Duke
Triple Digit Mad Dog
Affable Moron
Posts: 162
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Post by Duke on Dec 22, 2019 23:18:07 GMT
The other board a few days ago featured a discussion of cantrips, particularly, as is the tendency there, a "how to build / use" thread about cantrips. There were lots of interesting answers, as always, and it got me thinking about my own thoughts on cantrips (which I posted in Cliff's Notes form). I was extremely amused to find one of my favorite cantrips pulled out of the air by someone else as an example: 1 pt. of Telekinesis. In my human-centric fantasy games, that one is usually called "Etherial Servitor." How does it work? Well, it depends a lot on the magic system, but in general, my cantrips are pretty simple: if it can be derived from a spell you already have, then you _have_ the cantrip. You don't have to buy it. How can I justify this? Well, "cantrips" are, in my games, generally just that: one point of a power. I require Cantrips to have Limitations: if your cantrip is derived from a spell you have already mastered, then the cantrip will have those same Limitations: the magician is considered to be using some minor aspect of that larger magical manipulation to serve a very minor purpose. Suppose I want to buy a cantrip built on something that I haven't already mastered? Suppose I have _no_ Spells with a base of Telekineses, but I _really_ want an Ethereal Servitor? Well you can buy the cantrip: it only costs one point. "But that's not a good idea! Everyone can buy one point of every power and do something with it!" Well, yes: this violates the "minimum cost" rule (though I think the latest edition may have abolished this requirement-- with warnings-- but I neither know for certain nor care enough to look it up). However, I feel there is a _kind_ of balance by requiring Limitations on the Cantrip. I require enough Limitations on it to make the minimum buy of that power cost only one point. In most cases, this will be 5 points. For Powers with a higher buy-in, then you will need more Limitations, I'm afraid. For powers with a minimum buy-in of greater than 10 points (we played 4e for a bit, but didn't really stay with it, and I never ran a 4e game -- though to this day I think I'd like to try at least _one_ campaign in it, just to really get a feel for 4e from my usual side of the screen), you will need enough Limitations to buy the minimum buy-in down to 3 pts instead of one. "Automatic" Limitations imposed by the magic system in play are acceptable: you can count those Limitations when building your cantrip. One-point cantrips have "zero END cost" by default. 3-pt cantrips do _not_, but will have 1/2 END cost by default. With that being said, let me point out that in our games, we consider cantrips to be _very_ minor. At the level of Power Advantage: 1/2 END, we charge 1 point of END per _TURN_ that the cantrip is running (minimum 1pt, paid when the power is activated). Obviously, this is best for those cantrips that are longer than Instant-and-done. Should a spell creator wish to take Increased or Additional END as one of the cost-dropping Limitations, then the first step of that Limitation will have END moved to 1 END per Phase; build up as appropriate. It is suggested, however, that repeated (back-to-back or multiple on-going cantrips running simultaneously) use of cantrips _will_ cost END, if only because of the consttant manipulation of whatever your magic goobledy-gook happens to be. This is a result of play testing, where two particularly clever players figured out how to abuse the Hell out of cantrips by using "combined attack" style set-ups. Other changes resulting from play testing: A character may maintain a cantrip at zero endurance by lowering his magical CV (whatever you happen to be using as magical CV) by one. He may run multiple cantrips, reducing his magical CV by one for each additional cantrip running. GMs running "magic by the busload" campaigns may allow the distinction between magical OCV and magical DCV, allowing many more cantrips to be running without making the character a billboard-sized target for everything with a spell book. Your call; I've done both, and either works as an abuse deterrent: nothing says "be careful" to a player more than lowering CV, no matter _what_ the circumstances are. Remember always that a cantrip is _not_ the minimum buy-in for the power / spell in question, but it is whatever the GM--err, Spell Creator-- decides is equal to _one point_ of the Power upon which the spell is based. Oh, sorry: I play 2e (still), but a look at the membership suggests that the bulk of you already know that. I don't think it's going to make that much difference in terms of building cantrips, but at least you know what I'm working from when I build them. So what do we allow as cantrips? Anything without a direct and immediate "combat effectiveness." That is to say, you can't snap your fingers and deal damage with a cantrip. (Which makes sense, seeing that you can't buy a 1pt Killing Attack-- though that might be a house rule; I straight-up don't remember. :lol: ) That's not to say that a cantrip can't be used as an aid to combat! A sorcerer with a powerful T-form used to enchant a weapon might be able to use a cantrip based upon that spell to polish or sharpen an existing weapon, even if only for one swing of the sword. A character with a Fireblast spell or a Field of Flames spell wishing to use a derived cantrip "Spark," ordinarily used to light lanterns and camp fires, might throw an oil lamp at an opponent and Spark away.... Other note from play testing: Those who use the "Power Skill" builds for using magic may wish to require such a roll when using a cantrip derived from another power, or perhaps even any cantrip, period. In fact, Requires a Skill Roll may be mandatory in your games anyway. I have used it myself in campaigns were magic is "tricky" and not too terribly common. It works fine, either way. One thing I tried that I liked but never revisited (we don't play a lot of fantasy) was requiring a magic roll, and basing the number of spells / cantrips the player could use that Turn / Hour / day (depends on context) was decided by the amount by which the roll was succeeded. You'll definitely want a cap on that skill; it gets ugly if you don't. Players who _buy_ a cantrip outright want to have some sort of advantage over those who derive it from a spell they already have. Fair enough. To that end, I have often instituted the two following rules: Players using "derived" cantrips must "build" them: define what they do and what the limits are before they are used. Place a limit placed on the number of cantrips a player may derive from a larger spell (one, three, one-per-twenty-AP-in-the-spell; whatever works for you). Cantrips derived from a larger spell "turn off" when that larger spell is used. Cantrips bought outright must be dismissed normally. An optional rule I have yet to have the chance to play with: characters using derived cantrips will lower their magical CV while characters using "bought" spells will not. The other characters are having to focus on twisting their magic to an unusual usage (unusual for that spell, anyway). I don't think I'd use the RSR Limitation as mandatory on all magic if I went this route, though. Now, moving onward: I would like to, at leisure (which I have just been informed I am out of) and go through the power section and detail a cantrip or two for each Power. Everyone is welcome to play, of course: the more, the merrier! Rules: _Please_ do not put anything up here that you would not like to see given away as a free download on the HERO board. No; that's not where I am suggesting that this goes, nor is it what I am actually trying to. But if it turns out well, I think everyone playing should consider sharing it. To that end, sign your submission with whatever name you to which you would like your contributions attributed. Be aware that the only reason I even suggest we bundle this and give it away is because if it turns out to be any good, people are going to copy and paste it onto their own computer anyway. There's no way