Still skimming the overall rules, getting a feel for a game that's turning out to be far more interesting than I had originally expected. But I came across something odd.
The talent "Utility Belt" says you can spend a destiny point to produce an item. How is this different than the "Deus Ex Machina" capability that everyone has access to? I expect the answer is a matter of degree in what you can produce, but for a 25-point talent (at least for the Scout) it seems a very underwhelming option.
Still skimming the overall rules, getting a feel for a game that's turning out to be far more interesting than I had originally expected. But I came across something odd.
The talent "Utility Belt" says you can spend a destiny point to produce an item. How is this different than the "Deus Ex Machina" capability that everyone has access to? I expect the answer is a matter of degree in what you can produce, but for a 25-point talent (at least for the Scout) it seems a very underwhelming option.
It's mostly an advantage to give free justification. The Deus Ex Machina ability relies a fair bit on being justifiable; for example, you can't just spend a Destiny Point and say, "Oh, there's a random blaster rifle behind the couch," but you can do something like, "There's a set of workable tools in the corner of the speeder garage."
The Utility Belt talent is helpful because a) it's its own justification, and b) the thing in question is on your person, right then and there.
Depending on how lenient your GM is with normal Destiny Point use, this might be less of an advantage, but Rarity 4 covers some pretty cool stuff, and it can be handy to be able to spend a Destiny Point to have it without having to convince the GM that your idea doesn't strain credulity.
Because when your speeder bike breaks down in the middle of a Rancor Den on Dathomir, there's probably no workstations with an arc welder or hydrospanner to help fix it nearby, so it is gonna be hard for the GM to say "Yea, okay."
That is, unless you have Miracle Pockets!
On one hand, it's conventient to have an item available to you within arm's reach...however, narratively speaking, the compartements on a Utility Belt don't seem all that big to me...so producing something extremely helpful like, say, a medpack (which is kinda large) still seems to stretch feasability, imo.
I think that's the whole idea
Don't forget stun grenades...
And Bat Shark Repellent.
Sorry..I couln't resist.
Bad Fanggrip...
I think it would produce quirkier, less situational items. Great for that player who's eyes light up because he has some sort of scheme, but needs access to odd gear for it to play out. I tend to be one of those players.
I think it would produce quirkier, less situational items. Great for that player who's eyes light up because he has some sort of scheme, but needs access to odd gear for it to play out. I tend to be one of those players.
I was like that in a recent DnD game I played recently. I was a shapeshifter, so part of my equipment was a set of forged "credentials" that would show a made-up identity for my character. I always wanted a situation to use them at one point, but it never came up lol.
Because when your speeder bike breaks down in the middle of a Rancor Den on Dathomir, there's probably no workstations with an arc welder or hydrospanner to help fix it nearby, so it is gonna be hard for the GM to say "Yea, okay."
That is, unless you have Miracle Pockets!
That is exactly how I am going to explain this talent to my players, now.
+1, my friend.
I think it would produce quirkier, less situational items. Great for that player who's eyes light up because he has some sort of scheme, but needs access to odd gear for it to play out. I tend to be one of those players.
I was like that in a recent DnD game I played recently. I was a shapeshifter, so part of my equipment was a set of forged "credentials" that would show a made-up identity for my character. I always wanted a situation to use them at one point, but it never came up lol.
Psychic Paper?!?!
I have a backpack rule in my games: if you are carrying 5 or more items, you need to buy a backpack.
But if those items are all pretty small, you can buy a belt instead (which is cheaper).
This puts a little realism into the game and gives a concrete purpose for storage items.
I'm also letting "backpacks" take different forms if thematically wanted. For example, my Kubaz thief is going to buy a "backpack" (aka a bunch of extra secret pockets in his cloak.)
I'm also letting him pick his backpack (secret cloak pockets) for his Hidden Storage talent. So, he has his cloak pockets and his super duper secret cloak pockets.
However, I believe this thread is in reference to the Untility Belt talent, not the item. Though I recommend every character ever buy a utility belt, and possibly a backpack, because wow so strong.
I cant find this answer any where but does the character HAVE to have the utility belt ITEM in order to use the utility belt TALENT?
I am a little fuzzy on how the talent is used and what is need to activate.
**I am an rpg noob so this game is my first real foray into this type of stuff.
Thanks!
I cant find this answer any where but does the character HAVE to have the utility belt ITEM in order to use the utility belt TALENT?
I am a little fuzzy on how the talent is used and what is need to activate.
**I am an rpg noob so this game is my first real foray into this type of stuff.
Thanks!
I would suggest not, as long as the character has something else that carries a lot of stuff. It could be a jacket full of pockets, a large backpack, a fanny pack, or anything else that would make thematic sense.
