Blood and Vigilance tweak: suggestions?

[Vigilance]

Awesome. If you have any questions, I will be around

Chuck

 

[perrysmeaton]

the version listed at rpgobjects.com is that the old version or new 1.1 version

 

[Vigilance]

The version on the front page of RPGNow and at the top of the d20 Modern listings is version 1.1

Chuck

 

[ledded]

Got all the new BnV stuff and just wanted to pop in and say: 1) thanks, and 2) some damned fine stuff there. Very good work, I like the tweaks and the Mystic Arts book is just what the doctor ordered for those fellows in my game who want to run a mystic without just using the available powers for spells. We had worked up something for one player who brought in a very cool Cthulhu-esque Investigator, but the Mystic Arts book is waaaay better than what we had MacGuyver'd together last minute. I'll be putting the new updates and the Mystic Arts book in use very soon, I'll pop in and drop a line on how it goes.

Thanks again for putting some time into a line that I really like, Chuck.

 

[Vigilance]

My pleasure... it was really fun to get my head back in that B&Vigilance space again.

Chuck

 

[Martyr of the Cause]

We could use a clarification

Greetings.
First, fantastic work on Blood & Vigilance. It flows so nicely into the balanced d20 Modern system and is just truly fantastic and fun. Kudos!

That said, I'm sure you're aware that there are little things about the rules some have found confusing or unclear. Some things make sense to one but come off unclear to others.

The BIG one our group is struggling over is what actual powers you get when you put power points into a power. Most of us believe that if you take Superhuman Strength (for example) you get the Superhuman Strength sub-power (?) and the Brawn sub-power, of if you take Plasticity you get Bouncing, Daddy Long Legs, Elongation, Long Strider, Malleability, and Tight Spaces as well. However, some of our group think that to get the other sub-powers (such as Brawn or Bouncing) you need to spend your Power Stunts to have access to these "sub-powers", and not just to make them Established Powers.

Also, on the subject of establishing powers, would I be correct in saying that Plasticity doesn't take any action points to use any of those sub-powers (assuming you get all of them)?

If you can, please clarify this. The issue is hindering progress in our game world which everyone is excited to get off the ground.

 

[Vigilance]

Greetings.
First, fantastic work on Blood & Vigilance. It flows so nicely into the balanced d20 Modern system and is just truly fantastic and fun. Kudos!

That said, I'm sure you're aware that there are little things about the rules some have found confusing or unclear. Some things make sense to one but come off unclear to others.

The BIG one our group is struggling over is what actual powers you get when you put power points into a power. Most of us believe that if you take Superhuman Strength (for example) you get the Superhuman Strength sub-power (?) and the Brawn sub-power, of if you take Plasticity you get Bouncing, Daddy Long Legs, Elongation, Long Strider, Malleability, and Tight Spaces as well. However, some of our group think that to get the other sub-powers (such as Brawn or Bouncing) you need to spend your Power Stunts to have access to these "sub-powers", and not just to make them Established Powers.

Also, on the subject of establishing powers, would I be correct in saying that Plasticity doesn't take any action points to use any of those sub-powers (assuming you get all of them)?

If you can, please clarify this. The issue is hindering progress in our game world which everyone is excited to get off the ground.

Hi there, first, thanks a lot

Second, on the issue of what powers you get, here's how it works:

When you spend power points on a power, you have every sub-power at the same power level. However, this doesn't mean you have free and unfettered access to it.

To do that, you have spend one of your power stunts, gained at levels 1,3,5,7 etc to establish the power.

To gain temporary access to a sub-power that you have not established as a stunt, you can spend an action point to use it for a short while (one round per character level is a good time limit, I usually allow the power to work for the duration of the current combat).

There are exceptions to this: 1) powers with only one sub-power do not require you to spend a stunt to establish the power and 2) if a sub-power has the same name as its parent power, you do not need to spend a stunt to establish it.

Using Superhuman Strength as an example:

Superhuman Strength has two sub-powers: Superhuman Strength and Brawn.

Since Superhuman Strength is the same name as the main power, you get this benefit for free. You don't need to use a power stunt to "establish" the increase to your Strength ability score.

