Author Topic: Wild Talents question  (Read 188491 times)

SageNytell

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #15 on: November 29, 2011, 09:58:22 PM »
Working on it. Went into my thought process with calculations and comments, I was really fucking bored at work earlier. I *think* it'll fit into one post.
God damn I love this system!

SageNytell

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #16 on: November 29, 2011, 10:06:48 PM »
SHAFUCKINGZAM

Couple of different ways to handle that, but here's how I would do it.
My concept of the power first, I guess. First off, since they're skates, we're dealing with a focus, so that adds some layers right there - foci are handy for flawing a power down to be more affordable, but they can be taken away or destroyed. Second, you're describing three discrete abilities:
1. Super Speed, which we can model with Unconventional Move and the Speed capacity, and I'd recommend we throw in Go First and Booster to taste so you can actually benefit from it.
2. Melting Snow and Ice, which I would say we model as a new useful power, 'Climate Control', make it permanent with two hard dice.
3. Hypercoordination, which is handled with the same focus but a separate power.
So how do we do this? Let's see!

Power: Super Skates! - Hyperstat Coordination (We'll also add in the hyperskill coordination, but more on that later.)
Qualities: None (Hyperstat) and Starting Cost: 4/die (This is by the book.)
Dice: 3d (This is total guesswork, as below. It's enough to add to coordination without making it ludicrous.)
Cost: 3 per die (See below)

Extras: None
Flaws: Focus (Super Skates) -1 (The power works only when the skates are on her feet, as with the others.)
Cost of Super Skates!: 4 base - 1 flaws = 3/die (So let's give her 3 dice for 9 points. That aspect is done, she's now terrifically coordinated when her skates are on.)

Power: Speedy Skates! - Miracle (Using Unconventional Move as a base. Means that she can also skate on walls and the like, or however your player wants to interpret it. Each useful quality allows for a type of movement at a certain speed.)
Qualities: DU (Figure she can skate fast enough to dodge attacks and move super fast.)
Dice: 2d +1wd (This part is up to you. It's a good baseline for a reliable power, but your power level and general cost determine this a lot. Based on the extras we choose below, this will give her the ability to travel 100 yards per round.)
Cost: 4 per die (Explained below)
Defends (Skate or Die!) - Capacities: Self (Not going to really be defending anyone else with this, but since she's moving so fast, we'll assume she can defend herself.)
Extras: None
Flaws: Focus (Super Skates) -1 (Power functions only when skates are worn.)
Total Cost of Defends: 2 base - 1 flaws = 1 per die (Nice and cheap.)

Useful (Super Fast!) - Capacities: Speed (We're moving pretty damn fast now. Before extras, she's doing 10 yards/round.)
Extras: Booster +1, Go First +1 (This will multiply our speed by 10, bringing our plucky hero to 100 yards per round. Go First models quick reaction speed, and bumps your width by one for initiative purposes.)
Flaws: Focus (Super Skates) -1 (Same as before)
Total Cost of Useful: 2 base + 2 extras - 1 flaws = 3 per die (Not too bad here, either.)

Cost of Speedy Skates! Power: 4 points per die with 2d + 1wd is 24 points total, which, while an investment, is still within the realm of possibility for a 250 point character. Adding in the points from Super Skates! gives us a 33 point expenditure so far.

Finally, we've got...
Power: Climate Control! - Miracle (This one is made-up whole cloth. I vaguely remember the movie version doing this, so here's my take for our super-heroine-to-be.)
Qualities: U (My thought on this - while the player is using her Speedy Skates! power, she makes the area she comes into contact with a comfy temperature - takes care of cold, warm, and other inclement conditions. Works well if she scales up the speed.)
Dice: 2hd (Pricy, but you want it to always work - this is the icing on the cake, after all, not the main event.)
Cost: per die
Useful (Climate Control!) - Capacities: Touch (Affects the area she immediately touches and anyone she can physically carry with her regular body stat. Lingers for a little while too.)
Extras: Duration +2 (So, when our intrepid skater starts moving, the climate control effect kicks up and stays active around her for even a few moments after she's stopped.)
Flaws: Focus (Super Skates) -1, Attached (Speedy Skates!) -2, Automatic -1 (Whenever the character uses the other power, this one automatically activates. It requires both the focus to be worn and the other power to be active, though because of the extra it will linger for a little while.)
Total Cost of Useful: 2 base + 2 extras - 3 flaws = 1 per die (Takes away some of the sting from
Cost of Climate Control! Power: 4 points total for 2hd is hard to beat, so all told with everything else you'll be spending 37 points on the suite of powers. Obviously I've made some assumptions about the number of dice, but the math is sound and is easily adjustable.

