The Book of John Dusk

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by Lord Pyre

It's not uncommonly hard to make shields, but against a volley of bullets he can't stand forever. Offensive weapons don't have to worry about that.

What is your suggestion?

I'm trying to understand his power set well enough to make a suggestion. Let me mull a minute here.

[Lord Pyre]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

I'm trying to understand his power set well enough to make a suggestion. Let me mull a minute here.

Like I said, just imagine a Green Lantern that can make tendrils and weapons and stuff, and uses them in a fairly green lantern fashion (Outside of some crazy constructs like trains and planes, etc), and we don't know any source of power or origin.

[IAmBatman]

Since it seems like the shields basically hold up until they're broken through and then he can't really maintain them, I'd simplify it and remove the marker component all together and instead of something like this:

AURA BARRIER
If John Dusk is not wounded, before defense dice are rolled for him or any friendly figure within 2 clear sight spaces of him, the defending figure rolls 1 additional die, or 2 additional dice if the defending figure is a Lawman.

I lowered the boosts a bit as well since it's a bit more pod friendly without the limited resource aspect.

[Lord Pyre]

A static boost like that kind of loses the visual of him throwing up a shield quick to block something, also it seems much less mechanically interesting and fun to me...

[tcglkn]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Since it seems like the shields basically hold up until they're broken through and then he can't really maintain them, I'd simplify it and remove the marker component all together and instead of something like this:

AURA BARRIER
If John Dusk is not wounded, before defense dice are rolled for him or any friendly figure within 2 clear sight spaces of him, the defending figure rolls 1 additional die, or 2 additional dice if the defending figure is a Lawman.

I lowered the boosts a bit as well since it's a bit more pod friendly without the limited resource aspect.

I like this but what if it was tied more to his health:

AURA BARRIER
If John Dusk is not wounded, figures you control within 2 clear sight spaces of John Dusk add 2 to their defense dice, or 3 if they are Lawmen. If John Dusk is has 3 or less wounds, figures you control within 2 clear sight spaces of John Dusk add 1 to their defense dice, or 2 if they are Lawmen. Aura Barrier affects John Dusk.

Based the wording more on Invisible Woman.

[Lord Pyre]

I guess I just don't get too excited over plain defensive auras.

If we keep the marker approach, what what make it feel less "inconsistent?" Just tying markers to his stats like a Lantern?

[IAmBatman]

I'm honestly not super invested in this one, so feel free to move on and ignore me.
It just struck me as a bit internally inconsistent and odd and I wanted to offer an alternative to be fair.
But I'm not losing any sleep over this one if you decide to keep to your intended direction.

[Lord Pyre]

Well I'd rather everyone be happy with it if possible. I guess I don't see what inconsistencies you're talking about, hence my confusion on your line of questioning earlier. Our lanterns use markers in all sorts of ways. Some affect stats and some don't, some have shields and some don't. This guy isn't a lantern with a rechargable battery so I don't think his stats need to be affected, but if you're throwing up shields to block an attack here and there, it feels like they'd eventually get worn down. Doesn't mean you can't shoot a bullet or make a sword.

[IAmBatman]

I mean, I took my shot at it. I just don't have the comfort level with the character to comment beyond that. If it doesn't feel inconsistent to you, and I'm the only one who feels that way, it's probably not worth losing any sleep over.

[tcglkn]

The inconsistency for Bats was the SA not having anything to do with the markers even though it was branded as the same thing, his aura. I think just requiring at least one marker for the triple attack would fix the issue for Bats.

That's how I understood his complaint at least.

[Lord Pyre]

I guess I don't see how aura shields should affect aura bullets? They're two entirely different uses of his power. If we need the marker to be on the SA that's a fine compromise sure. I just honestly am not understanding.

[Ronin]

I think Bats' issue is that the power names/thematics seem to suggest a common power source, but mechanically it feels like they're not coming from the same power source. So you can end up in a place where he's all out of barrier, but still trucking on offense. Like if your phone told you it was at 0% battery for phone calls but 100% for leaving Yelp reviews.