Sandman XI Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 It's still there, he just doesn't use it much anymore. In fact he could still use it if he charges it up (artificer feat). Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 So what will you be doing with his Empowerment? List... oh... say, five to ten examples. Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 Well it depends on what he's empowering. He could give a book or deck of cards a magical array. He could give a ghettoblaster a sonic control array. he could give a pair of shoes or a vehicle some new movement modes. Empowerment is him basically enchanting and/or upgrading an item. Examples: Really Accurate Gun ([Extras]) Move it FASTER (Vehicle Movement Speed) Really Bright Flashlight (Light Control) Spellbook (Magic 10 [Power Feats: Accurate 5, Alternate Power 5]) Boots of Springing and Striding (Leaping 15, Speed 15) Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 All seem fine for a Technomage... except the Spellbook, which seems like something a more traditional mage would do. Plus, there's the cheese factor of having ao much Accurate in there. And, in a way, using a VP to make an Array isn't so different form having a VP in an Array. Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 Empowerment says it allows you to put APs on existing arrays, so I thought making full arrays was cool, but it's understandable why you can't just make one from scratch. A few more examples: Deluxe First Aid Kit (Healing) Really Loud Music Player (Enviromental Control [distraction], Hearing Dependant) Really Persuasive Music Player (Emotion Control, Hearing Dependant) Magical Weapon (more Damage, more Accurate) Jacket of Armor (Immunity [all physical damage, half effect]) Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 The one other thing that makes my Ref-Sense tingle is his Super-Movement (Dimensional 3). Should Quark be able to make Escalators to Heaven or a Subway Train to Hell or a Longboat to Valhalla or a Chariot to Heliopolis (much less put those in his handheld device)? Or should he be limited to a handful of technomage-y dimensions (a Limbo/Phantom Zone for storing stuff, some energy-filled or elemental dimensions, and a 'transitive' plane that can lead to others which he cannot directly get to)? Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted April 29, 2009 Author Share Posted April 29, 2009 The dimensional movement thing is quantum physics taken to a magical extreme. Note to Quark's kind, all science is magic and all magic is science. So this is a little bit of both. Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 The dimensional movement thing is quantum physics taken to a magical extreme. Note to Quark's kind, all science is magic and all magic is science. So this is a little bit of both. That... still doesn't answer the question. Especially in light of the "magical style" discussions we've been having in the Ref Forum (where we're trying to not have Magic go by Joe Quesada's "Magic = Anything, with No Explanation" rule). And just because that's how his people see it doesn't mean that's how it actually is. Book of Magic says that in the default FCU, Science and Magic are two different ways of viewing/understanding the same thing, Reality. Like how a cake can be enjoyed visually or olfactorily -- sight can tell you some things about a cake, and taste can tell you others, but they don't tell you the exact same things, and one can tell you things the other cannot. Quark's people may have some sort of synesthesia going on, and may be able to see some things that a pure-tech guy can't and some things a pure-magic guy can't, but there should also be some things a pure-magic guy can see/do that Quark's Kin can't, and some things a pure-tech guy can do that Quark's Kin can't. And that's the main place where descriptors come in. (Plus, I really don't like the idea of a Secret Race that's The Best at All Forms of Science and The Best at All Forms of Magic, And Has Done Nothing With Their Skills To Influence History or Humanity. It smacks way to much of "Star Trek-style God-Like Alien" for my comfort.) That aside, another issue: why does he have absolutely no base Attack or Defense bonus? If he's been out adventuring, he can't not have picked up some basics of combat. Stripped of his gear, a basic thug with a gun is a severe challenge for him. Why is he that abysmally unskilled in self-defense? Also, how are you going to transition from Current Quark to PL 10 Quark? Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted April 29, 2009 Author Share Posted April 29, 2009 Quark's species draws inspiration from the Order of Hermes and the Sons of Ether (while he himself has drifted into Virtual Adept territory). I don't mean for them to not explain anything, exactly the opposite. What seems like it was drawn from nothing is actually a complex equation/formula that is magic. Thus science is magic and magic is science. If this explanation does not suffice, I have an out plan. Quark is from a superintelligent race of inventors. He himself has cracked and uses magic (but only arts that have passed for sciences in the past, ie pseudo-sciences) infused into his work. The reason for the low defense and attack is that he's a kid. A super-genius kid, but a kid none-the-less. It's the same reason he has 6 strength and 8 charisma. As for how it happens, I have two explanations. One, he's always been that way. Two, he grows into it. Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Quark's species draws inspiration from the Order of Hermes and the Sons of Ether (while he himself has drifted into Virtual Adept territory). Which sorta backs up my point: SoE's and VA's don't go where Verbena and Choirsters go, and vice versa. I mean, yeah, strictly by the rules, they probably could do so, but all the fluff says they don't/won't/can't. The reason for the low defense and attack is that he's a kid. A super-genius kid, but a kid none-the-less. It's the same reason he has 6 strength and 8 charisma. "He's a kid" doesn't really work since he's also a super-genius and has done more adventures than most regular kids ever dream of doing. As for how it happens, I have two explanations. One, he's always been that way. Two, he grows into it. First one wouldn't seem to work, since he's never shown a hint of Empowerment before. He's done Artificing/Inventing, yes, but this is a big step up. Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 So, I've been discussing it with others. What he does is magic, make no mistakes about it, it is magic. BUT the way he does magic is through science and technology. Instead of chicken bones and runes, he has formulas and equations. Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Okay, that's cool, that's great... but it still doesn't answer my question. A Necromancer could easily go to most any Afterlife Realm (Tartarus, Valhalla, Death's Garden, etc.), but would find it nigh impossible to get into Faerie. A Druid would have a breeze getting to the elemental planes, but would have a fair bit of trouble getting into Fluffy Cloud Christian Heaven. What dimensions/planes could a Technomage easily get into, and which ones would he have trouble getting into/cannot get into? Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 I don't believe there are technomagical realms canonically. And the only way I see him moving through the realms is as if they were the Internet, each realm being a website. Then again, I don't wana totally ripoff Mage. Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Aren't there a few in MAGE you can work off of? Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 I only remember like one realm. It was called the Digital Web. Virtual Adepts used to do superheroic type stuff without the unawakened watching them. The type of setting we're playing in makes the Digital Web useless.Or should he be limited to a handful of technomage-y dimensions (a Limbo/Phantom Zone for storing stuff, some energy-filled or elemental dimensions, and a 'transitive' plane that can lead to others which he cannot directly get to)?We could reinterpret the Web as being the transitive plane. Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I'd allow that the Web could be used to access the Transitive Plane, if you're clever enough. Which Quark would be. Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 "He's a kid" doesn't really work since he's also a super-genius and has done more adventures than most regular kids ever dream of doing. You still didn't respond to this... nor why he has 0 pts in saves. Shouldn't a super-genius have at least something in his Will save? Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 Took away two ranks in Empowerment, put 10 points in will and +2 attack bonus Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Stats: 24pp Str: 6 (-2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) Int: 40 (+15) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 8 (-1) Adds up. Combat: 4pp Attack: +2 Grapple: -2 Defense: +10 (+5 flat-footed), +0 without Protective Undersuit Knockback: -10, +0 without Protective Undersuit Initiative: +0 Adds up. Saves: 10pp Toughness: +10 (Impervious) Fortitude: +0 (+0 Con, +0) Reflex: +0 (+0 Dex, +0) Will: +10 (+0 Wis, +10) Adds up. Skills: 124r=31pp Computers 15 (+30) Craft (electronic) 15 (+30) Craft (mechanical) 15 (+30) Craft (structural) 15 (+30) Disable Device 15 (+30) Knowledge (arcane lore) 15 (+30) Knowledge (physical sciences) 15 (+30) Knowledge (technology) 15 (+30) Languages 4 (German, Hindi, Japanese, Latin; English is native) Adds up. Feats: 10pp Artificer Edictic Memory Equipment 2 Improvised Tools Inventor Jack of All Trades Luck 2 Ultimate Effort (design checks) Adds up, though that's "Eidetic" Memory Powers: 74pp Device 8 (Protection Undersuit; Hard to lose) [32pp] Device 3 (Quark Tech PDA; Easy to lose) [9pp] Empowerment 4 (20 points; Extra: Duration/Continuous; Flaw: Only Affects Objects; Power Feat: Innate) [29pp] Quickness 8 (Flaw: One Type/mental) [4pp] Adds up, though you should put "x500" in there to show just how fast his freakish brain works Devices: Adds up. Adds up. Drawbacks: 3pp Action 1 (Empowerment takes full round to use; -1pp) Distracting (to reconfigure Empowerment; -2pp) Adds up. But... A Variable structure that requires a full round action to reconfigure has a -1 flaw; further increases in configuration time apply the Action power drawback. Costs: Abilities (24) + Combat (4) + Saves (10) + Skills (31) + Feats (10) + Powers (74) - Drawbacks (3) = Total Cost 150 Adds up. Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 All fixed. Used the three points to make his freakishly fast brain a racial thing, also brought back his racial immunity to sleep. Link to comment
Dr Archeville Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Alright, here be yer first approval! Link to comment
MarkK Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 what part of the design check does ultimate effort apply to? Link to comment
Sandman XI Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 Er, its supposed to be contruction checks. not design checks. Sorry about that. Link to comment
Recommended Posts