame, this Disadvantage only allows for the negative aspects of notoriety. A character who has Infamy (R2) would be considered by nearly everyone (but not everyone) to be “scum” and someone who “deserves no better than he gets.” When combined with an equal or higher rank of Fame, there is often that “fear and respect” option — many characters will still try to betray or hurt the character in some way, but most won’t be that open about it.
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| Quote: | Infamy (R3)
The character has trouble going out in public because a lot of people hate her to the point of violence. Chances are good that, if she fails an interaction (with a +9 to the difficulty), the other person will drive her away. The player could select Enemy (R1) in addition to this Disadvantage to reflect those hunting her. However, the character could use disguises and avoid populated areas. Most likely, the character has to move around until she can “live down” her infamy (if ever) or until she dies.
Restrictions/Notes: See Infamy (R1) and Infamy (R2).
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| Quote: | Language Problems (R2)
The character does not understand the language of the area she spends most of her
time in. She must learn skill pips in the specialization languages: (local language). She also receives a +6 difficulty modifier in addition to any other modifiers for what she’s attempting to convey or understand.
Restrictions/Notes: The character cannot begin the game with more than one pip in languages: (local language), but she may improve the skill at +2 to the cost. However, the character should speak another language in the game setting fluently. |
| Quote: | Learning Problems (R1 or more)
When the character attempts to learn a new skill, or improve an old one, he does so at +2 per rank to the Character Point cost. Alternatively, the character can only learn or improve a skill if she attempts it and fails. A character should have to fail with a single skill at least three times per adventure before being allowed to learn or improve the skill.
This Disadvantage is associated with a single attribute, and it applies to specializations. There should be some sort of reason for this in the character’s background, such as a difficulty reading or a lack of education.
Restrictions/Notes: This is the counterpart to the Quick Study Special Ability, and it should be treated in much the same way. This Disadvantage can be taken multiple times, either for the same attribute (with a cumulative increase in skill cost) or for different attributes. |
| Quote: | Poverty (R1)
Since characters who adventure tend to accumulate wealth, this Disadvantage is only available at Rank 1. The character begins the game with the shirt on his back and, maybe, a few pieces of cheap and substandard equipment. The character should also have the attitude of someone who is “poor,” whatever that might be in the game setting. If using Funds as an attribute, this Disadvantage subtracts 10 from relevant totals.
Restrictions/Notes: As an excellent combination, this Disadvantage could be selected with Debt or Price to make the situation more realistic. Poverty can only be selected once. |
| Quote: | Prejudice (R1)
The character is of a minority group — or maybe it is just the character himself — that is subject to prejudice and discrimination. The character receives modifiers (from +2 to +4) to difficulties during normal interaction with characters not of the minority group, and is generally treated unfairly by society. The group the character belongs to, or the reason he is discriminated against, should be identified when the character gets this Disadvantage, and the player should know how he can expect to be treated in most cases.
Restrictions/Notes: The gamemaster has to be careful with this one. Roleplaying prejudice is not often something players want to get into. When used in a setting where there are many different sapient species, however, it can be quite interesting — especially if there are several characters in the group who are prejudiced against.
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| Quote: | Prejudice (R2)
The minority group the character belongs to is oppressed. The character experiences disparity virtually every day. While other characters of the same minority group may not actually experience this prejudice (that is, they didn’t select this option), it is probably because they aren’t in positions where this discrimination can be easily practiced.
Restrictions/Notes: The character often experiences discrimination, and most interactions are performed at a +3 to +6 to the difficulty. This prejudice should be roleplayed at every opportunity. However, gamemasters and players should only use this Disadvantage when both sides are comfortable with using it in a pretend situation (see Prejudice (R1) for more information). |
| Quote: | Price (R1)
This is a Disadvantage similar to Advantage Flaw. But, instead of there being something wrong with the character’s Advantage or a set of three related skills, there is a “price tag” attached. Every time the character wants to use the ability, he has to pay a Price at least a few times during the adventure to continue using the ability. The Price might be an actual fee — and a significant one at that. If the fee isn’t paid, the Advantage goes away until the price can be paid.
But this won’t work for many Advantages (at least not in an interesting manner), so there are other ways to do it. Most likely, the Price will be a roleplaying effect. Maybe every time a Contact does a favor for a character, he not only demands the normal, negotiated recompense (if any), but the character must do a favor of equal importance for the character. Or, whenever a piece of Equipment is used, parts of it need replacing or servicing by a specialist (who may charge a high fee or ask a favor), most likely after the adventure.
One more suggestion for Price (R1) would be that the character has to pay one Fate Point or three Character Points at the end of an adventure where the Advantage or skills were relied upon, to “pay for” the usage. This reflects the fact that the use of the Advantage or skills take something out of the character when they are accessed.
Restrictions/Notes: The Price should be fairly easy to meet, but it should take some work. At this rank, it should be something that the character can roleplay along with an adventure or resolve between short adventures or parts of longer adventures (like paying off the recipient of the Price). However, if the character does not pay the Price, the Advantage does go away — and, if (in the gamemaster’s opinion) the character does this too often, both the Advantage and the Price should go away permanently. Price can be taken often at various ranks, and the same Price can be linked to more than one Advantage — though, unless the Price is actually double (the character has to pay the same price twice as often), it only counts as one Disadvantage. |
| Quote: | Price (R2)
The Price for using a particular Advantage, or group of Advantages or set of three related skills, is much higher than mentioned in Rank 1, but the rules are the same. Contacts will be extremely hard to pay off or do favors for — maybe an entire short adventure has to be devoted to paying back a contact who helped out.
Optionally, paying two Fate Points or six Character Points at the end of an adventure where the Advantage was used is a quick way of paying the price.
Restrictions/Notes: See Price (R1) for more information. |
| Quote: | Quirk (R1)
The character suffers from a personality quirk that makes certain types of roleplaying and interaction more difficult. This Quirk could simply be a habit or a mannerism that has gone too far, or it could be a minor psychological problem. Some examples include:
Dependency: The character has a slight dependency on a substance or even a roleplaying event. The character might be a pack-a-day smoker who, if he doesn’t get a cigarette at least once every few hours of game time, gets irritable and loses Critical Success rerolls during interactions. Or maybe the character always has to have the last word in any situation and will often beat an argument into the ground rather than “lose.”
Kleptomania: When in a store or surrounded by small, portable items, the character will occasionally try to “lift” something. When possessed by his Quirk (see rules below), the character suffers +3 to the difficulty of sleight of hand or related attempts at theft because he really doesn’t know he’s doing it.
Indecision: The character does not like making decisions and will delay making them. When roleplaying, the character should actively participate in group discussions, but he should be wishy-washy and indecisive at critical moments.
Stutter: When under pressure, relaxed, nervous (such as failing a skill roll), or some other fairly common “mood” hits the character, he stutters. The upshot is the character suffers +3 to the difficulty of any interaction at this time, and the player should roleplay having a hard time getting his ideas across to the other players. This lasts until the player rolls a Critical Success.
Restrictions/Notes: Good roleplayers will have fun with these, and other, Quirks that they come up with. Indeed, this Disadvantage is often more fun to play than many Advantages — but the gamemaster should make certain it is being roleplayed. Whenever the gamemaster thinks it appropriate, he should make the player generate a willpower or Knowledge total against a base Moderate difficulty to “indulge” in his Quirk automatically (that is, “suffer” for it). The negative effects of the Quirk immediately come into play. Also, if the character repeatedly makes this roll, resisting the impulses of the Quirk, the gamemaster should start modifying the difficulty upwards until the character fails. Multiple Quirks can be selected.
Quirks may offer variable difficulty modifiers depending on the circumstances. The more likely that the Quirk affects the character, the less it actually should do in each situation.
Example: A character who has a fear of water might might “panic” and suffer +3 to the difficulty of all actions when exposed to a large body of water, +5 when in it, and +3 when wet.
Additional Note: Some players may choose to have their characters roleplay Quirks they already have or might like to play. Sometimes this works; sometimes it doesn’t. It can be hysterical to have a player “steal” dice out from under another player’s nose (symbolizing the fact that the character is taking necessary items away from the other player’s character) as long as things don’t go too far — that is, when people start getting upset. However, players who are “indecisive” should not play characters who are indecisive — since they would be anyway. This is too much like getting a Disadvantage for nothing. |
| Quote: | Quirk (R2)
The rules for Quirk (R2) are the same as for Quirk (R1), only the chance of occurrence is much greater and the effects are larger.
Dependency: The character needs to fulfill his dependency much more often (once a scene, perhaps). The character also experiences one automatic Critical Failure per scene that he doesn’t (a smoker might have a coughing fit in the middle of a tense negotiation or during a sneak attempt, for example).
Secret: There’s something about the character that she needs to hide. If it were discovered, it would put her friends, family, and even her own life at risk. This could be a civilian identity (if she has a heroic alter ego) or a skeleton in the closet.
Restrictions/Notes: The difficulty of resisting the “impulse” is now Difficult, but all other rules are the same as under Quirk (R1). |
| Quote: | Quirk (R3)
These “personality quirks” are much more serious. The character might be a junkie, a psychotic with a certain type of behavior, or has a severe phobia (he’s deathly afraid of something). Some examples:
Dependency: The character is a junkie, always after a “fix.” The “fix” might be an illegal substance, or a perfectly normal one, or even a type of roleplaying interaction (maybe the character has to try to come as close to dying as he can).
Paranoid: The character trusts no one. He receives a +6 to the bonus number when trying to resist con attempts, but he also receives this “bonus” when trying to be persuaded — and he must be persuaded before he’ll help even his closest friends. “Everyone is out to get him.”
Phobic: The character is deathly afraid of something. It could be heights, open spaces, spiders, or another person (such as an authority figure or one with whom he has frightening memories). Unless the character makes his willpower roll (below), she dissolves into terror and may take no actions other than hiding or running away until away from the object of fear.
