ed i think it is pretty awesome that exigency is still happening and evolving. i really liked your original rules, and i like how you've kept working on them. good stuff, man!
Hey, thanks man! That really means a lot Seems like only yesterday that I came in here bugging people for ideas for some d20 knock-off I had in mind...
Oh, yeah. In fact Ledifni's uplink implant is a great comparison for Dustin's cranial implant.
I should stress that although Ledifni's implant "only" gives +1 Tech (was it Tech or Analysis it boosted? I can't recall), it has background functions too; telecasting, handsfree computing. Likewise I'd be prepared to say that Dustin's grants him +1 Analysis in a universal context but +2 when dealing with specific Duality products, services, or historical facts and figures.
If anyone's wondering, the reason implants grant +1s when items tend to grant +2 to checks is because implant effects are passive and constant.
If you have an aspect that grants you bonus damage based off Analysis, an implant would boost that! Your handheld scanner, that requires you to point it at the enemy and read the report when you want to be shooting it? Not so much. There's a marked difference between bonuses in utility checks and actual innate increases.
So. Attacking a target? Roll to hit (1d100 + your appropriate BC) and your target will attempt Evasion (or Psi Defence)- another 1d100 check with an added BC. If your attack connects you will roll for damage and the target will make a Resistance check. Or Resolve if you're using a psionic attack or particularly barbed taunt.
Does this mean that a target always gets an evasion check when attacked, or would they have to an SA available to do so?
Also for rolls, assuming focus 5 and ranged 3:
Normal attack roll: 1d100+55 | 1d6+6
Hurried attack roll: 1d100+35 | 1d6+4
Aimed attack roll (Using Ranged): 1d100+85 | 1d6+7
Thanks, Iron Weasel! Glad you like it. Feel free to stick around if you want or we can look forward to seeing you next time!
And tasty: you can always attempt Evasion, unless you're the unlucky victim of a Stealth attack or other special circumstances. Any unspent actions grant +10 to your Evasion skill roll(s), so that's +40 to your 1d100 roll if you don't do anything at all prior to the attempt (and while I might be wrong, I'm fairly certain we've had a past character make an aspect that doubled that).
And you have +3 damage to all firearm attacks because of your Ranged, so that'd stack with aim actions!
The aspect I saw was Nimble, which lets you do it any time, but mentions caught in the open with no unspent actions as an situation where it would allow you to do it so I had to check too so I wanted to make sure.
I thought I incorporated that into the dummy rolls I put in. The ranged 3 would be +30 on the roll, and focus 5 is +25 right?
Aiming would allow you to add half your focus again to the attack or all of your ranged/melee skill again?
Ah, I see. I meant that with Careful Aim you use your FOC as if it was a speciality (x10) rather than an attribute modifier (x5), should maybe make that apparent; it's intended as a straight upgrade, since attribute numbers are always equal to or higher than their speciality.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Ed, can you help me make a character? Like the one we made last time?
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
Yep. +105 to-hit would virtually guarantee that your target is going to get a hole in them.
And sure, Munkus! Feel free to send me a PM, lots of people have.
@ V - I decided that forcing people to move was too restrictive, so instead you get bonuses for actions unspent/used on movement rather than having to use them. But we'll stick with the full-turn action move (running) = double Evasion speciality thing. Way I see it, if you're doing nothing but running you've sacrificed the chance to do anything awesome, and so you should at least be really good at it.
So with that in mind, tasty, Nimble would probably be retuned to give greater bonuses. Although being able to evade even when ambushed would still make sense as a bonus.
I see... that kind of makes Careful Aim imbalanced though, imo. Since it comes with the highly useful Called Shot and Called Strike attacks too, it's hard not to choose it in any kind of combat build.
As for nimble: easiest buff would be to make it allow you to not take half damage on an area attack one has successfully saved against a la 3.x Rogue evasion?
I was also considering grabbing the "Crippling" aspect too, but I'm not sure how that functions given damage is direct to attributes if I read that T&I page correctly:
Crippling
Prereq: FOC 4
The character can expend 2HP (for a Melee attack) or 2MP (for a Ranged attack) and perform a Crippling attack. The damage is applied directly in the form of injuries or trauma, rather than being deducted from the target's HP or MP. If the damage fails to hit 10 (i.e., and cause an injury/trauma) then it is completely nullified. The damage is still reduced by Resistance and armour as normal.
The thing is I'd also be paying MP for an attack that is significantly less accurate than a normal attack boosted by Careful Aim (while dealing more damage to boot).
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
Ed the wiki mentioned something about Psionors not being able to take minor items as implants, is that still in effect?
Because I like the sound of that "constant, always on", and using a minor slot to upgrade and advanced item also sounds excellent, thanks for bringing that up, tasty.
I should have a finalized character out as soon as I decide what I want items to boost, and with regards to being fighty, I think I'll be able to hold my own on the psionic attack front.
Maybe Careful Aim could do with a nerf, then? Or split up into multiple aspects...
