Alternate Powers for Origins without At-Wills - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Alternate Powers for Origins without At-Wills

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Oraibi
Nov 08, 2010 16:23:17 Any comments on these?

EMPATH

Toy with Their Emotions    Empath Novice

With a simple tug of the heartstrings, you throw your enemy's emotions out of balance.
At-Will * Psi
Minor Action                              Close Burst 5
Target: One creature in burst
Attack: Charisma + your level vs. Will
Hit: The target grants combat advantage until the end of your next turn.
Special: You can choose this power instead of Vitality Transfer as your novice Empath power.

GIANT

Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum    Giant Novice

You can easily reach over adjacent allies or foes to strike your target.
At-Will * Bio, Physical, Weapon
Standard Action                          Melee 2
Requirement: You must be wielding a two-handed melee weapon.
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength + your level + weapon accuracy vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier + twice your level physical damage.
Special: You can choose this power instead of Brickbat as your novice Giant power.

HAWKOID

Airstrike                                      Hawkoid Novice
From way up here, it's easy to look down on your foes.
At-Will * Bio, Physical, Weapon
Standard Action                         Ranged weapon
Requirement: You must be wielding a ranged weapon.
Target: One creature
Effect: You fly your speed and at any time during your movement you can make the following attack.
Attack: Wisdom + your level + weapon accuracy vs. AC. You do not receive the normal -2 penalty to attack rolls for attacking while flying if you attack when directly over your target.
Hit: 1[W] + Wisdom modifier + your level physical damage.
Special: You can choose this power instead of Terrifying Shriek as your novice Hawkoid power.

HYPERCOGNITIVE

Defensive Feint                                    Hypercognitive Novice
You make a quick, calculated strike and then prepare yourself for your foe's counterattack.
At-Will * Psi, Physical, Weapon
Standard Action                                   Melee or Ranged weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: 1[W] + Wisdom modifier + weapon accuracy vs. Reflex
Hit: 1[W] + your level physical damage, and you gain a +2 bonus to all defenses until the start of your next turn.
Special: You can choose this power instead of Uncanny Strike as your novice Hypercognitive power.

PLANT

Another Vine Mess                           Plant Novice
Your vines writhe around the battlefield and drag your foe along with them.
At-Will * Bio, Physical
Standard Action                                Melee 2
Target: One creature
Attack: Constitution + your level vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d6 + Constitution modifier + your level physical damage, and you slide the target one square.
Special: You can choose this power instead of Lashing Creepers as your novice Plant power.

RAT SWARM

Spread Out!                                           Rat Swarm Novice
You spread out in a wide swarm, biting and nibbling at your foes, then pull yourself back together in a new location.
At-Will * Bio, Physical
Standard Action                                    Close burst 1
Target: Each enemy in burst
Attack: Dexterity + your level vs. AC
Hit: Dexterity modifier + your level physical damage, and you shift one square.
Special: You can choose this power instead of Swarm! as your novice Rat Swarm power.

SPEEDSTER

Whirlwind Spin                               Speedster Novice
You spin in a tight circle, weapon in your hand, as you slice your slower foes to ribbons.
At-Will * Psi, Physical, Weapon
Standard Action                               Melee weapon
Target: Each enemy in burst
Attack: Dexterity + your level + weapon accuracy vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + your level physical damage.
Special: You can choose this power instead of Quick Attack as your novice Speedster power.

YETI

Bigger Claws                            Yeti Novice
You score a hit and lash out savagely with your sharp claws.
At-Will * Bio, Physical
Free Action                                Melee 1
Trigger: You make a successful unarmed attack.
Target: One adjacent creature
Hit: 1d10 + your level physical damage.
Special: You can choose this power instead of Big Claws as your novice Yeti power.

#2
moosekickedmysisterstoof
Nov 08, 2010 16:56:24 Very well done. I wonder if Far-Go will have alternate At-Wills for all the origins that lack them.
#3
caz_granberg
Nov 08, 2010 19:26:27 These make me happy - I'd much rather have at-will powers at Novice.

I'm a copy these for use with my mutants.
#4
bioquack
Nov 08, 2010 21:07:44 Nice Work.

I've honestly wondered if the Encounter Novice Powers were actually errors. What happens if you roll a Hawkiod Emphath with Str Con Dex and Int all under 13?

You'll only have two attacks that can hit anything then you just have to hope the rest of the party can handle the situation while you cower in the back.