Also... the Focus!
Focus - Super Skates
Containing the powers Super Skates!, Speedy Skates!, and Climate Control!, these stylish yet functional skates empower [your hero's name here].
Wound Boxes:
1-4: Skates - Contains Super Skates!, 3 wound boxes.
5-8: Wheels - Contains Speedy Skates!, 3 wound boxes.
9-10: Laces - Contains Climate Control!, 2 wound boxes.

That's enough for now, I think, let me stew on Subspace Doors.

Snake-Eyes

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #17 on: November 29, 2011, 10:21:29 PM »
Holy crap. One: you were bored at work. Two: your awesome. Three: thank you.

Another one for the great minds. Here's what one of my players messaged me with. I want to be a techno psychic that has a bio mech suit ala Starship Troopers the book not the film. I have a little army of robots that i have built that i can interface with in the suit to control them, without the suit i can communicate with them.

One last thing for now. Is there anything major missing from the main book that the essentials book doesn't cover?
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SageNytell

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #18 on: November 30, 2011, 12:55:07 PM »
I've got an idea or two about Subspace doors and your mech-psychic, but that'll be a bit of typing. In the meantime, the main rulebook has a large section of fluff about the default Wild Talents Setting 'A World Gone Mad', and two dandy little chapters written by Greg Stolze about playing the system and worldbuilding. The only other thing you're missing are a couple of premade characters based on iconics from the setting, the Essentials book has everything else.

(Fake edit: Oh, and Medium Armor, which is a one-point flaw on Heavy Armor to decrease both shock and killing by width - exactly a middle ground between Light and Heavy armor.)

clockworkjoe

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #19 on: November 30, 2011, 03:52:55 PM »
the robot army can be handled with the minions power with HD and permanent.

Snake-Eyes

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #20 on: December 06, 2011, 02:18:09 AM »
Okay so I think I messed up with my players during character creation. They have hd and wd on their basic stats and skills. I'm not talking about hyperstats and hyperskills the basic not using super powers pools. Also do they need a archtype? Sorry if I seem to be a newbie at this but this my first time really dealing with wild talents and the one roll system. Thank you for all the help.
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SageNytell

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #21 on: December 06, 2011, 08:03:22 AM »
All players need an archetype. They get one source for free, and if they want to take any sort of powers or special abilities whatsoever they need permissions, and for each permission you need one source. Super's the most, er... permissive permission, but it costs 15 points accordingly. The only thing a source in and of itself gives you is Base Will, Willpower, and normal stats and skills. To bring down the cost of multiple or expensive permissions, your players might want to look at some intrinsics to flaw them down, but remember that you can only bring the cost of a source to 0, you never gain points from it.
Speaking of normal stats and skills, no, you can't normally take hard or wiggle dice in your regular stats and skills without specifically choosing a power to augment them, which gets expensive real fast. There is a particular permission whose name escapes me that *does* allow you to take hard and wiggle dice in regular stats and skills, but it does not allow any other powers nor actual hyperdice or hyperskills, so you still have a 5d limit on stats and skills.
As for those powers you were asking about, they should be posted today or tomorrow. Things have been busy at work, and I have them half typed up but I haven't gotten any farther yet.

Edit: Peak Performer is the permission I was thinking of.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2011, 10:59:53 AM by SageNytell »

crash2455

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #22 on: December 06, 2011, 06:56:12 PM »
What is the point of penetration?  I know it reduces the effectiveness of armor types, but something like Attacks +1 costs just as much as Attacks with one level of penetration, but adds more width to an attack, which would reduce the effect of armor and do more damage to unarmored opponents. 

Is there something I'm missing here?

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #23 on: December 06, 2011, 07:08:33 PM »
I believe that Attacks increases your Width only for purposes of Damage, not for purposes of overcoming defensive rolls, even static ones like Armor.

SageNytell

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #24 on: December 06, 2011, 10:45:51 PM »
Attacks adds width for the sole purpose of additional damage if and only if the attack in question hits, thus I can have a power with 3d and +7 attacks and still never hit anyone ever, but by god that slow unarmored percent of 28% of the time is going to get hurt.

Also, IT LIVES ONCE MORE
Sorry this took so long! It's been a little bit crazy for me over the past week or so.
Well, I would recommend checking with you player to see what specifically he's looking for - specificity is your friend, especially with the limit of points available, but I'll see if I can kludge something together. Since this one is a bit more open-ended, I'll try and leave a few options for the flexible ones.
Since our intrepid technopath has two different sorts of powers he's looking for, he'll most likely need either two separate power sources and permissions, or a veeeery open-ended source with Super, so he might want to take a look at intrinsics to buy that down a little. I'll be assuming that we're working with Super here.

