Discussion

[Rudra]

I wanted to ask, since i havent been able to find a clear answer, when Biara is wielded she and the user can communicate via telepathy also she can share her talents.

I pictured it as Biara teaching stuff, like training in the mind, stuff that happen in basically 0 real time but that do explain how one suddenly know kung fu or magic , this is simply fluff but it got me wondering, can they exchange memories? i know a character can simply narrate their backstory but sharing a memory is a whole different level of connection.

Of course, always assume a willing target

[AdellRazh]

10 minutes ago, Rudra said:

I wanted to ask, since i havent been able to find a clear answer, when Biara is wielded she and the user can communicate via telepathy also she can share her talents.

I pictured it as Biara teaching stuff, like training in the mind, stuff that happen in basically 0 real time but that do explain how one suddenly know kung fu or magic , this is simply fluff but it got me wondering, can they exchange memories? i know a character can simply narrate their backstory but sharing a memory is a whole different level of connection.

Of course, always assume a willing target

The standard answer to that would be that telepathy is not fundamentally different from other forms of communication. You are able to relay the same sort of data as you could via speech, so someone could learn someone else's history through telepathy, but only via the telling of stories (a wibbly and imprecise art if ever there was one). If you want to actually delve into someone's mind and glean their actual memories, you should look into the Mind sphere.

Related to this, my understanding of wraith possession and talent sharing (of which Biara uses a variant) is a sort of relaxed mind-meld. The Wielder and Biara can draw upon each other's knowledge, but do not actually gain it (as, mechanically, they do not retain knowledge of talents when possession/wielding ends).

GETE provides a nausteatingly more complicated version of the same idea. Each ancillary has its own list of skills, feats, and talents. When the GETE acts through them, they use a combination of the GETE's skills, feats, and talents, and the ancillary's. If the GETE then moves to a different cohort, the first ancillary loses access to the GETE's abilities, and the GETE does not get to carry that ancillary's abilities over to the next cohort. Horrifyingly, this even extends outwards from the GETE's collective bodies, as they can possess non-follower creatures and thus apply their abilities to those possessed creatures and utilise those creatures' statblocks.

GETE isn't a more powerful character than anyone else, but Doc really did choose a mechanical hell to be trapped in for the duration of this game. I am, appropriately, haunted by it.

Edited February 21 by AdellRazh (see edit history)

[Rudra]

What happen if a gete ancillary wield biara? does she share talents with the ancillary or with gete-boss? when she control the ancillary does it mess up the gete-network? (i write gete, but my brain keep thinking Geth) i'm equally afraid and curious about it

 

[Mister Doctor]

So each of the ancillaries is counted as a separate creature that the GETE is a second connecting layer of. If Biara were to be wielded by an ancillary, she would be limited to specifically that ancillary. Both the GETE and Biara work on similar principles, granting talents and extra actions to a creature other than themselves.

Having both Biara and the GETE working on the same ancillary would be crowded but functionally fine.

The only way she can actively interfere with the GETE is by attempting to possess her wielder which, as a mind-affecting effect, has a 50% chance of affecting the GETE... but since the GETE does not have a body and she cannot access a lot of the abilities that actually interface with its ancillaries, she would essentially be locked in limbo until she gives up the possession.

[Mister Doctor]

1 hour ago, AdellRazh said:

GETE provides a nausteatingly more complicated version of the same idea. Each ancillary has its own list of skills, feats, and talents. When the GETE acts through them, they use a combination of the GETE's skills, feats, and talents, and the ancillary's. If the GETE then moves to a different cohort, the first ancillary loses access to the GETE's abilities, and the GETE does not get to carry that ancillary's abilities over to the next cohort. Horrifyingly, this even extends outwards from the GETE's collective bodies, as they can possess non-follower creatures and thus apply their abilities to those possessed creatures and utilise those creatures' statblocks.

Currently the GETE...

