Re: [HOE] Road Warrior Second Chance!!!???

["Kartzoffs" <kartzoffs@optusnet.com.au>]

The trouble I see with this Saint is that he provides way too many bonuses
for chips spent (at least in my opinion). His white chip power is very
powerful; I'd say usually this would be a blue chip ower. Most white chip
abilities provide +4 to one roll or around +2 to a type of roll for an
amount of time related to faith. I'd take the guess that the player has to
name the skill and can't change it once they've made their choice. Otherwise
it's obscenely powerful. Perhaps it can only be used on a friend who
willingly accepts it? That way you have the whole mercy thing going. I'd
also shorten that list however not being familiar with the T-man I can't
recommend any powers over any other.
I can't exactly remember what duct tape does but this ability would wither
come in a lot of handy or be totally useless. This one I don't have any
particular objections to (gee, I really feel like I'm bad-mouthing you ;)).
Even with the ability to cast this once per day the blue chip ability seems
to be siding on the "powerful" side. I'd either say that it should have a
disadvantage attached to it, such as either
a) the players can't use chips to cancel wounds
b) if they do something (say, use an arcane ability) it shuts down
c) this ability also affects the bad guys (the whole mercy thing)
The trouble I have with the legend chip ability is that it provides a
totally new arcane background to the Templar. Not being a huge fan of
Junkers I can't make deep comments but there might be a chance that 1 day
isn't long enough to build anything meaningful. Like I sadi I'm not sure.
And besides his legend chip ability should be connected to his title; saint
of toughness. Perhaps the Templar becomes totally invulnerable as long as he
is defending other people. As it stands he really feels, through his red and
legend chip abilities to be a sort of saint of tinkering.
He has too many vexations. It may very well be the way it's written (or the
fact I need sleep) but they feel somehow pointless. Although characterful
I'd just leave that last vexation about knowingly commiting a treacherous
act or turning his back on any who deserve the templar's help.
Although it sounds like I'm being really critical (I'm trying not to be!) I
like the concept. As it stands the saint just doesn't feel entirely like a
saint of toughness and many of his abilities come across as a little to
powerful. Still I don't think it would take too much to make him a good
saint. Best of luck.

Alex
Out of lurking and preparing for the disagreements to come thick and fast


2MTD
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick Zachariasen" <zacharin@pluto.dsu.edu>
To: <hoe@gamerz.net>
Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 7:31 PM
Subject: Re: [HOE] Road Warrior Second Chance!!!???


