Ideas from messing around in the Rules

[bikermatt]

I'd been mulling over some things that could be done if you put the rules to some... unorthodox uses. I came up with a new action and a new modifier.

Modifier: Charm (CL=MN+3)

This one I came up with under the rule of "equipment that mimics an action costs the same if the energy is supplied by the user, or +3 if the item provides the energy". The action is based on Social Skills, and might replace it, in which case some modification of how Social Skills would work is probably needed.

It's purpose is to reflect how some people can do a lot with very little effort (though I suppose the same could be done with +Int and Efficient).

Action: Fast Recovery (CL=AN+2)

With this, I got the inspiration from Drain Energy. I added Improved Drain, changed the goal of it, and took away the ability to apply to others. The end result was that a character spent his stones in Fast Recovery, which would get returned at the end of the panel, and the stones of effect would be added to the regeneration at the beginning of the next page.

Looking at this, it seemed rather powerful for one action, so I decided it should take both actions, and if only one were used, it would have only half effect, MINUS ONE, allowing for some effect if the user was good enough and spent the effort.

Overall, it seems comparable to Force Field and Mutant/Magical Healing, so that seems okay. Here's what I came up with for the associated advantages:

+1 CL: Sacrificial Recovery: You can spend your health (gaining 3 energy for each white stone lost) on this action, but all energy gained MUST go directly into the action. If you can't spend all of the energy so gained, the excess energy is lost

+1 CL: Meditative Healing (Requires Sacrificial Recovery): By meditating for an hour, you can heal one of your white stones of health. For the duration, you remain down by 3 energy, and can do nothing else.

+2 CL: Others can benefit from power: Aside from the reduced cost it functions the same as the general advantage.

+2 CL: Restore at Range (Requires Others can Benefit): This is identical to the Drain Energy advantage of the same name.

Second Wind (+3 to +5 to CL): You can regain your energy quickly enough to gain it's full effect and still take another action. How often you may use this option depends on the Cost Level adjustment paid.

--For +3, you may use this option once per hour. Try not to get into fights too often.
--For +4, you may use this option about once per 5 minutes (or one battle).
--For +5, this option is unlimited in uses. Go ahead, have a blast!

This action is intended to be a reflection of the meditative training (or the equivalent from other sources) that allow such things as running a marathon nonstop, or recover with extrordinary speed (both of which are in evidence in real life).


Edit: I changed the Sacrificial Recovery to explain why it's not advised unless your AN is 3+
Second edit: Added in the Second Wind option.

[Shadowbane]

Sorry but what does Charm do exactly? You have no description or anything.

Fast recovery you have no description on what the ability does without the options.
Second, I don't think that you should make something required for its use. Combine it with whats required and up its cost level.

[bikermatt]

I'm not sure exactly what the right way to treat Charm. I turned it into a modifier, but it works relative to Social Skills much the same way that other modifiers (like targetting) work relative to their associated actions. If we make it just adding on, I'm not sure whether the +3 is the right level of adjustment, but if it replaces it, there should be some means to spend effort. No clear path appears to me concerning Charm.

The recovery (without the options) works like this (check the above post to verify):

Say you have an AN of 4. here's what happens when you use it:

Spend 2 actions and 4 stones in Fast recovery.
When your panel ends, the 4 stones you spent go back into your energy pool.
At the beginning of the next page, you get your recovery, plus 4 (stones of effect). This may mean that you get more than a full pool, but there are rules for such a situation.

Spend 1 action and 4 stones in Fast recovery. (For, say, spending another action to do something else, like run.)
When your panel ends, the 4 stones you spent go back into your energy pool.
At the beginning of the next page, you get your recovery, plus 1 (Effect is half what you spent, -1).

This clear things a bit?

[Shadowbane]

Charm: OK I see where your going with it now.

Fast Recovery: Seems like it needs to be worked out some more.

[bikermatt]

I'm not sure on what should be worked on for Fast recovery.

Also, your second observation with it (which I'd missed) would require that I somehow allow a character to spend 2 additional stones for a +2 CL, which seems wonky. I listed the requirement as that's what's needed to use the option as is (how else are you going to spend 3 stones on an action that only allows 1 or 2?)

[Shadowbane]

Charm
MN +3

You are particularly charming. You gain your modifier number in free stones to your social skills.
You only gain these stones when interacting with people (animals or other sentient beings).

[bikermatt]

I figured on adding flavor text (and examples) once the rules were in good working order. I'm still mulling over the possibility of having it apply to the X-men guide's "Options as Actions" rule, allowing a 3 stone cost for having Intelligence replacing Social Skills, but I don't know how appropriate that would be.

On another note, I edited the "sacrificial recovery" in the action, though I'm still hoping for some kind of feedback as to exactly what I need to do to improve it.

