Re: [BNW] Covenant Powers: Unbalancing ?

[IHoChuan@aol.com]

In a message dated 2/3/00 11:41:08 PM Eastern Standard Time, GMPax@aol.com 
writes:


Its late, and I don't know if any of his will make any sense in the morning 
but...


> Seriously.  Covenant characters can mimic the effects of several packages:
>  
>  --> Blaster or Scorcher: Wrath of God; yeah, less damage, but ... still, 
it'
> s 
>  damage-at-range.  Call it Blaster Lite™.

Very-Lite, without the armor protection when the inevitable counteract comes. 
 This attack might be good against regs but almost any "combat" package 
(Bouncer, Scrapper, Tough, Goliath, etc.) will be able to shrug off or suck 
up this attack and mop the floor with Joe Covenant.


>  --> Healer: God's Mercy.  Heck, that one even lets Covenant heroes pick up 
>  HEALER-ONLY Tricks!  The Covenant gets a +5 bonus to medicine rolls, the 
>  Healer gets +10 ... big difference _there_ ... there's little reason to be 
a 
> 
>  Healer instead of a Covenant, with that one .. because the covenant gets 
> that 
>  AND MORE, besides!

Because  in BNW that +5 IS a very big difference, plus the covenant hero has 
to buy up both Faith and Medicine (Plus Smarts) to be effective.

 
>  --> Goliath: Strength of God; sure, sure, it'll take a big roll to 
duplicate 
> 
>  the strength of a big, hulking Goliath ... but then, the Goliath cannot 
get 
>  HIGHER either, whereas the Covenant, with a _really_ good roll (and a 
really 
> 
>  good Faith skill), can theoretically get an unlimited number of successes.

Theoretically, but not reliably, and without the protective armor bonus (plus 
a free wounds to every location for their good fortune when it wears off).  
To get +5 strength would take a roll of 25 (20+ Faith 5) Even on 5d that's a 
very, very long shot.
  
>  --> Tough:  Armor of Faith (IIRC the name); nowhere near as good, but, 
like 
>  the goliath: with enough skill and luck, the covenant can (briefly) have 
>  better armor than the Tough.  A LOT better.

Reality check.  Tough has an Armor rating of 20/-, that's TWENTY successes, 
it would take a roll of 100 (90+,+faith skill) to pull that off.  That's 
90+....somebody with better math skills than me can figure those odds, but 
they are not good.
  
>  That's four.  It would take a faith of FOUR to get all those abilites, in 
> ONE 
>  hero.  And the Covenant_requires_ a Faiths kill of 3 or more, anyway.  Now 
>  look: the target number is a five.  Minimum skill is a 3.  What's five 
minus 
> 
>  three?  You got it: TWO.
>  
>  Unless the Covenant hero rolls more ones than anything else, they are 
>  guaranteed at least minimal success.  "Sure" you say, "same with everyone 
>  else who has _any_ real skill with their power!"  Well guess what ... 
that's 

But with the Covenant minimal success yield minimal results, at best.

 
>  the problem.  In many ways, the Covenant hero is as good a healer as a 
FULL 
>  HEALER.  About halfway between most people, and Goliaths.  About half as 
> able 
>  to burn-and-destroy badguys as Scorchers or Blasters.  And potentially as 
>  tough and resilient as, say, a Scrapper ... wihtout the healing (though 
they 
> 
>  HAVE that, if they pray ...).
>  
>  ALL AT ONCE.

Not really.  They can only use ONE power at a time.  It takes another faith 
roll plus three rounds w/o ANY powers to activate a different one.  In a 
fight three rounds is a real long time.

>  And that's too much.  I had 2 of my 3 players asking me WHY the Covenant 
got 
> 
>  so much ... and why I was letting my g/f play one, if they are that much 
> more 
>  powerful than anything else.

Because she is sleeping with you and they aren't, is the standard response in 
situations like this.

>  So, again I say: the Covenant, as written, needs toning down.
>  
>  I had a few ideas (none of which my g/f would even consider, grr):
>  
>  NUMBER OF POWERS: one per point in faith is too much.  One, PLUS one for 
>  every TWO _full_ points of faith:
>  
>  Faith       # of Powers
>    3              2
>   4-5             3 
>   6-7             4
>   etc            etc
>  
>  --- OR ---
>  
>  Target Numbers to use ALL covenant powers are TEN, not five.  HOWEVER: The 
>  armor power IS one of the weakest; it's TN remains ten, but the effects, 
per 
> 
>  success, are doubled.
>  
>  EXCEPT the one that hedges out evil beings, that one works identically to 
>  that written in the book, and ANY Covenant hero, even REGULARS, may use 
it.  
> 
>  It make sense as a "power from above" ... and gives the Regulars a chance 
>  against vampires, and such.
>  
>  Either of those would, IMO, balance the Covenant more properly against the 
>  other packages.
>  
>  Sean
>  GM Pax
>  ICQ# 18582108
>  

Yes, the Covenant package can be very powerful, but so can almost every other 
package in the game if employed intelligently.  They are extremely versatile 
but lack the raw power inherent in almost all other packages.  
If your S. O.  thinks she got a great deal, or your other players think she 
is too powerful run her up against your typical Blaster or Goliath and see 
how long she lasts...

Just out of curiosity does anyone out there have a Covenant PC in their 
group?  How do they perform compared to other packages?  In what situations 
are they particularly useful/useless?

-Brian