Question: How does Tantra use interact with bonuses/penalties to Intelligence/Perception? If a Scion with negative Fatebonds to Perception uses Tantra, do the negatives still apply? On a similar note, if he has positives to Intelligence, do those make the roll easier? I know the answer will probably be the obvious one, but I wanted to make sure in any case.
That's okay, making sure is good!
Fatebonds apply to the roll your Scion is actually making; Tantra allows him to make a different roll, but it doesn't affect any Fatebonds one way or the other. That means that if he rolls Intelligence instead of Perception, he's subject to his Fatebonds to Intelligence instead of any he might have to Perception.
So if Padma has a bonus to Intelligence but a penalty to Perception and needs to see through an Illusion (likely, what with being married to Shadan and all), Tantra allows her to roll Intelligence + Awareness instead of the usual Perception + Awareness roll. She's not rolling Perception, so its negative Fatebond doesn't apply; she is rolling Intelligence, so its positive Fatebond applies.
More totally obvious Tantra questions from the questioner: First, can I use Tantra in conjunction with Judgement? And since the cost of using Tantra with powers is twice the activation cost, does that mean I can do it for free?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've been wondering: i I use Tantra to do awesome Perception stuff, then I get Fatebound too Perception, right? Wouldn't enough Tantra use generate the Fatebonds to buy up Perception, hence making this power kind of useless?
(Or, as is more likely, I'm just looking for further reasons to dislike Tantra, which is the ONLY PSP Boon you guys have ever written, minus Asha which has issues as a whole, that I just cannot seem to like).
Hmm. Yes, you can use Tantra with Judgment, but we would probably impose a 1L cost since it's normally free, to illustrate that it takes you some effort to harness your enlightenment instead of just using your normal perceptions.
DeleteAnd no, if you use Tantra, you are literally using Intelligence, not Perception. If you're not rolling Perception or actively using Perception, you won't get Perception Fatebonds; using Tantra allows you to use Intelligence, so that's what you'll get Fatebound to. Fatebonds always attach to what you are actually doing, and you are actually rolling Intelligence to represent that you are enlightened enough to understand things even if the information of your senses might lie to you.
If anything, I'd be more worried about your Perception developing negative Fatebonds, since you'd be shunning it in favor of Intelligence for more rolls and it would be likely Fate would eventually notice that you don't use it much. But such is life.
Well, we can't win them all, but we will someday go back over PSPs again. In the misty future centuries when the APPs are done, maybe...
Please don't get me wrong, this is literally the ONE Boon out of a hundred and twenty PSP Boons that you've redone that I dislike. And I couldn't even tell you why I dislike it, it's one of those darned feeling thingys, and Tantra rubs me the wrong way somehow. I mostly just redesigned it for my headcanon, along the lines of Olori Rere, the moment Ori came out.
DeleteBut, seriously, you guys rock! And thanks for putting up with my Tantra tantrum :)
Oh, it's fine! You're entitled to not like things we do once in a while. :) Or even more than once in a while.
DeleteSamudra, your use of pun just got you 100 awesome points in my book.
DeleteThanks :)
DeleteThis answer inspired me to take another look through Samsara and I was curious about a few things:
ReplyDelete1. Why did you choose those particular pairings for Tapasya? I really love the mythic resonance of this Boon, but I'm curious as to why the Attributes are aligned against each other as they are. Have you ever considered making them more freeform? Or would that just encourage min-maxing?
2. I love the new Moksha features (see through Illusions, permanent free Siddhi) but how come it has so many more caveats to its use now (shorter duration, doesn't work on Legend 9 plus, not intangible by default)? Was the original pretty much broken (and mind you, my understanding of game balance is fairly pitiful)?
As usual, tell me if you think these are better suited for the questionado than the comments :)
1. Those particulars? We had small reasoning, but I have forgotten it. Maybe anne can help. Specifics though have to be there, otherwise the minmaxing can be too strong.
Delete2. Just too overpowered without those strictures. Its still pretty potent, just doesnt trump others uses of say ultimate perception or ultimate strength that should still be able to trump a level 10 power.
1. Ah, got it.
Delete2. Understood. Moksha is, I suppose, another example of a Companion PSP being broken like all hell.
Thanks :)
Good readiing this post
ReplyDelete