Author Topic: Wild Talents question  (Read 187583 times)

EtherExsurgent

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #270 on: July 18, 2013, 01:57:12 AM »
Yes he has killed a few normal people at the beginning of the story and has bounced bullets off several super powered villains.  He now has learned how deadly he can be to the low leveled villains and role plays his struggle not use this power all the time.  He failed his trauma role after killing someone and spent most of the rest of one session without willpower points.  My story line so far is very much about the consequences of the players new powers and how they are effecting the world.  I just don't want to get in a situation where the player keeps adding hard dice to his pistol and i keep adding armor to peoples heads.

Flawless P

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #271 on: July 18, 2013, 03:09:22 AM »
Such is the struggle of the super hero genre.

Just keep enough paper around to beat his rock.

Honestly your strongest deterrent is going to be in the consequences murder hoboing has on him.
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QuickreleasePersonalitY

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #272 on: July 18, 2013, 03:56:52 AM »
One of my players has a character who has Ranged Weapon Pistol with 3 hard dice.  My problem as gm is how to deal with this without always giving every villain armor or defense powers.  Any ideas??

Does he sleep with his gun, always?  Potential stealing...ransom...

Have him travel to a country with strong gun control laws...

He has to pay taxes (the IRS don't need armour...)

Maybe someone sues him for damages?

Arrested for homicide?

A series of attacks, murders happen with a gun that has similar ballistics, so the police confiscate it?

There are a whole slew of ways to 'deal with this' that don't have anything to do with game mechanics or violence...
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EtherExsurgent

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #273 on: July 20, 2013, 01:12:45 AM »
Just update on my players gun killing.  Thanks for the suggestions, some good ideas I am going to use.  My player is really stepping up and making it work for the game too.  Last week he killed a mid level bad guy who was a real slime ball.  This week the player learned that the bad guy had a pregnant wife who is now without protection or income.  The player is now trying to make sure the wife gets money and help.  I only added the detail of the abused pregnant wife as fluff to make the bad guy a terrible person and the player just ran with it.  So looks like i was over thinking the problem

Flawless P

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #274 on: December 18, 2013, 02:38:30 PM »
Thread Necromancy up in huuur.


Insubstantiality 2hd
Useful[Self]
Permanant +4, Self Only -3


True or false, if this power is currently active and someone shoots a gun at the hero, the bullet passes through harmlessly, even in the abscence of a defends quality?
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Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #275 on: December 18, 2013, 02:56:23 PM »
I say true, a bullet would pass right through. Gamemaster's choice about other things like fire, lightning, energy, mental bolts, etc.

clockworkjoe

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #276 on: December 18, 2013, 07:05:20 PM »
I would say true as well, but does permanent allow players to turn the power on or off?

also: I would definitely let energy attacks harm the player - environmental factors must be able to affect an insubstantial character or how else can he breathe, be affected by gravity, etc?

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #277 on: December 18, 2013, 07:43:19 PM »
Permanent means it'll go forever unless the player chooses to turn it off. It's what you use for stuff that'll continue even after you die (like Regeneration or an armored suit that isn't a Focus).

It's usually paired with a Flaw that you can't willingly turn it off which makes it cost the same as Endless.

Flawless P

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #278 on: December 19, 2013, 11:36:37 AM »
So a friend of mine and I have been having this out. He claims that because it prevents you from taking damage it should require a Defends Quality. My idea is that the miracle makes it so you are no longer vunerable to said attack, so it no longer becomes a concern of the normal combat rules.

I guess what I am asking here, is there a way I could express this that could squash the discussion.

Other then agreeing to disagree which to an extent we've already done.
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Claive

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #279 on: December 19, 2013, 01:12:15 PM »
hrm...

Without defends, each turn you have to choose (on your action) if you are intangible or not.  If you are you cannot affect the material world and it cannot affect you.

With defends, it allows you some level of protection even if you didn't choose to be immaterial on your turn (as it opens the power up to being used in response to an attack).