I think the powers you designed could definately help someone in the situation I described above.

For my home game I've made the assumption that all Novice powers are Standard Action At-Wills.

#5
Oraibi
Nov 08, 2010 21:13:47 The encounter novice powers were clearly meant to be encounter powers -- most of them are too powerful to be at-wills, even in Gamma World.

I suspect that the "what if you roll up a crappy Hawkoid Empath" situation is meant to mimic previous versions of Gamma World where, indeed, you could roll up a crappy character and you were just stuck with it.

In such a case, I recommend getting killed off as soon as possible, to be honest! Which is more entertaining than whining at the GM because your character sucks.

That said, I think it's fair to allow players to switch out for an at-will if the GM allows, which is why I wrote up these. Some were made specifically to address the situation describe here -- a Hawkoid Empath under these house rules would have the possibility of two at-wills, one which makes the target grant combat advantage as a minor action and another which lets them fly over someone and shoot them with a Wisdom-based ranged attack.
#6
bioquack
Nov 08, 2010 22:04:16 Yah, I guess they are pretty powerful, but one of my players has a 3 Constitution so it sort of balances out. The two alternate At-Wills are definately a fair option and I hope WotC does something like what you've described.

However I do have a bone to pick:

If your right about being able to roll up crappy characters, I would like to see more diversity in the crappyness. Where are the Yetis that can't lift over 25 lbs? The Speedsters that can't walk and chew gum? The Androids with serious cognitive deficits? Darn it! I want more crap!

And as a GM I love the whinning. It makes me feel important.

JK
#7
stonewynd
Nov 08, 2010 22:09:24 you know you could just make the encounter powers at-wills. they're actually less powerful than some other at-wills, if you look.
#8
DavalThunderstone
Nov 09, 2010 0:05:59 Wow, I had no idea that those novice powers were encounter powers in the first place.

Why not have them be purple like all the powers that actually are encounter powers?

How are those powers balanced, as some encounter novice powers are blatantly worse than some at will novice powers?

I mean I get Gamma World isn't as geared toward character balance as 4E, but seriously this makes little to no sense.

Is it a horrible typo or bad game design?

#9
Oraibi
Nov 09, 2010 12:23:24 I think it's a valid game design. The idea being that there are some mutations which just aren't as useful as others.

What they didn't check for, though, was whether or not they were cheesing out the Wis/Cha mutants.
#10
cryoghoul
Nov 09, 2010 15:04:48 Nice alternate powers!

Also this thread served to surprise me about the fact there was any encounter novice powers.

The Giant and Plant ones seem to me the only ones which would be slightly overpowered if they were At-Wills. Like for example the original Hyperbog novice power resembles a druid At-Will from 4e.

Still I must say I like the new Giant and Hawkiod powers presented here.
#11
DavalThunderstone
Nov 09, 2010 15:13:37 I'm not saying it isn't valid game design, but in my mind its not good game design.

Plants are just pretty sucky.

Cockroaches are awesome.

I want everything to be awesome.
#12
Tony_Vargas
Nov 09, 2010 16:04:53
How are those powers balanced, as some encounter novice powers are blatantly worse than some at will novice powers?

Some are easy to compare and not much better than other at-will powers. The Android and Rat Swarm for instance both immobilize, but the android only imobilizes to the start of your turn, while the Rat Swarm goes to the end of your turn, and the Rat Swarm doesn't have to remain adjacent. That doesn't seem worth the difference between Encounter & at-will, to me, but the Android's at-will is already quite strong, so I guess they felt the need to draw the line somewhere.

Others are just hard to assess. Is the Empath novice power all that? Hard to say. I've seen it in action, and it seemed extremely weak, not even that great as an at-will. But, what it does is nothing like what any other at-will does.

The closest thing I've seen to an at-will being better than an encounter is the TK vs the Hawkoid.   And even that's more along the lines of comparable than better.

The Giant, Plant, and Yeti have claerly powerful novice powers that'd have to be toned down somehow to work as at-will.

#13
Serpine
Nov 09, 2010 23:25:29
Is the Empath novice power all that? Hard to say. I've seen it in action, and it seemed extremely weak, not even that great as an at-will.

Having about a 50% chance of dropping 1 target's damage in half for one round (useless if that target happens to miss anyway) and granting 3-4 temporary hit points in a game people fully heal after every fight? Yeah its pretty uninspiring.

