(Note: This is not a Skuldhellir character. Maybe someday, once I work everything out, but at the moment he's not directly intended to have anything to do with Skuld. That being said, I'm mostly talking about fighting abilities, but rest assured he isn't going to go around attacking people for no reason. >.> I just needed help with translating some P&P game mechanics into something I could rp. I have two different question topics, but feel free to only read and respond to one. They're wall of test-ish.) (Don't laugh at meh for having a vampire character. D: And no, he doesn't sparkle... >.>)
Well, I had one of those moments... The kind where you read something awhile ago (in this case, an ability from a P&P rulebook I was using to make a character) and it's simple enough that you just glance over it again the second time. Then, because I'm super precise about keeping this particular character abilities in this canon (or the medieval version of this canon, anyway), I made myself read everything word by word before using him anywhere. He's a vampire skilled (or at least, I consider third tier out of five skilled...) in a vampire discipline called Protean. It's an ability that allows one to almost instantly change one's form. The moment I read about it, I wanted to make a vampire character with that ability.
That isn't the point of this thread, however. The point is I noticed something about his Claws of the Wild ability that seems a bit overpowered. This basically allows him to grow claws that he can attack with. Here's the part that throws me. "Upon activation of this power, the vampire’s nails grow into long, fearsome talons, capable of rending bone and flesh alike." They can rend bone, I thought. That's insane. Then I started thinking... Some people I've seen are huge bears, minotaurs, dragons, ect that sometimes even walk around in full armor (armor =/= bone) carrying halberds and giant, two-handed swords. By comparison, my character looked like a stereotypical school-girl huddling behind a tree. But then I thought again. I can't say something my character has is okay just because I saw something worse/better. Everyone up until the most hax person on the internet could do that.
Eventually, I decided to make a discussion thread. Do you think that's a ridiculous ability, or are there enough armored kitties around to even that out? I really don't want to bend the 'canon' for his abilities, but I had some other ideas. For example, he isn't very strong. He's fast, but his strength is below average (not the average for a fighter, mind you...). Would it make sense to say, for example, that though his supernatural claws are of a 'material' strong enough to rend bone, that he himself lacks the strength to follow this through? Like a child with a diamond chisel, trying to cut through simple stone but lacking the strength to do so even with the superior tool? Other suggestions would be appreciated, along with people's opinions on whether rending bone is hax for a character that almost instantly dies in sunlight. The claws are specifically mentioned to be a high point in that 'skill tree,' but I dunno.
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I had another question about mechanics for his claws as well, actually, for people with ideas. His claws, being supernatural, supposedly cause aggravated damage according to the rulebook. I'm a bit unsure what to think about that. For those who don't know what that means...
"aggravated (damage): A damage point that inflicts a
grievous or supernatural wound. Vampires suffer aggravated
damage from fire; werewolves suffer it from silver.
Mortals might suffer aggravated damage from a dire supernatural
power such as a lightning bolt summoned from
the sky by a witch."
It causes aggravated (supernatural) damage to everything? o.0 It didn't give me conditions, so I can only assume so. The real question is what that means in a real sense. The description says that aggravated wounds take longer to heal than regular wounds, but I want to know exactly why. The main reason is I've seen characters who are 'allergic to magic.' Do you think supernatural claws that inflict supernatural wounds would have any effect on people who are sensitive to magic, or is that restricted only to spells and the like? I personally think the answer is no, but I don't want to get caught in a corner later because I didn't think it through properly.
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