to stop that. With that in mind, we might as well be willing to share. First up, as I've run out of time, I'm just going to polish off Ethereal Servitor, as we already know it's one point of TK: Traythen's Ethereal Servitor was originally the settlement of a debt. Two great sorcerers, their names lost to antiquity, were the best of rivals, and often worked together while always trying to outdo one another's research and spell creation. Details are lost to history, but one day, a deal was brokered between them where one would give his greatest knowledge to the other to stem a great war. In repayment, the first would, upon his death, serve the research donor until his own death. In this way was the first Ethereal Servitor created. An Age or more later, and Traythen, in his research, stumbled across a great number of similar bargains, between wizards, between commoners, between the wealthy, and even demons- a great number of bargains struck that had been rendered unfulfillable owning to the premature death of the creditor. These spirits cannot rest, nor resurrect, nor move to the next plane, nor know true peace with this magical debt placed upon their immortal souls. After years of research, and decades of studying the nature of the binding magics of such deals and has learned how to transfer this debt from the deceased to a new person. The key magical manipulation was, as so many loopholes are, so simple as to be reduced to a cantrip. Perhaps this was because of a true oversight in the forces controlling magic, or perhaps it is the willingness of trapped souls to end their suffering, but the entire spell could be reduced to a simple cantrip. Be warned, however, that those on the ethereal plane cannot fully and truly return to the living lands, and as such their presence here is far reduced from what it was in life. These willing servitors will brook not rebuke nor punishment, and will break a deal with a new master who does not treat them fairly. Further, there may be language or conceptual barriers, or simple motivational differences resulting in unusual results. Chiefly, these indentured servants from the plane beyond can move or hold small objects, trip up things, etc-- by their ability to manipulate up to fifty pounds or so (after 25 pounds, the servitor will draw energy from his master (END) to move heavier objects, and may never exceed fifty pounds). As the servitor is no longer (and perhaps never was) of this world, the master is his only link to his surroundings and guide for his task; the servitor uses the master's own senses to find his way to complete his task. This skewed point of view makes some tasks a bit more difficult, particularly if they require a great deal of manual dexterity, such as untying knots that are not easily observed by the master. It also makes it impossible for the servitor to perform any task beyond the master's field of vision. As noted, Servitors are not truly of this plane, and as such are effectively indestructible from this side of existence, being neither dead nor undead nor fully in any realm. Still, they were, are, and may one day again be, actual "people" and will expect to be treated accordingly. Masters that use them to set off incendiary devices (it is possible that they feel pain, but as they do not speak or communicate in any way, no one can yet say for certain) or treat them as dolts (an Ethereal Servitor will always do his best to complete a task, as it wants to remain faithful to its contract so that it may be "released" to the next stage of existence upon the death of its current master) or as unfeeling tools may find them unresponsive or slow to rise to a summons. Upon summoning his first Servitor, the Master will immediately know the Servitor's name, so that he may summon it again. This is the servitor that will remain with the master until his death. The master may summon no other servitor, as there are more servitors than masters, generally, and bound servitors are fiercely jealous of losing the chance to fulfill their contracts: though he may "quit" in favor of waiting for a "better" master, no servitor will allow another near the master to which he has willingly bound himself. Traythen's Ethereal Servitor: 1 pt Telekineses: Incantation (Summon Servitor by name and direct his task), No Fine Manipulation, RSR with penalties based on PER: Sight penalties for observing the task at hand. Activation 14- with modifiers based on any history of abuse of the bargain or repeatedly being using the servitor for that would have once been harmful or unpleasant to its physical form. More later. I've got to run now. Anyone else want to play?
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Duke
Triple Digit Mad Dog
Affable Moron
Posts: 162
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Post by Duke on Dec 23, 2019 4:06:18 GMT
All righty then:
as promised, two House Bushido-style cantrips for every power. Now I will level with you and state up front that the only ones I have already prepared are for the 2e rules, so we'll run through those first:
Armor
Dragon Scale
During the Great Age of Dragon, before they began to fall prey to man and his ilk (and their own dislike of each other's company), the great sorcerer Leobahn struck a deal with a dragon, who had agreed, in exchange for being healed and given the location of a hidden world to which the dragon could flee to live out his days in solitude, to teach Leobahn a powerful Transformation that would allow him to possess the form and power of a dragon for as long as he held the energy to maintain it. The deal struck and the exchange made, Leobahn returned to his sanctuary to study the spell at great length, for he knew that dragons, at least of this Age, were not to be trusted. Right he was, for after many months of study, he discovered that the spell required more and more energy to maintain, and could only be dismissed by the death of the user: the spell was a trap for an unwary sorcerer.
However, Leobahn wanted the spell not so much to possess the power of a dragon, for his own magic was mighty enough that the dragon had searched him out, but for the insight into draconic magic. With this first true draconic spell his to study, he began to unravel the secrets of draconic magic. Disappointed, he eventually came to the realization that no man would ever be powerful enough to take full advantage of the library of draconic spells he had amassed since beginning his study, he set out to determine which elements might be woven into spells usable to mortal men. By combining minor elements of the Dracoform transformation spell he had been given and weaving it into other more accessible forms, he was able to create many individual and highly powerful spells (Dragon Hide and Field of Flames are perhaps known to all spell casters of this Age, even those who do not yet wield them).
This simple cantrip was one of Leobahn's final exercises before disappearance a century ago, and while it is not a particularly powerful of spells, it's simplicity and usefulness on the field of battle has made it particularly popular with battle mages the world over. This cantrip allows the user to briefly transform part of his skin (or that of a comrade, depending on the final build) to a hard scaly surface not unlike the hide of a dragon. It allows the target to gain one point of fully-resistant PD. While the utility may seem light, sometimes one point is the difference between a severe wound and a mortal one. Further, against spells who's defense is Resistant PD (or ED), this spell can be a lifesaver. The target of the spell will retain the defense for a full Turn, and the Activation roll decreases by 1 for each of the target's Phases (after the spell is cast) that passes (the dragon scale is "healing" back to normal flesh and skin).
Armor: 1 pt. Activation: 14-,Activation Roll is reduced by passage of time: -1 per Recipient's Phase that passes; Gestures to Activate: must touch recipient (even if recipient is Self) with a particular hand sign; costs END: paid by Recipient, 1pt/Phase; Usable against Others. Recipient must have four hours rest before he can receive this spell again.