But then a lot of Empath's other traits are pretty meh to: Pacifying Aura - party members who let the enemy get the drop on them don't suffer for it. Vital Presence - party members who are out of the fight become less likely to die. Share Strength - shuffle hit points among two party members and give a saving throw (situationally good, but its still no net party gain of hit points, the save would have happened 50% of the time anyway, and also its an encounter power). Zone of Pacification requires careful positioning since it effects your guys as well. And Empath Critical is awesome, assuming you roll 20s a whole lot.

That being said, in the Games Day: Trouble in Freesboro scenario I managed to Vitality Transfer to blunt that stupid radioactive bird for a round and keep our main damage dealer up one extra round, so I respect it *a little*. Other encounters though people pretty much regarded it as the time I spent "thinking" instead of doing something cool with my Doppelganger minion.

Maybe if it was auto hit I'd respect it more as an Encounter power...
#14
Chandrak
Nov 10, 2010 0:58:39
I'm not saying it isn't valid game design, but in my mind its not good game design.

Plants are just pretty sucky.

Cockroaches are awesome.

I want everything to be awesome.

In my game, we just made all novice powers standard action at-wills. Seems to work pretty well. Maybe some are a little stronger than others now, but nobody ends up with no at-wills, and none of them have proved unbalancing.
#15
DavalThunderstone
Nov 10, 2010 4:30:16
I'm not saying it isn't valid game design, but in my mind its not good game design.

Plants are just pretty sucky.

Cockroaches are awesome.

I want everything to be awesome.

In my game, we just made all novice powers standard action at-wills. Seems to work pretty well. Maybe some are a little stronger than others now, but nobody ends up with no at-wills, and none of them have proved unbalancing.

Yeah thats what we're looking to do.

And for the record, I don't think the planst Novice power is all that great even as an at-will. Close bursts that target allies are hard to get off reliably in my experience.
#16
palmerkun
Nov 11, 2010 3:08:46
And for the record, I don't think the planst Novice power is all that great even as an at-will. Close bursts that target allies are hard to get off reliably in my experience.

I don't think you're reading it right. Lashing Creepers doesn't target allies at all.
Close Burst 2 that affects ENEMIES ONLY.

That is, it attacks every enemy within 2 squares and does NOT hurt any allies.