The Brawn sub-power requires you to either spend a power stunt to permanently establish it, granting unfettered access to the sub-power or spend an Action Point every time you want temporary access to it.

Hope this helps

Chuck

 

[Martyr of the Cause]

Awesome!
That mostly clears that up for us.

The one I have to wonder then is regarding establishing powers. For something like Control Gravity, since all its abilities have "Gravity" in the name, you'd get to choose one as a free Established Power (this is where I think we got confused, because the wording in our version refers to these as "Power Stunts" instead of "Established Powers"), but for something like Plasticity, you'd get no free Established Power, therefore have to establish each ability of the power or spend an action point whenever you use it.

The duration of how much benefit I get of that power is based on how it fits into the scene? Continuing with the Plasticity example, Tight Spaces, which has a duration of "Permanent", woudl require me to spend an action point unless I establish it with a Power Stunt? And when spending an action point for it, you'd get to wiggle through your spot, and then the power is "off" again and waiting for an action point to re-activate? Likewise, when using Long-Strider unestablished, I'd need to spend an action point each time I want the extra movement?

How does this work with Regeneration, for example? Are those abilities, all listed as "Permanent", ones you need to establish to use without action points?

Also, for something like Life Support, when you take the power NONE of those abilities are established, but you can still use any of them, correct? You'd need to burn an action point to make it happen, but otherwise you're fine.

Again, thanks for the quick answers!
You rule!

 

[Vigilance]

The one I have to wonder then is regarding establishing powers. For something like Control Gravity, since all its abilities have "Gravity" in the name, you'd get to choose one as a free Established Power (this is where I think we got confused, because the wording in our version refers to these as "Power Stunts" instead of "Established Powers"), but for something like Plasticity, you'd get no free Established Power, therefore have to establish each ability of the power or spend an action point whenever you use it.

No, the wording has to be identical. So in the case of Control Gravity you get no established stunt. In fact if you notice with ALL the control powers, you get no free stunt. This is done on purpose for balance reasons, so it's important to make sure that you only grant free stunts when the wording is exact.

Using Control Gavity as an example, this is a nice power that allows you to lift items as if you had superhuman strength, fly, make items heavier so others can't lift them (like items your opponents are going to use to throw at you) or even immobilize your enemies.

In general the control powers offer a nice range of offensive, defensive, and/or movement abilities.

Since they help you stretch your power points a long way (with so many handy sub-powers) they require you to spend more stunts.

Compare this to a power like claws, you spend your power points and get a single benefit. Thus, you don't have to spend a single stunt to establish the power, it's included.

The duration of how much benefit I get of that power is based on how it fits into the scene? Continuing with the Plasticity example, Tight Spaces, which has a duration of "Permanent", woudl require me to spend an action point unless I establish it with a Power Stunt? And when spending an action point for it, you'd get to wiggle through your spot, and then the power is "off" again and waiting for an action point to re-activate? Likewise, when using Long-Strider unestablished, I'd need to spend an action point each time I want the extra movement?

How does this work with Regeneration, for example? Are those abilities, all listed as "Permanent", ones you need to establish to use without action points?

If you activate a power temporarily with an action point, the power's duration doesn't affect how long it lasts.

In general a power activated via a stunt can be used for one combat, but no longer than 1 round per character level. Out of combat, this usually means you can use it once.

For example, if you were attempting to chase someone down, and spent an action point to activate Long-Strider, it would last one round per character level.

If you were attempting to escape from a prison cell and activated Tight Spaces, you could slip through the bars and that would probably be all you could do with it. If you came across another barrier Tight Spaces would let you slip through almost immediately (1 round per character level is only a minute at 10th level) then the GM could let you use the ability again without spending another action point.

Obviously for some powers, like Regeneration, this means abilities you haven't established can't be used, since they take longer than one round per character level to take effect.

Let common sense, and the 1 round per character level duration that you get from temporarily activating an ability with a power point be your guide on what works and what won't.

Again, thanks for the quick answers!
You rule!

My pleasure

Chuck