Minor reality warping?

[Paseo H]

I was thinking of making a character whose special power would be that they were a minor reality warper. It wouldn't be too fancy but might, for example, give an edge in combat, and at least in this character's case, might actually backfire because when there are situations where she can't or is otherwise forbidden to use the power, she'll fall short because she leans on it too much.

Trying to figure out what the limits are and how to come up with a good explanation for it other than just "reality warping." I suppose the effect would be that she ends up appearing like a more competent, higher level fighter than she really is, but leaving the explanation at that would be boring.

[ArcturusV]

Well... I mean "reality warping" is so vague in what it means basically any Magic, Supernatural power, or Superhero power could fit into that category. I'm not sure what you are really getting at.

[Anecronwashere]

Probability manipulation?
He has a relationship with the God/dess of Luck who pulls some strings

[PersonMan]

[...]where she can't or is otherwise forbidden to use the power, she'll fall short because she leans on it too much.


Probability manipulation?
He has a relationship with the God/dess of Luck who pulls some strings

Bolding mine. Just pointing that out.

I think the idea is sound, though. Perhaps something less directly divine-related, but more like "the universe has specific people is uses as outlets to keep different energies stable. You are a good luck outlet. If you use it too often it [stops working/kills you/does something else you don't want, potentially reversing to making your luck always be bad]".

[Anecronwashere]

typo, my s button doesn't work 1/2 the time and I mised that one going back through to check

[Paseo H]

I meander on for a bit, tl;dr at the bottom for a useful query to go on.

I suppose it was a bit vague, but at the same time that's actually part of the point...on the one hand I don't want to make her some sort of OP Haruhi-esque Mary Sue, on the other hand I don't want it to be completely clear what her limits are and thus destroy all the tension.

Of course, that should only be a concern to my player. I'm not quite sure it's probability manipulation I'm looking for. Actually, it's hard to put into words what I'm looking for, which may be why I'm here.

I do want it to be a more direct sort of reality manipulation, just not past a minor degree, and she uses it to up her combat ability.

tl;dr: So I guess the question is, what is a "more direct sort of reality manipulation," and how can such be used to increase combat ability, without instantly looking like cheating?

[Moriwen]

Maybe she warps spacetime/affects gravity? Easy to use it for a small advantage in combat, to make your blows heavier or slow down your enemy, but if she tries to make more than a small adjustment, all sorts of fun things can happen.

That's what I would think of for "minor reality warping," anyway.

[Jay R]

1. Once per round (encounter, day, whatever), she can decide that a die roll will be done twice, and the best one for her will happen. (This is significantly less powerful than letting her see the roll and then decide to re-roll it.)

2. Once per round (encounter, day, whatever), she can add something to the conditions. "There's a tree right there in the way of his swing." But it might get in her way too.

[endoperez]

I think something like what Jay R is suggesting would be nice. There are RPG systems where rules encourage players to come up with things. Adapting something like that for this reality warper would be pretty nifty. "I dealt more damage, my sword has barbs in it now".

Then when she gets comfortable using it all the time and starts going above a certain limit, you can start introducing changes to the world behind her back, as side-effects.

Let's say they return to a city or town, and find out it's got a different name, and the name has always been different. And after she gets mightily drunk after a victory, all the chairs in the bar need five legs to stay up, anything less and they somehow fall down.

[Oaktree0]

Luckblade effect would be great for a reality warping luck-favored person. You could come up with a million effects that they could warp reality with. Changing the outcome of a die roll is a great way to warp reality in a rpg.

[Paseo H]

Luckblade effect would be great for a reality warping luck-favored person. You could come up with a million effects that they could warp reality with. Changing the outcome of a die roll is a great way to warp reality in a rpg.

Yeah, this may work. Might modify it to be slightly more favorable, such taking the better of the two die rolls instead of sticking with the reroll regardles.

Along with some other effects (automatically win (or more broken, decide) initiative, Prestidigitation as an at will ability), all together this might be what I'm looking for, while still somewhat allowing for failure.

Thanks everyone.

[Razanir]

System?

Assuming 3.x, use Prestidigitation! It's miniature Wish.

[Anecronwashere]

The term your after is Lesser Wish

Prestidigitation At-Will combined with a decent imagination = low-level God

[Slipperychicken]

tl;dr: So I guess the question is, what is a "more direct sort of reality manipulation," and how can such be used to increase combat ability, without instantly looking like cheating?

Be a spellcaster. Enter melee.


More seriously, I think you're looking at Transmutations here. That school contains most of the best combat-buffs, which is convenient for our gish sword-swinging reality-warper.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Just keep it in the fluff. Whenever you get a good attack roll, for example, explain it as the enemy stumbles over a rock that definitely wasn't there before while trying to dodge.