I cant find this answer any where but does the character HAVE to have the utility belt ITEM in order to use the utility belt TALENT?
I am a little fuzzy on how the talent is used and what is need to activate.
**I am an rpg noob so this game is my first real foray into this type of stuff.
Thanks!
I don’t think so. It is just called utility belt. I say this because if it needed the item it would say so. Your character could pull the security spike he needed for slicing from his pocket or backpack just as easy. I think it is called utility belt because of the old Batman TV shows where he had the exact item he needed on his utility belt. (ie Shark Repellant Bat-spray
The utility belt can only produce non-weapon items.
The utility belt can only produce non-weapon items.
Incorrect.
As of the core rulebook, the talent can now produce weapons... provided they have the Limited Ammo 1 trait and don't have a Rarity greater than 4. So you could produce a frag grenade, but not a blaster pistol (doesn't have Limited Ammo 1) or a thermal detonator (Rarity is way above a 4).
The utility belt can only produce non-weapon items.
Incorrect.
As of the core rulebook, the talent can now produce weapons... provided they have the Limited Ammo 1 trait and don't have a Rarity greater than 4. So you could produce a frag grenade, but not a blaster pistol (doesn't have Limited Ammo 1) or a thermal detonator (Rarity is way above a 4).
Ahh cheers... nice!
Okay, I'm glad I found that someone has already started a thread on this ... but I'm still not quite sure I understand the explanation.
We've had a few times in our campaign so far where someone has used a Destiny Point to come up with a handy tool useful for a given situation -- and any time it's been used, I've assumed that it needed to be justified. As Sam would say to Max, "Say, where do you keep that, little buddy?"
But then along comes this expensive Talent that lets you pull a "Utility Belt incidental," and ... what the HECK does that mean? With "Utility Belt" capitalized like that, it sounds like this is specifically some sort of game term, so I flip to the index, and I've got no luck there. The Talent description is a bit more specific, but when I compare it to the default examples for using Destiny Points for "Luck" or "Deus Ex Machina," if anything the Talent's description is MORE LIMITING. (There's nothing in the rules explaining Destiny Points that would suggest that the things you could get from Utility Belt COULD NOT be gotten by any player in the usual way.)
From what I gather of the rules as written, there's nothing prohibiting a player from simply wearing a utility belt or carrying a backpack filled with various tools, and then spending a Destiny Point in order to suggest that he's got a wrench or cutter or rebreather or whatever else is useful for the given situation. If the Utility Belt somehow allows for getting BETTER stuff through use of this rule, I'd need to know for certain what CANNOT be done with the general "Deus Ex Machina" rule for people who DO NOT have the Talent. As written, this distinction is not very clear. It's confused my players, and I'm really not sure what would be a fair solution. We would just IGNORE the Talent as useless, except that it happens to be in the "tree" for one of my players. I don't want to saddle him with getting a Talent that (for all intents and purposes) is likely to be of no real value in my campaign, the way I run it, just so that he can move on to the other Talents he wants to get in the tree.
On the other hand, just removing it from the tree and giving him one less step to reach the "good" Talents beyond doesn't seem fair to everyone ELSE.
I agree with others who are confused by it.
The only thing I've got in mind is that I probably wouldn't allow a flipped Destiny Point to produce a grenade, a pistol, or other weapon, whereas the Utility Belt Talent description specifically mentions weapons.
Jordan, the wording about performing a "Utility Belt incidental" isn't meant to refer to a type of incidental that's defined somewhere else, it's meant to be the definition itself. The rest of the sentence defines what they mean by a "Utility Belt incidental", while also signifying that it's an incidental rather than a maneuver or an action.
Honestly, I'd see the value of Utility Belt as a Talent if maybe it didn't require the flipping of a Destiny Point. As it is, I'm not clear on what would make it worth the XP.
Utility Belt is another of those Talents that is rather weak. It's not quite as bad as Familiar Suns, but it's close.
The utility belt can only produce non-weapon items.
Incorrect.
As of the core rulebook, the talent can now produce weapons... provided they have the Limited Ammo 1 trait and don't have a Rarity greater than 4. So you could produce a frag grenade, but not a blaster pistol (doesn't have Limited Ammo 1) or a thermal detonator (Rarity is way above a 4).
Dueling pistol would be fine though
The value of the talent is inversely proportional to the GM's love of declaration rules outside of games like Fate. Yours darkly, for one, is no such fan of them -- especially given that it already has a narrative mechanic attached to the dice.
Just flipping a DP should be reserved for plot stuff or to cover for odd out of the blue shortfalls. It shouldn't be allowed for lousy planning on the players part. UB is more broad and should be allowed for all reasonable items because it is a Talent they've paid XP for and it is limited by rarity.