Crippling will likely return to its original iteration, where you deal double damage but it's all inflicted as temp instead of normal. Very useful for softening up bosses.
Flavour wise, psionors can't have minor implants that affect mental skills, no. Certainly not psionic boosters! +1 to Melee because you've got Gibson-esque blade fingers? Sure. +1 to Resistance because your skin has plates beneath it? Sure! +1 to Reactions because your cybernetic implant stimulates your brain? No.
But +1 to Reactions because you're always full of drugs? Why not? :P The limitation is mostly in terms of the setting, really. Mechanically you can have any number of alternatives that get similar results. Being reliant on stimulants differs from an implant because you'd have to initiate it each time (doesn't mean much, just set aside a single action every encounter so you can boost yourself) but at least they're not shorted out by EMP.
Yeah, medium armour (default Advanced armour) would have 6. The only way to get higher is to press it into the heavy category, but that'll give you movement penalties.
Also tasty I agree with you, so I split Careful Aim into Careful Aim and Called Attack. The bonus is in the latter and the special attacks are in the former!
Maybe Careful Aim could do with a nerf, then? Or split up into multiple aspects...
I hate to admit it, but passively doubling anyone's overall ability to hit things seems like a a bit much. The other attacks just sweeten the pot.
Are there similar aspects/etc in psionics too?
Careful aim giving you double your attribute bonus at the normal x5 rate, and granting your attribute bonus x10 with the extra damage as an ability with a high cooldown would put it more in line with the other stuff that's written?
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
There isn't an exact psionic equivalent either come to think of it, but there's certainly some devastating abilities in their arsenal. Big numbers ahoy!
Alright, here's my stab at remaking Stephen, let me know if anything doesn't make any sense:
Attributes and Specialties
Attributes
VIT 3
STR 3
AGI 3
FOC 4
WIL 4
INT 8 (7 + Dedicant)
EP 4
RST 3
REA 4
RSV 8
Specialties
Analysis 2
Tech 3
Medic 4
Resolve 1
Aspects
Bonus Aspect
+20 to Operate (Medic|FOC)
Improved Aid
Prereq: Medic +3
When determining the amount of HP healed by First Aid, the character adds their INT to the value.
Anatomical Precision
Prereq: Medic +2
The character's Medic speciality now serves as a to-hit bonus versus organic enemies, although it cannot be more than the attack's basic to-hit modifier. When the character critically hits an organic enemy, their Medic speciality serves as a further damage bonus.
Mech Fighter
Prereq: Tech +2
The character's Tech speciality now serves as a to-hit bonus versus mechs (cyborgs, robots, power-armoured opponents), although it cannot be more than the attack's existing to-hit modifier (i.e., their Ranged or Melee base competency). When the character critically hits a mech, their Tech speciality serves as a further damage bonus.
Neural Network Architect
Prereq: Medic +2, Tech +2, Int 5
When making a Tech check targeting a Cyborg or AI, the character may add their Medic specialty as a bonus. The bonus may not be more than the existing base competency, and does not apply to aspect checks.
Neuroscientist
Prereq: Medic +2, Tech +2
The character can spend an edge point to perform a maximized Medic or Tech check against a Psionic or Cyborg opponent’s Resolve. Against Psionic opponents the successful check grants a Psi Defense bonus equal to the character’s Medic specialty to allies attacked by that opponent. Against Cyborg opponents the successful check grants a to-hit bonus equal to the character’s Tech specialty to allies attacking that opponent. This effect lasts the duration of the encounter, and can only be applied once per enemy per encounter.
Wise Advice
Prereq: Int 6
The character can expend a full turn action to grant their aspect bonuses to an ally for the duration of the turn.
Items
Mundane Items:
Shoulder-strapped Briefcase
Travel Coat
Personal Datastore
Minor Items:
Photon Pistol: 2d6, RP3. +4/+3 to crit damage (Anatomical Precision/Mech Fighter), MD1T, Charge 6
Medpack
Multitool
Advanced Items:
MediStat (+2 Medic, +2 Tech)
(Just counting the medistat for both my advanced items, if that's cool?)
Background
Stephen grew up living in the heights of a Domarian planet; his parents being quite affluent. He received one of the best educations that money can buy, traveling to and studying in Ucelsia, Lodor, Monrhein, and Jao, before finally settling with neuroscience as his area of expertise and taking up contracts with a number of different Jaoshijean zaibatsus performing research and aiding in the development of implants. He spent some amount of time doing work for the High Council, studying the development of psionic abilities in children and adults as well as some more hush-hush research regarding technological and genetic amplification of psionic abilities.
There are rumors about Stephen’s involvement with the Karamanit corporation, some even claiming that he worked for the founder himself shortly before Isuru Karamanit committed suicide. These rumors were compounded when Stephen accepted a job with the Duality Corporation shortly after they acquired Karamanit’s former assets. Stephen grew very quickly in the ranks, and began working on highly confidential projects within months of his employment. After ten years of working for Duality, Stephen disappeared. Along with him went a cache of project information for a variety of new neural implant designs.
