Help .. I need help writing up this power

[torelin32]

Hi everyone,

 

I really could use your help writing up this power

 

Description:

 

The most prominent supernatural power possessed by a Shinigami is their Zanpakutō, a supernatural sword generated from the Shinigami's soul. Shinigami also naturally give off spiritual energy, which varies greatly in magnitude with the strength of a Shinigami. A Zanpakutō is a physical manifestation of this force concentrated into a blade. While its appearance varies amongst Shinigami, its damage rating is only dependant on the Shinigami's spiritual strength.

 

Game Mechanics:

 

You possess a katana or wakisashi shaped Zanpakuto that deals 1d6 damage. Your Zanpakutō sharpens as your Reiatsu grows stronger. Each time you gain an additional attack from your Weapon attack skill ranks, your Zanpakutō damage increases by +1d6. You are automatically considered proficient with your Zanpakuto.

 

 

This is based on a d20 game system and I would like the help converting it to Hero based rules.

 

Thanks for all the help in advance.

[braincraft]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

Adapting an adaptation seems like taking the long way around.

 

By the way, someone already started a thread on this subject a while back, though it didn't get very far.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (19 Active Points); No STR Bonus (-1/2)

 

Then + 1 DC costs +4 points, at least up to 3d6+1. You might require that the character spend at least 1/5 of their XP on this power, so every 20 XP their Zanpakuto increases by +1 DC.

[Split Decision]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

Sean, I agree with that mechanic, but it seems unusual in that it's restrictive in a meta way. Would you allow a Lim or Disad to mandate the XP expenditure?

 

And Happy Birthday, sir

[Sean Waters]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

Sean, I agree with that mechanic, but it seems unusual in that it's restrictive in a meta way. Would you allow a Lim or Disad to mandate the XP expenditure?

 

And Happy Birthday, sir

 

Much appreciated

 

The XP mandate is a bit non-Hero, but it emulates a non-Hero mechanic. I'd probably not go with a disad as I do not like meta-disads and would probably leave it to the player to police the character - they may well want to increase the attack power a lot faster

 

If it comes down to who has the biggest Zanpakuto they are not going to want to be embarrassed

[bigbywolfe]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

Much appreciated

 

The XP mandate is a bit non-Hero, but it emulates a non-Hero mechanic. I'd probably not go with a disad as I do not like meta-disads and would probably leave it to the player to police the character - they may well want to increase the attack power a lot faster

 

If it comes down to who has the biggest Zanpakuto they are not going to want to be embarrassed

 

LOL. Must spread Rep, yadda yadda....

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

Sounds like a vanilla HKA to me, near as I can tell. The Zanzibar thing is just a sword with no focus limitation.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

Description:

 

The most prominent supernatural power possessed by a Shinigami is their Zanpakutō, a supernatural sword generated from the Shinigami's soul. Shinigami also naturally give off spiritual energy, which varies greatly in magnitude with the strength of a Shinigami. A Zanpakutō is a physical manifestation of this force concentrated into a blade.While its appearance varies amongst Shinigami, its damage rating is only dependant on the Shinigami's spiritual strength.

 

Game Mechanics:

 

You possess a katana or wakisashi shaped Zanpakuto that deals 1d6 damage. Your Zanpakutō sharpens as your Reiatsu grows stronger. Each time you gain an additional attack from your Weapon attack skill ranks, your Zanpakutō damage increases by +1d6. You are automatically considered proficient with your Zanpakuto.

 

Hmmm. Was trying to think of how we get away from meta-game XP spending.

 

I think I am limited by the jargon though. The description indicates "its damage rating is only dependant on the Shinigami's spiritual strength."

 

Your mechanics indicate that "Each time you gain an additional attack from your Weapon attack skill ranks, your Zanpakutō damage increases by +1d6."

 

I'm not sure how you are moving from description to mechanics.

 

I would be more inclined to work on a martial manoeuvre based on EGO.

 

The damage would be a killing attack of 1D6, requirement to have EGO of 15. You would get an additional 1D6 for each 5 EGO. It would be defended against by ED+Mental Defence.

 

Something like that seems to better describe the description, no?

 

 

Doc

[ghost-angel]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

The problem is we're trying to model something using some other games jargon.

 

Go to the source and model it off the actual description.

Otherwise this is the gaming equivalent of translating something from English to Russian and then back to English with a beginners dictionary.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

The XP mandate is a bit non-Hero' date=' but it emulates a non-Hero mechanic. I'd probably not go with a disad as I do not like meta-disads and would probably leave it to the player to police the character - they may well want to increase the attack power a lot faster [/quote']

 

I'm not inclined to require a specific rate of spending xp. First, in d20, an opponent's hit points rise as the level of the characters rise, so enhancing damage compensates. In Hero, the opposition's STUN and BOD is not so directly linked with their overall power.

 

Second, D20 controls xp expenditure much more rigidly than Hero. Translating to Hero mechanics can easily remove that link. In D&D, a Fighter would gain power with this ability faster than a cleric. Who should have more spiritual strength at an equal level? A noncombat class focused on spirituality would see the slowest rise in power for this ability, yet should be the one with the fastest spiritual growth.

 

I'd be inclined to map out some other measures of spiritual growth, whether that be Ego, skills or what have you, and suggest the character should grow his KA power at the same pace as these other measures of his spiritual growth, but the link to spiritual growth is SFX, not a disadvantage or limitation.

 

hmmm...maybe the power should be Drained with Ego (-1/4, assuming you'll toss in the occasional creature that Drains spiritual growth...)

[Sean Waters]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

The problem is we're trying to model something using some other games jargon.

 

Go to the source and model it off the actual description.

Otherwise this is the gaming equivalent of translating something from English to Russian and then back to English with a beginners dictionary.

 

 

Da, comrade: the vodka is good but the meat is off.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Help .. I need help writing up this power

 

D20? It sounds like the old Cyber Knight power (the "Psi-Blade") from Rifts. That was a neat character concept. Anyway, yeah, the usual method of modelling this kind of power is to simply remove some of the Advantages (e.g. 0 End) and Limitations (e.g. Real Weapon, Focus, Str Min) from the normal weapon the power is supposed to emulate. Sometimes only some are removed. Sometimes all are. Sometimes extra Limitations like Concentration, Only to Activate are added.

 

It all depends on the flavor you are looking for. Don't feel too constrained by the conversion. It doesn't have to function exactly the way it did in the source game system. That's always a way to create yourself a headache. Just think of the general feel of the power and how you would create the same kind of feel in Hero.