The problem with the Illusions Talent in the book is that it’s not really supposed to work. For one, it lacks duration. Great for a ‘scream’ or a flash of imagery, but no duration means it doesn’t have much affect. And based on everything you read in the book, you have 1 illusion you can do, unless you take Variable Effect (-1 for only images, -1 for only for Variable Effect). So, +4 right off the bat. And then…. doesn’t really do anything.
Now, we have a guy in our group who always plays the ‘illusionist’ type, so we sat down, figured out what precisely we want illusions to accomplish, and came up with a more adequate, albeit far more expensive, power. Check it out…
Meet Mystery:
Goals: Create illusions. Illusions should be distracting, both to people who see it, and to any attacks (after all, you’re not seeing your target). We don’t really care if there’s an Attacks capability, after all, it’s an illusion.
First of all, we know from the start, this is going to get expensive, so in advance, we’re building with a 1wd, 2d in mind… expecting a width of 2. This means it’s not going to be super effective as a defense, but then again, that defense is supposed to cover the width of the illusion, so should stack with individual defenses. So, starting out, we added a Defense quality, with a Radius. A 20m diameter sphere of illusion. We need Interference of course, and as mentioned, Duration; so starting cost is 2 base, +2, +3, +2 = 9! We can lower that cost by an if/then (only works if don’t see through the illusion, means that we will sort of ‘attach’ it to the Useful quality we will add, which will be resistible).
That’s the only flaw that’s obvious… he decides on 2 more just to lower the cost. Willpower Bid, and Locational (getting hit in the head causes a loss of concentration on the illusion, ending it). Cost down to 6/12/24.
Then of course, the illusion itself, a Useful Quality (Touch). It’s Touch, (we build the radius around the illusionist), so we get a ‘free’ -2 straight out of the box. We already know that we’ll include the Willpower Bid and Locational flaws here, but time for the rest. As stated, it needs to be a radius, with duration. This one however (as also already stated) need a Variable Effect +4 with 2 If/Then’s. With only 2 width, we want a Go First (3 wide now, which should beat most mundane actions, and since this is non-combat, that seems good enough), as well as a Speeding Bullet (we know we’re getting 2 wide, and no idea on the height, so requiring a 6 Sense [Perception] to resist is just smart). Lastly, we tag on a No Physical Change, because the cost is pretty high, and we don’t expect that Illusions should work on Robots anyways.
So, Base 2, Touch Only -2, Variable +4, If/Thens -2, Radius +2, Duration +2, Willpower Bid -1, Locational -1, Go First +1, Speeding Bullet +2, no Physical Change -1. Total = 6/12/24
After looking it over we realize something… everyone is affected by the illusion, making it as hard for the enemy as the allies. Controlled Effect is added to both… Final score: 14/28/56. Even though we planned for 1wd, 2d, he ends up taking 1wd, 4d.
Mechanics: Both the Useful and Defense work like Jinx. They take away from dice sets (though with the Useful, you still need to win initiative first). Additionally, they do more than take away from sets, they create illusions, which alone, is still a pretty cool thing, we’ve just added some mechanics to it. 😉