Vengeful: The character cannot stand to “lose” or be “wronged.” If the character perceives herself as looking foolish (or whatever), she will go to great lengths to get even (in reality, the character probably takes it too far).
Restrictions/Notes: The character has to make a Very Difficult Knowledge or willpower roll to overcome the Quirk — at the least. If, in the gamemaster’s judgment, there is a reason the character should have modifiers to the difficulty, then he will. Players who don’t want to play a character that can frequently lose control should avoid this option. Other rules are the same as under Quirk (R1) The gamemaster may allow higher versions of this Disadvantage, with larger modifiers and an increase of +5 per rank to the willpower difficulty. |
| Quote: | Reduced Attribute (R2)
Something about the character’s species, age, physical condition, or some other factor has permanently reduced one attribute by one pip per rank. The character may not reduce the attribute die code below 1D, and the attribute die code may never be increased by spending Character Points (though gaining a Special Ability would help).
Restrictions/Notes: With the exception of permanently restricting access to an Extra-normal attribute, a player may not give a character this Disadvantage at character creation. Only one rank may be taken with an Extranormal attribute of 0D, and the character’s species must be required to take at least 1D in the affected attribute. Characters who have this Disadvantage on an Extranormal attribute before having any die code in that attribute may never take that Extranormal attribute. The reduction in die code increases by one pip for each additional rank taken in this Disadvantage. (Remember that three pips equal one die.) The character may have different variations on this Disadvantage for each attribute, including Extranormal attributes, such as Metaphysics. |
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Last edited by MrNexx on Fri May 28, 2021 5:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio
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| Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 2:22 pm Post subject: |
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Advantages
| Quote: | Authority (R1)
The level of the Advantage is based on the character’s rank, duties, and power in his local jurisdiction. An Authority (R1) Advantage might belong to someone who, because of circumstance, does not have a lot of opportunity to use his authority or someone who is very low in rank. Law Enforcement is one version of this Advantage that gives adventurers some measure of abilities associated with being a deputized agent of the law. Authority: Law Enforcement (R1) means the character can carry a firearm and has limited authority to enforce the law. Private investigators, bounty hunters, and bail bondsmen would need this Advantage.
Restrictions/Notes: It is not necessary to have the Authority: Law Enforcement Advantage to own a firearm in those countries that allow ordinary citizens to own them. However, if owning a gun is illegal in a country and limited to deputized officials, then this version of the Advantage would be necessary. Remember, too, that outside of the character’s jurisdiction or permit limits, this Advantage may have little or no value. |
| Quote: | Authority (R2)
Same as Authority (R1), but the character has more influence, possibly commanding a small number of troops or being in charge of a small company or town. With Authority: Law Enforcement (R2), the character is actually a police officer and is allowed to make full arrests and reasonable search and seizures.
Restrictions/Notes: See Authority (R1) for more information. |
| Quote: | Authority (R3)
Same as Authority (R1), except that the character has a great deal of power and influence. The head of a large company or someone whose authority is simply never questioned would have this Advantage. With Authority: Law Enforcement (R3), the character is a federal agent and have authority over local police for the purpose of
Investigations.
Restrictions/Notes: Higher levels of Authority indicate a wider sphere of influence, such as multiple countries or time. Otherwise, see Authority (R1) for more information. |
| Quote: | Contacts (R1)
The character “knows somebody” or a group of somebodies who will generally help out the character if he makes a decent appeal or sufficiently compensates the contact. This level of contact only sticks around for a limited amount of time (part of an adventure or maybe throughout a short adventure).
The character might know a “group” with a wider range of influence (but less power) that will help out, again, for a modest fee or under the right circumstances. The influence might not be as direct, but it is easier to come by. For example, there might be clubs or organizations that will provide certain services for travellers — maps, hotel reservations, emergency transportation, and so on — for a small membership fee. You have to call them or go to their offices, and they won’t do much about that maniac with the gun who is chasing you, but they can be of immense help under the right circumstances.
Restrictions/Notes: Contacts should not automatically help the character, but they should be reasonable in their negotiations. Multiple contacts of various ranks may be selected and they may be stacked. For example, a certain person might be a Contact (R1) in most circumstances, but he could be a Contact (R2) or even a Contact (R3) in the right place — for example, a mercenary might help out for a fee versus normal foes, but when fighting his “hereditary enemies,” he might be almost invincible and eager to help.
Remember that contacts are gamemaster characters. They should be created and played rationally. If a player refuses to roleplay or takes advantage of contacts, he should be penalized when trying to use them (and possibly lose them). There should also be a reason in the character’s story why he has these contacts.
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| Quote: | Contacts (R2)
This Advantage is identical to Contacts (R1), except the contact is more powerful, more influential, easier to get hold of, willing to do more favors, or affects the game on a larger scale. If the contact is supposed to be a large group, it now has much greater influence over a wider area. In the real-world example, instead of having the auto club as a contact, the character might have a government agency there to help him out
Occasionally.
Restrictions/Notes: Under no circumstances should any contact, regardless of rank number, make roleplaying and thinking superfluous. Contacts are totally under the control of the gamemaster and, even powerful and influential contacts from this rank should be kept under a tight rein. See Contacts (R1) for more information. |
| Quote: | Contacts (R3)
The contact or contacts chosen should be nearly supernormal, supernatural, or uncanny in origin. For example, in a pulp fiction setting, a character’s Contact (R3) might be an “adventurer’s guild” with globe-trotting members and representatives who all have their own unusual abilities — and who can turn up at the oddest moments.
Work with the gamemaster to come up with some interesting contacts. It might be a mystical force that “protects” the character under certain circumstances, or a group of psionic monks who can be called upon for “mental aid” — or maybe a really complete occult library.
Restrictions/Notes: Again, as with Contacts (R1) and (R2), don’t let the contacts take over the game — and don’t let the player’s character abuse them. Contacts are gamemaster controlled, but they will usually only be brought into play at the character’s request.
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| Quote: | Contacts (R4)
There is some sort of strange “force” that “watches over” and occasionally helps the character. In many ways, this Advantage is not as useful in most adventure situations as the other versions of Contacts, but it can have dramatic effects on occasion. Some examples of this include a particularly powerful gamemaster character who will step in occasionally to help the character when he’s in trouble. Or, a large governmental agency might, for some reason, want to step in and aid the character at times.
Generally, the character can get minor assistance (as could be gotten from Contacts (R1) or Contacts (R2)) on a fairly regular basis — and under the same sort of circumstances as having lower versions of Contacts — but “the big stuff” only happens when the gamemaster thinks it appropriate. The character might get killed before the Contacts (R4) intervenes — maybe the character just wasn’t doing something the contact felt was important to it — but, most likely, assistance will be provided.
Restrictions/Notes: Players’ characters should take this option only if they want to take Disadvantages relating to it. For example, if a character in a pulp fiction campaign wants to have a group of super-scientists who like him and will supply him with substantial aid on a regular basis (like a spy who gets outfitted with new gizmos at the beginning of every adventure and who can call for more during certain times in the adventure), then he should take Disadvantages that relate to that. The character could be a member of an organization (see the Disadvantage Employed), or he must do reciprocating favors for the super-scientists (see the Disadvantage Price), or there are equally powerful people who want to eliminate him because of his contacts (see the Disadvantage Enemy). If the character does not want to take extensive Disadvantages relating to the contact, then Contacts (R4) should be unpredictable and not always useful. For example, the super-scientists might provide the character with plenty of extraordinary equipment, but it might not always be what the character needs or might not work correctly all of the time. |
| Quote: | Cultures (R1)
This is another Advantage that can be utilized in more than one way. The first way is the simplest. The character has knowledge of a particular (usually unusual) culture that he can use to his benefit when among people of that culture. This acts both as a knowledge (scholar) type skill and as a bonus (usually +1) to interaction in that culture.
Example: A character in a pulp fiction game setting might have Cultures (R1) pertaining to a certain Amazonian tribe. When the character goes on an adventure in the Amazon, chances are good he will get help from that tribe in his activities instead of being attacked as a stranger or trespasser and ending up with his head on a pike.
The second way Cultures (R1) can be used is a little more wide-sweeping. The character has a knack for drawing parallels between unknown/unusual and known cultures. For example, the character might be able to figure out why certain religious taboos exist in a society she’s just met. These should just be bursts of culture-related intuition that the gamemaster supplies occasionally — the player can only remind the gamemaster her character has this ability and hope the gamemaster feels the situation is appropriate.
Restrictions/Notes: A character with Cultures (R1) has about the level of knowledge of a frequent tourist — no more. Unless the character has skills like streetwise, languages, and other supporting skills, he acts as if he has visited the culture and learned a decent amount about their ways, but he is definitely an outsider. This Advantage may be taken
more than once for different cultures.
In the second example, the character has absolutely no control over her ability and only gains very limited insights — though sometimes at critical moments. The character cannot “call upon” this knowledge. This version of the Advantage may not be taken more than once, but it may be combined with the other type of Cultures at any rank. In both cases, the character’s background must reflect the “special insight” he has into the culture or cultural trends.
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| Quote: | Cultures (R2)
This option can be used pretty much like Cultures (R1), only on a larger scale. Instead of choosing a small, unusual culture, the character might choose an “alien” culture (one totally different from his own) and gain an understanding of it comparable to the understanding in Cultures (R1). Or, he could choose to learn more about a relatively small cultural group (to the point where the character would be accepted as one who has spent a lot of time with the people). The last option, the sweeping cultural understanding, would also be much more in-depth. The character would be able to call on cultural parallels much more often and the gamemaster should give more information.