My 2 cents.
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Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #280 on: December 19, 2013, 05:25:37 PM »
Defends specifically negates Attack. Useful changes circumstances.

Being insubstantial means that a directly physical attack doesn't apply to you, in the same way that a teleport power that moves you five miles away from the attack would simply mean it doesn't apply to you. It doesn't matter how good of a shot it was because the target was invalid. It's like shooting someone's words or trying to damage the ocean by shooting bullets into it. But the effect also does not specifically resist damage because, as we agreed below, energy attacks still apply (as might other problems).

Insubstantial cuts two ways. Check it: "in·sub·stan·tial : lacking strength and solidity". As I see it, if you turn insubstantial then you can't do anything either. So no shooting or punching back.

Farther, "insubstantial" is pretty broad. In fiction powers often have reasoning behind them. People who are "insubstantial" and use that to phase through matter might require the matter be slow moving, so bullets and speedy object aren't affected.

Wild Talents favors home balancing because every hero game is different. The real question is what does the player intend to do with the power? If the player is trying to make a really cheap form of physical immunity so they don't take damage than disallow the power. If they have a reason for picking the power that balances well against what other players are paying for their own abilities than I don't see a problem that it has the side effect of sometimes letting you avoid damage.

Remember, it's Wild Talents. It's a superhero game. Trying to apply real life "rules" to the game doesn't really work. Unless, of course, you want to play in a world that deals with 'reality' intermixing with superpowers.


Quote
With defends, it allows you some level of protection even if you didn't choose to be immaterial on your turn (as it opens the power up to being used in response to an attack).

Claive makes a good point here. If the power is Useful and you want to active it to avoid damage than it's all or nothing. If you beat their Width than you active first. If not, than you get hit and loss a dice from the set, you don't get to Gobble like you do with Defends.

So, let's say you get attacked with 3x10. Using the power previously listed (2HD) you'd get hit because 2x10 isn't fast enough to active before the attack. So you take all of the damage. But a 2HD Defends about cut the 3x10 down to 1x10 because it Gobbles and break the attack's set.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2013, 05:29:52 PM by Tadanori Oyama »

Flawless P

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #281 on: December 23, 2013, 02:21:39 PM »
So, let's say you get attacked with 3x10. Using the power previously listed (2HD) you'd get hit because 2x10 isn't fast enough to active before the attack. So you take all of the damage. But a 2HD Defends about cut the 3x10 down to 1x10 because it Gobbles and break the attack's set.

Wouldn't this only apply to a defends roll with interference?

Because if it's a regular defends roll the 3x10 attack goes off before the 2x10 defense power/dodge/block.

Unless I missed something somewhere along the way.
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clockworkjoe

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #282 on: December 23, 2013, 05:56:31 PM »
So, let's say you get attacked with 3x10. Using the power previously listed (2HD) you'd get hit because 2x10 isn't fast enough to active before the attack. So you take all of the damage. But a 2HD Defends about cut the 3x10 down to 1x10 because it Gobbles and break the attack's set.

Wouldn't this only apply to a defends roll with interference?

Because if it's a regular defends roll the 3x10 attack goes off before the 2x10 defense power/dodge/block.

Unless I missed something somewhere along the way.

Good catch, you need interference

Flawless P

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #283 on: December 23, 2013, 07:48:30 PM »
We've hit a bit an impasse I would say.

His core argument being that because the premade immunities power in the book is a useful quality that specifically states that to protect you from damage it needs a defends quality, that this means that insubstantiality should conform to the same standard.

Either way, thanks for the help thus far. At this point its become more of a friendly debate than actually being important to the game. We have the added bonus of being friends in real life and not just gamer group friends so in the end it's a pretty civil discussion.
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Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #284 on: December 24, 2013, 01:04:50 AM »
Oh right, Wild Talents. I was thinking of Monsters and Other Childish Things rules for attack and defense.