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Lightning Rod: another of Leobahn's draconic-derived cantrips, this one combined elements of a Dragon's durability with a simple Levitation spell. Unfortunately, using the full spell (Fear Not the Lightning) isn't generally possible; lightning moves rather quickly, making it difficult to cast the full spell "on the fly." However, this cantrip requires no special gestures or incantations; it requires only that the wizard wish to cast it and that he be touching something that both touches the natural earth and will support his full weight. The caster simply grabs a qualifying object (a tree, or even a stout walking stick or staff, or the side of a building) while calling the spell to mind and he will instantly become partially bonded to the item and fully supported by it. As noted above, however, this is not the true Fear Not the Lightning spell, which must be cast in advance, as it takes a moment or two of preparation.
This cantrip allows the caster to gain one point of fully Resistant ED against any spell or attack with an electrical SFX. The effect is Instantaneous, and lasts only for the Phase in which it was cast. Timing is everything with this cantrip. This cantrip burns one END / Mana / however you're powering magic in your campaign.
Armor: 1 pt. 1 Full-resistant ED: only versus electrical effects; Lasts only one Phase; costs END.
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Now you don't have to be particularly astute to notice that both of these cantrips sound more like three points of armor, and you'd be quite right. These are three-point Cantrips (well, active points, anyway), as that's the "minimum buy-in" for Armor, not just in the rules (remember that I'm fine with allowing one point of Energy blast to do _something_. However, Armor at the three-point level grants only _one point_ of DEF. You can't have less than 1 point of DEF (unless you're allowing less than one point of damage). To address this, these cantrips are built at the minimum possible _effective_ level (the least amount of "actually do something) the base Power can provide. They are built with more than enough Limitations to bring their cost down to 1 point, which is, in our campaigns, a very important part of "what's a cantrip?"
I'll try to get more up later; it's well beyond bedtime now (just got in a few minutes ago).
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Duke
Triple Digit Mad Dog
Affable Moron
Posts: 162
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Post by Duke on Dec 24, 2019 4:38:09 GMT
Next up is Clinging, so straight into it we go.
Hold Fast: this cantrip (sorry; it's late, or I would include a couple of flavor paragraphs. However, I have spent 13 hours working in the rain, and I just want to meet my promises and turn in) Again:
This cantrip allows its wielder to firmly grasp an object or objects totaling any weight up to 30 kg without fear of dropping them. He need not grab them, either: he may balance a stack of irregularly-shaped objects atop his head, if need be, and while using the cantrip his balance will be so flawless as to make it impossible to drop them. Objects do not necessarily stick to him, however: he must in some way be actively supporting their weight. Items tethered to his clothing or pack will not come loose (though they still may be grabbed away: thief's STR VS STR 2 in addition to whatever modifiers the GM may assign for overcoming the knots or buckles of the tether itself. Moreover, the user's grip becomes so sure that it as if he has 2 pts more STR for grab-versus-grab struggles. This cantrip may be cast multiple times simultaneously, but maintaining more than 2 at once costs END at a rate of 1 END / Phase for every three simultaneous Hold Fast cantrips in use.
Clinging: 1pt. Gestures to activate (caster must heft item briefly to "ascertain its center of gravity," then place it in carry position or grab and hold it)
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Civilized Storage, commonly called Carvayne's Camping Closet
Carvayne Dubrey is all but lost to history, being an early man or man-like character living near the end of the time before the Age of Men. Little is know of him or his people, to the point that there is some debate about just exactly who or what his people actually _were_. It is possible that there would be more debate about it were there more interest, but as Dubrey has never been mentioned in any known history or tale, it can be assumed that in his life, whenever it was and for however long, he never managed to do anything particularly memorable.
In fact, Dubrey's name likely would not be known today were it not for his unusual habit of turning his spell books backwards and filling the last-most pages forward with long ramblings about nothing in particular and the odd partially-detailed mention of some spell or alchemical potion upon which he was working. Between his spells and studies filling from front to rear and his self-aggrandizing yet not-really-autobiographical ramblings filling from rear to front, the books filled quickly at which point they were apparently lost, stolen, or traded and a new book was begun.
It may be this lack of organization or it may be that his inability to hold onto his notes that prevented him from ever developing any truly impressive spells, but he has left the world with a large number of Extremely useful cantrips (most of which seem to be focused on practicality and housekeeping, and all of which were signed with his curious white ink. One cantrip known by most all traveling wizards (add often infused into wands or trinkets for wealthier travelers) is the spell he named "Civilized Storage."
To use this cantrip, the caster finds a wall, pole, tree, or other vertical surface capable of supporting the weight of the item to be suspended, brushes a "clean spot" upon it, then straightens and brushes clean the item to be suspended- at least, this is how it appears to onlookers. In reality, the caster is imbuing both the surface and the item with magical energy and the aligning the flows of these energies to align such that the will be naturally drawn to one another.
With the ceremony concluded, the caster will then simply "hang" the item to the surface as though there were a hook mounted there for that very purpose. The item will remain suspended there until the caster again touches that item, which will break the spell on that item. If the caster wishes to rehang the item, he will have to cast the cantrip again. The cantrip will suspend up to 30kg of items, so long as they are hung within a 1-hex area of each other.
This handy mini-spell allows cloaks and gear to be stored in an orderly fashion and keeps items off the ground and prevents needless wrinkles in clothing. A caster with the means to raise himself to a great height can use this to secure foodstuffs well-out-of reach of roaming scavengers or conceal his purse against sneak thieves, Making this cantrip a natural favorite amongst travelers, magical or otherwise.
Smaller creatures have been known to use this cantrip to suspend hammocks.
Clinging: 1pt (2str) Area of Effect (hex), usable as attack (only) range (caster must remain within 30 meters or spell ceases), extra time (full turn) to activate, Gestures throughout extra time. Period; incantations throughout extra time period (muttered chants) spell ends after six hours; spell ends if suspended item is touched by caster.
Good night
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Duke
Triple Digit Mad Dog
Affable Moron
Posts: 162
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Post by Duke on Dec 25, 2019 6:02:13 GMT
Damage Resistance:
First, let me say that the early editions handled Damage Resistance radically differently from later ones. I won't go into details: if you don't own an early edition but you are curious about the difference, skip over to Hero Games site and nab a PDF in the site store. They're cheap, and you're doing a good thing for the company.
