Revising Innate Abilities

[Deano]

Well, I'm making a return to SW and I've started to pick up where I left numerous projects off. One of these is the revising of my house rules on Innate Abilities (see here). I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas for additional Innate Abilities or any comments as I am making some changes? You may notice that calling them Innate Abilities is one of the first changes

Deano

[wolverine]

Have you thought of having flaws and other quirks as well?

Like say for quirks

Snorer. +5cp. Adds 5 to opponents attempts to sneak when you are asleep, but also hinders attempts to listen in to stuff going on near you.

[Ronin]

I don't have any additional ideas at the moment, but this is the first time I've seen that list and those are some excellent ideas in there. I particularly liked the reasonable handling of ambidexterity, internal clock and internal compass...lip reading...erm...lots of them, in fact.

You could always look at some Saga Edition talents/feats and perhaps convert them across.

[wolverine]

One q.. why not limit these to cha creation, rather than purchasing/awakening them in game?

[Vanger Chevane]

Originally posted by wolverine
One q.. why not limit these to cha creation, rather than purchasing/awakening them in game?

I think I can answer this.

If you purchase/awaken somthing in-play, then it's more of a learned skill instead of something the character "was born with" like an Innate Clock - character always knows the time to the minute.

Of course translating their Homeworld Clock to Galactic Standard or Local Time might get tricky.

If someone developed this ability later on, in-game or "out of frame", I'd say that's a Learned Skill not a Natural Ability.

[Deano]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I haven't done anything with quirks or flaws as there are a number of house rules out there already which cover this area rather well. There are some merits in limiting innate abilities to character creation, but when I originally wrote the rules we were mid campaign and really the rules are a reflection of that situation back then. As the rules state, it's all at GM discretion any how, what ever works for you.

I shall have a look at some of the feats in saga and see if there are any that could be adapted. I am open to suggestions from the community though!

Deano

[wolverine]

If i could see adopting this, it would be akin to how many other systems do it. Ofsetting your advantages with an equal cost of flaws.

[stoic_75]

The Deadlands game had some of the best flaws. I was always fond of "All Thumbs."

[Deano]

Well, slowly but surely I'm making progress with this and I think I've settled on the new style. Here are some examples in the new style

Ambidextrous
You are equally proficient in performing tasks with your left or right hand.
Cost: 10 Character Points
Effect: The character no longer suffers a penalty to skills rolls when using their offhand

Armour Mastery
You have spent so much time in armour you wear it like a second skin.
Cost: 15 Character Points
Effect: The character ignores up to 1D of DEX penalties due to wearing armour

Blind Fighting
Your instincts and sharp senses give you the edge in lowlight or dark conditions.
Cost: 15 Character Points
Effect: In lowlight or dark conditions, the character reduces the cover modifier of the difficulty to hit a target by up to 2D – e.g. a target in thick smoke or moon light would not gain a cover modifier against the character (normally +1D difficulty modifier). Similarly, in very thick smoke or complete darkness, the target would only receive a +2D difficulty modifier instead of the normal 4D
Notes: This applies to both ranged and close quarters combat. In situations where there is both smoke and lowlight, the reduction to the difficulty modifier applies to the total modifier rather than the separate modifiers – e.g. light smoke and a moonlit night would normally grant a +3D difficulty modifier, a character with Blind Fighting reduces this modifier to +1D

Body Language Intuition
You are very good at reading other people’s body language and determining whether their verbal and non-verbal communication aligns.
Cost: 10 Character Points
Effect: On a moderate PER roll the character can determine what a person’s body language is portraying
Notes: The person must be of the same species as the character

Dexterous
You are more able and quicker to act than most in tight situations
Cost: 15 Character Points
Effect: Up to three times per adventure, the first action in the round does not count towards the character’s total number of actions when determining multiple action penalties. Player must state that they are going to use this Innate Ability when declaring their number of actions for the round

Eidetic Memory
You are able to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision
Cost: 10 Character Points
Effect: On an easy KNO roll the character is able to recall images, sounds or objects with a very high degree of accuracy
Notes: This Innate Ability does not give characters a perfect recall of all events


Still open to any suggestions

Deano

[wolverine]

Would body language be available to get purchased for other races? Is it's use similar to the Llordian body language reading ability?