Side-tracked in his attempt to escape with the research, he ended up getting caught in the middle of a conflict masterminded by the famous retired Duality scientist Hugh Smithselen. Stephen was part of the group that ended up taking him down, but in the process he lost his chance to escape. With no other options, he was forced to return to Duality, where he is now kept on a much tighter leash.
Personality-wise, Stephen is often more educated than those around him and he flaunts it. He tends to be incredibly sarcastic and condescending, and can be rather narcissistic. He’ll occasionally go out of his way to help people in need, but primarily because he enjoys making others dependent on him. He’s the type of person that would patch up a stranger who got beaten in a bar fight, but all the while denigrate them for their drunken stupidity. He’s generally pragmatic, with a fairly Machiavellian attitude. He enjoys the finer things in life, expensive food and expensive entertainment.
I should have a post with my character details up tomo, still dunno about aspects...
Scratch the "3.x evasion" recommendation that I made earlier though. I just remembered how much I hated that as a DM... Could Nimble do the evasion even if ambushed, etc part and grant an offensive bonus reducing the penalties of hurried attacks by 10/1 (to a minimum of -10/-1)?
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
I'm really liking Neuroscientist now, Winky. Sure it'll cost you an Edge point and it's once-an-encounter, but it'll hit the target with a 175 power opposed roll (for Medic, it'd be 165 for Tech), and if they fail to beat that roll ([1d10 + Resolve *10], meaning an average human with Rsv 2 can get 120 at most and so is literally incapable of rolling high enough) they have to cope with the party having either a +4 Psi Defence bonus or a +30 to-hit bonus. Powerful stuff!
I take it Wise Advice's description is literal, granting the aspect bonuses rather than the aspects themselves? I'm assuming that, because the +40 to hit from Anatomical Precision is a greater boon than letting a guy have a +Medic bonus to an attack when he doesn't have Medic himself :P
I do like the idea of Stephen and Dustin having to work together. Facing off against a killer cyborg, Stephen pops off Neuroscientist and then shouts out some Wise Advice from behind cover. Then Dustin takes Careful Aim, and with the additional +60 to-hit that Stephen's given him, proceeds to nail the bastard right between the eyes. Stephen's entire schtick revolves around telling Dustin how to be most effective, and it must be really galling to Dustin that he kind of sort of has to take advice from Stephen in order to perform at his best :P
And tasty, Nimble would be fine like that, or if you like instead of nullifying halved damage it could reduce the halved damage by your Evasion PDC (i.e., so you roll that dice and potentially nullify it, or you roll low and fluff it but you're no worse off than before at least).
Alrighty, here's the writeup for Dustin (most of it a rehash of his original one). Will we be able to level up over the course of this game?
Dustin Marvough (v3 edition, Proposed)
Background
Corporate, Mercenary League
Dustin has been a long-time employee of Duality Corporation. As such he's been to many, many places. Much of his time is spent traveling shipboard. If asked what his occupation is, he'd proudly proclaim that he offers pitches to smaller in-system companies for Duality Corporations lesser known products and interests. A closer examination of his presence and the disappearance or deaths of individuals during the course of his visits would suggest that there's more to him than just a smiling face.
His adventures into the world of assassination began with a simple instruction: "Do whatever it takes to sell this product or you're fired." When the contact for the corporation vanished, the deal went through. His higher ups had an idea of what happened, but the local authorities' inability to pin the "disappearance" on him even with psionic aid made it clear that Dustin's talents would be better used elsewhere. Thus, when things died down Dustin was discretely promoted.
Having cancelled the pension of the retired Hugh Smithselen five years ago, he has seen a marked decrease in assignments. This is primarily because of his discovery of Stephen Dawker in the process. If it were not for the runner and others' assistance, Dustin would not have been able to take him out. Acknowledging this, Dustin opted not to slay the runner on site, and later the neuroscientist was brought back into the fold. The catch: Dustin has guardianship over him. Unable to act as freely as before and with fewer missions, he has grown considerably grumpy and out of "practice", but still retains a somewhat high ranking amongst Duality's most effective spokespersons, particularly as a non-psionor.
Dustin looks like your average salaryman, the only excepting being his close cut hairstyle. If one were to look closely into his eyes you would notice that he is slightly heterochromic, though this is because one of his eyes has been modified.
Most people find that talking to Dustin is chore. He's one of those folk who seem like every other word is a sales pitch for something that may or may not work. Many dismiss him as being nothing more than a mindless tool for Duality Corporation product placement. His voice and mannerisms give away little to nothing about his true intentions. Outside of work environments Dustin is generally outwardly disinterested in most people, the exception being psionics. Despite his aloof nature Dustin is highly attuned to his surroundings, including psionics. His ability to read body language and detect subtle details about things makes him highly effective as both a salesperson and assassin.
