MTH:Weaknesses
Contents
- 1 WEAKNESSES
- 1.1 ACTIVATION COST
- 1.2 ANIMA FLARE
- 1.3 CONTINGENT ACTIVATION
- 1.4 CONVERGENT ACTIVATION
- 1.5 COSTS HEALTH
- 1.6 DEBILITATING
- 1.7 DECREASED DAMAGE
- 1.8 DECREASED RANGE
- 1.9 DOUBLE-EDGED
- 1.10 EMOTIONALLY VOLATILE
- 1.11 INCREASED VERVE COST
- 1.12 INHIBITOR
- 1.13 LOUD
- 1.14 LOW VELOCITY
- 1.15 MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
- 1.16 OBJECT FOCUS
- 1.17 ONLY WORKS ONCE
- 1.18 PERMANENT
- 1.19 SINGLE TECHNIQUE
- 1.20 UNRELIABLE
WEAKNESSES
Not all superpowers function as effectively as they could; some of them rely on devices that a character could be parted from, others will not function (or only function) under certain conditions, and others simply have a shorter range or less kick than other powers of that type. A power can have any number of weaknesses or limitations attached to it; doing so reduces the power's Class by one, no matter how many weaknesses are attached to the power.
The following is a list of general weaknesses that a power might have. This list is by no means comprehensive; players and Storytellers are encouraged to make up other weaknesses to add to it. The Storyteller is the final arbiter of whether any given drawback is significant enough to reduce a power's Class.
ACTIVATION COST
The power with this weakness is dormant, and requires an additional activation cost above and beyond any other normal requirements to be able to use it in at all during a scene. The cost can be nearly anything, and only needs to be paid once per scene. Generally cannot be combined with the Permanent weakness, though the Storyteller may allow it for particularly steep activation costs and certain powers. The Storyteller is the final arbiter of whether the cost is enough to qualify for a Class decrease. A low activation cost for a power that is normally permanent might count as an extra instead!
Common activation costs: Verve, bashing health levels, lethal health levels, aggravated health levels (one is almost always sufficient for the Class decrease), consumable items (used up when activating the power).
ANIMA FLARE
The character manifests an anima whenever she uses this power. The anima takes on an appearance appropriate to the character's power, such as a blazing aura of light or a roaring bonfire that surrounds the character's body, or angelic wings that erupt from her back. While impressive, the character's anima makes her extremely conspicuous, and any attempts to hide her presence or act with stealth fail automatically while her anima is flaring. A character's anima cannot benefit that character mechanically, EG dealing damage or providing a bonus to Intimidation rolls; such benefits are the purview of actual superpowers.
CONTINGENT ACTIVATION
The power either may only be activated while another specific power with an equal or longer duration is active, or is suppressed while another specific power with a shorter duration is inactive.
CONVERGENT ACTIVATION
This weakness must be applied to two or more powers. Those powers may only be activated together once this weakness is selected. All powers linked with this weakness must have the same duration.
COSTS HEALTH
The power's activation cost is paid in health levels rather then Verve. This is advised only if the power has a one or two Verve activation cost or if it has a scene long duration. If neither is the case, then the cost is paid in health only the first time in a scene, after which the cost is paid normally.
Note: The conversion from Verve Cost to health cost prevents the Reduced Verve Cost extra from reducing the health levels taken! (we can't have people getting free lethal Force Bolts without any downside at all now, can we?) However, if the power only costs health the first time in the scene because of the expense, then the reduced cost will apply to further uses in the scene.
DEBILITATING
When the power is activated, it causes some kind of drain or loss of control. While the power is active, the character has three fewer attribute dots in one attribute. This can lower that attribute to zero for the purposes of rolls and resistance to rolls. If this lowers Resolve or Composure (and thus Willpower), it will only reduce that score by two dots. If this lowers Stamina (and thus Health), it will only reduce the score by one dot.
For a Class three power, the player can choose to take 'Highly Debilitating' as two weaknesses, lowing the power to Class one (an exception to the usual rule which only allows one weakness to reduce the Class of a power one step). This version of the weakness means the character looses 6 dots from no more then two attributes. If this lowers Resolve or Composure (and thus Willpower), it will only reduce that score by four dots. If this lowers Stamina (and thus Health), it will only reduce the score by three dots.
In both cases the weakness cannot be applied to attributes which would be rendered less then zero, or to powers with an instant duration.