I'm going to break with my original plan and offer three for this Power:
Iron Callous: this cantrip is handy for any magic-wielder who might get a bit clumsy with small knives. While it has no real affect against a knife wielded as a weapon, it is excellent protection against accidentally cutting oneself (on a failed appropriate-skill roll) while handling knives. The uses for this cantrip range from rapid work in the kitchen to learning to juggle to exploring the jagged walls of a dark cave. While the caster can certainly be attacked and hacked as easily as ever, while this cantrip is running, he will not get cut by accidental means outside of combat. It doesn't sound like much, but adventurers are not always in the most sanitary of places when they take a cut.
Damage Resistance: 1 pt Gestures throughout (must be actively using or at least carrying knife or other sharp object in one hand)
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Unsavory Skin Using this cantrip, travelers find that spiders, insects, and other such pests cannot bite or sting him. Not only is this a welcome relief from the irritation of the bites themselves, but it serves to reduce the chances of contracting malaria or other bug-borne ailments, and makes it impossible for normal spiders to envenomate the caster. Giant spiders -- giant anything, really, along with normal-sized reptiles, for that matter-- are not affected in the least.
Damage Resistance: 1 pt: Ritual ("Gestures"): Area Effect: anyone within 5 meters of the caster gets the benefits (though only the caster need perform the ritual); caster must brush himself from head to toe in a ritual "uncleansing"; Extra Time: the uncleansing ritual takes two Phases.; Side Effect: all those affected will have a mildly unpleasant personal aroma until they leave the AOE (AOE centers on caster and moves as he does) or the caster dismisses it. The cantrip will remain up until the caster dismisses it.
Burnished Flesh
A particularly useful useful cantrip, this mini spell allows the caster to ignore the fearsome effects the sun: The caster's skin will take on a darker brownish or bronze hue and will look ever-so-slightly like oiled bronze in sheen as well as color. The caster cannot be sunburned, regardless of how intense the sun's rays are. He will not be any cooler or more comfortable, but will not sunburn no matter how long he stays in the sun. The standard build does not allow the caster to share this protection with others, though a nimble-minded mage may find a way to share its effects. The cantrip remains in effect until dismissed or until the sun sets.
Damage Resistance 1 pt.
For the record, this is the sort of thing I prefer as a cantrip: an odd little spell with minor but pleasing results. Maybe it's just me....
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Duke
Triple Digit Mad Dog
Affable Moron
Posts: 162
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Post by Duke on Dec 25, 2019 16:40:10 GMT
Danger Sense
Alert
The black coffee cantrip, this cantrip (available as a Blessing to certain clerics) casts with relative ease, as the "incantation" requirement is little more than speaking any positive phrase to the target: "I have faith in your senses, Guardsman; you will not let us down" or even "keep and extra-sharp eye tonight" [you will notice that not-properly-hyphenated compound word adjectives, as the APA format is so fond of, make this read differently] while staring directly into the target's eyes-- along with the intent to enchant the target is sufficient enough. The user then rolls a PER roll for the target. If the roll succeeds by half, the target will receive a +1 to his PER (or Danger Sense; whichever is higher). The effect lasts 4 hours. At no time will the target be aware that he has been enchanted, and he will not show as being enchanted when examined by appropriate senses or magics.
Danger Sense: 1pt. Usable as Attack (only); invisible Power Effects. Time Limit: 4 hours. Incantation. Caster must make eye contact
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Unease
This cantrip can be used to create a sense of danger in a target. The target will become discomfited, nervous, and get a constant feeling that "something is going to happen" or "someone is watching!" This power is just a bit meta: if cast against a PC, have him make random PER checks: this creates a sense of unease in the player, which invariably translates to "heightened alert status" in his character. (We all do it; there's just no way to not do it for most people). If the target has Danger Sense, have him roll that periodically as well. Spectacular failure results in a "false positive" in the opposite direction and some distance from the caster. All rolls are assessed a -1 penalty.
NPCs will become jumpy and begin to investigate every little thing. They will become preoccupied with shadows and areas on the edges of their perception. As with PCs, they will suffer a -1 to PER and DS rolls, and false positives have the same results.
Danger Sense: 1pt. Usable as Attack (only); Extended duration: 5 minutes; Gestures (curse and counter-curse signs, repeatedly); Extra Time (the caster continues repeating the gesture cycle for a full Turn); costs END / Magic Juice to activate: (caster must make careful effort to control the curse aspect from which this cantrip is derived)
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Duke
Triple Digit Mad Dog
Affable Moron
Posts: 162
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Post by Duke on Dec 26, 2019 13:14:27 GMT
Darkness Shade This is one of the rare things I had originally redone when 4e put forth the idea of "Spell Colleges" and then listed a few. Yeah; colleges was not necessarily a 4e idea, but it did go into some lengthy detail on the matter. Personally, I wish it hadn't, as, at least to me, it took away some of that feeling of "magic" and replaced with a rock-solid feeling of "Elemental Control." At any rate, I wrote up different SFX for the various colleges, thinking that, as the book of the day suggested, it would give each version a special distinction. It did not. Honestly, it really just hammered home the idea that "these are just super powers in a an Elemental Control and each "version" of this spell is just the one spell, but we've added some hokeyness to the way it all works." Sure: that's similar to what happened before, but with far less frequency than going out of your way to actually make up a list of spells and then give each entry twelve different SFX. For starters, it was always more fun to me when players created spells that had similar game effects (not necessarily special effects) but had created the builds with different actual mechanics. Look at Ethereal Servitor at the top of this list: one player did it as a TK build, with some interesting justifications flavor-wise to suit a TK-built version. Another player might have used Summon or Duplication with various tweaks to get the same in-game effect, but it _felt_ more like a different spell than did using the exact same write-up and painting it. At any rate, I won't bore anyone with multiple variations of the SFX. This is the original version (sans actual costing, because your campaigns will likely be different, and yes: with the costs, the final total comes out to zero (less than 1/2 pt) in most cases, one point in others, but again: that was part of our requirements to qualify something as a cantrip. Moving o-- nope. Starting over! Shade: With this comfort cantrip, the caster can create an area free of direct sunlight. This area is not necessarily "dark as a moonless night," as it is still well-lit with reflected light; it is more like walking out of the sun into the shade of a copse of trees or (for you urbanites) the shadow of a building. That's it. The 2-meter "shady spot" centers on the caster and moves with him, and will work to keep him shaded no matter what the sun's position is relative to him. If the caster is deriving Shade from a Darkness spell he already knows, then the shady area may be up to 1/4 the size of the Darkness he is able to cast before requiring his "continuous limitations" such as costing END, Gestures throughout, Concentration throughout, etc. No real direct utility (which, again, I really like in a cantrip), but potential for indirect usefulness beyond