Prescience
Your heightened awareness of the world around you has granted you with the ability to respond before being consciously aware of doing so. When making a saving throw, roll twice. The second roll has no modifiers attached to it. You may use the higher of the two to determine your success. With a Focus of 8 or above, half of the applicable
attribute may be included in your secondary roll.
Nimble
The character is always allowed to attempt Evasion, even when ambushed or caught in the open. The only exceptions are statuses that reduce/negate Agility to the point of unusability, such as paralysis or immobilisation. In addition, when making hurried attacks, the penalty to do so is reduced by -10/-1, to a minimum of of -10/-1.
Conservation of Style
Prereq: WIL 5, Social +3
The cost of all special abilities are equal to 1.5 times their cost, before any reductions are applied. If the ability fails/misses nothing is spent and its cooldown is reduced by half.
Hostile Mindscape
Prereq: Psi Defence +3
When an enemy psionically attacks the character, the two make an opposed Resolve check and include their respective Psi Defence values as bonuses. The loser parts with an amount of MP equal to the winner's highest mental attribute. Special: Hellish Mindscape: When using Hostile Mindscape, consume 1EP; if the user wins the Resolve check, the enemy also suffers damage/effects equal to those they would have forced upon the character. With Telempathy +4 and Psi Defence +4, using Hellish Mindscape also Maximises the Resolve check.
Reactive Counter
Reaction 5
If an attacker's attack is negated as a result of the character's evasion or psi defense check she may make a hurried attack against their attacker, provided she has at least one unspent action available to use for this attack. If a character chooses to make this attack, all of her attacks will have the penalties tied to making hurried attacks until the start of her next turn. A character may only use this ability once between their own turns.
Careful Aim
Prereq: FOC 4 OR Ranged +3/Melee +3
When aiming, instead of the usual bonuses, the character gains +FOC to hit and +Ranged or +Melee to damage depending on the attack type.
Items
Mundane
ID indicating his position and other credentials.
A lighter.
A pocket-sized multifunctional tool (scissors, screwdriver, flashlight, etc).
His left eye has an integrated HUD which works in conjunction with his implant.
Candy
Hover-case: Small suitcase containing his belongings, it hovers.)
Jet black Business Suit.
Dressy space shoes.
Minor
Epidermal armor: Dustin's epidermis is reinforced with nano-filaments that provide him with a +2 armor bonus.
Cranial Implant: contains a wealth of information about Duality Corporation's products, with Intranet uplink capabilities. (+1 Analysis, +2 Duality Checks)
Stealth Field Generator (+1 Stealth)
Advanced
* "Imogen": A pocket-sized Armor Piercing firearm [1d6+6, 6AP Lethal (+5 Crit, +5 Dam)]. Can fold itself down to a size that's about that of a modern bar cell phone, "unfolded" it's the size of a Derringer but without a trigger (synched to Dustin's implant). Small, quiet and deadly. Dustin can fire this remotely if it is within 10 yards of himself.
* Alt-Human (+2 Evasion)
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
Looking good! So for the Alt-human trait are we having Dustin as genetically modified, or is it just down to lifelong conditioning and training? Comes to the same thing in the end...
Also I've remembered that Advanced items are supposed to have special attacks tied to them (ala what Lanlaorn did). With that in mind, I was thinking that Ledifni's Sentinel pistol could deal AoE damage as a full turn action (a kind of plasma blast firemode, typical Domarian subtlety) and Dustin's good ol' Imogen could have some sort of overcharged mode with bonus armour penetration and some kind of similar drawback?
Something like, full-turn fire mode, +4 damage, +2AP, deals half damage to hexes adjacent to initial target and counts as an AoE attack for purposes of dodging...
Yea I think it's more of a genetics/evolutionary thing... regular training would develop it to the point that it is at though.
As far as Imogen goes, I kind of thought that its remote firing thing was its special attack. Especially since he usually fired it while attached to his hand in tandem with another weapon.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
Hmm, all right. Not sure how to balance out tandem firing in the new system, unless it's something really basic (like rolling damage for both weapons, and using the highest).
Ah, changing it is fine then. Overcharging a laser just seems... weird though. I'll think of something, are there other AP lasers in the game that I can look at?
edit: maybe a firing mode that deals half damage, but causes seizures in organics and something similar to non-organics for a round?
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
I'm really liking Neuroscientist now, Winky. Sure it'll cost you an Edge point and it's once-an-encounter, but it'll hit the target with a 175 power opposed roll (for Medic, it'd be 165 for Tech), and if they fail to beat that roll ([1d10 + Resolve *10], meaning an average human with Rsv 2 can get 120 at most and so is literally incapable of rolling high enough) they have to cope with the party having either a +4 Psi Defence bonus or a +30 to-hit bonus. Powerful stuff!