Restrictions/Notes: The same as for Cultures (R1), but the character has about the level of knowledge of an outsider who has lived in the culture for a while. Either that, or he would get more useful information on alien cultures or “sweeping” cultural examinations. |
| Quote: | Cultures (R3)
The character is either a native of an unusual culture or has the knowledge and the respect as if she were one. A person who has lived a significant portion of her life in a culture and has that sort of understanding of it would have Cultures (R3) — only the character is actually a part of the game setting’s dominant culture as well. If an alien culture can be, and is, selected, then the character has an extreme familiarity with it. Alternatively, the character might be something of a cultural anthropologist — the character can observe a particular culture for a brief time and have a very good (gamemaster-controlled) chance of understanding the culture on a respectable level.
Restrictions/Notes: As with Cultures (R1) and (R2), the character must choose what sort of cultural familiarity to have. Also, there must be a compelling reason the character has this familiarity or understanding. Finally, if the character chooses to be a “native” of a particular culture, she should probably have to learn language: (the culture’s major language) at least +1D. |
| Quote: | Cultures (R4)
This selection should be taken only if the game setting employs the use of alien cultures (those not totally understood by the dominant culture). The character understands the alien culture and can interact within it — he is still an alien to it, but he is treated better than any other outsider (most likely).
Example: In a game setting where “aliens live among us,” the character is a Human member of a secret society that keeps the aliens hidden. But, because of something in his background history, he can interact with certain types of aliens and he can understand their ways. This doesn’t mean he’s friends with them, but he has a better chance of interacting with them, figuring them out, and outsmarting their “alien logic” than other characters.
Restrictions/Notes: The character should have related Disadvantages, and there has to be some extensive background description telling why the character has this Advantage. Otherwise, see the other entries regarding Cultures. |
| Quote: | Equipment (R1)
The character gains a piece of equipment he would not normally have because it is too expensive or “unavailable,” but only if it is allowable under the game setting. For instance, in a real world game setting, a character could start the game with a .45 automatic pistol, but not an M16 assault rifle — the latter is generally unavailable for civilian use and even characters with military backgrounds have to take the Equipment
(R2) Advantage to get it. Alternatively, the character could take lots of little pieces of equipment instead — more than what the gamemaster would normally allow. Basically,
equipment totaling in cost not more than about US$1,000 (or a price difficulty of Moderate) would fit in this category.
Restrictions/Notes: Typically, as long as the character is not careless with it, Equipment taken with any rank of this Advantage is replaceable, unless the Burn-out Disadvantage is included with it. Equipment (R1) may be selected more than once or in combination with higher ranks of the Equipment Advantage with gamemaster approval. |
| Quote: | Equipment (R2)
The character gains a piece of equipment that would be very hard to get because of expense or availability. Standard military weapons that are usually out of reach of the normal citizen are available. In addition, equipment totaling in cost not more than several thousand U.S. dollars (or a price difficulty of Difficult) would probably be okay. In game settings that have magical or super-science equipment, objects of fairly low power would probably be obtained using this Advantage.
Restrictions/Notes: See Equipment (R1) for more information. Equipment (R2) may be selected more than once or in combination with higher ranks of the Equipment Advantage with gamemaster approval. |
| Quote: | Equipment (R3)
Items of equipment that are normally unavailable to just about anyone can be picked up using this Advantage. Any one item on any equipment chart can be selected, or the gamemaster can make up a “special” item that has unusual effects or Special Abilities. Or they can just be really expensive or virtually unavailable items. Equipment totaling a few tens of thousands of dollars (or a price difficulty of Heroic) falls under this category.
Restrictions/Notes: The gamemaster should watch this Advantage carefully. It can only be selected once at character creation — though the Rank 1 and Rank 2 versions can also be selected — but it can still unbalance a beginning character. Generally, things that can be taken away fairly easily — like magic wands and swords, military hardware,
super-science gadgets, low-powered miraculous artifacts, and other related equipment — would be suitably appropriate for characters with minimal experience.
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| Quote: | Equipment (R4)
Really bizarre and, most likely, powerful equipment is open to the character — but only one such piece or a collection of small, related pieces. Most likely, no one else can use
the equipment without making some sort of exhaustive skill total, and it can probably not be repaired or duplicated. “Special effects” equipment fits into this category.
The equipment could be a weapon more powerful than most personal weapons in the game setting. Or it could be a magical spell that could not normally be used by the character or anyone else in the world at its relatively low difficulty. Or it could be a collection of gadgets and gizmos that can perform many different mundane tasks — but how, nobody knows.
Restrictions/Notes: The character should have Disadvantages related to the equipment. Maybe Enemies want to steal it, or it has an Advantage Flaw so it doesn’t work all the time — or the same way every time. In addition, the equipment should not make the character so powerful that opponents fall before him. In game mechanic terms, the equipment should be a just slightly more powerful or more useful item than what is available normally. The more powerful the item, the more Disadvantages and restrictions should be related to it.
Example: A character might choose an average gun and increase the damage score by a modest two points, but make it so it never has to be reloaded.
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| Quote: | Fame (R1)
The character, for some reason, is fairly well known. The extent of the character’s fame should be determined by the game setting. In a global game setting (such as pulp fiction or real world), the character has moderate recognition value in a particular region. In a smaller game setting (like post-nuclear war settings), the character might have more dense penetration of recognition, but with less wide-sweeping effects (for instance, everyone in town knows who they are, but no one from more than a few days travel away has ever heard of them).
Whenever the gamemaster or the player thinks the character might be recognized (and the Fame Advantage would come into play), the gamemaster should roll 3D. If the result is 15 or higher, the character is recognized. Otherwise, he will have to do something “special” to be recognized (and gain the benefits of recognition). If a character with Fame (R1) is recognized, he should gain small perks, like being seated in a restaurant early, avoiding small legal hassles (like routine customs checks), or just be treated generally better (perhaps the character gets a couple of bonus points to persua-
sion, con, and charm attempts). Like most roleplayed Advantages, the gamemaster should decide on the results.
Restrictions/Notes: Fame may be chosen multiple times as long as the player defines how each Fame is different. For example, a character might have Fame (R1) in regards to his fighting abilities, but another type of Fame pertaining to his intelligence or some other ability. |
| Quote: | Fame (R2)
The character is very well known. On a global setting, the character would probably be recognized in most fairly civilized cultures and almost definitely in her home culture. The gamemaster should roll 3D and, on a 15 or higher, a person from another culture will recognize the person and react (usually favorably). In the character’s own culture, this reaction comes on an 8 or more. If the character draws attention to herself in her own
culture (identifies herself), then the reaction will most likely be automatic (gamemaster’s option).
Restrictions/Notes: At this level of fame, the character should be treated like a famous author, an occasional movie or television star, or a reasonably recognizable sports figure (in a real world setting). Some gamemaster characters will be immune to this fame, but most will have some sort of (generally positive) reaction. Otherwise, see Fame (R1) for more information. |
| Quote: | Fame (R3)
There is a pretty good chance anyone in the game setting (unless it is a multi-world setting) will recognize the character (or what the character is) fairly easily. The base die total needed is 8, and it can be modified by circumstance. The character has the status of a movie star, a famous politician, or a top-ranked sports hero.
Restrictions/Notes: They are the same as for Fame (R1) and Fame (R2) — certain people just won’t be impressed. In addition, characters with Fame (R3) should almost always have to take the Disadvantage Infamy at least Rank 1 — no matter how nice, talented, or generally well-liked a person is, there’s always somebody out there who wishes them harm. |
| Quote: | Patron (R1)
The odds are that most players’ characters are not independently wealthy. But they might have access to wealth in the form of patrons. If the characters are treasure hunters, patrons might include museums, universities, private philanthropists, newspapers, or even retired adventurers.
Patron (R1) means the character has a backer who will fund one expedition, with all proceeds going to the patron. All of the costs (room, board, travel, expenses) are covered by the patron, with the understanding that the player’s character is basically just a worker-for-hire. Anything that the adventurer discovers or purchases becomes the
property of the patron. |
| Quote: | Patron (R2)
A Patron (R2) expects much less from those he backs. The character may receive less financial support, but will have greater freedomof action. A newspaper publisher looking for hot stories is a common example of an organization qualifying for Patron (R2). They cover a character’s travel expenses and any legal fees in exchange for inspiring stories.
Anything that the character finds on his own (like artifacts) remain his own.
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| Quote: | Patron (R3)
A Patron (R3) will give a character a limited stipend and cover most expenses, then offer to purchase whatever the character recovers. Without consistent results, the funding will be cut off. |
| Quote: | Size (R1 or more)
The character is much larger or smaller than the average Human. For every rank in this Advantage, the player receives +3 to his character’s scale modifier (which starts at zero). The player must specify whether the character is bigger or littler than the average Human.
Restrictions/Notes: Generally, the character’s weight is proportional for his height, but a Disadvantage, such as Hindrance: Reduced Toughness, or a Special Ability, such as Hardiness, could be used to represent a very thin or very large character (respectively). Likewise, to reflect a longer stride, the character should have the Hypermovement Special Ability, while a shorter stride would get the Hindrance: Shorter Stride Disadvantage.
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| Quote: | Trademark Specialization (R1)
This Advantage works a lot like a combination of the Skill Bonus Special Ability and Fame. The character is very good at one very specific thing, and he is known for it. Choose any specialization that the character has (or would like to have in the future), and the character gains +2D to the roll when it is used. In addition, when the character uses it, there is a gamemaster-option chance that people will recognize how “naturally good” the character is at the specialization, and this might produce interesting situations. Also, the character might be contacted by people or recognized by certain people because of how good he is at that one specialization.
Restrictions/Notes: This character acts as if trained in the use of this skill. No character may have more than two Trademark Specializations.
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| Quote: | Wealth (R1 or more)
The character with this Advantage probably has an estate or a series of investments that will keep him comfortable for a good long time. Alternatively, character could be minor nobility, have a large trust fund, or be married to the owner of a large corporation. This doesn’t mean the character can buy everything — he is still subject to the availability of items.