[l3eta-00a1x]

It seems fine to me...

I like that it's usable even if you have a low energy reserve, but it'd be nice if there was an option (+3 or +2 or something) to get full effect for one action, so you could use it more in combat.

[bikermatt]

Like some kind of "Second Wind," usable once per combat? Accelerating Overstrain might be the answer. Overstrain takes 1 week/free stone used, so 1 week to use this option is something I feel would reflavor it right.

+2 more might take it to 1 hour, +3 for 5 minutes (about 1 combat), or +4 for every round (use the Duration/Durability line of the D&R Chart for where I got this). This is in addition to the +1 for Overstrain. From this we get the following:

Second Wind (+3 to +5 to CL): You can regain your energy quickly enough to gain it's full effect and still take another action. How often you may use this option depends on the Cost Level adjustment paid.

For +3, you may use this option once per hour. Try not to get into fights too often.
For +4, you may use this option about once per 5 minutes (or one battle).
For +5, this option is unlimited in uses. Go ahead, have a blast!

[Ziegander]

Fast Recovery needs to take 1 action only otherwise it's very bad when compared to Force Field/Mutant Healing.

[l3eta-00a1x]

Everything is bad compared to Force Field.

[Brainstem]

As a suggestion, you might want to try adding a +3 Advantage to Fast Recovery that allows you to shift stones from the Action into Defense, while still being able to use those stones towards regeneration. It's priced similarly to Force Field in that you get twice the bang for your buck, but it's at a more reasonable price (AN + 5 isn't cheap). This could also allow characters to "fight defensively," basically catching a Second Wind, as was mentioned above, by bracing oneself for hits and catching your breath. This use of it might make it so you can't use any kind of physical Action for the second in the Panel, though. You could be taking the shots and maybe putting stones into Social Skills to kind of intimidate ("Holy shit, this guy can take anything") or into Concentration to maybe key in on a weak spot in the guy's strategies, but you can't, reasonably, be taking hits and dishing them out at the same time.

Actually... I think that might be a good unarmed Close Combat Option. It'll make the Action a bit better for brawlers, you know?

EDIT: Right, so the point of this. I like the idea behind Fast Recovery, and think it's reasonably priced. It can be really powerful, but the cost is going to more than make up for it, so I think it's okay.

[bikermatt]

Okay... I think I've hit the sweet points for the actions, and while your idea has some merrit, Brainstorm, I think it would be fine as is, as there should be some wiggle room as to whether stones should be allowed to shift from the action to defense anyway.

And Ziegander? There would be nothing keeping you from using it in addition to Mutant Healing, allowing you to take damage in order to recover energy fast, and stack the effect on top of the massive recovery, and then heal the damage shortly thereafter.

[Ziegander]

Jul 21, 2010 5:18:28 GMT -5 @bikermatt said:

And Ziegander? There would be nothing keeping you from using it in addition to Mutant Healing, allowing you to take damage in order to recover energy fast, and stack the effect on top of the massive recovery, and then heal the damage shortly thereafter.

Whaa? How would using it in addition to Mutant Healing work that way? Maybe I just don't understand how it works. Are you talking about using Sacrificial Recovery to recover energy and then Mutant Healing to heal back up later?

I'm just saying that spending an action to gain a very slight boost in energy recovery on your next turn for 4w creation stones seems like bad resource management.

Let's say a character has Durability 3. Deep Reserves +1 would cost 2w creation stones (MN+Dur) and permanently increases your energy recovery by 1. On the other hand, he could have purchased the Fast Recovery action at AN 4, a cost of AN+2, or 4w creation stones. This would allow him to either spend 1 action to increase his next turn's energy recovery by 1, or spend both his turn's actions to increase his next turn's energy recovery by 4. Using Deep Reserves again, for the cost of 4w creation stones we could get a permanent increase to energy recovery of 3 and never have to spend actions or energy to do it.

It would be a bit better if using the single action part of Fast Recovery recovered a flat half of the energy you spent on the Action (so that if you spend 2 energy you increase your recovery by 1, or 4 energy increases your recovery by 2). But I think in almost all circumstances I'd still rather buy Deep Reserves.

[bikermatt]

At the time of the post I'd misthought it to be Healing factor. Sorry.

The possibility of doing away with the -1 for taking only 1 action had occured to me... Unfortunately I don't have the book Deep Reserves is in, or any support on whether it's balanced or not... The main reason for the -1 was to keep characters that tend to do only one action per page to be boosting their recovery every panel from that kind of abuse.

Any time you can avoid using some other action, you get the full effects of this action, so without the -1 you get all the benefits of Deep Reserves in exchange for 1 of your 2 actions, doubled if you're not actually spending stones elsewhere, for around the same price.

Edit: I forgot to remind you that you can also get more energy than a full pool, as an extra benefit.