I take it Wise Advice's description is literal, granting the aspect bonuses rather than the aspects themselves? I'm assuming that, because the +40 to hit from Anatomical Precision is a greater boon than letting a guy have a +Medic bonus to an attack when he doesn't have Medic himself :P
I do like the idea of Stephen and Dustin having to work together. Facing off against a killer cyborg, Stephen pops off Neuroscientist and then shouts out some Wise Advice from behind cover. Then Dustin takes Careful Aim, and with the additional +60 to-hit that Stephen's given him, proceeds to nail the bastard right between the eyes. Stephen's entire schtick revolves around telling Dustin how to be most effective, and it must be really galling to Dustin that he kind of sort of has to take advice from Stephen in order to perform at his best :P
And tasty, Nimble would be fine like that, or if you like instead of nullifying halved damage it could reduce the halved damage by your Evasion PDC (i.e., so you roll that dice and potentially nullify it, or you roll low and fluff it but you're no worse off than before at least).
Yeah, I intended Wise Advice to mean that they get the bonuses that you would've had, as in, they just get your numbers. To be honest I didn't really work out the numbers myself to check if any of it was over/under powered, so I can change anything else if adjustments need to be made.
I basically tried to set it up so that Stephen is pure support and is primarily focused on buffing/debuffing/healing rather than direct combat.
I also thought it would be flavorful since now Stephen's role in combat is to shout "No, you idiot, you should be doing it this way!" while never actually taking a shot himself and missing all the shots he does take :P.
Hey Ed, had you thought of a "deadline" for character submissions? I think I might take a crack at putting one together.
I was thinking of kicking off on Monday at the latest! If we've got more than 6 builds by then, I'll have to be "that guy" and pick the characters I think will be most interesting
I should stress that I simply don't care about balance at the initial stage, I'm opening to tweaking custom aspects/equipment powers etc. on the fly!
Posts
Hey, thanks man! That really means a lot
I should stress that although Ledifni's implant "only" gives +1 Tech (was it Tech or Analysis it boosted? I can't recall), it has background functions too; telecasting, handsfree computing. Likewise I'd be prepared to say that Dustin's grants him +1 Analysis in a universal context but +2 when dealing with specific Duality products, services, or historical facts and figures.
If anyone's wondering, the reason implants grant +1s when items tend to grant +2 to checks is because implant effects are passive and constant.
If you have an aspect that grants you bonus damage based off Analysis, an implant would boost that! Your handheld scanner, that requires you to point it at the enemy and read the report when you want to be shooting it? Not so much. There's a marked difference between bonuses in utility checks and actual innate increases.
The Division, Warframe (XB1)
GT: Tanith 6227
(seriously though Ive got a new job and Im already playing in one game so someone else wanting to take my slot would be a good way out for me really!)
..how many people have expressed interest anyway?
Does this mean that a target always gets an evasion check when attacked, or would they have to an SA available to do so?
Also for rolls, assuming focus 5 and ranged 3:
Normal attack roll: 1d100+55 | 1d6+6
Hurried attack roll: 1d100+35 | 1d6+4
Aimed attack roll (Using Ranged): 1d100+85 | 1d6+7
Aimed attack roll (With Careful Aim , Focus): 1d100+80 | 1d6+9?
Trying to figure out when the x5 for attributes and x10 for specialities applies and doesn't, and such.
The crit range would be as follows:
Hit: 8% (13% with imo), Fail: 2%
And tasty: you can always attempt Evasion, unless you're the unlucky victim of a Stealth attack or other special circumstances. Any unspent actions grant +10 to your Evasion skill roll(s), so that's +40 to your 1d100 roll if you don't do anything at all prior to the attempt (and while I might be wrong, I'm fairly certain we've had a past character make an aspect that doubled that).
And you have +3 damage to all firearm attacks because of your Ranged, so that'd stack with aim actions!
I thought I incorporated that into the dummy rolls I put in. The ranged 3 would be +30 on the roll, and focus 5 is +25 right?
Aiming would allow you to add half your focus again to the attack or all of your ranged/melee skill again?
Dropping the damage off these:
Normal attack roll: 1d100 + 30 Ranged + 25 Focus
Hurried attack roll: 1d100 + 30 Ranged + 25 Focus - 20 Hurried
Aimed attack roll (Using Ranged): 1d100+ 30 Ranged + 25 Focus + 30 Ranged(Bonus)
or
Aimed attack roll (Using Focus): 1d100+ 30 Ranged + 25 Focus + 15 Focus(Bonus 5/2 = 2.5 always round up, 3 x5 Attribute)
And then if I choose to use Careful Aim
Aimed attack roll (With Careful Aim , Focus): 1d100+ 30 Ranged + 25 Focus + 25 Focus(Careful Aim Bonus)
Which while in this case the bonus doesn't make it higher than normal aiming, access to special attacks makes up for it?
yeah that sounds more right
last time ringo's guy could use careful aim and get a hundredish modifier too
also ed I thought you could only evade if youd moved in the turn before?
And sure, Munkus! Feel free to send me a PM, lots of people have.
@ V - I decided that forcing people to move was too restrictive, so instead you get bonuses for actions unspent/used on movement rather than having to use them. But we'll stick with the full-turn action move (running) = double Evasion speciality thing. Way I see it, if you're doing nothing but running you've sacrificed the chance to do anything awesome, and so you should at least be really good at it.
