Supernatural Merit: Thief of Vitality

[amechra]

Thief of Vitality (••)
Effect: Your character steals another person's liveliness with a touch. When she comes in contact with someone, she inadvertently steals their health. If she touches someone, this merit takes effect unless she pays 1 Willpower to suppress it for a scene. Otherwise, the other character loses their natural healing for the rest of the day; in any day that your character uses this merit, her rate of natural healing is doubled.
Drawback: Your character is merely hijacking someone else's healing abilities. In any day in which her healing rate is doubled through this Merit, she takes 1B any time the character whose vitality she stole takes damage. This is upgraded to 1L if the other character takes any Aggravated damage.

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Not sure how this would interact with Supernaturals that heal super fast...

[StSword]

You might want to mention if you intend for people to be able to heal 32 times faster by touching five people, 10 times faster by touching five people, or if you only intend for people to be able to speed up their healing once, in which case the having to spend a willpower point every time you touch someone is rather punitive.

[amechra]

I did mention that it only happens once; that's why that sentence says "in any day that your character uses this merit" instead of "for each person they touch."

[Griautis]

I really like the fact, that you can still sap several people, as in drawbacky side of this tho, I think it's a bit overpriced at three dots.

[amechra]

I patterned it off of Thief of Fate; it feels like it sits a bit between 2 and 3 dots.

So... should I bump it up, or tone it down a bit? I personally would go for the first.

[Griautis]

It's.... just natural healing, you save yourself some time, that's it. Thief of Fate is so much better, in my opinion. So I'd say it's definitely 2 dot merit.
Unless you made it more powerful.

[amechra]

Alright. .

I'll make some adjustments.

[StSword]

But as written they have to spend 1 willpower point every scene in which they touch someone whether they gotten the benefit for the day or not if they don't want to steal their vitality, and if they do steal their vitality they get no benefit of it but increase the risk of taking sympathetic damage.

Written like that I know I wouldn't be making a character with this merit, slowing the glacial pace of mortal healing isn't worth a potential cost of several willpower a day or possibly taking damage from several people (which would defeat the purpose of the merit in the first place).

So I strongly suggest making the merit satiated if its used once a day.

[Griautis]

But as written they have to spend 1 willpower point every scene in which they touch someone whether they gotten the benefit for the day or not if they don't want to steal their vitality, and if they do steal their vitality they get no benefit of it but increase the risk of taking sympathetic damage.

Written like that I know I wouldn't be making a character with this merit, slowing the glacial pace of mortal healing isn't worth a potential cost of several willpower a day or possibly taking damage from several people (which would defeat the purpose of the merit in the first place).

So I strongly suggest making the merit satiated if its used once a day.

How many mortals do you touch in a day? How many mortals would you touch in a day, knowing that you sap their vitality? Touching doesn't just happen

[amechra]

I can go 3+ days without touching another mortal.

This really is something you can do.

[Thorbes]

It depends on the place. I don't think I can get a single day without touching or being touched by at least a couple of people.

EDIT: ok, that came out sorta wrong, but there you go.

[Griautis]

And how often do these people really need their regenerative capabilities? And even then, when would they actually notice that it took them one more day to heal those cuts/bruises (Since those are the most common).

I don't really think it's an issue if you sap several people at once... Them getting damaged and you getting some of it as well won't happen as commonly as one might think.
And when you consciously try to avoid touches... it get's so much easier.