just story flavor: perhaps Fatigue accrues more slowly than if he were long marching under the blistering sun. Perhaps rest is more restorative when done in the shade, as it drops the temperature a degree or two. Under proper conditions, the GM may even rule that the shade draws the slightest of breezes (enough to feel and to refresh, but not enough to disturb a candle). Darkness: 1pt 0 END, Gestures to activate (either casting a portion of his Darkness (if it's derived from his existing Darkness spell) then making signs that reduce its effectiveness as Darkness, or an an actual pantomime of reaching out toward visible shadows-- his own, or any other--, making a grabbing motion, pulling the shadow from the surface to which it is attached and then flinging it skyward. once the shadow is aloft, the caster pantomimes positioning it and spreading it to an appropriate size) Gestures take 2 full Phases. Okay, I sort of failed: I did present _one_ special effect, if only because when we first started using this particular cantrip, the player that built it was really specific with his gestures, to the point they defined the special effect. Still, it can be as simple as cutting a leaf and tossing it into the air, where it hangs and casts an outsized shadow, so long as the ceremony takes a moment or two to complete. ----------------------------- Thunder Fraud The character can amplify the shadows inside clouds, giving them a darker, more voluminous look. This is not an illusion: the darkness in the clouds is very real. Once a favorite spell of fraudulent rainmakers, who would start discretely pocketing coins in the excitement of the pregnant clouds and then attempt to flee town before the cantrip faded. As it doesn't create much more on-the-ground shadow (unless the entire sky is filled with clouds with no clear sky in sight, of course), and only has no chance of creating even a smattering of rainfall (that's a Change Environment thing), there doesn't seem to be any real utility beyond convincing someone that a heavy storm is quickly developing. However, it has been used to great success to convince guardsmen to take new, more sheltered positions (such inside a guard tower, away from the open parapets, or even inside a tavern), and of course, the occasional fraudulent rainmaker outwitting a township of farmers. Darkness: 1pt. Increased END / Magic Sauce to activate: 5 END Time Limit: 5 minutes
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Post by Chris Goodwin on Dec 26, 2019 21:31:35 GMT
Lightning Speech: Members of the Lightning Guild use this spell to communicate with one another across long distances. The cantrip was discovered long ago when a member of the Guild discovered a spell for "hearing" lightning strikes at a distance. Later, it was determined that it was possible to use another spell to "speak" at a distance, using whatever the Hear Lightning spell was using to detect strikes. The cantrip version of the spell requires the caster to speak audibly while lighting plays across their face in a ghastly looking, though harmless, display; more advanced casters can perform the spell completely silently.
Radio Hearing/Transmit, with Gestures, Incantations, Visible (lighting-face effect), RSR (Lightning Magic), etc.
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Duke
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Post by Duke on Dec 27, 2019 17:00:49 GMT
Woo-hoo! Another player! And with a very cool entry that I am going to have to borrow..... . I really like both the imagery and the specificity of the situations in which it would be useful: you will have to wait either for an actual storm or a "real spell" involving lightning (change environment make-an-actual-storm type spell, or can you piggy back on a Lightning Bolt spell?) Either way: very sweet! Next up in the old 2e book is Density Increase. Even though I am on a phone at the moment, I am going to use this one as sort of a demonstration of the idea of "one point worth" of something. I need to figure out (when on a proper keyboard) how to edit my first post, as re-reading it this morning showed me all the goof-ups I made because--well, because I was on a phone then, too. Ha! By the book, the minimum buy-in for DI (2e) was +5 STR +5 CON +1 BOD +3 rPD +3rED Mass doubles. Done one possible way, a single point of DI would yield a half point of STR (which gets more useful at higher STR levels), a half a point of CON (of dubious but highly campaign-dependant utility), one-tenth a point of BOD (there's just no way to round that up), three-tenths of a point each rPD and rED (which also don't round your way) and a one-tenth increase in your mass. So one possibility is this: Husky: This cantrip grants the target a stone-and-a-half of lean muscle. How?! Well, at 1/2, things round in the character's favor. So a STR of 1/2 becomes STR of 1; Con of 1/2 becomes CON of 1. There is little else that rounds up. This is what I like to think of as the "quick" method of figuring what a point's worth of something might do. Now there's also the Rat Mash method: Group the effects into categories: STR, CON, BOD: all characteristics. Points-wise, it's 25 pts worth of characteristics, which divides by ten much easier (remember, with a minimum buy-in of 10 points, a 1-point cantrip should only get 1/10 the effectiveness at most.). Why bring up effectiveness at this point? Well STR, BOD, and rDEF have immediate combat utility. It's been my experience all these years that this is the only place that players turn into children: quibbling over combat effectiveness. I could allow a character with one point of Darkness to block out the sun forever, plunging the entire world into an impenetrable blackness that rendered every living thing completely and permanently _blind_ and the world itself dying an accelerated entropic heat death, and the _first_ thing they would scream about would be the induced CV penalties. Not the death of vegetation or the freezing of the freshwater or the possibility of falling off a cliff or getting trampled by panicked beasts, but the increased difficulty in stabbing each other. So in cases where there is clear "combat effectiveness" involved, I take a little less "license" with the build. The above build (which is a cantrip we used in the Statesboro game for some years) grants very little combat potential, but might make felling trees or clearing obstacles or carrying supplies a bit easier. Then there is the Rat Mash method, which was more important to my Brunswick group. I never explained that Rat Mash stands for "really?! All this math? Assholes!". Mostly I never told them because I loved them: included in there number were people who had been in my first Champions group longer than _I_ had, and even "the new girl" had been with us for twelve years. (the Statesboro group was mostly college kids by the time we moved to monthly, and there is a constant roll-over rate there, and wide UPS and downs in player count: much more "casual" than the Brunswick group) Anyway, for the "math is life" dingus that lives in all of us, one "level" of 2e DI grants 25 pts worth of these three characteristics, and doubles your mass. It also points out a discrepancy in 2e rules: there is no hard and fast way to get "three points of fully-resistant" _anything_ by 2e rules as printed, unless the character on question has exactly 3 or 6 PD and ED. Hmmmm.... What does this _without_ violating the 2e rules? Armor, of course. And 6rDEF under 2e Armor rules is a total of 10 character points. So let's start chopping the categories; 25/10= 2.5 character points worth of the three Characteristics listed. So up to 2.5 STR or up to 1.25 of CON or BOD. By the rules, we can round a bit: up to 3 STR. At under 0.5, the others will not round up. Yes: the case could be made that one point in each CON and BOD gives a score in each of 1/2, which rounds up to one each. If that trips your trigger, then go for it. Who am I to stop you? I'm just going to point out that you've got 1/5 the minimum buy in for 1/10 the points. You could argue back that you have no STR (which is the reason I would allow this build), and you'd be right. This is what, in the trade, is know as a "GM's call." Anyway, let's look at that resistant Defense: Ten points divided by ten equals one point. According to 2e Armor pricing, one