• Can take any of its actions through any of its actions per turn through any ancillary, using its ranks in the relevant skill or BAB for the attack but the ancillary's physical ability scores
• Lets all ancillaries use its base saving throws.
• Receives sensory input from all ancillaries.
• Can, as a free action once a round, grant a single ancillary any of its physical ability scores and BAB.
• Can, as a free action once a round, grant a single ancillary any of its talents... but not enable the ancillary to use SoP talents if they do not have spell points.

1 hour ago, AdellRazh said:

GETE isn't a more powerful character than anyone else, but Doc really did choose a mechanical hell to be trapped in for the duration of this game. I am, appropriately, haunted by it.

I am a gaming cenobite... I have such sights to show you.

[AdellRazh]

I hate every second I spend thinking about GETE's mechanics.

[Phechan]

Yeah, it's much better to simply not :P

[Mister Doctor]

No tears, please, it's a waste of good suffering.

I could have gone further... I could have taken incanter instead of conscript and made the ancillaries casters. Each one can hold concentration on a separate effect on top of casting their own.

Edited February 21 by Mister Doctor (see edit history)

[Saberfan]

GETE was definitely a character that required a lot of playtesting to fully figure out and I consider myself more familiar than most with the Wraith class. There are more moving parts with that character than entire D&D 3.5 parties and I found it exceptionally fun to separate its components and see how they worked individually, then put them back together and use them as a functioning whole. I'm very interested in seeing if my playtesting of that mechanical marvel reflects its true capabilities down the road. To be fair, I am one of those lunatic GMs that likes additional complexity and stretching my brain until it breaks.

As for how Biara would interact with GETE mechanically, Mister Doctor has the right of it. A decent amount of the playtesting I did with her and GETE was done without her possessing them since actively engaging in possession would essentially leave Biara in some sort of inactive state until she ended the effect. Possession and wraith collectives interact in very weird ways.

Edited February 21 by Saberfan (see edit history)

[Mister Doctor]

It turns out, mechanically speaking, possessing a ghost is tricky.

[Rudra]

I've altered a bit(fluff only) an item, biara arm is meant to give an attack option that inflict negative energy, I rp it as something always on that deal "abyssal corruption" like a mix of fire and unholy, the touch only harm living things (but I've added a bit of damage to clothes to show the visual effects)

Outside combat/when used for rp purposes, I'd go that Olympia is immune, since she's not organic on the outside, the heavy armored GETE too, due to armor being too thick.

Lusinga is also immune, he's too cool to get burned😎

Edited February 22 by Rudra (see edit history)

[AdellRazh]

You'll find Lusinga to in fact be perfectly mune to negative energy (and probably cross with you if you burn him with that arm).

[Rudra]

I'm not sure If I've understood it correctly, what I meant was that lusinga, as an illusion, isn't alive, but since biara doesn't know he is an illusion, should she ever accidentally touch lusinga she would assume he's so magnificent he had some protective spell.

[AdellRazh]

To explain: Lusinga is a projected component of a larger illusion (in Spheres terms, what is called a Figment). The illusion itself cannot be damaged outside of extraordinary circumstances. Lusinga, however, is an extremely accurate representation of a creature. While Spark is concentrating on his figment, or when she has applied the appropriate talents, he will respond to stimuli in the way a creature would be exprected to. So, if you stabbed him, he would bleed. If Biara grabs his arm, he will burn (or at least the negative energy equivalent). This will be reflected as physical damage on the illusionary Lusinga's form in the same fashion as would be experienced by a real creature, even though no actual damage has been dealt. If Biara failed to disbelieve when landing the attack, she'd even roll damage normally, sending it off to nowhere.

Spark could make Lusinga immune to Negative Energy (and thus ignore the damage he takes). Indeed, she could make him immune to all damage, but that would disincetivise creatures from attacking him, and him getting punched in the face so she doesn't have to is the whole point. Plus, when she Create Reality's him into a creature, giving him immunity to anything is quite difficult.

[Rudra]

Ah, ok, now I understand, make sense.