This is VERY powerful. Read it again. If you still think it's weak, play it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Oraibi Nov 08, 2010 16:23:17	Any comments on these? EMPATH Toy with Their Emotions Empath Novice With a simple tug of the heartstrings, you throw your enemy's emotions out of balance. At-Will * Psi Minor Action Close Burst 5 Target: One creature in burst Attack: Charisma + your level vs. Will Hit: The target grants combat advantage until the end of your next turn. Special: You can choose this power instead of Vitality Transfer as your novice Empath power. GIANT Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum Giant Novice You can easily reach over adjacent allies or foes to strike your target. At-Will * Bio, Physical, Weapon Standard Action Melee 2 Requirement: You must be wielding a two-handed melee weapon. Target: One creature Attack: Strength + your level + weapon accuracy vs. AC Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier + twice your level physical damage. Special: You can choose this power instead of Brickbat as your novice Giant power. HAWKOID Airstrike Hawkoid Novice From way up here, it's easy to look down on your foes. *At-Will Bio, Physical, Weapon Standard Action Ranged weapon Requirement: You must be wielding a ranged weapon. Target: One creature Effect: You fly your speed and at any time during your movement you can make the following attack. Attack: Wisdom + your level + weapon accuracy vs. AC. You do not receive the normal -2 penalty to attack rolls for attacking while flying if you attack when directly over your target. Hit: 1[W] + Wisdom modifier + your level physical damage. Special: You can choose this power instead of Terrifying Shriek as your novice Hawkoid power. HYPERCOGNITIVE Defensive Feint Hypercognitive Novice** You make a quick, calculated strike and then prepare yourself for your foe's counterattack. *At-Will Psi, Physical, Weapon Standard Action Melee or Ranged weapon Target: One creature Attack: 1[W] + Wisdom modifier + weapon accuracy vs. Reflex Hit: 1[W] + your level physical damage, and you gain a +2 bonus to all defenses until the start of your next turn. Special: You can choose this power instead of Uncanny Strike as your novice Hypercognitive power. PLANT Another Vine Mess Plant Novice** Your vines writhe around the battlefield and drag your foe along with them. *At-Will Bio, Physical Standard Action Melee 2 Target: One creature Attack: Constitution + your level vs. Fortitude Hit: 1d6 + Constitution modifier + your level physical damage, and you slide the target one square. Special: You can choose this power instead of Lashing Creepers as your novice Plant power. RAT SWARM Spread Out! Rat Swarm Novice** You spread out in a wide swarm, biting and nibbling at your foes, then pull yourself back together in a new location. *At-Will Bio, Physical Standard Action Close burst 1 Target: Each enemy in burst Attack: Dexterity + your level vs. AC Hit: Dexterity modifier + your level physical damage, and you shift one square. Special: You can choose this power instead of Swarm! as your novice Rat Swarm power. SPEEDSTER Whirlwind Spin Speedster Novice** You spin in a tight circle, weapon in your hand, as you slice your slower foes to ribbons. *At-Will Psi, Physical, Weapon Standard Action Melee weapon Target: Each enemy in burst Attack: Dexterity + your level + weapon accuracy vs. AC Hit: 1[W] + your level physical damage. Special: You can choose this power instead of Quick Attack as your novice Speedster power. YETI Bigger Claws Yeti Novice** You score a hit and lash out savagely with your sharp claws. *At-Will Bio, Physical Free Action Melee 1 Trigger: You make a successful unarmed attack. Target: One adjacent creature Hit: 1d10 + your level physical damage. Special:** You can choose this power instead of Big Claws as your novice Yeti power.
#2 moosekickedmysisterstoof Nov 08, 2010 16:56:24	Very well done. I wonder if Far-Go will have alternate At-Wills for all the origins that lack them.
#3 caz_granberg Nov 08, 2010 19:26:27	These make me happy - I'd much rather have at-will powers at Novice. I'm a copy these for use with my mutants.
#4 bioquack Nov 08, 2010 21:07:44	Nice Work. I've honestly wondered if the Encounter Novice Powers were actually errors. What happens if you roll a Hawkiod Emphath with Str Con Dex and Int all under 13? You'll only have two attacks that can hit anything then you just have to hope the rest of the party can handle the situation while you cower in the back. I think the powers you designed could definately help someone in the situation I described above. For my home game I've made the assumption that all Novice powers are Standard Action At-Wills.
#5 Oraibi Nov 08, 2010 21:13:47	The encounter novice powers were clearly meant to be encounter powers -- most of them are too powerful to be at-wills, even in Gamma World. I suspect that the "what if you roll up a crappy Hawkoid Empath" situation is meant to mimic previous versions of Gamma World where, indeed, you could roll up a crappy character and you were just stuck with it. In such a case, I recommend getting killed off as soon as possible, to be honest! Which is more entertaining than whining at the GM because your character sucks. That said, I think it's fair to allow players to switch out for an at-will if the GM allows, which is why I wrote up these. Some were made specifically to address the situation describe here -- a Hawkoid Empath under these house rules would have the possibility of two at-wills, one which makes the target grant combat advantage as a minor action and another which lets them fly over someone and shoot them with a Wisdom-based ranged attack.
#6 bioquack Nov 08, 2010 22:04:16	Yah, I guess they are pretty powerful, but one of my players has a 3 Constitution so it sort of balances out. The two alternate At-Wills are definately a fair option and I hope WotC does something like what you've described. However I do have a bone to pick: If your right about being able to roll up crappy characters, I would like to see more diversity in the crappyness. Where are the Yetis that can't lift over 25 lbs? The Speedsters that can't walk and chew gum? The Androids with serious cognitive deficits? Darn it! I want more crap! And as a GM I love the whinning. It makes me feel important. JK
