Re: [ORE] [Godlike] (Courtyard of Hell spoilers) When NPCs don't follow the rules

Garden variety force field generator? Are those that common among PC Talents? I suppose Heavy Armor might do the job as well except for that pesky Penetration.

As for the drawings, I have to ask again about blowing up NPCs. If he leaves an explosive in an area where non-Talents set it off wouldn't he have a net Will gain, quite possibly a substantial one depending on whether the NPCs' discipline holds? As for Talents, the sample characters don't tend to have much Base Will. I guess if they don't use their Talents they will have enough to survive.

Could he leave his drawings in nearly inaccessible areas or areas where people wouldn't think to look? Could he put on the inside face of a wall as long as it is in the Area required? By that I mean an outer wall of a building but the drawing is on the inside of the wall-facing an interior room rather than the street.

Surely a small container of paint would not be especially cumbersome-he could carry a flask/canteen full. I'm sure many towns have paints/dyes he could 'requisition'. Just thinking out loud.

On Sunday, October 11, 2015 at 10:49:12 PM UTC-4, Allan Goodall wrote:

They are supposed to follow the rules.

During playtesting Der Magier did retreat fast enough to drop grenades, as the fighting was room to room. In the first playtest the Ubermensch prepped a mine with a short fuse, triggered it and time fugued it as the PCs were engaged and slowed by regular Fallschirmjager troops. He rolled width 2, added 1 with the wd, and waited.  The PCs took 2 or 3 combat rounds before entering the room, with the Germans barricaded in an adjoining room. He heard them break into the room and dropped the time fugue. Cost maybe 2 Will.  On rule breaking.

In the second quote, it's a suggestion for how the GM could use the character. With 12 Will, he could delay an explosion a dozen combat rounds (assuming width 2) and still have Will remaining.

Der Magier is nasty, but he can only hold the time fugue for a couple of minutes unless he stays close to his targets —  putting him in harm's way — and even then it only works if he continues retreating. Running through several rooms dropping grenades as he goes for only a round or two is a good way of delaying the PCs even if he doesn't do any damage.  He's a rear guard. Could he almost instakill a PC? Sure, but a garden variety force field generator is usually good enough to negate his power if they are careful.

As for Der Karikaturist knowing when someone triggers his explosives by hearing it go off, I didn't mean that he knows it was successful because he heard a loud bang in the middle of a battlefield. I mean that he could know without actually seeing it. This came out of one of our games where a PC threw an explosive at an Ubermensch and ducked out of the way. The explosion killed the Ubermensch. Another PC howled in appreciation. The player of the first PC asked if he got the Will for defeating an enemy Talent even though he didn't see it. I ruled that he did get the Will because he had aural proof of the kill. So, yes, simply hearing a bang isn't going to grant him the reward. Seeing someone approach his drawing and then hearing a bang and painful screaming after he turns away will grant him the reward. In other words, killing an enemy Talent with his power gets him Will the same way as killing an enemy Talent with any power, even without seeing the kill with his own eyes.

Talent killing is unlikely to gain Der Karikaturist much Will since a single Will point expenditure counters it. If he invests 2 or 3 it will only take out a PC really low in points. He can seed a couple of drawings each day, though, as he regains to Base Will each night.

He uses drawings and chalk because they are easy to carry. Paper and pencils are easy to acquire. Chalk is relatively easy to requisition. Grease is easy to find in the field (used by vehicles and artillery, and there is gun lubricant). He could requisition a can of paint but it would be messy and cumbersome, and really only available in rear maintenance areas.