Adepts and Totems
Now, I will say probably the main reason I thought of this is because I like adepts and I like shamans, but I had a couple ideas while flipping through my BABY...
Normally, adepts who choose to follow a Totem get all of the negatives, and none of the bonuses, mainly because the bonuses are mostly geared towards spells. This strikes me as grossly unfair, so I fiddled with this idea for about 30 seconds, then booted up my mailer to propose it to y'all (don't you love those long play-testing periods?)
One idea that I had was that powers that would bring a character closer to his totem would be cheaper to purchase. I was thinking about 80% of the normal cost (meaning Improved Reflexes 1, if it was deemed to make you more like your totem, would cost 1.6 points, instead of 2). My first idea was to make it 75%, but that's a bit too unbalancing where all the chromeboys are concerned, since they can only get Alphaware to start. The problem with this is you're not usually going to get the clean quarter points that they seem to use for adepts. I don't see why adepts can't have part of a Power Point unspent, and then use it later when they get some more. However, things that go against your totem's type cost 20% more, because your totem frowns upon such activities (such as Killing Hands: Serious for a Mouse Adept... its going to cost him 2.4 points, not 2)
Example: Vinny is not your typical Adept. A lot of them follow Wolf or Shark... Vinny follows Rat. The first thing that Vinny learns is Stealth, which he takes at a 6 because, hey, its what he does. Normal adepts that would cost 1.5 points, but since Rat is a totem of stealth, it costs him 1.2. Vinny likes the idea of being able to beat people up, so he also decides to up his strength 3 points. Rat's way, however, is not that of strength, so Rat withdraws His support in learning this ability, and he has to pay 1.8 points, rather than the normal 1.5. Vinny realizes he has 3 more points to spend, so he pumps it all into Combat Sense. While Rat doesn't really approve of combat, He does prefer a surprise attack to straight out fighting, so He lets Vinny learn it without any disapproval. This means it costs Vinny 3 points, the normal for an adept. Vinny is now ready to scuttle the shadows.
This version requires a bit of work, and definitely requires gamemaster input. Since GM's aren't Totems, they just tell them what to do, his word is obviously final on what gains a bonus, and what is average cost, and what is more expensive. Also note that, IMO, Astral Perception isn't necessarily something that all Totems smile on (though very few would frown).
Another, slightly simpler, is that for every 1.5 additional dice that a normal shaman gets on a certain kind of spell, and adept gets a -1 to related target numbers that are influenced by his magic. However, for every die the normal shaman gets removed, the adept gets +1 to related target numbers that are affected by his magic.
Example: Serpentor, a Snake Adept with a cartoon fetish, would get a -1 to his target numbers whenever he perceived with his magically enhanced senses, -1 to healing target numbers if he has Rapid Healing, and a -1 to his stealth target numbers if he has improved stealth. If he doesn't have any powers, he's out of luck, just like a snake shaman who doesn't take any detection, healing, or illusion spells. However, every time he enters combat, he automatically gets a +1 to all target numbers to do anything that he has magically enhanced, from using his enhanced unarmed combat
pool to hit someone to using his improved reaction to surprise someone. That's the price Snake demands.
One note: These two systems are not meant to be used together, as that would be mondo unbalancing. However, I think using one or the other provides both a nice balance to the option for Alphaware and gives people reason to choose someone who is both an adept and a shaman.
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