point would be equal to 3/5 of a point of RDEF, which would round to 1 pt of rDEF. However, this cantrip could simply dismiss that aspect. (to increase GM approval, consider _not_ quibbling too much effectiveness into a one-point build. ). It doesn't dismiss it, simply because "hey; it wasn't built as Plus Some STR," so the new and improved cantrip: Husky (V2): Character adds a stone and a half of lean muscle(assuming a hundred kilogram character), increasing his STR by 3. Now season to taste: ; Usable by Others; Spellement: (bit of food); Gestures (caster must enchant food in the recipient's sight); Delayed Effect (takes effect after one full turn), Time Limit (effect lasts one hour); cannot be prepared and stored (-0, unless most magic in your game is potions and alchemy); Recipient pays END for additional STR as he uses it. Second cantrip: This is a different sort of one-point DI build, which relies heavily on the GM's approval. Why? Because it uses an entire "benefit" from the power. However, the GM has ruled this acceptable, since it is also the only aspect that the cantrip uses. Limbs of Clay: Target feels as though he has doubled in mass. All exertion is against this additional mass: leaping distance is recalculated as STR versus double his mass; all STR maneuvers are reduced in efficiency as if 5STR is already being used simply to move. Target pays additional END for all physical action while cantrip is in effect. Density Increase: 1 pt. Usable as Attack (only); Line of Sight; Spellement (bit of unfired earthen clay to be worried as a fetish); Gestures to Activate (caster enchants and worries small amount of earthen clay to cast the cantrip); Time Limit: cantrip fades after six hours) There are many other built-in-Fi cantrips on our games, but the idea was to list two and move on. But it's _wonderful_ to see another player! Anyone else?
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Post by Chris Goodwin on Dec 28, 2019 1:14:11 GMT
Woo-hoo! Another player! And with a very cool entry that I am going to have to borrow..... . I really like both the imagery and the specificity of the situations in which it would be useful: you will have to wait either for an actual storm or a "real spell" involving lightning (change environment make-an-actual-storm type spell, or can you piggy back on a Lightning Bolt spell?) It's bog standard radio hearing and transmit. Works on actual radio frequencies, even. The lightning mages discovered it, and at higher skill and power levels, it's almost like telepathy. Needs no storms nor additional lightning spells cast -- in fact, natural lightning and occasionally magical lightning tend to interfere with it, but it does need some level of knowledge of lightning, the kind the lightning guild teaches. They know that they can talk to one another over long distances using a variant of someone's Hear Lightning spell from long ago, and the older guild members, the ones who have studied lightning magic and only that for sixty years or more, have some -- maybe more than a little -- idea of how and why it works. But the name Lightning Speech is certainly a fantasy spell. Thank you for starting this thread!
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Duke
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Post by Duke on Dec 28, 2019 13:40:43 GMT
Thank you for putting up with it, and for providing a place I could post it without a hundred arguments about how it _should_ be in edition X, etc. And thank the guys on the other thread for making me dig out my old spell book.
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Duke
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Post by Duke on Dec 29, 2019 23:44:53 GMT
Next up: Desolidification! Oh but this one is a beast for building free-standing cantrips, and in our campaigns way back then, most of these cantrips were freebies created by players looking for low-END options to take advantage of some aspect of the power. Yes; even before Steve made Desolid the gold standard for "invulnerable to x," we had a couple of wizards and priests doing more or less the same thing. The bastards. Anyway, we had some other stuff, too. Sure, we had a 10pt. spell that made you immune to a given spell or type of spell with a given SFX, but that's hardly a cantrip. So let's move on, folks: Remember that 2e Desolidification was a movement power: you didn't become intangible and then use some other movement power. It was a movement power all it's own, and worked a lot like Tunneling, mechanics-wise: The minimum buy-in (again, by the rules) was 40 pts, and those 40 pts got you the ability to move 8" per Phase through 1 BODY of material. Now this was _kind_ of hokey, because at the time there wasn't lot of data on the BODY or various materials or what increasing the mass of those materials did to BODY (according to both Growth and Density Increase, increasing mass seems to increase BODY, both when density is increased or when both mass and volume are increased.) The coolest part about it, to me, anyway, all those years ago when I was first learning the rules, was that it was a _scale_; a ratio. That is to say that if there was only 1 BODY in a material, then a character could move 8" through that material. That was _awesome_! And if there was _40_ BODY in the material, the character could _still go through it_, but only at the rate of 1/5" ! Yeah, i know those that dropped in with 4e are going to think that's a weird place to put an exclamation point, but I'm telling you, when that ratio thing clicked for me, I could see numerous dramatic scenarios, all hinging on the character to fight and struggle and use pure willpower to push her limits against escaping the super-dense prison to warn her teammates etc, etc, etc. And of course, that nifty "I can pass through solid matter faster than I can pass through the air!" that was possible when Desolid _was_ a movement power. You can't really do that with new Desolid. I mean, you _can_, but you need an alphabet soup of Advantages and Limitations and price calculations, etc. It's actually easier to turn old Desolid into new Desolid than it is the other way around: "Speed limited by alternate movement" and buy up an amount of "Body I can penetrate" that you and the GM agree means "walls aren't there for me" and call it a day. At any rate, one of my _favorite_ cantrips (which the players hated, but only until one of them decided he needed to buy that very thing) was based on Desolid. Not just Desolid, but that ratio aspect of Desolid. Wizard's Cabinet First: Yes; I _do_ think of this cantrip every time I log into Bundle of Holding. There. That's over with. :rofl: Next: this spell is based on the idea that 8" into 1 body divided by 40 (Gasp! That's _pricey!) comes up to 1/5", which in 2e hexes means two decimeters worth of Canadian yards, or just under 8 of God's inches. If the BODY is 2, then call it 4". If it's any higher than that, call it 4" (GM call, remember). So now we begin: Wizard's Cabinet: The user may enchant any item up to 400 cubic inches (about 6.5 cubic decimeters, or roughly the size of a typical shoebox)) and any material thick enough to be able to contain a hollow of suitable dimensions in which to place the item. However, no such hollow need be made: the wizard will maintain a constant touch with the enchanted surface and gently place the item inside of the material. He may place it as deeply as he can reach, but is limited by the dimensions of the material itself. No hollow is created in the material: the two items will simply exist in the same place until someone with the Wizard's Cabinet or other other appropriate spell finds and removes the item. This is a wonderful way to stash secret maps or secure a few gold coins when staying at an inn of questionable repute. It is entirely up to the character to remember just where he used the cabinet, however, as there will be absolutely no outer sign of disturbance to the material (with one noted exception, below). In the original write-up, the surface did not detect as magic or enchanted, either, but that is left to the GM to decide (add or remove "Invisible Power Effects"). Further, even if the material is removed and cut or smashed into bits, no evidence of the item(s) will ever be found (however, destroying the material in which they are stored