Don’t walk through a drive-by without one.
Violence Fetish
Power: Minor
Effect: The person wearing the fetish cannot be harmed by random violence. This doesn’t help if someone is deliberately trying to kill you, but you could walk through someone else’s firefight without catching a single stray bullet (just don’t attract too much attention). If you’re ever caught in a full scale riot (UA2E p.286), you’re considered to be automatically dodging every round (half-damage) unless you’ve been pegged as “one of them” or start beating on the crowd.
Description: A necklace made from thirteen 9mm bullet casings taken from drive-by shootings where an innocent bystander miraculously survived and a chunk of rubble from the L.A. riots (all covered in nonsense occult symbols, of course).
***
A Los Angeles bodybag came up for this thing when a friend of his accidentally got shot during a gang war. His friend got the fetish and he went to town on the gang. His neighbourhood is now the most peaceful place in the county (giving scumbags fatally bad luck will do that). He’s since become its True King and has made a few more violence fetishes for his followers. He’s also made reverse versions that ATTRACT random acts of senseless violence, to plant on his enemies.
A swell guy really. Just don’t piss him off.
That’s a fine, fine thing.
Under the description, it says “drive by shootingS” ( emphasis mine ).
You thinking multiple drive-bys ( with multiple survivors ) or just one?
I do like the concept.
You thinking multiple drive-bys ( with multiple survivors ) or just one?
As many as possible, it helps amp up the symbolic oomph.
I dig it, but I think you should still have to make some sort of self check; even if only during the first use. To me it seems like it would be freaky to walk through a shooting or firefight and come out unscathed.
And what about if you do attract attention? Does the fetish not work? Does the person seeing bullets somehow miss you have to make a check?
All this thing really does is mess with probabilities so you don’t end up as collateral damage. If you get directly targeted by anyone it doesn’t work and you’re officialy SOL. Also, no throwing yourself in front of a bus and expecting to get out of it without a scratch.
Getting involved in a firefight, even indirectly, is probably worth a Violence check. As for any witnesses, it just looks like you got really lucky, so I don’t think it would cause any for them. Remember, the fetish only manipulates probabilities, so no “look at my l33t majik p0werz” moments.
Still, useful when some punk get’s a matched failure on his Put a cap in yo’ ass 45% skill and the bullet ends up going in your direction by accident.
I do think this is a great artifact, and something which might well tie into the Fool archetype.
I’m mostly worried about the automatic dodges during riots, in that takes some of the steam out of riots for me.
I think maybe you’d need to charge it up to use it with minors. That’s how most fairly powerful artifacts seem to work, anyhow.
Or maybe it should give a flat -30% to being hit by stray shots, including reducing riot damage?
Maybe a Self check to deliberately enter a fire fight or riot? After all, you may ‘know’ the bullets won’t hit you…but your instincts are telling you that you’re about to get creamed. I should think the first time you use it, you’d be a nervous wreck for at least a few hours. Some people would be reluctant to use the artifact again after an experience like that.
And that’s in addition to violence and unnatural checks. 🙂 Or am I just harsh?
Great concept for an artefact though.
What if an Entropomancer wears it and deliberately walks into a firefight, risking being hit in the crossfire, despite not actively trying to get targeted?
If the amulet protects you, you aren’t really taking a risk, are you?