For each rank in this Advantage, the characters has US$5,000 in readily available cash once per month. The accounts never have more than US$5,000 times the number of ranks each month (fees and living expenses keep it to that level), the amount could be less by the end of the month. Additionally, adventure bonuses could temporarily raise the figure, though the character would have to purchase an additional rank of Wealth to make the increase permanent. Players in games using the Funds attribute gain +2 per rank to all such totals.
Restrictions/Notes: Characters should select only one rank of Wealth, unless there is some reason they might have Wealth (R1) and another rank of Wealth in other circumstances. Also, this wealth does not always help and disappears if misused (and it should be a major concern to the character at times), but it should be there most of the time. Gamemasters will probably think of ways to work around wealth and players should play along — if you can throw money at every problem, then they aren’t that much fun to try to solve, are they? The most likely Disadvantage a character with Wealth would have is Devotion, such as “helping all those in need” or “righting all wrong doing.” Otherwise, there should be fairly extensive reasons why the character can’t use his wealth to resolve every situation — or hire somebody to do it for him (which is really the same thing). |
_________________
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“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
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Last edited by MrNexx on Fri May 28, 2021 5:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio
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| Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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Special Abilities
| Quote: | Accelerated Healing (3)
The character gains a +1D per rank to his Strength for all natural healing attempts, and a Critical Failure is treated as 1, rather than having a negative effect on the die roll. |
| Quote: | Ambidextrous (2)
The character is equally adept with her right or left hand. She may perform an action with each hand in the same round, and, though she takes the multi-action penalty, she receives a +1 per rank to each skill total. The actions must involve the hands or similar manipulative appendage and each action must require only one limb. If the character performs only one hand-related action in a round, she does not get the bonus. Some skills that characters could employ with either hand include fighting, lockpicking, marksmanship, throwing, lifting, artist, and the map-making aspect of navigation, though, of course, not every task covered by each skill is relevant. A character may take multiple ranks of this Special Ability for two pairs of hands and multiple ranks for each additional manipulative limb.
Example: A player with a Reptilite character, who has a tail, wants a +2 bonus when using two hands and the tail in the same round. The player would buy Ambidextrous: Hands and Ambidextrous: Tail each at Rank 2, since this Special Ability must be purchased separately from the hands for each additional manipulative limb. |
| Quote: | Animal Control (3)
This gives the character the ability to control one particular species of animal, bird, or insect. The character gets a +10 bonus to her animal handling total for that species. She must generate an animal handling versus the Perception or willpower of the animal (more than one animal can be targeted, although this is a multi-action). If the character gets a high enough success (gamemaster’s decision), the animal is controlled for a number of minutes equal to the animal handling skill total times 10. A controlled animal serves its master faithfully, even sacrificing itself on her behalf. The Special Ability has a range of sight or voice. The character may gain one more species for each rank.
Note: A swarm of insects counts as one animal, as does a school of small fish. Almost any creature with a Knowledge die code of less than 2D could be considered an animal, unless the gamemaster says otherwise (for example, a horse would be animal, but a zombie with a Knowledge of 1D would not). |
| Quote: | Armor-Defeating Attack (2)
When a character with natural weapons (the character’s fists, claws, teeth, etc.) attacks someone protected by armor, this ability negates the Armor Value, up to +1D per rank. The character must specify how the attack negates the armor: An acidic mist slips through any openings, enchanted claws reach directly to the flesh, and the like. There should be at least one type of armor that is unaffected by this. |
| Quote: | Atmospheric Tolerance (2)
The character can breathe one form of atmosphere (such as dusty air, frigid air, or extreme altitudes) that would be lethal to most other characters. A character may not have more than one rank in this ability, but he may have different versions for different atmospheres. |
| Quote: | Attack Resistance (2)
The character is highly resistant to a certain type of attack. She gains +1D per rank to her damage resistance roll against this type of attack.
Energy Attacks: Resistant to blasts of severe heat, fire, electricity, light, intense cold, and so on, but not the ability to survive in extremes of such environments.
Extranormal Attack: Resistant to damage from any Extranormal-based (such as Magic or Miracles) attack.
Mental Attacks: Resistant to mental harm from any source. It does not provide protection against interaction attempts.
Nonenchanted Weapons: Resistant to physical damage from nonenchanted weapons, but not from poisons, energy, or similar materials.
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| Quote: | Attribute Scramble (4)
The character can adjust an opponent’s (or a friend’s) attributes temporarily. She gains the scramble skill at +1 per rank in a single version of this Special Ability (it is an Perception skill, described only here), which she also can increase as a normal skill. The scrambler must pick as her focus either physical or mental attributes, though never Extranormal, Funds, or Special Abilities. (Physical attributes encompass Dexterity, Mechanical, and Strength. Mental attributes include Knowledge, Perception, and Technical.) She only may do both by taking this Special Ability once for each version.
When she goes after a target with a fighting roll, she may choose (as a multi-action) to also perform a scramble attack versus her target’s willpower or Perception. (This is not an action for the target.) No close combat attack is necessary for a willing target, but the act of scrambling still counts as an action. If her total is higher (not equal to), she may shift her target’s attribute points around, within certain limits. The close combat attack does no damage.
She may increase one or more related attributes by a number equal to the amount she takes away from other related attributes — but she may not decrease or increase any one attribute by more than 2D (6 pips).
The change lasts for a number of rounds equal to the difference between the scramble attack and the target’s willpower or Perception. A character who has been adjusted cannot be scrambled again until the original adjustment wears off. |
| Quote: | Blur (3)
The character can appear indistinct to the naked eye or non-enchanted visual aids (spyglasses, mirrors, etc.). Commonly, a character with this Special Ability will only be spotted out of the corner of the eye. This adds 1 to the character’s dodge, stealth, and
hide totals, as well as +1 to all default search, tracking, investigation, and attack difficulties against the character that the blurring character is not actively trying to defeat. (These modifiers are per rank in this Special Ability.) On the character’s turn, she may automatically become blurry, without taking an action, and remain so until she chooses otherwise. Blurring also makes it difficult for the character to hold a conversation with others.
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| Quote: | Combat Sense (3)
The character can sense danger. She is never surprised. Rather, she and her attacker must determine initiative as normal. Even if the attacker still goes before the character does, any combat modifier from the surprise is reduced by 2. A character may not have this ability more than once. |
| Quote: | Confusion (4)
The character can hamper the thoughts of those he comes into physical contact with, at will. He gains the confuse skill at +1 per rank (it is a Perception skill, described only here), which he can increase as normal.
As a multi-action with a fighting attack, he may also perform a confusion attack versus his target’s willpower or Perception. (This is not an action for the target.) If his total is higher (not equal to), the target is confused. Characters may not play cards (if the gamemaster is using game-enhancing cards with the adventures) or spend points, and they receive a +5 difficulty modifier to even simple actions for a number of rounds equal to 2 times the rank of this Special Ability. |
| Quote: | Darkness (3)
The character can project a field of darkness around himself, adding +5 per rank to the difficulty of any sight-based skill totals. The field extends in a half-sphere around the character with a radius equal to one meter per rank. The field can be maintained for a maximum of one minute per rank before dispersing.
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| Quote: | Elasticity (1)
The character can stretch, elongate, and compress his body, allowing him to expand his height or become so narrow he can pass through keyholes, cracks, or any other opening he could normally see through. It takes one round or more to slip through small openings, depending on their depth. The character gains +1 per rank to contortion, dodge, or sleight of hand totals, in addition to disguise attempts he performs on himself. |
| Quote: | Endurance (1)
The character has great endurance, and gains a +3D per rank to Strength or stamina checks when performing taxing physical tasks (such as holding one’s breath underwater for a long period or running a long distance). |
| Quote: | Enhanced Sense (3)
One of the character’s five senses is heightened to abnormal levels. The bonus to the skill total received depends on the sense: sight is +1; hearing is +2; touch, taste, and smell are +3. The bonus is per rank and applies to all skills (including combat ones) related to the sense. Enhanced hearing also may affect initiative rolls. To have multiple enhanced senses, this Special Ability must be taken at least once for each sense. |
| Quote: | Environmental Resistance (1)
The character is resistant to extremes of heat, cold, and pressure, and he gains a +3D per rank to Strength or stamina checks to resist ill effects from these environmental conditions. The character is not resistant to heat or cold attacks, as these come and go too quickly for the Special Ability to provide protection. |
| Quote: | Extra Body Part (0)
The character has an extra limb or organ. If external, these may be secondary arms or legs, a tail, or some more exotic bodily addition, such as fins, tentacles, or antennae. If internal, the parts are organs such as extra eyes, hearts, or mysterious glands. Unless specified by a Disadvantage or Limitation, the extra parts are included in the character’s body tastefully. Additionally, except in cases where the character has an Enhancement or another Special Ability that uses this one (for example, Extra Body Part: Tail and Natural Hand-to-Hand Weapon: Tail), the extra part is nonfunctional. A character may have only one rank in this Special Ability, but she may have multiple versions to represent multiple additional organs or limbs.
