Hi mods! I'm thinking about apping a character here who has a few abilities that I'm not sure how to nerf or if they should be nerfed. They are as follows:
Ability to view the Seven Planes The Seven Planes are seven separate but overlapping planes, and each one shows a different level of magical activity. Magic can be seen as an 'aura' on secondary planes, even when it's invisible on the first plane. This also means he could theoretically see the 'true form' of a character who is concealing it, or sense a magical aura around a magical person or item. He's also demonstrated being able to see magical snares and traps that are invisible to the naked eye. In terms of other characters in game, it could easily be opted out with the explanation that they come from other worlds where their magic wouldn't work the same way, e.g. hidden true forms would not be visible on a different plane if there are no Seven Planes in their canon. However, I'm wondering if it's too OP for him to be able to sense things about the game world in this way.
Shapeshifting Bartimaeus is a shapeshifter and can shift into anything he wants, animate or inanimate. I'm happy to nerf this to mean he can't shift into anything bigger than, I don't know, a grizzly bear (to avoid having a huge fire-breathing dragon flying around, for example), but he's also demonstrated the ability to shift into substances which would give him a significant sneaky advantage – for example, he's shifted into a small plume of smoke and was able to sneak through a gap in a locked door this way. He cannot shapeshift into nothingness or become truly incorporeal, but I'm just trying to decide if I need to put a lower limit on the size of things he's able to turn into!
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Ability to view the Seven Planes
The Seven Planes are seven separate but overlapping planes, and each one shows a different level of magical activity. Magic can be seen as an 'aura' on secondary planes, even when it's invisible on the first plane. This also means he could theoretically see the 'true form' of a character who is concealing it, or sense a magical aura around a magical person or item. He's also demonstrated being able to see magical snares and traps that are invisible to the naked eye. In terms of other characters in game, it could easily be opted out with the explanation that they come from other worlds where their magic wouldn't work the same way, e.g. hidden true forms would not be visible on a different plane if there are no Seven Planes in their canon. However, I'm wondering if it's too OP for him to be able to sense things about the game world in this way.
Shapeshifting
Bartimaeus is a shapeshifter and can shift into anything he wants, animate or inanimate. I'm happy to nerf this to mean he can't shift into anything bigger than, I don't know, a grizzly bear (to avoid having a huge fire-breathing dragon flying around, for example), but he's also demonstrated the ability to shift into substances which would give him a significant sneaky advantage – for example, he's shifted into a small plume of smoke and was able to sneak through a gap in a locked door this way. He cannot shapeshift into nothingness or become truly incorporeal, but I'm just trying to decide if I need to put a lower limit on the size of things he's able to turn into!