Re: [BNW] Probability Manipulation Totem

[Mark Kilfoil <kilfoilm@nbnet.nb.ca>]

Mark Craddock wrote:
> 
> My group made their BNW characters this weekend.
> So far I have a Gunner, Gadgeteer, Bargainer, Flyer and 
> still 2 are undecided.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to put together a team in
my area for the forseeable future...  I'm going to recruit
at the next two local cons, however... (on the same weekend)

> My Bargainer asked if he could have a Totem with Probability
> Manipulation (similar to Scarlett Witch)

Note that the Bargainers already have a similar Trick:  Jinx...

> Probability Manipulation Totem

Is this a mystical totem or a scientific gadget?  Let's get
a little more fancy with the name...  Perhaps it would be
known variously as a cursing wand, a bad mojo stick, a
necklace of black beads, an evil eye, a...

Perhaps a Totem would have subsections like Power, Form,
Invocation Rite, Daemon Kin (the kind or kinds of Daemons
which can have this power), etc...

For this kind of power, perhaps a Gremlin Kin would be
appropriate...

> by Mark Craddock and Mark Means

Hah!  We Mark's will rule the world! HAHAHAH!

Uh, sorry...

> 
> Totem grants the Bargainer 5D6+5 worth of Misfortune effects.

I'd say this would be determined by the Bargainer's Spirit roll
to bind the daemon..  Perhaps it would be equal to the (successful)
Spirit roll+5 to a maximum of 35?  This means that better 
Bargainers can store more Misfortunes, rather than it being
entirely random...

Of course, there is something resonant in the idea that randomness
determines the uses of a Probability Manipulator...

> The Total can be used to reduce the Targets total, increase 
> Targets TN or deal the Total in Damage due to some sort of 
> mishap.  

What total?  The total from the roll below?

> The Bargainer cannot throw bolts of energy but can  cause items 
> to hit or fall on the target.  

So the Bargainer sets up a negative vibe, which resonates until it
comes to a point of shattering?  I can see that.. but how much
time is involved before the effects occur?  (I could see a less
difficult roll for an effect that takes longer, in some sort 
of escalating scale;  say -1 TN for an action, -2 for a round -3 
for ten minutes, -4 for an hour, -5 for a day, -6 for a week,
-7 for a month, etc..)

> To do any of these things the Bargainer must make a Hex roll 
> with a standard TN of 5, but the more improbable an effect the 
> harder the TN, the Guide should use their discretion.  Hex is a 
> new skill based on Spirit, and is the used to cast the Bargainers 
> bad juju at a target.

Well, few of the other Packages have to make any roll just to 
have the effect happen (one big exception being Covenant, if I
recall correctly...), so I'd nix the Hexing skill.

Besides, why have another skill for a Totem?  To me, a Bargainer
does the most work when he creates his totems, and later just
relaxes the control of the daemons a little to focus the
daemons power...  While I can see perhaps a Spirit roll, most
of the time I would not see any roll:  the daemon wants to be
free, and it would recognize that a Bargainer, by using the
Totem's power, releases it, a little at a time...

Now, there might be a contested roll to make the effect work,
because it makes it a little too powerful..  So perhaps the 
Spirit of the Daemon trapped is the one used for an opposed
Spirit roll against the victim?  So, binding a weaker daemon
might be easier for a Bargainer, but a more powerful daemon
would be a more powerful power.

Hmm..  Is this a probability manipulator or a fate manipulator?

They are similar ideas, but not quite the same thing..

A Probability manipulator would be able to make uncommon 
things occur more often, or make common things occur less
often, like making someone spill their COFFEE, or making
it likely that a light will go from yellow to green rather
than red.

A Fate manipulator would cast a dark shadow over a 
particular person's future, meaning that something bad
will happen to them sometime...  It might even be effectively
permanant, like a curse, but I'd say that would use up 
all of the Misfortunes in the Totem (at least 15) and
release the daemon on the target...

Just some ideas...
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