Next, we'll take a look at the actual powers themselves. Fortunately, I have both read Starship Troopers and seen the (relatively abysmal past the first) movies, so I know what you're talking about with the psychic. The one in the book had the ability (called a Talent,  appropriately enough) to detect minds or living things at a distance, and the ones in the movies can read minds and communicate via touch, so why not combine the two? Call it telepathy/technopathy, even split, with the ability to detect and communicate with either minds or artificial networks.

On to the tech powers, then. Our intrepid technopath is in powered armor. As I recall from the book, the suits worked on a principle of force feedback amplification - in layman's terms, it magnifies your efforts. We'll use that as simply hyperdice in Body, attached to a suit focus providing some Hard Armor layered with Light Armor. In addition, we've got two other things to look at: Creation of robot minions, and general command and control. Based on the powersets you've outlined, the character will be able to provide control at a distance while in the suit, and only by touch using his technopathy when outside of it.
Let's get started!

Power: Telepathy / Technopathy - Miracle (Perceive / Telepathy with some tweaks.)
Dice: 2hd (Reliable, will always work, and a couple of key flaws means it's not overpowering in effectiveness or cost.)
Qualities: ADUUU (So, we can attack minds and computer systems, defend against mental attacks, detect active organic minds and active artificial systems, read minds and systems, and communicate without language with systems and sentients. Big power, by the way.)
Attacks (Also, I Can Kill You With My Brain!) - Capacities: Range (But see below)
Extras: Non-Physical +2
Flaws: Touch Only -2
Total Cost of Attacks: 2 points/die
Comments:  Our intrepid hero, using the dice and extras here, can do 2 points of shock and killing damage per turn with a touch and ignoring armor and other physical defenses.  Initially, the attacks, mindreading, and communication are touch only, though they have a range capacity. If your player is interested, he can buy off this restriction at a cost of 2 points per die or 4 points per hard die, per quality, generally expanding the flexibility of the power.

Defends (Strong Mind) - Capacities: Self
Flaws: If/Then(Mental Attacks only) -1
Total Cost of Defends: 1 point/die
Comments:  As his telepathy and technopathy are currently touch-based, our hero is only fortified with them against mental attacks, but then, that's what his armor is for.

Useful (Mind Detector) - Capacities: Range
Extras: Radius +2, Booster +1
Flaws: If/Then(Conscious Minds or Active Artificial Networks Only) -1, Delayed Effect -2
Total Cost of Useful: 2 points/die
Comments: Based on the Perceive miracle, the character can detect conscious minds and active systems in a 200 yard radius, but it takes some time.

Useful (In Your Head, Readin' Your Thoughts) - Capacities: Range
Flaws: Touch Only -2
Total Cost of Useful: 1 point/die
Comments: Simple enough, the character can read thoughts at a touch. Be aware that telepathy is one of those possible game-breakers, so at the very least an unwilling target should get a stability roll to resist, just don't make it a trauma check!

Useful (Speak Without Words) - Capacities: Range
Extras: Controlled Effect (AIs or Sentient Living Creatures) +1
Flaws: Touch Only -2
Total Cost of Useful: 1 point/die
Comments: Our plucky hero can telepathically converse with any sentient mind or semi-aware network interface as long as he can retain physical contact. He can use this to command his robots when out of the suit.
Total Cost of Telepathy/Technopathy: 7 points/die, so 2hd costs 28 points.

Powered Armor with Synthetic Creation and Control System:
For the hyperbody stat and the 'armor' portion of the armor, I would recommend flat-out using the premade powers Powered Exoskeleton and Reinforced Armor Panelling from page 167. The first is a normal Hyperstat Body that only works when the armor is on for a total 9 points, the second is a 4HD light armor / hard armor combination that costs 40 points and limits your telepath to a physical initiative for width of 2, but it also gets rid of 4 width of any attack with 4 light armor for anything that's left. If this is too expensive, drop a hard die or two, each one costs 10 points. The flaw on the armor being bulky actually complements this character's playstyle, as his psychic abilities are dependable but not fast, and you've got a gang of robots, so use 'em!
Now, onto your robots, shall we?

Again, I must say that this was left very open, you can give these robots all sorts of abilities by using the Attached Power flaw, but as it was left vague, a simple power is what you get.
Power: [CharacterName]'s Universal Robots! - Miracle (Minions! First person to get the reference gets a point of geek cred.)
Qualities: U
Dice: 8hd
Comments: We want hard dice because we want reliable minions. You're getting 8 of them for having 8 dice, period, but if you use hard dice you make sure that they're considered to be 'expert' minions. With this power, I chose to go with quality over quantity, your player may choose differently. Just be aware that the ability to permanently create infinite minions at will can get broken, fast - thus my little touches.