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| Quote: | Extra Sense (1)
The character can detect something that a normal Human cannot, such as changes in pressure, seismic activity, radiation fluctuations, and so on. She gains a +1D to her search rolls in attempting to detect the specific energy or environmental change and +1D to her investigation rolls in figuring out source or other relevant information. The
gamemaster may also allow a +1 skill total bonus to other activities that would benefit from whatever the extra sense can detect. All modifiers are per rank in this Special Ability. |
| Quote: | Fast Reactions (3)
The character gains +1D per rank to his Perception when determining initiative, and, up to three times during the adventure, he may receive one additional action for one round. |
| Quote: | Fear (2)
The character can provoke fear in those who can see or hear him. He gains a +1 per rank to all his intimidation totals and his target has a +1 increase to combat defense difficulties against the horrifying being. Inspiring fear requires an action, but it is the target that rolls her willpower or Perception (which does not count as an action for her) against a difficulty of 15 to negate the effects. |
| Quote: | Flight (6)
The character can fly, either by nature or by virtue of having wings. The character’s flying rate equals his base Move (including Hypermovement, if applicable) times 2 times the number of ranks. The flying skill is required to maneuver. |
| Quote: | Glider Wings (3)
The character can fly by drifting with air currents. The gamemaster decides how much wind there is available and how fast it moves the glider. Characters with this Special Ability need the flying skill to control their passage. A character may not have this ability more than once. |
| Quote: | Hardiness (1)
The character can take damage better than normal. She adds 1 per rank to her damage resistance total against any type of damage. |
| Quote: | Hypermovement (1)
The character is extremely fast, adding +2 meters per round per rank to her base Move rate, which in turn affects all other types of movement. |
| Quote: | Immortality (7)
The character is immortal, though she will grow older, at a decreased pace compared to the rest of her species. If she is reduced to zero Body Points or loses all her Wounds, she doesn’t die. Instead, one of two situations occurs: she continues to live, though minimally, in this world, or she returns to her home dimension. She does not go unconscious or bleed to death (as mortally wounded characters do), nor can she heal without magical or miraculous aid or the Accelerated Healing Special Ability — her arms could be lopped off, her abdomen eviscerated, or whatever. She may perform only the most minimal of physical actions, such as squirming, and some actions may be impossible. She may rely on her Dexterity for initiative purposes only (if her Perception total does not apply for some reason).
There should be one particular set of circumstances whereby the character will die forever. These sets of circumstances should not be too unusual — killed directly by magic, drowning, decapitation, and so on are all good examples. A character may not have this ability more than once.
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| Quote: | Immunity (1)
The character is highly resistant to disease and poisons and receives a +1D per rank to Strength or stamina checks when determining whether he has contracted an illness or is suffering from ingested poisons.
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| Quote: | Increased Attribute (2)
Some strange ability (or physiological trait) allows the character to gain +1 bonus per rank to all rolled totals related to that attribute. (For Strength, this also includes the damage resistance total and Strength Damage.) A character may have multiple ranks of this Special Ability, as well as multiple versions of it. Note: To get another rank in this Special Ability after character creation costs 4 times the number in front of the “D” of the attribute that it affects plus the number of ranks currently in the Special Ability. (This is instead of the normal cost to increase Special Abilities.) |
| Quote: | Infravision/Ultravision (1)
The character gains the ability to either see in the dark using infravision or ultravision. Infravision allows the character to see changes in heat, while ultravision enables the character to make the most of the available light. Each provides a +2 per rank in a single version of this Special Ability to sight-based totals (including attacks) while in dim or dark conditions. Obviously, extreme heat or bright light (including daylight) prevent this Special Ability from working. |
| Quote: | Intangibility (5)
The character can reduce his physical density to virtually zero for one minute per rank. During that time, his damage resistance score against physical and energy (such as fire) attacks is +3D per rank, but his movement rate is halved. An intangible character can pass through solid objects, providing they do not contain wards or other spells of protection designed to repel passage of this nature. He may not pass through fiery or energy barriers. While intangible, the character cannot carry any object along (including clothing), nor can he attempt any physical attack. It takes a full round for a character to become intangible or solid, during which he can do nothing else. The character must spend at least one minute solid before attempting intangibility again. |
| Quote: | Invisibility (3)
The character can become transparent. This adds 1 per rank to the character’s dodge, stealth, and hide totals, as well as +1 per rank to all default search, tracking, investigation, and attack difficulties against the character that the invisible character is not actively trying to defeat. Additionally, no character may take an action to “spot” the character unless the gamemaster feels there is sufficient provocation, such as brushing against others or removing something in a crowded area.
The invisibility covers the character’s basic clothes only and a few small items in pockets or pouches attached to the clothes — not any gear she’s carrying, or anything she picks up. Also, remember that the character is transparent when invisible — she can’t hide things behind her back.
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| Quote: | Iron Will (2)
The character is highly resistant to all interaction attempts and mental attacks. He gains a +1D per rank to all willpower rolls and +2 to the standard difficulty of any such attempts against this character. |
| Quote: | Life Drain (5)
This ability allows the character to drain attribute pips, Body Points, or Wound levels from his target. The character must choose one set of attributes to target, either physical (Dexterity, Mechanical, Strength), mental (Knowledge, Perception, Technical), Wounds, or Body Points. For example, most vampires drink blood, and thus lower Body Points, while succubi target the soul and so weaken mental attributes. The player must specify in what manner the character drains these attributes (biting the neck, hypnosis,
or another means). It should involve some sort of successful attack result (either physical or mental).
When the character wishes to employ Life Drain, he makes an attack on his target using the relevant skill. For every four points over the target’s defense roll, the character drains one pip per rank off each of the target’s relevant attributes or three points per rank from the character’s Body Points or one Wound for every two ranks. (Remember that there are three pips in each die.) If any of the target’s attributes or Body Points ever go to zero (or the character reaches the Dead Wound level), the target goes into a coma. She may try once per day to wake up by making a successful Moderate stamina or Strength roll. She regains one attribute point (to each attribute affected) every hour after the attack. Body Points and Wound levels return at the normal rate. For each attribute pip the character drains, he may add one pip to any attribute in his chosen category. He would get one Body Point for each Body Point drained or one Wound for each Wound drained.
Life-Drained attributes and unused Body Points or Wounds disappear at a rate of one pip or point per hour.
A character may have multiple ranks of this Special Ability, as well as multiple versions of it.
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| Quote: | Longevity (3)
The character lives longer than the average Human. Often, this Special Ability has a Flaw attached that governs what the character must do to maintain his life. The character should gain peripheral bonuses during game play because of his “longer outlook.” A character may not have this ability more than once.
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| Quote: | Luck, Good (2)
The character is blessed with unusually good luck. Once per adventure, a character with Good Luck can receive one of the following benefits just by asking for it: action, breakthrough, haste, or second chance. See the “Luck Benefits” sidebar for details on each of these options. Calling upon one’s luck does not count as an action.
Good Luck can only be declared once per rank during a particular adventure, but it may be declared at any time, and it cannot be cancelled by any other effect. A character may have up to two ranks of this Special Ability. |
| Quote: | Luck, Great (3)
A character with Great Luck can call on one of the following benefits once per adventure per rank: action, alertness, breakthrough, haste, hero, opponent fails, or second chance. See the “Luck Benefits” sidebar for details on each of these options. Calling upon one’s luck does not count as an action.
If the character has not used his Great Luck during an adventure and something really disastrous happens, the gamemaster may choose to counteract the effects and temporarily “burn out” the character’s Special Ability — that is, the character’s Great Luck has been used up for the adventure. Usually, this is used when the character does something stupid or the player is the victim of incredibly bad luck — die rolling, not the Disadvantage — and something “stops” the effect. This is a “last ditch,” gamemaster-controlled effort when circumstances get out of control. It is also a nice thing for inexperienced roleplayers to have — just in case they do something they really shouldn’t have, they get another chance.
Example: The character’s mission is to stop a wizard from destroying a nearby city. Unfortunately, the character takes too long fighting the minions of the dastardly wizard, and, according to the rules, the whole city should go up in flames. The character is too late. The gamemaster might choose to have the character be really lucky — the villain was bluffing or has decided to take time to gloat. In any case, the character’s Great Luck is gone for this adventure (his luck ran out), but he has a chance of averting disaster. |
| Quote: | *******
Luck Benefits
action: Add 2 to all of the character’s skill or attribute totals for the round.
alertness: When the character calls upon this benefit, he gains a special “sixth sense” outside of all other rules and roleplaying situations that will help him to spot a previously unseen item, character, or clue selected by the gamemaster. The benefit does not confer omniscience, however — and the gamemaster can select her own time for having it come into effect. It is normally used to allow a character to spot something he missed in a previous search, something that is important to the adventure.
breakthrough: Add 1D to any one skill die code in which the character has no additional pips or dice (in other words, a skill in which the character is untrained). The benefit also eliminates the unskilled modifier for using that skill.
haste: Gain one additional action for one round.
hero: Receive one bonus Fate Point, which the character must use on an action immediately after requesting it.
opponent fails: After an opponent or enemy has completed an action against the character, the character may call upon this benefit to cancel the effects entirely. This nullifies the opponent’s action, and play continues. The lucky character may not use this benefit to cancel an action that is not directed at least partially at him.
second chance: Using this benefit allows the character to attempt any action she has just tried again, from the very beginning. This benefit cannot negate “bad choices” — the character must perform the action performed again — nor does it allow the character to “get back” Fate Points, Character Points, or cards (if used) spent on the original action. The character merely gets another chance, immediately following the first attempt, to perform the action again. All effects from the first attempt are ignored.
Luck Notes
A character may have up to two ranks each in Good Luck and Great Luck. This Special Ability can be taken with the Bad Luck Disadvantage — sometimes really good things happen, sometimes really bad things happen.
*****
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| Quote: | Master of Disguise (3)
The character has a natural talent for disguise. She gains a +5 bonus per rank to disguise totals for altering her own appearance and demeanor, +2 when changing someone else’s looks, and a +1D bonus per rank to any Technical-based actions while in that disguise. |
| Quote: | Multiple Abilities (1)
The character has multiple minor abilities that improve a few different tasks. All bonuses are added to the skill or attribute total, not to the die code. The bonuses should be fairly limited in their applications, pertaining to specific uses of particular skills (like specializations do), but there can be several of them for each selection of this Special Ability. The maximum total bonus for each rank is +4.