will in fact destroy the stored item as well). It should be noted that living things, no matter how small, cannot be stored this way, as they will not survive. (GMs are left to decided if items possessing souls or memories or what-have-you are actually "alive" in the same sense as a flesh-and-blood creature). Further, while trees are massive and have more volume than would ever be needed to store a simple shoe box, a living tree that has been used as a Wizard's Cabinet will bear tell-tale marks: over the place through which the material was passed, the tree will open a small crack, which will quickly fill with pitch and do its best to heal. The healing process takes about a month, and the tree will always bear a scar similar to that of a tree that has had a limb removed twenty years prior: the knot of the limb will remain, cut flat, and the bark will grow to round up over the perimeter of the the limb stump. Further, the tree's health will decline slowly as the item is left inside, and will continue to decline until the item is removed or the tree dies (a period of years here: you can still hide something for a bit an not have the giveaway of a suddenly-dead tree). Once the item is removed, the tree will cease to decline in health, but it's health will not recover, either. If the tree dies, the item may be found in the heart of the tree. If the tree is cut while living, the grain of the wood will show the shape of the item, three-dimensionally if the character's are artistic enough to deduce this. Only certain clerics may use this spell on a living tree without doing harm to the tree. Attempting to use this catnip to store something in any other living thing is _always_ fatal, and quickly, to the living thing. Why it does not instantly kill trees is anyone's guess. Desolidification: 1 pt. Invisible power Effects (Optional); Cannot use on self; END only to Activate (2 END or Mana or whatever your brand is); Extra Time (Full Phase); Gestures (Caster much maintain contact with both item to be stored and material in which it is to be stored. It's minor, but it's important); Icantation (Caster must clearly define to the force of magic which identity is which so that the two will remain forever separate items, even when existing in the same space). Just one for now; I need to lie down for a bit (back trouble after yesterday's adventures )
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Duke
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Post by Duke on Dec 30, 2019 5:36:39 GMT
All right. I'm not on my feet with any sort of style and grace, but I'm definitely back my keister, so on to the second Desolid cantrip: Disentangle This simple cantrip allows a caster to effortlessly free himself from rope, chain, leather straps, or other flexible bindings (yes: even nets). Note that it does not allow him to escape stocks, shackles, or any sort of binding that places a stout inflexible restraint against his limbs or body, Thus, he could not use it to escape manacles or a typical dungeon-type wall restraint (which features hard shackles around his wrists and often his ankles), nor will it allow him to slip free from a straight jacket or metal vest with restraint chains attached. Certainly he could free his limbs and move about freely, but the vest would still be in place (unless he can remove it with his freed hands) and the chains affixed to it will drag noisily behind him (unless he picks them up). Primarily an entertainment trick, a certain class of person has found a great deal of "on-the-job" utility for this little bit of magic, and a number of professional thieves have found that greaves or even full-sleved jerkins enchanted with this catnip to be life savers. Many thieves have learned the hard way that actually tattooing the cantrip on their wrist is not desirable, as any sherif, judge, or jailer who can read these runes tends to feel the most practical prevention is.... well, "surgical" is a kind way to put it, though they rarely sterilize the surgical axe, so there could be an infection risk.... Desolidification: 1 pt. Only versus flexible restraints; Full Phase; Does not protect against Damage of any kind --------------------- And because I made you wait, one other one from the ol' Spellbook: Lesser Removal: Many kingdoms and townships have made studying or teaching this spell illegal, and getting caught practicing it can have dire consequences. This cantrip, done correctly, can allow a skilled user to completely remove a target's rings or bracelets by simply shaking hands: there is no sensation of tugging, twisting, or even working a clasp: the briefest of contact-- even knocking gloved fists together in greeting, and the targeted item is in concealed in the thief's hand. One of the greatest practitioners of this cantrip, Marrond DuChain, was in possession of over two hundred rings-- most jeweled; some enchanted-- at the time of his execution. His particular twist on this cantrip required him to study the targeted item before hand and create a reasonable copy from less-precious materials. He would palm the paste jewelry and while removing the real item would simultaneous replace it with a forgery [GM Note: mandatory Sleight of Hand roll; no modifiers because-- well, "Desolid." . There may well be a hundred victims who are still blissfully unaware that they are no longer in possession of their beloved bauble.... Desolidification: 1 pt. Small items only( must be small enough to conceal in the caster's hand); Targeted item must be worn on the bearer's arm, wrist, or hand; Only one item per contact; Does not work through metal armor. Note: as there is no sensation of tugging, twisting, or anything other than normal physical contact for the given situation, target does not get an automatic PER roll to notice that things are being removed from his person. He may, of course, get a PER to notice something is missing at any appropriate prompt. Be with us next time when we work with EGO Attack!
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Duke
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Post by Duke on Dec 30, 2019 18:02:24 GMT
It's bog standard radio hearing and transmit. Works on actual radio frequencies, even. The lightning mages discovered it, and at higher skill and power levels, it's almost like telepathy. Needs no storms nor additional lightning spells cast -- in fact, natural lightning and occasionally magical lightning tend to interfere with it, but it does need some level of knowledge of lightning, the kind the lightning guild teaches. They know that they can talk to one another over long distances using a variant of someone's Hear Lightning spell from long ago, and the older guild members, the ones who have studied lightning magic and only that for sixty years or more, have some -- maybe more than a little -- idea of how and why it works. But the name Lightning Speech is certainly a fantasy spell. Well I feel stupid. I _just_ got that. Well, not just now, but while having a quick bite of lunch, I was looking through the rattly old spiral notebook that was the Champions spellboook (we didn't have a Fantasy HERO when we decided to try playing Fantasy using the "Champions engine," as we used to call it before we heard the term "HERO System." (I still think "Champions engine" is a bit more honest, but hey: who am I to quibble? ) Now what I mean by "I just got that" was that the back of my mind was trying to parse what you were telling me, as it seemed to be "more than a Cantrip" if it could make its own lightning (thus allowing it to be used freely at full effect), when it finally clicked: the lightning you mention in the part of the grisly display- that's _literally_ playing across the face: the face is not illuminated by the light of lightning flashing across the sky, but the user's face is streaked with lightning from _within him_ (or at least within his face). (Nice imagery, by the way: very creepy, and decidedly unearthly. I like it even more now! I like it even better than "Echo of Thoughts," a Mind Reading spell from our old group. I can't remember that we ever did a cantrip version of it though; if we did, it's not in this ratty notebook). So am I wrong to assume that those who can do it "silently" (and perhaps without obvious face lightning?) are using the full spell version? Yes; I'm wrong?