#7 stonewynd Nov 08, 2010 22:09:24	you know you could just make the encounter powers at-wills. they're actually less powerful than some other at-wills, if you look.
#8 DavalThunderstone Nov 09, 2010 0:05:59	Wow, I had no idea that those novice powers were encounter powers in the first place. Why not have them be purple like all the powers that actually are encounter powers? How are those powers balanced, as some encounter novice powers are blatantly worse than some at will novice powers? I mean I get Gamma World isn't as geared toward character balance as 4E, but seriously this makes little to no sense. Is it a horrible typo or bad game design?
#9 Oraibi Nov 09, 2010 12:23:24	I think it's a valid game design. The idea being that there are some mutations which just aren't as useful as others. What they didn't check for, though, was whether or not they were cheesing out the Wis/Cha mutants.
#10 cryoghoul Nov 09, 2010 15:04:48	Nice alternate powers! Also this thread served to surprise me about the fact there was any encounter novice powers. The Giant and Plant ones seem to me the only ones which would be slightly overpowered if they were At-Wills. Like for example the original Hyperbog novice power resembles a druid At-Will from 4e. Still I must say I like the new Giant and Hawkiod powers presented here.
#11 DavalThunderstone Nov 09, 2010 15:13:37	I'm not saying it isn't valid game design, but in my mind its not good game design. Plants are just pretty sucky. Cockroaches are awesome. I want everything to be awesome.
#12 Tony_Vargas Nov 09, 2010 16:04:53	How are those powers balanced, as some encounter novice powers are blatantly worse than some at will novice powers? Some are easy to compare and not much better than other at-will powers. The Android and Rat Swarm for instance both immobilize, but the android only imobilizes to the start of your turn, while the Rat Swarm goes to the end of your turn, and the Rat Swarm doesn't have to remain adjacent. That doesn't seem worth the difference between Encounter & at-will, to me, but the Android's at-will is already quite strong, so I guess they felt the need to draw the line somewhere. Others are just hard to assess. Is the Empath novice power all that? Hard to say. I've seen it in action, and it seemed extremely weak, not even that great as an at-will. But, what it does is nothing like what any other at-will does. The closest thing I've seen to an at-will being better than an encounter is the TK vs the Hawkoid. And even that's more along the lines of comparable than better. The Giant, Plant, and Yeti have claerly powerful novice powers that'd have to be toned down somehow to work as at-will.
#13 Serpine Nov 09, 2010 23:25:29	Is the Empath novice power all that? Hard to say. I've seen it in action, and it seemed extremely weak, not even that great as an at-will. Having about a 50% chance of dropping 1 target's damage in half for one round (useless if that target happens to miss anyway) and granting 3-4 temporary hit points in a game people fully heal after every fight? Yeah its pretty uninspiring. But then a lot of Empath's other traits are pretty meh to: Pacifying Aura - party members who let the enemy get the drop on them don't suffer for it. Vital Presence - party members who are out of the fight become less likely to die. Share Strength - shuffle hit points among two party members and give a saving throw (situationally good, but its still no net party gain of hit points, the save would have happened 50% of the time anyway, and also its an encounter power). Zone of Pacification requires careful positioning since it effects your guys as well. And Empath Critical is awesome, assuming you roll 20s a whole lot. That being said, in the Games Day: Trouble in Freesboro scenario I managed to Vitality Transfer to blunt that stupid radioactive bird for a round and keep our main damage dealer up one extra round, so I respect it a little. Other encounters though people pretty much regarded it as the time I spent "thinking" instead of doing something cool with my Doppelganger minion. Maybe if it was auto hit I'd respect it more as an Encounter power...
#14 Chandrak Nov 10, 2010 0:58:39	I'm not saying it isn't valid game design, but in my mind its not good game design. Plants are just pretty sucky. Cockroaches are awesome. I want everything to be awesome. In my game, we just made all novice powers standard action at-wills. Seems to work pretty well. Maybe some are a little stronger than others now, but nobody ends up with no at-wills, and none of them have proved unbalancing.
#15 DavalThunderstone Nov 10, 2010 4:30:16	I'm not saying it isn't valid game design, but in my mind its not good game design. Plants are just pretty sucky. Cockroaches are awesome. I want everything to be awesome. In my game, we just made all novice powers standard action at-wills. Seems to work pretty well. Maybe some are a little stronger than others now, but nobody ends up with no at-wills, and none of them have proved unbalancing. Yeah thats what we're looking to do. And for the record, I don't think the planst Novice power is all that great even as an at-will. Close bursts that target allies are hard to get off reliably in my experience.
#16 palmerkun Nov 11, 2010 3:08:46	And for the record, I don't think the planst Novice power is all that great even as an at-will. Close bursts that target allies are hard to get off reliably in my experience. I don't think you're reading it right. Lashing Creepers doesn't target allies at all. Close Burst 2 that affects ENEMIES ONLY. That is, it attacks every enemy within 2 squares and does NOT hurt any allies. This is VERY powerful. Read it again. If you still think it's weak, play it.