Example: A character could have “eyestalks” that give him a +1 bonus to Perception or search to negate surprise, the ability to focus his ears on particular types of noises (+1 bonus when listening for particular sounds), and a nose that is sensitive to certain scents (+1 bonus to tracking when attempting to find small animals). |
| Quote: | Natural Armor (3)
The character has plates, toughened skin, scales, or something similar. His own surface adds 1D per rank to his damage resistance roll to nonmagical physical (not mental) attacks and contact poisons, corrosives, or similar materials. |
| Quote: | Natural Hand-to-Hand Weapon (2)
The character has some sort of natural weapon —such as claws, pincers, bone sword, or stinger — that adds 1D per rank to his Strength Damage when determining his damage with the natural weapon. The character uses fighting to attack, unless the weapon is something that detaches from him or (in the case of a super-scientific or magical weapon) exists separately. In this latter case, the character employs melee combat to wield it.
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| Quote: | Natural Magick (5 or more)
The character can use a magic spell as a natural ability. An example of this would be a character who can dispel magic by his nature, rather than through the use of a countermagic spell. The cost of the ability — and the number of ranks the character has in it — equals the difficulty of the spell. (See the “Magic” chapter for details on creating spells; the “Precalculated Spells” chapter has some sample spells.)
The chosen spell may not be charged (that is, have a fixed limit to the number of times it can be cast). The character must adhere to the requirements of the spell, including its gestures, incantations, components, and so on. The casting of the spell is automatic (there is no need to roll a Magic skill to perform it), but the character does need to attempt any targeting skill or skill required by the casting (such as one needed to perform a gesture). If any of these fail, the spell does not work.
The player and the gamemaster need to discuss what spell the character will have, and what the range, duration, and so on will be. It’s suggested that some limitations be placed on the use of this ability to maintain game balance — for instance, a character who can toss fireballs as a natural ability might have to recharge for a certain number of rounds before doing so again. A character may have this Special Ability once each for different spells.
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| Quote: | Natural Ranged Weapon (3)
The character has some sort of natural ranged weapon, using marksmanship to target it. Long range equals 20 times the number of ranks in this Special Ability times the character’s Strength or lifting (as appropriate) in meters. The damage for physically enhanced projections is the character’s Strength Damage plus 1D per rank, while the damage for all other types of blasts is 3D per rank. The projection must have a visible effect (such as a bone spikes or a sparkling beam) and it may not do mental damage. Note that, regardless of the nature of the projection, there are no additional effects from this type of Special Ability unless an Enhancement allows otherwise.
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| Quote: | Omnivorous (2)
The character can gain nourishment from any organic substance (though she is not immune to poisons). She can also chew through just about any organic substance with no adverse effects to her teeth or jaws. A character may not have this ability more than once. |
| Quote: | Paralyzing Touch (4)
The character can freeze her target with the merest touch. When she makes a fighting attack, she may, instead of doing damage, paralyze her victim, who remains that way until he makes a successful Perception or willpower roll against the fighting skill total. He may attempt to do so once per round; the only other actions he may take are mental-based ones and Extranormal or Special Ability ones that do not require movement.
Note: Characters who are heavily armored or covered will be harder to hit. The gamemaster needs to decide how much skin is exposed and adjust the attack difficulty accordingly. A character may not have this ability more than once. |
| Quote: | Possession, Limited (8)
The character can possess the body of a living creature or a corpse. The character must be within three times the rank of this Special Ability in meters of the target in order to possess it. Possessing a corpse doesn’t require a roll, but it does take an action. Possessing a living being involves making a Technical or willpower check by the possessor versus a standard interaction difficulty (see the “Mental Defenses” section on page 73 for details). Exceeding (but not equalling) the difficulty means the target has been possessed. The target can actively defend if she is aware of the potential danger. To gather knowledge about his host body’s life, the possessing character must generate a successful investigation total against the target’s Perception roll (this does not count as an action for the target). Information the possessor gains depends upon the level of success achieved; see the accompanying chart for details.
With Limited Possession, the character does not gain control of the new form. Instead, he must use persuasion, intimidation, or other interaction skills to convince his host to do what he wishes. Exiting a host body is commonly a simple action. As long as the possessing character exits before the host dies, he simply moves on to his own or another form. Killing a possessing spirit usually involves taking it completely by surprise with a killing blow to the host form or using a spell to force it to remain in the body until it
can be slain.
Possession Knowledge Chart
Result Points* Needed Knowledge Attained
0 Basic details: target’s name, age, home city
1-4 More personal details: target’s job, financial status, any current schedule
5-8 More in-depth personal details: identities and backgrounds of family, friends, lovers
9-12 Very personal details: secrets, private likes and dislikes, etc.
13 Everything there is to know
*Result points equal the difference between the investigation total and the target’s Intellect roll.
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| Quote: | Possession, Full (10)
The character can possess the body of a living creature or a corpse. This works in the same way as Limited Possession, save that the possessing character gains her new form’s physical attributes (Dexterity, Mechanical, Strength), retains her own mental attributes (Knowledge, Perception, Technical), and gains complete control over the new form |
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| Quote: | Quick Study (3)
The character has an uncanny ability to learn new skills and improve old ones, limited to one attribute. He always learns new skills as if he had a teacher (even if he doesn’t), and he can improve skills he already knows at a cost of one Character Point less than normal. This Special Ability applies to specializations and combines very well with the Age Disadvantage, if the character is young — he is a prodigy, and that’s why he’s learned his starting skills so quickly. This Special Ability can be taken once for each attribute.
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| Quote: | Sense of Direction (2)
The character has a good sense of direction. He gains +1D per rank to navigation and tracking rolls.
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| Quote: | Shapeshifting (3)
The character can manipulate the shape, color, and overall appearance of her body, though mass and body compositions remain the same. The character must chose a specific creature to emulate, gaining one form for every three additional points spent on this Special Ability. At six ranks in this ability, the gamemaster may allow shifting among one class of creatures (such as birds or furniture) as long as all forms chosen for previous ranks were within the same class. Body Points, Wounds, and the Knowledge attribute remain unaffected by this Special Ability, but the dice in the Dexterity, Mechanical, Strength, Perception, and Technical are redistributed to match the new form (although the die code in the willpower skill remains the same regardless of the change in form). Additional dice in skills above the base attribute score remain the same, though the total dice in each skill changes to reflect the adjustments in the base attribute. Likewise, not all skills will be usable in the new form.
Attribute dice can also be used to include Special Abilities in the new form. One attribute die can be spent to gain one rank in one Special Ability or to get a +2 skill total bonus (split among up to two skills). The gamemaster may allow a larger skill total bonus or more skills to fall under the bonus if the desired effect is particularly narrow (such as a bonus for a single sense).
For an example of how Shapeshifting can work, see the accompanying sidebar. Shapeshifting may be done at will, though a Limitation may force it to be triggered by stress or environmental factors. If shifting voluntarily, the character must generate a disguise total of 11 to bring about the change, and a second total to turn back again. Each change takes one full round in which the character may do nothing else. Failure at the check means the transformation does not occur, and the character cannot try again for at least an hour. It is highly recommended that the hero comes up with some typical forms and their game characteristics before beginning play. The new form need not exactly resemble a “typical” version of the emulated creature or object.
Shapeshifting Example
Mel is playing a werebear. She chooses Shapeshifting, specifying that she only changes from Human to werebear and back again. The gamemaster decides she’ll gain one rank of the Increased Attribute: Strength (+1 to related totals) and +2 to all search and tracking totals that require smell when in her werebear form.
Mel’s character has 18 attribute dice arranged thusly:
Dexterity 2D+2
Mechanical 3D+1
Strength 3D
Knowledge 2D+2
Perception 2D+2
Technical 3D+2
When she changes into werebear form, Mel’s character has the following attribute values, the total of which has been lowered by 2D because of the bonuses:
Dexterity 4D
Mechanical 2D
Strength 3D+2
Knowledge 2D+2
Perception 2D+2
Technical 1D
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| Quote: | Silence (3)
The character can move in complete silence. He gains +2D per rank to all stealth checks and a +1D per rank when attacking from Behind. |
| Quote: | Skill Bonus (1)
Skill Bonus represents a natural talent (a character with the Charismatic group might be “friendly and outgoing”), a particular knack (a character with the Animal Friendship group has a “way with animals”), years of devotion to a profession prior to beginning adventure, or the result of an extended life.
The character chooses a group of three related skills in which he gains +1 to the skill total of any action performed with those skills (or specializations of that skill). The skills need not be under the same attribute. The character may or may not actually have adds in those skills, and the gamemaster must approve the fact that they are “related.” Some examples of skill groups include:
Acting: bargain, con, persuasion
Acute Balance: acrobatics, climb/jump, sneak
Athletics: lift, running, throwing
Charismatic: command, con, persuasion
Close Combat: brawling, melee combat, dodge
Investigative: investigation, search, streetwise
Leadership: command, intimidation, persuasion
Photographic Memory: languages, scholar, investigation
Observant: gambling, investigation, search
Ranged Combat: firearms, missile weapons, throwing
Players may substitute other related skills for the ones listed in the groups above, or create their own groups as long as there is a common thread and the gamemaster approves the grouping. Three specializations may replace one general skill, getting a +1 for three different specializations. (The specializations don’t have to be under the same general skill.) This may be done for up to all three skills in the group, choosing six specializations instead of two skills or nine specializations instead of three skills.
Example: In the Investigative group, a character might take out streetwise and replace it with three specializations — streetwise: thieves’ guilds, tracking: large towns, and persuasion: witnesses. While this means the character gains no bonus for other streetwise activities (such as a roll to locate a criminal in a small town), he does have a more “detailed” group.
Additionally, the character acts as if trained in these skills even if he doesn’t have any additional pips in them, and so does not get the unskilled modifier. This Special Ability does not affect the cost of improving the related skills.
Gamemasters may allow a higher bonus for fewer skills (such as a set of two skills where one gets a +1 bonus and the other gets a +2 bonus, or a +3 bonus to a set of three specializations). However, the bonus per rank may total no more than +3.