> Well, after some thinking and after looking back over The Destroyer, I
> realized that a legend Chip is indeed much too great a reward. I still
feel
> that the Templar, who's blessed by the Saint of Mercy, is deserving of
some
> sort of reward beyond a simple Fate Chip. Therefore, I realized that the
> perfect reward is a new Blessing. Saint Hise would be good if he'd
actually
> protected Frankie or something. What he did, though, was heal him and,
> instead of telling him "get outta here before I change my mind", he sent
him
> to Boise with a note of referral, hoping to get Frankie to mend his ways
> such that he may even decide to join to Templars himself.
>
> The problem is that there's no Saint of Second Chances. At least, there's
no
> such OFFICIAL Saint. There is one who does fit the bill, and I posted him
> some time back. I actually had to go into the archives to find him, and
here
> he is, reworked a bit to not be quite so complicated. I both welcome and
> request any input anybody can give on this one, as I intend to actually
give
> it to him in some form. I just don't know if this version is too powerful
or
> complicated.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Saint Lawrence Tureaud (a.k.a. Mr. T)
>
> Saint of Toughness
>
>
>
> Born in 1952, Lawrence Tureaud grew up on the south side of Chicago with
his
> seven brothers and four sisters. His father left when he was 5, leaving
the
> family to live on welfare. T once reflected, "As a kid, I got three meals
a
> day. Oatmeal, miss-a-meal and no meal." He was heavily influenced by his
> very religious mother to keep his life on track and live right.
>
> When he grew up, he served in the military as an M.P. and at one point
> actually served as a bodyguard for Muhammad Ali. In the early 1980s, he
> began acting in TV and movies, gaining his longest-lasting recognition
from
> his role as B.A. Baracus in the TV Series "The A-Team" (vidslugs of which
> have actually served as inspiration for a team of four Junkers calling
> themselves the J-Team). It is this role that seems to manifest in a large
> part of T's blessings. This role also, along with his brief professional
> wrestling career, made his trademark gold chains famous.
>
> T used his fame well. His fight against the forces of the Reckoners came
not
> from killing vampires or halting the evil machinations of cults, but
rather
> through the simple spreading of hope among those who would not otherwise
> have it. Indeed, unlike St. Wayne, T was never any more aware of the
> supernatural than the average person. He helped create youth centers and
> start physical fitness programs in urban areas, giving hope to
> underprivileged children who lived there and simply helping them have fun.
> He tried to teach the kids to either "be somebody or be somebody's fool"
>
> Eventually, after his acting heyday was over, T developed, ironically
> enough, T-cell lymphoma. The fight left him financially drained to the
point
> where he had to sell off his gold chains, which he had worn to symbolize
the
> struggle of blacks in Africa. In an interview, he stated "I don't wear
gold
> chains no more. The gold is in my heart." Eventually, though, T managed to
> stave off the lymphoma. He wrote a book about his experience, which
resulted
> in him giving hope to a whole new group of people: cancer patients. Like
> John Wayne, T also lived to a ripe old age and died of natural causes.
>
>
>
> Deed: T blesses those who seek to help the less fortunate, particularly
> children. He will come to those who try to help others, whether by
allowing
> the wicked an honest chance to reform themselves or teaching people how to
> simply live better lives. T may also aid Templars who are falsely accused
of
> a major transgression, especially if it involves the military or the
> Templars.
>
> For any power involving Junker Powers or Tool Tricks, use the Templar's
> Faith in place of Science: Occult Engineering.
>
>
>
> White: For the next 5 minutes per Faith level, the Templar may either use
> his Faith in place of the following or gain a bonus equal to it:
>
> Artillery: any that saw widespread use among infantry
>
> Drivin': any land vehicle (including constriction equipment) except
> motorcycles and recreational vehicles like ATVs and snowmobiles; if the
> vehicle in question is a van, the Templar's Drivin' rolls automatically
> succeed
>
> Fightin': brawlin'
>
> Overawe
>
> Scroungin'
>
> Shootin': any small arm commonly issued to infantry
>
> Throwin': all
>
> Tinkerin'
>
>
>
> Red: For 1 hour per Faith level, the Templar effectively has access to the
> Cyborg power Duct Tape at a level equal to his Faith. However, this also
> costs him 1d4 Wind (don't reroll Aces) for every Durability step repaired.
> Alternately, the Templar may use the Junker Tool Tricks Reload and Weld.
>
>
>
> Blue: For 1 minute per Faith level, the Templar and his allies gain a very
> powerful Edge in combat. Reminiscent of The A-Team, wherein there was lots
> of gunfire but nobody ever got seriously hurt, no single hit from any
weapon
> can cause more than 2 wound levels to any single location to the Templar
or
> anyone on his or her "side". Even if the Templar was in the middle of
> fighting someone, the two ceasing to fight each other and fight someone
else
> qualifies as being on the same side under the logic that "the enemy of my
> enemy is my friend." Basically, if the two are fighting the same enemy
(such
> as a Templar and Anti-Templar who both have to fend off an attack from a
> Doombringer), this applies. However, once the common threat has passed,
it's
> a whole new ballgame.
>
> Note that this ability does not protect whatsoever against magical sources
> of damage, such as hexes, Doomsayer miracles, Syker, powers, etc. This
> includes things like objects produced by hexes like Sliverspray- it only
> protects against man-made weaponry, excluding Junker tech. However,
against
> normal weaponry that's been somehow enchanted (such as by the Glow Weapon
> toxic favor, the Loaded for Bear hex, or the weapon being a Relic), the
> weapons still work normally as per their enchantment, but they can deal up
> to a Serious Wound instead of only a heavy. This power may only be called
> upon once a day.
>
>
>
> Legend: For 1 day, the Templar functions as though he had the Arcane
> Background: Junker Edge. The limit to the Templar's construction
capability
> is equal to a total TN equal to his Faith times 5. For instance, he may
> construct a device with a TN of 13 and a device with a TN of 11, or he
could
> construct 5 devices with a TN of 5 each. Any such combination will work so
> long as it is less than or equal to the limit. When activating this power,
> the Templar may choose a number of powers equal to his Faith from the
> following list. All Tool Tricks except for Miniaturize may be taken on a
> 3-for-1 basis (Miniaturize counts as 2 Tricks for these purposes) and the
> Templar automatically gets Weld for free.
>
> Tool Tricks: Bar, Brace, Debug, Finish, Light, Minaturize, Reload, Spit
>
> & Polish, Tool
>
> Powers: Ammo, Armor, Gunsmith, Light, Locomotion, Warhead, Weaponsmith
>
>
>
> Extra note:
>
> Those blessed by T also tend to unconsciously make use of his catch
phrases
> ("I pity the fool", "Shut up, fool!", etc.). They also gain the Heroic
> Hindrance if they don't have it already, and if they do they become
> extra-Heroic, because to quote T, "When punks start hasslin' decent
people,
> ah make it mah bidness!"
>
>
>
> Vexation: There are several things one can do to lose T's favor. Don't
> reroll Aces on any of the listed durations unless they state otherwise.
For
> the verbal slipups, T won't completely abandon someone who really needs
him
> (i.e., life or death situations for him or his friends).
>
> Mr. T once said "Any man who don't love his momma can't be no friend of
> mine." He abandons anyone who badmouths someone's mother (unless what he
> says is true) for 1d4 days. He'll return sooner if an apology is made.
>
> Also, Mr. T don't want none o' that "Saint" jibba-jabba being thrown
around
> about him. He feels that using the word so loosely cheapens it, so he
> prefers people to call him Mr. T, or if they must, just T. Calling him
> "Saint" causes him to leave for 1d4 hours.
>
> Mr. T also doesn't go for any obscene jibba-jabba. Rather than leaving,
Mr.
> T causes the individual to feel a punching sensation in the gut and lose
1d4
> Wind (reroll Aces, but don't take the character's total below 0 Wind). If
> there's a child under 18 present, roll 1d8 for the Wind loss AND let the
> character go below 0 Wind, but not far enough to cause any Wound levels.
>
> Lastly, T will permanently leave anyone who knowingly and willingly either
> commits a traitorous act or turns his back on any who deserve the
Templar's
> help, especially children, regardless of the worthiness of the rest of a
> settlement. T doesn't turn his back on decent people! However, if helping
> them is outside his capability or there are other mitigating circumstances
> (Marshal's call), T understands. His favor can be regained by proving
> oneself worthy once again.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> Nick Zachariasen
> Editor Emeritus
> Trojan Times
>