So with that in mind, tasty, Nimble would probably be retuned to give greater bonuses. Although being able to evade even when ambushed would still make sense as a bonus.
As for nimble: easiest buff would be to make it allow you to not take half damage on an area attack one has successfully saved against a la 3.x Rogue evasion?
I was also considering grabbing the "Crippling" aspect too, but I'm not sure how that functions given damage is direct to attributes if I read that T&I page correctly:
The thing is I'd also be paying MP for an attack that is significantly less accurate than a normal attack boosted by Careful Aim (while dealing more damage to boot).
Because I like the sound of that "constant, always on", and using a minor slot to upgrade and advanced item also sounds excellent, thanks for bringing that up, tasty.
I should have a finalized character out as soon as I decide what I want items to boost, and with regards to being fighty, I think I'll be able to hold my own on the psionic attack front.
Crippling will likely return to its original iteration, where you deal double damage but it's all inflicted as temp instead of normal. Very useful for softening up bosses.
Flavour wise, psionors can't have minor implants that affect mental skills, no. Certainly not psionic boosters! +1 to Melee because you've got Gibson-esque blade fingers? Sure. +1 to Resistance because your skin has plates beneath it? Sure! +1 to Reactions because your cybernetic implant stimulates your brain? No.
But +1 to Reactions because you're always full of drugs? Why not? :P The limitation is mostly in terms of the setting, really. Mechanically you can have any number of alternatives that get similar results. Being reliant on stimulants differs from an implant because you'd have to initiate it each time (doesn't mean much, just set aside a single action every encounter so you can boost yourself) but at least they're not shorted out by EMP.
Oh! And how much armor would an advanced item have, 6 instead of 3 for the minor?
Also tasty I agree with you, so I split Careful Aim into Careful Aim and Called Attack. The bonus is in the latter and the special attacks are in the former!
I hate to admit it, but passively doubling anyone's overall ability to hit things seems like a a bit much. The other attacks just sweeten the pot.
Are there similar aspects/etc in psionics too?
Careful aim giving you double your attribute bonus at the normal x5 rate, and granting your attribute bonus x10 with the extra damage as an ability with a high cooldown would put it more in line with the other stuff that's written?
And I also see that my post makes no sense.
I mean that Careful Aim turns your normal aimed shot into this:
Aimed attack roll (With Careful Aim , Focus): 1d100+ 30 Ranged + 50 Focus(Careful Aim Bonus)
Instead of
Aimed attack roll (With Careful Aim , Focus): 1d100+ 30 Ranged + 25 Focus + 50 Focus(Careful Aim Bonus)
Attributes and Specialties
VIT 3
STR 3
AGI 3
FOC 4
WIL 4
INT 8 (7 + Dedicant)
EP 4
RST 3
REA 4
RSV 8
Specialties
Analysis 2
Tech 3
Medic 4
Resolve 1
Aspects
+20 to Operate (Medic|FOC)
Improved Aid
Prereq: Medic +3
When determining the amount of HP healed by First Aid, the character adds their INT to the value.
Anatomical Precision
Prereq: Medic +2
The character's Medic speciality now serves as a to-hit bonus versus organic enemies, although it cannot be more than the attack's basic to-hit modifier. When the character critically hits an organic enemy, their Medic speciality serves as a further damage bonus.
Mech Fighter
Prereq: Tech +2
The character's Tech speciality now serves as a to-hit bonus versus mechs (cyborgs, robots, power-armoured opponents), although it cannot be more than the attack's existing to-hit modifier (i.e., their Ranged or Melee base competency). When the character critically hits a mech, their Tech speciality serves as a further damage bonus.
Neural Network Architect
Prereq: Medic +2, Tech +2, Int 5
When making a Tech check targeting a Cyborg or AI, the character may add their Medic specialty as a bonus. The bonus may not be more than the existing base competency, and does not apply to aspect checks.
Neuroscientist
Prereq: Medic +2, Tech +2
The character can spend an edge point to perform a maximized Medic or Tech check against a Psionic or Cyborg opponent’s Resolve. Against Psionic opponents the successful check grants a Psi Defense bonus equal to the character’s Medic specialty to allies attacked by that opponent. Against Cyborg opponents the successful check grants a to-hit bonus equal to the character’s Tech specialty to allies attacking that opponent. This effect lasts the duration of the encounter, and can only be applied once per enemy per encounter.
Wise Advice
Prereq: Int 6
The character can expend a full turn action to grant their aspect bonuses to an ally for the duration of the turn.
Items
Shoulder-strapped Briefcase
Travel Coat
Personal Datastore
Minor Items:
Photon Pistol: 2d6, RP3. +4/+3 to crit damage (Anatomical Precision/Mech Fighter), MD1T, Charge 6
Medpack
Multitool
Advanced Items:
MediStat (+2 Medic, +2 Tech)
(Just counting the medistat for both my advanced items, if that's cool?)