Useful (Small Robot Army!) - Capacities: Range
Extras: Permanent +4
Flaws: If/Then(Only 8 (current number of dice) robots maximum can exist at a time); Delayed Effect -2, Focus(Powered Armor)-1
Comments: Alright, so your dude has 8 robots at any given time, and can reinforce losses back up to 8 using this power. Robots take some time to teleport in / be manufactured, so it's not instantaneous resummoning. A minion pool of 8 dice is still pretty useful for most tasks that don't require stealth, and as the power doesn't have the 'Always On' flaw, you can just unsummon/disassemble them. As you asked, the power only works in the armor.
Total Cost of Useful: 2 points / die, bringing the cost up to 32 dice for 8hd. But wait! There's a (little bit) more!

Power: Command and Control System - Miracle
Qualities: U
Dice: 2hd
Comments: Because otherwise your robots won't listen to you.

Useful (Distributed Communications Array) - Capacities: Range
Extras: Booster (Range) +1
Flaws: Attached ([Character Name]'s Universal Robots!) -2, If/Then (Verbal Commands only recognized while in Power Armor) -1
Total Cost of Useful: 1 point/die, for 4 points for 2hd
Comments: Your robots will always obey your character's verbal and tactile technopathic commands, and will instantly relay these commands to other robots within range that do not themselves receive the command.

This one totals up quite a bit more expensive than the other. Total cost assumes that you either have all powers off of one Super permission. There are cheaper ways to do it, but they add complexity. Everything all together including required Super permission would run you... 128 points, if my tired mind is working correctly. If you want to trim, the place that I personally would be inclined to look would start with the armor. Your player also might want to try to attach other powers to the Minions power, maybe giving them ray guns with the Harm miracle or adding to their toughness with Light Armor, or maybe even your player doesn't want a small army of robots but instead would like an army of small robots, in which case you could attach Size Shift (smaller).
Hope you like it! Messing around with everything makes me want to make a dude whose sole power is summoning a pack of velociraptors, only instead of movie-style giant raptors they're feathered little adorable turkey-sized carnivores. :D

Also, should I cool it with the double posting or the giant posts? I don't want to be a dick.  :(

Edit: Might I just say that this, of course, proves that literally anything is preferable to dealing with taxes all day long.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2011, 10:49:01 PM by SageNytell »

Snake-Eyes

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #25 on: December 11, 2011, 08:19:41 PM »
Sage thank you so much for all your help.

Anyone think I would be a evil GM to throw Slender Man at my players? I'm still trying to pin down his powers as much as I can. So far I got stretching his body and arms, hypnosis when arms are at full length making people walk to him,  making people disappear (teleport?), tendrils/limbs coming for his back and tendrils from his hands/fingers. I'm sure his point cost would be crazy high. I really want to do this, not so much as to kill my players but to drive their characters nuts or at least give them something they can't kill that will taunt them endlessly. Another idea for a "villain" I have is a speedster who's super speed can't be shut off thus his molecules are in such a state of flux that he can pass though anything much like when the Flash vibrates his body to move though objects. Also due to the flux his physical features can't full be seen (be all blurry and jumbled).
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crash2455

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #26 on: December 12, 2011, 12:39:59 AM »
Anyone think I would be a evil GM to throw Slender Man at my players? I'm still trying to pin down his powers as much as I can.

If you're running a horror game, then no.  The way you make Slender Man work is to not give him any stats.  I may or may not have done this in MaOCT.

Snake-Eyes

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #27 on: December 12, 2011, 01:44:26 AM »
It's not a full horror game. There may be horror elements if the players take the plot hooks but I got a good mix of a bit of everything. I'm working on stating him out. I removed the charm and command stats using the custom stat intrinsic. The other stats are at 5d. I gave him 5d in Athletics, block brawl, endurance, dodge, stealth, perception, stability and intimidation. Other parts so far done are, power source unknown, permission super and the inhuman intrinsic. The only reason I'm giving him stats is so if my players encounter him they have a chance at dodging attacks and defending them self's.
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Snake-Eyes

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #28 on: December 16, 2011, 05:05:02 PM »
I got a question about "force fields". I got two players with them in one form or another. so lets say player Bob activates the shield rolls 4x5 and then npc attacks Bob. How does npc break though the shielding? does it have to beat the width of the shield?
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clockworkjoe

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Re: Wild Talents question
« Reply #29 on: December 16, 2011, 07:39:27 PM »
depends on the force field - what are the stats for the power?