[Razanir]

The term your after is Lesser Wish

Prestidigitation At-Will combined with a decent imagination = low-level god

So... Was it probably a bad idea to give Gnomes At-Will Lesser Wish in my campaign?

[Anecronwashere]

Oh dear Gnomes!
You gave pranksters Lesser Wish??
...


I welcome our new Gnomish Overlords please dont hurt me
:smalltongue:

[Razanir]

Oh dear Gnomes!
You gave pranksters Lesser Wish??
...


I welcome our new Gnomish Overlords please dont hurt me
:smalltongue:

In my defense, I refluffed them to be more carefree than they are pranksters. They also get Speak with Animals as an at-will :smallbiggrin:

[Guizonde]

regarding reality warping, i'd go with:

"when in doubt, inverse gravity".

now for reality warping for purely offensive purposes, i'd go again with flipping gravity (subtle, but still pretty offensive). you could also have a kind of "gremlins" kind of power: the character is jinxed with technology/magic/ whatever, and upon coming in contact with an object, logic just goes "i give up". clips fall out of pistols, belts unbuckle, magic goes "lol", whatever. since it's really powerful, make it double edged. this kind of power could make a calculator a hand grenade, so beef up mishaps accordingly (for example, belts unbuckling at the worst time possible...)

(i didn't read the rest of the thread, so sorry if i missed the point)

edit: the "gremlins" example was an idea i had for a shadowrun character, until i read the fine print regarding the flaw. in your case, however, a jinxed soul who took knowledge (fourth wall) combined with the feat genre savviness could be pretty cool.

[nedz]

So... Was it probably a bad idea to give Gnomes At-Will Lesser Wish in my campaign?

I thought this was standard ?


Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals (burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute). A gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level.

Solution: Play a Gnome

Also: take the Natural Trickster feat RoS p143 and select Silent Image

Ed: I was assuming 3.5 here ?

[kardar233]

For reality warping (in non-rules heavy systems) I like having things work like the character thinks they should work rather than how they really do. So, pulling a car into a very sharp turn at high speed would result in a cool u-turn, rather than flipping it. Or, a gun pointed at her won't work unless the wielder has cocked it dramatically.

[icefractal]

System?

In D&D, I would say that either Psion (do things entirely by causing favorable circumstances) or Psychic Warrior (fight normally, but with luck on your side) would be good for this. Take the precognition based powers and flavor them as luck based instead (switching the bonus type to Luck, if the DM agrees). As a Psion, take other subtle powers like telekinetic / telepathic stuff and flavor it as affecting probability - "Good thing the bridge cracked right then and made that Ogre fall off". Since Psionic powers have no obvious casting (if you suppress the display, which isn't hard) then it fits well with "it just happened, no idea how".


I played something like this once, in HERO - a reverse-Amberite, basically - he could shift the area around him to a parallel reality, the difficulty being determined by how much divergence was necessary. So he was most effective in chaotic situations (like on a freeway where there could be a car in any given location) and least powerful in static environments (like a vault where no-one has been in years).

In that system it's pretty easy - VPP, modified Activation Roll based on circumstances - but it would be trickier to do that in D&D, for example.

[Anecronwashere]

I thought this was standard ?



Solution: Play a Gnome

Also: take the Natural Trickster feat RoS p143 and select Silent Image

Ed: I was assuming 3.5 here ?

You didn't see the 1/day?
At-Will =/= once every 24 hours. It means maximum 1/6 seconds while doing other stuff.

[nedz]

You didn't see the 1/day?
At-Will =/= once every 24 hours. It means maximum 1/6 seconds while doing other stuff.

Prestidigitation lasts an hour, and Silent Image can last all day.

I can do better, of course, but I'm not even sure what the system is here ?

[Fable Wright]

Depending on how your want to fluff it, spellcasters in general can very easily be reality warpers. If you're using D&D 3.5 with Gnomes having at-will Prestidigitation, a Gnome Psion (Shaper) would probably be the best minor reality warper there was. They're able to create almost any object with their mind, can use minor effects at will (Prestidigitation and small not-crudely-made objects with the Mind's Eye (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070411a)ACF) and can later create almost anything. Action points, too, would fit with the character. With Psychic Reformation starting at level 7, you can warp reality any any conceivable way you need to... however, doing so will delay the character's progression. She has built in limits on how much she can alter reality, and when she runs out of power points, she's in trouble. Use of the Overchannel feat would fit, as she can even bend the limits on what she can do, though it damages her to do so. Using Linked power, she can use the more potent reality warping abilities, such as creating objects and altering her own capabilities to suit the situation, without taking several minutes to do so. It might be construed as a bit cheesy, though, so take care not to overdo it.