Background
There are rumors about Stephen’s involvement with the Karamanit corporation, some even claiming that he worked for the founder himself shortly before Isuru Karamanit committed suicide. These rumors were compounded when Stephen accepted a job with the Duality Corporation shortly after they acquired Karamanit’s former assets. Stephen grew very quickly in the ranks, and began working on highly confidential projects within months of his employment. After ten years of working for Duality, Stephen disappeared. Along with him went a cache of project information for a variety of new neural implant designs.
Side-tracked in his attempt to escape with the research, he ended up getting caught in the middle of a conflict masterminded by the famous retired Duality scientist Hugh Smithselen. Stephen was part of the group that ended up taking him down, but in the process he lost his chance to escape. With no other options, he was forced to return to Duality, where he is now kept on a much tighter leash.
Personality-wise, Stephen is often more educated than those around him and he flaunts it. He tends to be incredibly sarcastic and condescending, and can be rather narcissistic. He’ll occasionally go out of his way to help people in need, but primarily because he enjoys making others dependent on him. He’s the type of person that would patch up a stranger who got beaten in a bar fight, but all the while denigrate them for their drunken stupidity. He’s generally pragmatic, with a fairly Machiavellian attitude. He enjoys the finer things in life, expensive food and expensive entertainment.
Scratch the "3.x evasion" recommendation that I made earlier though. I just remembered how much I hated that as a DM... Could Nimble do the evasion even if ambushed, etc part and grant an offensive bonus reducing the penalties of hurried attacks by 10/1 (to a minimum of -10/-1)?
I take it Wise Advice's description is literal, granting the aspect bonuses rather than the aspects themselves? I'm assuming that, because the +40 to hit from Anatomical Precision is a greater boon than letting a guy have a +Medic bonus to an attack when he doesn't have Medic himself :P
I do like the idea of Stephen and Dustin having to work together. Facing off against a killer cyborg, Stephen pops off Neuroscientist and then shouts out some Wise Advice from behind cover. Then Dustin takes Careful Aim, and with the additional +60 to-hit that Stephen's given him, proceeds to nail the bastard right between the eyes. Stephen's entire schtick revolves around telling Dustin how to be most effective, and it must be really galling to Dustin that he kind of sort of has to take advice from Stephen in order to perform at his best :P
And tasty, Nimble would be fine like that, or if you like instead of nullifying halved damage it could reduce the halved damage by your Evasion PDC (i.e., so you roll that dice and potentially nullify it, or you roll low and fluff it but you're no worse off than before at least).
Dustin Marvough (v3 edition, Proposed)
Background
Dustin has been a long-time employee of Duality Corporation. As such he's been to many, many places. Much of his time is spent traveling shipboard. If asked what his occupation is, he'd proudly proclaim that he offers pitches to smaller in-system companies for Duality Corporations lesser known products and interests. A closer examination of his presence and the disappearance or deaths of individuals during the course of his visits would suggest that there's more to him than just a smiling face.
His adventures into the world of assassination began with a simple instruction: "Do whatever it takes to sell this product or you're fired." When the contact for the corporation vanished, the deal went through. His higher ups had an idea of what happened, but the local authorities' inability to pin the "disappearance" on him even with psionic aid made it clear that Dustin's talents would be better used elsewhere. Thus, when things died down Dustin was discretely promoted.
Having cancelled the pension of the retired Hugh Smithselen five years ago, he has seen a marked decrease in assignments. This is primarily because of his discovery of Stephen Dawker in the process. If it were not for the runner and others' assistance, Dustin would not have been able to take him out. Acknowledging this, Dustin opted not to slay the runner on site, and later the neuroscientist was brought back into the fold. The catch: Dustin has guardianship over him. Unable to act as freely as before and with fewer missions, he has grown considerably grumpy and out of "practice", but still retains a somewhat high ranking amongst Duality's most effective spokespersons, particularly as a non-psionor.
Dustin looks like your average salaryman, the only excepting being his close cut hairstyle. If one were to look closely into his eyes you would notice that he is slightly heterochromic, though this is because one of his eyes has been modified.
Most people find that talking to Dustin is chore. He's one of those folk who seem like every other word is a sales pitch for something that may or may not work. Many dismiss him as being nothing more than a mindless tool for Duality Corporation product placement. His voice and mannerisms give away little to nothing about his true intentions. Outside of work environments Dustin is generally outwardly disinterested in most people, the exception being psionics. Despite his aloof nature Dustin is highly attuned to his surroundings, including psionics. His ability to read body language and detect subtle details about things makes him highly effective as both a salesperson and assassin.