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Duke
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Post by Duke on Dec 30, 2019 19:00:07 GMT
Egad! I forgot to provide cantrips! Let me fix that--- Ego Attack Painful Distraction: This cantrip creates a splitting headache in the target, the severity and duration of which is up to the caster. In game terms, the target will have difficulty focusing on any task, requiring an EGO roll every turn to remain focused on a given task, and an additional EGO roll to shift his focus to new or additional tasks, to include noticing things going on around him: should he fail an EGO roll, his PER will take a penalty equal to the amount by which he failed his EGO roll. The headache does no damage (not even STUN: it's just one single point of EGO Attack, after all), and when the cantrip has run its course, it will disappear instantly. In fact, it disappears so instantly and so completely that the target, if aware that such a headache can be induced by magic, will instantly realize that the headache was the work of magic. To use this power, the character will focus intently on the target while willing a headache upon himself, which he will then move through manipulation of magic onto the target. The caster will likely be dazed momentarily, as he must first create the headache inside himself then focus himself in spite of the headache to move it from his mind to the target's. To use this power, the _player_ will determine how long he wants the target to suffer the headache; the cantrip costs 1 END per Caster's Phase. At it's base, the cantrip causes the target to make EGO rolls per the above description. The severity of the headache can be increased: for every additional "Turn's worth" of END the caster is willing to spend, the target will suffer a -1 to his EGO roll for that Turn. No more than a -2 penalty may be applied with this cantrip. A "Turn's worth" of END: This END required for this cantrip is above and beyond any "Magic Points" or other such fuel for spell casting in use in the campaign. In fact, this cantrip doesn't require the use of such magic at all (though the caster must have appropriate magic use abilities per the campaign guidelines to perform it). The END is paid up-front, to simulate the strain of creating and sustaining a powerful headache inside one's own mind while still maintaining the focus required to manipulate the magic and control the spell successfully. The cantrip lasts a full Turn, so the caster must pay -- on the Phase in which he begins the spell-- the an amount of END equal to his SPD. To add or increase a penalty to the EGO roll, he must pay that amount of END for each -1 to the EGO roll, with the limit of a -2. Yes: this seems extremely strenuous for a cantrip, and that's kind of the point: for no END at all, the caster may create an irritating headache that will last until his own next Phase. However, it's just a simple headache, and offers no distraction at all. The caster must push the limits of this small bit of magic to create an actual effect. Yes: there are less-strenous ways to create precisely this effect. However, there are no less _expensive_ ways, points-wise, to create it. Consider this END expenditure to be a balancing tool to prevent players from using a one-point cantrip to replace a ten or fifteen-point spell. Painful Distraction: EGO Attack: 1 pt. Increased END cost; total END must be paid up front; Concentrate: 0-DCV Full Turn; Side-Effects: after Concentration period has ended, caster must make a successful EGO roll at the same penalties he has built into the attack. He will remain in his trance until he has successfully broken out of it. Bummer: Cantrip is completely useless against even a single point of EGO Defense in use at that moment. Unfortunately, if the caster has no way of knowing that the target is protected, he's going to spend considerable END finding out. If writing this spell up for 5 or 6e-- or for approval on the official HERO boards, include "Detect: EGO Defense: only after the fact," AVAD because only one point of EGO Def shuts it down (never mind that this is because 1/10 of a d6 will do, at _best_ only _1 pip_ of STUN, which will be negated by _1 point_ of an appropriate defense under _any_ circumstances), and lots and lots of blank space to add all the other "should be mandatory" modifiers. >:/ -------------------------------- PSSST! This tiny cantrip has no known author. There are dozens-- perhaps even hundreds or thousands, for who but the immortals knows for certain how long sorcerers have trod this world?-- of potential authors, and just as many variations. Most likely born in the earliest spell colleges, this cantrip does nothing more than discretely get the attention of a person-- hopefully a friend or co-conspirator. Upon a successful "hit," the target will take no damage, but much like a tap on the shoulder or a friendly pebble cast at his back, he will definitely know that he has been called to, and the exact position of the person attempting to contact him, and, like the proverbial "Pssst!" call for which the cantrip is named, he will also instantly recognize the attacker's request for discretion. How he handles the whole situation, though, is entirely up to him. Pssst! does absolutely no damage to the target, but when used repetitively, can be just as annoying as any other means of distracting the target away from what he's doing. EGO Attack: 1pt Invisible Effects; Side Effect: target knows exactly where "attacker" is located.
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Duke
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Post by Duke on Dec 30, 2019 20:32:49 GMT
EGO Defense Now I have little doubt that those of you who may one day come wandering through this thread _and_ are not familiar with 2e are pretty convinced that I'm going to just skip over EGO Defense because you can't spend less than one full point, which is what a point of EGO defense costs anyway. Those of you who _are_ familiar with 2e are probably assuming I'm going to skip over it because, if I allow one point of EGO Defense, it just means 6 points of Defense (roughly). Well neither of you is completely correct; neither of you is completely incorrect. Both those assumptions are accurate. However, I am going have to skip over EGO Defense because we use it completely differently: We use it as Base-Zero Characteristic in our non-supers games, bought up point-for-point from Zero. For our Supers games, we use it as a Figured Characteristic with a base of EGO/5, then buy up point-for-point. However, if I _were_ to do something using actual 2e as-printed rules, it would be something along the lines of this: This cantrip allows you to have 1 point of EGO Defense. Add flavor text to suit. And a three-point version that allows you to access your 2e base value of INT/5. So there you go. Ego Defense. Just because we don't use it the way everyone else does doesn't mean we can't come up with something to to make a cantrip out of.
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