At each additional rank, the player may increase the bonus by +1 for three of the skills affected by this Special Ability. A character may have different versions of this ability for different groups of skills, though the skills in each group may not overlap.
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| Quote: | Skill Minimum (4)
The character can select three related skills that will always gain a minimum total of 3 times the number before the “D.” Example:If the player selects persuasion, charm, and intimidation (all interaction skills) for his character, all of which he has at 4D, and he generates a total less than 12, the total automatically becomes 12. That is the character’s minimum total.
The player may not select Skill Minimum for any skill that has any other Advantage or Special Ability tied to it. Also, the skills must be related in some way (see the Skill Bonus Special Ability for information on related skills). The character may only select general skills, but the specializations underneath that general skill are affected as well. This Special Ability may be selected only once for each group of skills. |
| Quote: | Teleportation (3)
The character can move instantly to another place up to 10 meters per rank away. The character must see her destination clearly. In combat, this action takes an entire round. The character may take along whatever she can carry. |
| Quote: | Transmutation (5)
The character can alter his substance to something else, while retaining his form (such as a man who turns to stone). Characters with this ability may only shift into one specific substance, which the player must specify when his character gets the Special Ability.
Generally, this substance gives the character distinct advantages. The player may select up to 4 points (not ranks) in other Special Abilities that relate to the chosen form, per rank in this Special Ability. (Thus, two Transmutation ranks means 8 points in other Special Abilities.) Natural Armor, Hardiness, and Environmental Resistance are common ones. |
| Quote: | Uncanny Aptitude (3)
This Special Ability is similar to the Skill Bonus Special Ability in that some sort of bizarre ability gives the character added bonuses to certain actions. However, instead of selecting a group of skills that the character gains a bonus to, the player and the gamemaster work out circumstances where these abilities come into play. For instance, a character might gain a +1 bonus to all Dexterity-related skills totals when in sunlight. A character may have several variations of this ability, reflecting different bonuses. Each variation could have several ranks, with the bonuses adding to each other. |
| Quote: | Ventriloquism (3)
The character can throw her voice up to three meters away per rank. No skill roll is required to do this, but if it is part of a trick attempt, she receives a +2D bonus per rank to bluff and charm rolls. |
| Quote: | Water Breathing (2)
The character can breathe water and will not drown underwater. She gains +1D per rank to all swimming rolls because she doesn’t need to worry about drowning. |
| Quote: | Youthful Appearance (1)
The character looks much younger than she actually is and receives a +1D per rank to bluff, charm, or disguise attempts that involve posing as someone youthful. In general, characters should not look more than 10 to 20 years younger than they are, regardless of the number of ranks, though gamemaster discretion and common sense should rule here. |
| Quote: | Special Ability Enhancements
Enhancements allow Special Abilities to be somehow more than the typical version. Each Enhancement may be taken more than once for each Special Ability, either altering the ability in similar though distinct ways or, for some, through stacking the effects. The cost of the Enhancement adds to the associated Special Ability’s total cost (base cost plus the cost for additional ranks).
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| Quote: | | Additional Effect (1): The Special Ability produces a useful, though minor, side effect that is a natural extension of the power. The more useful the side effect, the greater the number of ranks. Some examples include a skill bonus when using the ability, doing residual damage (such as reflection with Natural Armor or setting fires with Natural Ranged Weapon), or adding functionality to an Extra Body Part. |
| Quote: | Bestow (1 or more): The character may share her Special Ability with a certain type of target: sentient living, nonsentient living, or nonliving. The player must chose which group when including this Enhancement. The cost of this Enhancement equals one-half (rounded up) of the Special Ability total (base cost plus additional ranks cost plus Enhancement costs). She may only use her Special Ability on herself and on members of her target group with a multi-action penalty. The character may give her Special Ability to one person per action. Some Special Abilities will require better stories concerning how the character can manage sharing them than others (such as Youthful Appearance or Ambidextrous), while others may not have this Enhancement (such as Longevity or Immortality). The target has control over the use of the Bestowed Special Ability for as long as the Bestowing character allows. A character may only have one rank in this Enhancement, but she may have multiple versions of it.
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| Quote: | Extended Range (3): The factor used to determine the range of the character’s Special Ability is increased. Every rank of this Enhancement allows the player to add one half of the ranks in the Special Ability (rounded up) to the factor when determining the range. Thus, to increase the range factor by half the ranks costs three, by the ranks in the ability costs six, by 1.5 times the ranks costs nine, and so on.
Example: The range for Natural Ranged Weapon is 20 times the number of ranks in the Special Ability times the character’s Strength or lifting in meters. With two ranks of Extended Range, the range would now be 20 times twice the number of ranks in the Special Ability times the character’s Strength or lifting.
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| Quote: | Magically Empowered (4 for 1 rank; 5 for 2 ranks): The Special Ability comes from a magical source — a feature of the character’s species, a result of the character’s parentage, a means of explaining a mysterious ancient artifact, and so on. A Special Ability provided by a spell does not need this Enhancement, nor does Natural Magick
require it. A magic item created for a character because of the Equipment Advantage would.
Two ranks exist for this Enhancement. At Rank 1, with a cost of four, the power with this Enhancement has a magical power source, but it is not truly magical in nature. If it does damage, protective Special Abilities or magical spells of any defensive nature can defend against it as normal. It can act on characters in astral form, spirits, and other magical creatures or magical items not affected by normal harm. It does harm to those beings and items at one-half of its damage total, before modifiers and rounded down. If it provides protection, it defends at one-half its total, before modifiers and rounded down, against magical blasts or Special Abilities that demons, ghosts, and other magical or spiritual beings have. In both cases, these bonuses are in addition to the normal applications of the Special Ability.
At Rank 2, with a cost of five, the power with this Enhancement is magical in nature. If it does damage, protective Special Abilities only defend at one-half their die code (rounded down) against its attacks, but the Enhanced Special Ability can be completely shielded against by other magical Special Abilities (protecting Special Abilities with this Enhancement; spells that protect against magical attacks; and protective versions of Natural Magick). It can be used against spirits, astral beings, and other magical or spiritual creatures or magical items not affected by normal harm. For both cases, this is in addition to the regular manifestations of the Special Ability. If the Special Ability with this level of Enhancement provides protection to the character, it can defend against normal and magical powers (offensive Special Abilities with this Enhancement; damage-dealing spells; and protective versions of Natural Magick; Special Abilities of a magical nature possessed by demons, ghosts, and the like).
To include this Enhancement with a Special Ability in an item, the item’s Special Ability should also have the Limitation Burn-out (R1), item can be lost or stolen.
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| Quote: | | Multiple Targets (2): The character may use the Special Ability more than once per round without incurring a multi-action penalty. For each rank in this Enhancement, the character gains one additional use of the Special Ability. This adds to any other bonus actions provided by a power; it does not multiply it. |
| Quote: | Special Ability Limitations
These Limitations can be associated with Special Abilities, restricting their functionality and reducing their total cost (base cost plus the cost for additional ranks plus any Enhancements — not the per rank cost). Limitations may not lower a Special Ability’s total cost below one, and all Limitations must have some sort of effect on play — just like Disadvantages. Each of a character’s Special Abilities may have more than one of each Limitation, as they can either describe similar but distinct negative situations or, in some cases, stack the effects. |
| Quote: | | Ability Loss (3 for 1 rank; 4 for 2 ranks): The character temporarily loses his Special Ability at regular intervals or, when the Special Ability is used, he loses the ability to use a common skill in which he has experience (that is, additional pips or dice). Examples include: a character who cannot shapeshift when the sun is out; a character who cannot use his natural weapons on a particular day of the month or during a certain phase of the moon. The character is aware of what the circumstances are that will cause this. For an additional point and additional rank, the character must undergo some sort of (fairly simple) procedure to regain his ability or skill use. A Special Ability may have up to two ranks in a single variation of this Limitation, but a character may have it multiple times for different Special Abilities, circumstances, or combinations of Special Abilities and skills. |
| Quote: | | Allergy (3 for 1 rank; 4 for 2 ranks): The character has a minor allergy. Exposure to a fairly common substance (smoke, sunlight, particular food, etc.) causes the character to lose all Critical Success rerolls until the condition is removed. For an additional point and additional rank, the effects are worse, and the character loses all actions due to coughing fits, watering eyes, or similar discomfort until she can get away from the allergen. A Special Ability may only have one rank in this Limitation, though it may have several different Allergies. |
| Quote: | | Burn-out (1): See the Disadvantage by this name for suggestions that could also be applied to a Special Ability. The more likely the Burn-out, the greater the number of ranks in this Limitation. A Special Ability may have multiple variations of this Limitation, representing different triggers for the Burn-out. |
| Quote: | | Debt (3): Someone (or, more likely, some entity) gave the character the Special Ability, along with certain obligations and restrictions. The character must continually beg the giver to retain the Special Ability, or she must perform certain tasks at the giver’s request in exchange for continued use of the Special Ability. A Special Ability may only have one rank in this Limitation. |
| Quote: | | Flaw (1): All difficulties associated with using the Special Ability are increased by +2 per rank. The greater the rank associated with this Flaw, the greater the difficulty modifier. |
| Quote: | | Minor Stigma (3): The character cannot use the Special Ability without performing the “proper rituals” before or after (someone with a natural weapon who must sketch an image of his intended victim before hunting him down; a shapeshifter who must be purified by his cult after killing someone). A Special Ability may only have one rank in this Limitation. |
| Quote: | Others Only (2 for 1 rank; 3 for 2 ranks; 4 for 3 ranks): The character may not use the Special Ability himself; he may only allow others to use it. The value of this Limitation depends on how many groups of “others” he can use it on: For two points and one rank, the character may affect sentient living, nonsentient living, and nonliving targets. For three points and two ranks, the character can affect only two of the three groups. For four points and three ranks, the character can affect only one of the three groups. This Limitation may not be taken more than once per Special Ability. Additionally, like the Bestow Enhancement, some Special Abilities may require valid reasons before the gamemaster allows the Limitation’s inclusion. Some abilities, such
as Immortality and Longevity, may not have this Limitation. The target who gets the Special Ability has control over its use as if she actually had the ability, for as long as the giving character allows. Allowing another person access to the Special Ability counts as an action for its owner, while using the newfound Special Ability counts as as an action for the one who gets it (though gaining access to it does not). The Special Ability’s owner may only give the Special Ability to one character per round, but the target may be different each round. |
| Quote: | | Price (1): The character must fulfill certain obligations in order to use the Special Ability. Perhaps when using Water Breathing, the character must remain in the water for at least 24 hours for every 24 hours out of it or suffer -4 modifier per rank in this Limitation to his damage resistance total for changing environments so quickly. Alternatively, there could be a Character or Fate Point fee of three Character Points per rank in the Limitation per adventure in which the character uses the Special Ability. |
| Quote: | Restricted (1): The Special Ability is hindered in a way not covered by any other Limitation. The more restrictive the situation, the greater the number of ranks in this Limitation. For instance, a Natural Weapon (either kind) may only be useful against certain creatures. A Special Ability may have multiple variations of this Limitation, each
representing a different restraint. |
| Quote: | | Side Effect (2): One of the character’s Special Abilities has some sort of annoying side effect that appears with its use, such as constant whistling, a continuous glow, or a terrible stench. Add 4 per rank to the difficulty of all stealth attempts when the Special Ability is in use, as everyone can figure out she’s coming. This will also affect interaction attempts, adding at least a +1 per rank to the difficulty. |
| Quote: | | Singularity (1 per Special Ability): The character may use only one of a group of two or more Special Abilities each round. It does not take an action to switch Special Abilities. He may change the Special Ability in use at the beginning of his turn in a round, and he may rely on the chosen Special Ability until the next time he changes it. For a second rank (and one additional point per Special Ability), it does take an action to switch Special Abilities. A Special Ability may not have more than two ranks in this Limitation, and all Special Abilities in the same group must have this Limitation at the same rank. Not all of a character’s Special Abilities need be in the same Singularity group. |
| Quote: | | Super-science (2): The Special Ability is contained in a piece of equipment — such as a arquebus, a staff, or a ring — developed through a technological means not readily available and certainly experimental (it could even be from the future). The item could be lent to another character or taken away with a successful grab and used by someone else, though at a +5 to the difficulty. On a Critical Failure, the item malfunctions and requires repair. Unless combined with the Burn-out Limitation, a destroyed item may be recreated in a number of days equal to the total cost of the Special Ability (including all ranks, Enhancements, and Limitations). |
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Last edited by MrNexx on Fri May 28, 2021 5:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16281
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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Holy Wall Of Text, Nexxman.
