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Amaril
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Joined: 17 Dec 2008
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Location: Decatur, GA
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 Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:04 pm Post subject: [SWD] Making Races: Construct Ability |
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I'm working on making a new race for a homebrew, one of which is a sort of half construct. I'm having a hard time rationalizing Construct as a +2 ability as written. It's a lot of really good stuff, one of which, immune to disease and poison, is a +1 ability by itself. How is something seemingly so powerful only valued as +2 ability?
Second part of this question, while looking at the Android in SWD as an example, I noticed almost all of the other abilities, with the exception of Programming, are either neutral (Unnatural) or of negative value (Asimov Circuits, Outsider, Recharge), making it seem as though Construct is more valuable than +2.
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Zadmar
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Joined: 10 Nov 2010
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Location: Munich
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Amaril wrote: | | I'm working on making a new race for a homebrew, one of which is a sort of half construct. I'm having a hard time rationalizing Construct as a +2 ability as written. It's a lot of really good stuff, one of which, immune to disease and poison, is a +1 ability by itself. How is something seemingly so powerful only valued as +2 ability? |
I've made the same observation in the past. Personally I'd rate it as a +10 ability:
+3: +2 to recover from Shaken
+1: Ignore called shots
+6: No wound penalties
+1: Immune to disease and poison
-1: Repaired instead of healed
If they don't need to eat, drink, sleep, breathe, etc, then that should also be factored in.
In my current campaign I've turned Construct into a hindrance (it means you need to be repaired instead of healing), and all of the other bonuses have to be purchased separately.
| Amaril wrote: | | Second part of this question, while looking at the Android in SWD as an example, I noticed almost all of the other abilities, with the exception of Programming, are either neutral (Unnatural) or of negative value (Asimov Circuits, Outsider, Recharge), making it seem as though Construct is more valuable than +2. |
Unnatural is similar to Arcane Resistance, I'd probably rate it as a +2 ability:
-2: Asimov Circuits
+2: Construct
-1: Outsider
+1: Programming
+2: Unnatural
Normally I'd rate Recharge as -2 (it's like Major habit), however it also replaces your need for food and water. An android can actually go longer without their energy source than a human can go without water, and (unlike dehydration) it won't kill them. So overall I'd actually view this as a bonus, although a very minor one (not enough to be worth +1). |
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Amaril
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Joined: 17 Dec 2008
Posts: 1064
Location: Decatur, GA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Zadmar wrote: | | Amaril wrote: | | I'm working on making a new race for a homebrew, one of which is a sort of half construct. I'm having a hard time rationalizing Construct as a +2 ability as written. It's a lot of really good stuff, one of which, immune to disease and poison, is a +1 ability by itself. How is something seemingly so powerful only valued as +2 ability? |
I've made the same observation in the past. Personally I'd rate it as a +10 ability:
+3: +2 to recover from Shaken
+1: Ignore called shots
+6: No wound penalties
+1: Immune to disease and poison
-1: Repaired instead of healed
If they don't need to eat, drink, sleep, breathe, etc, then that should also be factored in. |
That's kind of how I see it, too, except I was conservative by estimating no wound penalties to be about +3 or 4.
| Zadmar wrote: | | Amaril wrote: | | Second part of this question, while looking at the Android in SWD as an example, I noticed almost all of the other abilities, with the exception of Programming, are either neutral (Unnatural) or of negative value (Asimov Circuits, Outsider, Recharge), making it seem as though Construct is more valuable than +2. |
Unnatural is similar to Arcane Resistance, I'd probably rate it as a +2 ability: |
How did I not see that? I was thinking it was a wash as even beneficial powers suffer a penalty, which isn't a good thing exactly.
| Zadmar wrote: |
-2: Asimov Circuits
+2: Construct
-1: Outsider
+1: Programming
+2: Unnatural
Normally I'd rate Recharge as -2 (it's like Major habit), however it also replaces your need for food and water. An android can actually go longer without their energy source than a human can go without water, and (unlike dehydration) it won't kill them. So overall I'd actually view this as a bonus, although a very minor one (not enough to be worth +1). |
I saw recharge as compensating for an unspoken default rule that constructs don't eat or necessarily recharge, but that's a con to the construct and a bonus to other races, so which is it for a construct-themed creature? I guess leaning toward humans as the baseline means it's a bonus, but it really is a matter of perspective. Additionally, some additional rules governing constructs should be applied to such creatures.
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Zadmar
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Amaril wrote: | | That's kind of how I see it, too, except I was conservative by estimating no wound penalties to be about +3 or 4. |
Nerves of Steel and Improved Nerves of Steel are each worth +2, and each reduce your wound penalties by 1. There's no official edge to get rid of the 3rd wound level, so I just extrapolated, thus the +6.
| Amaril wrote: | | I saw recharge as compensating for an unspoken default rule that constructs don't eat or necessarily recharge, but that's a con to the construct and a bonus to other races, so which is it for a construct-themed creature? |
The description for Recharge states that "The power source replaces the need for food and water", which strongly suggests that the Construct ability itself doesn't remove that need. The Android race does also balance out if we treat Recharge as a +0 ability.
I think it's thematically reasonable for certain Constructs not to require food or water, but if they require no sustenance of any sort then I'd probably treat that as an additional +1 or +2 ability. This would need to be factored into each individual race though (as it has been for Android) - some Constructs may still need food, after all. |
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Amaril
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Joined: 17 Dec 2008
Posts: 1064
Location: Decatur, GA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Zadmar wrote: | | Amaril wrote: | | That's kind of how I see it, too, except I was conservative by estimating no wound penalties to be about +3 or 4. |
Nerves of Steel and Improved Nerves of Steel are each worth +2, and each reduce your wound penalties by 1. There's no official edge to get rid of the 3rd wound level, so I just extrapolated, thus the +6. |
I see where you're coming from.
| Zadmar wrote: |
| Amaril wrote: | | I saw recharge as compensating for an unspoken default rule that constructs don't eat or necessarily recharge, but that's a con to the construct and a bonus to other races, so which is it for a construct-themed creature? |
The description for Recharge states that "The power source replaces the need for food and water", which strongly suggests that the Construct ability itself doesn't remove that need. The Android race does also balance out if we treat Recharge as a +0 ability.
I think it's thematically reasonable for certain Constructs not to require food or water, but if they require no sustenance of any sort then I'd probably treat that as an additional +1 or +2 ability. This would need to be factored into each individual race though (as it has been for Android) - some Constructs may still need food, after all. |
I agree with you on both counts. Listing Recharge separately implies Constructs normally don't need to eat or charge up. I think there are certainly cases in which a construct-based race doesn't need food of any sort.
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