[Grimace]

I'm always kind of against things that are "special abilities" that have a point cost associated with them. It makes the game too gamey and too focused on creating munchkin characters.

That said, your ideas for "innate abilities" are decent. I think I'd increase the cost of ambidextrous. 10 character points to never having a penalty for offhand use again? That's super cheap!

Even the armor mastery that gives, at most, a +1D back to Dexterity costs more than that and would come into play less often than an ambidextrous person's ability.

At the moment I don't have any more ideas for possible suggestions of innate abilities. I just warn caution on making the game too much of a "build your very own munchkin character"...unless that's the type of game you want to play. If that's the case, then ignore my cautions.

[Deano]

Wolverine, not 100% sure I know what you mean, if you mean can you spend X CP's and use the Innate Ability for a different race other than your own, then no I haven't considered that. The Lloordian ability is far better if I remember rightly.

Grimace, I understand some of your reservations and I would agree which is why there are restrictions in place around the number of Innate abilities and the GM has the call on what is allowed. I've increased the cost of ambidexterous to 15.

Here's the next four:

Inspirational Leader
You are an inspiration to those who follow you and people fight harder in your presence
Cost: 20 Character Points
Effect: The character adds +1D to all Command rolls. In addition, all allies within 30m of the character gain +1 to all attack rolls
Notes: The bonus to Command rolls does not increase the skill itself and, therefore, when advancing the skill do not factor in the bonus when determining character points to be spent

Internal Clock
You seem to know the time wherever you are
Cost: 5 Character Points
Effect: On an easy PER roll the character can determine the time with a 5-10 minute error margin
Notes: The character needs have some form of reference point once in a new location with a different time zone and knowledge of the local length of day

Internal Compass
You have a profound sense of direction
Cost: 5 Character Points
Effect: On an easy PER roll the character can determine the direction of north with a 5-10% error margin

Lightning Reflexes
You are very quick in reacting to the situation around you
Cost: 20 Character Points
Effect: The character adds +2 to PER for all initiative rolls


More soon

Deano

[wolverine]

I like the inspirational leader..

[Deano]

Cheers Wolverine!

Here's the next three

Light Sleeper
The slightest of noises can wake you from your sleep.
Cost: 5 Character Points
Effect: On a moderate PER roll the character may detect sounds whilst sleeping
Notes: Normal background noise will not rouse the character as they will be acclimatised to prior to sleep

Lip-Read
You are able to understand speech by visually interpreting the movement of lips, face and tongue without hearing what is being said.
Cost: 5 Character Points
Effect: On a moderate PER roll the character can lip-read what another person is saying
Notes: The person must be of the same species as the character as well as be able to see the person’s lips move and speak the same language that is being used

Luck
The Force seems to flow through you at times altering your fate and fortune
Cost: 10 Character Points
Effect: Once per adventure the character may reroll the Wild Die
Notes: The second roll of the Wild Die stands even if it was worse than the first roll


Enjoy

Deano

[Deano]

These two are brand new and probably a bit controversial. Thoughts please

Make my own Luck
You are a firm believer that you create your own luck through hard work and trusting your instincts.
Cost: 10 Character Points
Effect: By spending one Character Point at the being of the round, the character adds +2 to all Skill rolls for that round. Use of this Innate Ability must be stated when declaring the number of actions for the round
Notes: Force Points may not be used in conjunction with this Innate Ability. The bonus is only added to Skill rolls and not any other type of roll including damage and Attribute rolls

There’s no such thing as Luck
You don’t believe in luck only the will of the Force
Cost: 15 Character Points
Effect: Up to three times per adventure, all rolls in a round are rolled without one of the dice being used as the Wild Die. Use of this Innate Ability must be stated when declaring the number of actions for the round
Notes: Character Point additional dice roll up in the normal way and are not affected by this Innate Ability

Deano