My first suggestion would be to use the BBCode options to break up the format and make it a bit more readable.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
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MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio
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| Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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| CRMcNeill wrote: | Holy Wall Of Text, Nexxman.
My first suggestion would be to use the BBCode options to break up the format and make it a bit more readable. |
Ok, that should help
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“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
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Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10402
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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| Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 5:53 pm Post subject: Re: Disadvantages, Advantages, and Special Abilities |
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| CRMcNeill wrote: | Holy Wall Of Text, Nexxman.
My first suggestion would be to use the BBCode options to break up the format and make it a bit more readable. |
The linked document has formatting.
| MrNexx wrote: | This is a transcription and conversion of the Disadvantages, Advantages, and Special abilities (DASA, because I am lazy) system from the d6 material (Space, Adventure, and Fantasy). It is still rough, so I invite you to put comments on the linked document and here, so problems can be discussed. Before you comment here, check the document; that will get updated.
For those not familiar with the d6 system DASA material, the rank of the DASA is expressed in Skill Dice... a Rank 3 Disadvantage adds 3 skill dice, a rank 5 Advantage or Special Ability costs 5 skill dice. Most abilities are between rank 1 and rank 3, and the rank is shown in as (Rx), where x = the rank. 4 points of Disadvantage can be turned into 1 die of attributes |
Thanks!
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Posts: 16281
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 10:34 pm Post subject: |
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My first suggestion would be to remove the Rank system and express all of these in terms of dice values, to eliminate any ambiguity that might arise.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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Whill
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Posts: 16281
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 12:26 am Post subject: |
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He said it’s a transcription and conversion; my assumption was that conversion meant bringing it more in line with the SWD6 rule format.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
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MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
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| Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 11:08 am Post subject: |
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| Whill wrote: | | CRMcNeill wrote: | | My first suggestion would be to remove the Rank system and express all of these in terms of dice values, to eliminate any ambiguity that might arise. |
I thought this was a straight transcription of the D6 Space system as is. |
It's a little bit of both. Right now, for the most part, it's the text from D6 Space, Adventure, and Fantasy, with a few changes to make it fit Star Wars (for example, D6 Space renames Dexterity to Agility; Fantasy and Adventure don't have the Mechanical or Technical attributes, and renamed others). In other cases, I haven't made changes... this still refers to magic, for example. And, undoubtedly, some of the changes I made were done poorly, or a missed a skill that doesn't exist or was renamed from R&E. Because there's a lot of cut and paste, there's also going to be some typographical errors where I didn't combine hyphenated words correctly.
I think the moderately experienced GM or player could use this as-is BUT I want to make it so it fits pretty seamlessly into R&E.
As to removing the Rank system and going with straight dice values, I think it more or less does that, especially later in the document, where it stops goin Rx and just shows X. I'll make the change on the document.
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MrNexx
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| Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 11:35 am Post subject: |
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Ok, removed the word "rank" from most of the document, replacing it with "level", which I think works better. The initial discussion about the value of DASA now precedes Disadvantages, and reads as below.
| Quote: | Disadvantages provide a number of skill dice equal to the number in parenthesis after the name. Some disadvantages can be bought at one or more levels; you might have an Achilles Heel (3) requiring that you drink blood, an Achilles Heel (3) to Garlic, and an Achilles Heel (4) that is an allergy to sunlight. A maximum of 10 dice of disadvantages is recommended, so those Achilles Heels would max you out. Skill dice gained from Disadvantages can be used on skills, to purchase advantages and special abilities, or converted to attribute dice at a rate of 1 attribute die per 4 skill dice.
Advantages and Special Abilities cost a number of skill dice equal to the number in parenthesis after their name. These dice may be from a character’s initial allotment, or they may come from Disadvantages. Special Abilities also have a number of available Enhancements and Limitations that can add to, or subtract from, the cost of a Special Ability. |
I think using special abilities would be a good way to build races, and, possibly, give humans a nudge. If the average race gets 4D in a mix of special abilities and advantages, you might give humans the same, but only to spend in advantages. It might also be a way to design droids; instead of 25D to split among the attributes and skills, they instead get 1D in all attributes, plus 76 (19D*4) dice in skills, special abilities, and attribute conversions. Also, I may reorganize some Special Abilities into Advantages... while I can completely understand Shapeshifting be a Special Ability, I don't think Skill Bonus, or even Skill Minimum, should be. That may happen at a later iteration, if y'all don't hate it.
On a design aside, I really wish they'd gone with 3:1 ratio for skill dice to attribute dice; it would let you trade 1 skill die for a pip in an attribute, and 3:1 is their ratio for pretty much everything else. It would also make droids the slightly more reasonable 57 dice in skills, Advantages, Special Abilities, and attribute conversions... I'll start another topic about that, though.
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CRMcNeill
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| Posted: Sun May 30, 2021 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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If you're looking to expand this, Septimus has a pretty thorough DASA system, and it's also in D6.
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CRMcNeill
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| Posted: Sun May 30, 2021 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| MrNexx wrote: | | It might also be a way to design droids; instead of 25D to split among the attributes and skills, they instead get 1D in all attributes, plus 76 (19D*4) dice in skills, special abilities, and attribute conversions. |
I've mentioned this as an option before; Special Abilities are a good way to account for some of the mission-specific tech stuff that droids get fitted with. Having them all have a D cost would be a crucial point to building balanced characters.
| Quote: | | Also, I may reorganize some Special Abilities into Advantages... while I can completely understand Shapeshifting be a Special Ability, I don't think Skill Bonus, or even Skill Minimum, should be. That may happen at a later iteration, if y'all don't hate it. |
That depends greatly on how you phrase it, IMO.
| Quote: | | On a design aside, I really wish they'd gone with 3:1 ratio for skill dice to attribute dice; it would let you trade 1 skill die for a pip in an attribute, and 3:1 is their ratio for pretty much everything else. It would also make droids the slightly more reasonable 57 dice in skills, Advantages, Special Abilities, and attribute conversions... I'll start another topic about that, though. |
That appeals to my sense of orderliness, as well. How hard would it be to convert?
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MrNexx
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| Posted: Sun May 30, 2021 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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| CRMcNeill wrote: | | Quote: | | On a design aside, I really wish they'd gone with 3:1 ratio for skill dice to attribute dice; it would let you trade 1 skill die for a pip in an attribute, and 3:1 is their ratio for pretty much everything else. It would also make droids the slightly more reasonable 57 dice in skills, Advantages, Special Abilities, and attribute conversions... I'll start another topic about that, though. |
That appeals to my sense of orderliness, as well. How hard would it be to convert? |
Really, not at all.
For normal characters, there's no established Skill:Attribute ratio, save what's mentioned in open d6 materials; Star Wars doesn't account for it. So, you just say that it is so.
For droids, it would be a matter of just writing it out, and saying "OK, you have 1D in all attributes and 60D to use for skills, special abilities, and attribute dice at 3:1 ratio." (I kick it to 60D because I like numbers divisible by 5, and I think "Can't use the Force" and "Can't Heal Naturally" are worth 3 skill dice, at least.)
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