DECREASED DAMAGE
The wounds dealt by this power are not as grievous as they could be. This weakness may only be given to powers that deal lethal or aggravated damage. If the power previously dealt aggravated damage, it now deals lethal; if the power previously dealt lethal damage, it now deals bashing.
Note: Since bashing damage to a character that is incapacitated spills over into lethal, this is still worth a Class decrease if used on a power that normally does lethal. If the player truly wishes to render their power unable to kill, this can be arranged, but that counts as an extra, which will remove the Class decrease.
DECREASED RANGE
The power simply doesn't work at long distances. This weakness can only be applied to a power with a Range given in yards. The power has its range halved, and its medium and long ranges decrease accordingly.
DOUBLE-EDGED
The power's activation can backfire. This weakness may only be given to powers with a dice pool. Each 1 rolled in the power's dice pool deals 1 lethal damage to the character. This damage bypasses all forms of damage reduction.
EMOTIONALLY VOLATILE
The character needs to be in the right state of mind to use this power. If the character's emotional state is disturbed in a certain way, the power will lose some or all of its dots, depending on the strength of the emotion, as often as the Storyteller thinks is necessary for the class decrease. This weakness requires a great deal of honesty and maturity on the player's part (don't make your power weak to fear and say "I've seen worse" whenever something should frighten you) but it can be done well if everyone remembers the game isn't a competition.
INCREASED VERVE COST
It takes more than the usual amount of effort for the character to use her powers. The cost of using a power with this Weakness increases by 1 Verve. This may apply to powers which have no Verve cost to begin with.
INHIBITOR
The presence of a given substance, or certain local conditions, will prevent the character from using this power. For example, Telepathy or Telekinesis may be blocked by a lead shield, or a strong electromagnetic pulse may prevent a character from using flight. The player and Storyteller should discuss ahead of time how exactly this weakness manifests: how close the substance or condition has to be to nullify the power, or whether the power simply doesn't work on objects made of a certain substance.
LOUD
Activating the power generates a spectacular sound, as loud as a gun shot. The exact nature and sound are up to the player, and should match the effect. Whatever the specifics, it usually isn't a sound that can be covered up.
LOW VELOCITY
The character's power manifests as a ball of energy, a shockwave in the air, or some other physical representation--a physical representation that's easy to see and doesn't move particularly fast. Whenever the character attempts to use this power on a target, the target's Defense applies as a penalty to the character's activation roll (or applies twice if it already applied).
MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
The power may only be activated while another specific power is inactive. The power which must not be active must have an equal or longer duration than the power which bears this weakness. If the power which must not be active is permanent, it is suppressed whenever the power with this weakness is activated, and remains suppressed for one turn or until the effect ends, whichever is longer. This weakness cannot be applied to permanent powers.
OBJECT FOCUS
The character's power is tied to an item of some sort: a technological device, a mystical artifact, or perhaps some worthless fetish that holds significance only in the character's mind. If the character is separated from the object that provides this power, that power will not function. Furthermore, if another character gains access to the object focus, that character may be able to use the associated superpower; the player and Storyteller should decide ahead of time whether the object focus can transfer its power in this manner. Should it be able to do so the object will only function for the new individual with the addition of another weakness in addition to Object Focus.
ONLY WORKS ONCE
The power may only be activated once per scene, and is automatically deactivated after one turn. This weakness cannot be applied to permanent powers.
PERMANENT
The character is unable to "turn off" the power when he wishes. Perhaps he steals health from everybody he ever touches, or permanently looks like a hulking pile of rock. The character's Verve pool is permanently reduced by the amount of Verve required to activate this power. The weakness also applies a penalty to the character's presence rolls equal to the number of dots in the power, either because of the strange appearance caused by this weakness or because he is unable to interact fully with others. This Weakness is not suitable for all powers - the player should decide with the Storyteller whether the Power may be made Permanent as a Weakness.
SINGLE TECHNIQUE
The character's powers are less versatile than normal. This weakness may only be applied to powers that have multiple techniques available to them, such as Entropy Control or Cyberkinesis. The character has access to only one of the listed techniques for the power; he may not learn or use any other listed technique.
This also may be applied to an attack power that allows a choice of damage between bashing and lethal: this locks the power into one or the other. Loss of either the ability to pull punches, or the ability to do lethal damage usually warrants a Class decrease.
UNRELIABLE
The power occasionally fails for no reason. Whenever the character wants to activate the power, he must roll Resolve, Stamina or Composure depending on the nature of the power, and cannot gain any bonus to this roll. If he fails, he does not activate the power that turn, but pays no cost and can take a different action.
