Just checking to see if the wording on these abilities are clear and what people think.
Fate Manipulator
Suggested Approaches: Disruptor, Dampining
Status: Your status is dependent on the number of dice you have stored in your Fate Pool using your abilities.
4+: d12
2-3: d10
1: d8
0:d6
HP:+20
Gain the following ability
Store Luck I : Whenever you are the target of an effect that uses a diepool, add the result of one non-effect die to your Fate pool.
Gain two of the following abilities
Change Fate R: Change the facing of rolled die to a result stored in your fate pool. Remove that result from your fate pool. You may use this reaction twice per round. Once on yourself, and once on someone else.
Glimpse the Future A : Recover using [Power]. Use your Max die. Add your Mid and Min die results to your Fate pool.
Foretold Strike A: Boost yourself using a result from your Fate pool, removing that result to create the bonus. Then attack using [power] and that bonus, using your Max + Min die. Add your Mid die to your fate pool.
I'd say that the abilities are fairly clear. However, I was looking through some of the existing archetypes that can have d12 status dice, and something occurs to me.
The Fate Pool itself seems comparable to a supply of bonuses and penalties that the heroes have no way of interacting with. While the idea having a secondary resource in the game is appealing, and is something I've been brewing a bit, the fact that the heroes have no direct way interacting with the pool spelled out makes it seem likely that a villain with this archetype could easily ramp up to a d12 status die in the first box or two of the scene tracker alone.
If I was to remove the Fate Pool mechanic, this is what some of the archetype would look like to me:
Status: Bonuses on Self
4 or more Bonuses on self: d12
2-3 Bonuses on self: d10
1 Bonus on self: d8
0 Bonuses on self: d6
- Store Luck(I): Whenever you are targeted by an Action, Boost yourself using one die that the action does not use as an effect die.
- Change Fate(R): Whenever a dice pool is rolled, you may Boost or Hinder any die in that pool by rolling your single [Power] die before results are determined. You may use this reaction twice per turn cycle; Once on yourself, and once on any target other than yourself.
- Glimpse The Future(A): Recover using [Power]. Use your Max die. Boost yourself using your Mid die. Boost yourself using your Min die.
- Foretold Strike(A): Boost yourself using [Power] and at least one bonus. Then, Attack using your Max+Min dice and the bonus you just created.
I do think it's a cool idea, but I'm just not sure how balanced it would be now that I've (tried) to put into normal Sent RPG jargon.
I’ll start by noting i changed one the abilities to make it clear that the bonus it creates before the attack spends a result put into the fate pool, which was always the intent but perhaps not clear.
It is indeed fairly easy for a villain to get to a d12 status die in a round or two, but that assumes they are not using the fate pool resources in order to power abilities, so they are giving something up.
Lets assume that a team of four heroes is in a scene fighting a villain. Two of them interact with the villain directly, one goes after a challenge and another attacks some minions. This gives the the villain two dice in his fate pool.
If he wants to start using his reactions or his self boosting abilities to fight back, he naturally drops one or two fate points a turn on his own. So either the villain takes a few turns not using his full powers to get to and maintain the d12 status, or they hover around the d8 using them pretty much as fast as they get them.
Now, if all four heroes bum rush the villain he does indeed get up to that d12 very quickly, but I am again alright with that. I want there to be an element of risk to blitz the bad guy with the plan of mopping up the rest of the scene later.
I think you did a very good job translating this, and i will be honest about what I am making here, gimmick archtype into something more standard. But i think the actual stealing of unused dice results will create a more memorable experience. I envision actually swaping out dice around the table here to really create a sense of “oh drat, i rolled 3 10s and thats a bad thing! now he gets a 10!” or “oh no! the 1 i could ignore is getting taken, he can use that against me later!”
That edit makes it considerably more clear ; Prior, I had thought that there was only one ability that removed results from the Fate Pool. That aleviates my primary concern about the Pool never really shrinking once it's filled up.
I'd still be a bit careful running them in an environment that swings at everyone with it's twists, since the wording of Store Luck would still charge up the Fate Pool if not all dice are used, but that's more a matter of scene construction. It seems pretty thematic with the chages so far, I'd be interested to hear how it turns out after it sees some play.