Stats
VIT: 3 (2) FOC: 5 (6)
STR: 2 (1) WIL: 5 (6)
AGI: 5 (6) INT: 3 (2)
Specialties
Ranged: 3 (3)
Psi Defense: 3 (3)
Social: 3 (3)
Evasion: 1 (0)
Derived
Ranged Attack: 55 (8% Crit, 2% Fail)
Evasion: 55
Psi Defense: 55
Social [INT/WIL/FOC/STR] 45/55/55/40
RST: 3
REA: 5
RSV: 5
EP: 4
Aspects
Prescience
Your heightened awareness of the world around you has granted you with the ability to respond before being consciously aware of doing so. When making a saving throw, roll twice. The second roll has no modifiers attached to it. You may use the higher of the two to determine your success. With a Focus of 8 or above, half of the applicable
attribute may be included in your secondary roll.
Nimble
The character is always allowed to attempt Evasion, even when ambushed or caught in the open. The only exceptions are statuses that reduce/negate Agility to the point of unusability, such as paralysis or immobilisation. In addition, when making hurried attacks, the penalty to do so is reduced by -10/-1, to a minimum of of -10/-1.
Conservation of Style
Prereq: WIL 5, Social +3
The cost of all special abilities are equal to 1.5 times their cost, before any reductions are applied. If the ability fails/misses nothing is spent and its cooldown is reduced by half.
Hostile Mindscape
Prereq: Psi Defence +3
When an enemy psionically attacks the character, the two make an opposed Resolve check and include their respective Psi Defence values as bonuses. The loser parts with an amount of MP equal to the winner's highest mental attribute. Special: Hellish Mindscape: When using Hostile Mindscape, consume 1EP; if the user wins the Resolve check, the enemy also suffers damage/effects equal to those they would have forced upon the character. With Telempathy +4 and Psi Defence +4, using Hellish Mindscape also Maximises the Resolve check.
Reactive Counter
Reaction 5
If an attacker's attack is negated as a result of the character's evasion or psi defense check she may make a hurried attack against their attacker, provided she has at least one unspent action available to use for this attack. If a character chooses to make this attack, all of her attacks will have the penalties tied to making hurried attacks until the start of her next turn. A character may only use this ability once between their own turns.
Careful Aim
Prereq: FOC 4 OR Ranged +3/Melee +3
When aiming, instead of the usual bonuses, the character gains +FOC to hit and +Ranged or +Melee to damage depending on the attack type.
Items
Mundane
ID indicating his position and other credentials.
A lighter.
A pocket-sized multifunctional tool (scissors, screwdriver, flashlight, etc).
His left eye has an integrated HUD which works in conjunction with his implant.
Candy
Hover-case: Small suitcase containing his belongings, it hovers.)
Jet black Business Suit.
Dressy space shoes.
Minor
Epidermal armor: Dustin's epidermis is reinforced with nano-filaments that provide him with a +2 armor bonus.
Cranial Implant: contains a wealth of information about Duality Corporation's products, with Intranet uplink capabilities. (+1 Analysis, +2 Duality Checks)
Stealth Field Generator (+1 Stealth)
Advanced
* "Imogen": A pocket-sized Armor Piercing firearm [1d6+6, 6AP Lethal (+5 Crit, +5 Dam)]. Can fold itself down to a size that's about that of a modern bar cell phone, "unfolded" it's the size of a Derringer but without a trigger (synched to Dustin's implant). Small, quiet and deadly. Dustin can fire this remotely if it is within 10 yards of himself.
* Alt-Human (+2 Evasion)
Looking good! So for the Alt-human trait are we having Dustin as genetically modified, or is it just down to lifelong conditioning and training? Comes to the same thing in the end...
Also I've remembered that Advanced items are supposed to have special attacks tied to them (ala what Lanlaorn did). With that in mind, I was thinking that Ledifni's Sentinel pistol could deal AoE damage as a full turn action (a kind of plasma blast firemode, typical Domarian subtlety) and Dustin's good ol' Imogen could have some sort of overcharged mode with bonus armour penetration and some kind of similar drawback?
As far as Imogen goes, I kind of thought that its remote firing thing was its special attack. Especially since he usually fired it while attached to his hand in tandem with another weapon.
edit: maybe a firing mode that deals half damage, but causes seizures in organics and something similar to non-organics for a round?
Imogen's Seizure Setting: Stephen Tested, Dustin Approved!
beat the damage with a resolve check or get stunned/knocked over
The Division, Warframe (XB1)
GT: Tanith 6227
Yeah, I intended Wise Advice to mean that they get the bonuses that you would've had, as in, they just get your numbers. To be honest I didn't really work out the numbers myself to check if any of it was over/under powered, so I can change anything else if adjustments need to be made.
I basically tried to set it up so that Stephen is pure support and is primarily focused on buffing/debuffing/healing rather than direct combat.
I also thought it would be flavorful since now Stephen's role in combat is to shout "No, you idiot, you should be doing it this way!" while never actually taking a shot himself and missing all the shots he does take :P.
I was thinking of kicking off on Monday at the latest! If we've got more than 6 builds by then, I'll have to be "that guy" and pick the characters I think will be most interesting
I should stress that I simply don't care about balance at the initial stage, I'm opening to tweaking custom aspects/equipment powers etc. on the fly!