Powers Players can't see?

So in my campaign each of the PC's got a special power from a secret temple after passing some puzzles / tests.

Making the powers was easy enough but I kind of want my players to discover how to use them not just click on a button on their action tabs. Besides me just manually doing the rolls in secret until they have figured out their power is there a way to create the power but not have it on their sheet or at least not that they can see?

I guess the simple question is there a place I can put the power so I can use it for them?

Not really. You could put an effect on the CT and make it invisible to them. But then you would also have to turn it on and off :( You could give them a power that does nothing more than state that they are using it (and add a named effect with no mechanics).

In this aspect, FG is just like pen and paper, you'll have to keep the details in your head or on a note until you reveal to them all the details.

Assuming that an effect can be set up for the power (say a +1 to hit) then create the effect directly in the CT (when the players aren't around) and then toggle the effect to be visible only to the GM. Leave the effect turned on and it will be applied when appropriate. This will work fine for any effects which will work globally like a +1 to hit or +1 to AC or something like that. If, however, it's something that only works in situation A or B then you will, as LordEntrails, says need to switch the effect on or off at the appropriate moment.

Exactly what is the power? There are different ways to implement this depending on what you are trying to do.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LordEntrails

Not really. You could put an effect on the CT and make it invisible to them. But then you would also have to turn it on and off :( You could give them a power that does nothing more than state that they are using it (and add a named effect with no mechanics).

In this aspect, FG is just like pen and paper, you'll have to keep the details in your head or on a note until you reveal to them all the details.

---

Thing with the "invisible" effect in the CT, if it modifies any roll, the player will see an unexplained adjustment and know something is going on. So "invisible" is just verbiage, the actual adjustment will be seen (just not the explanation for it).

If you're OK with that, and your players are as well, it could work. My experience with it hasn't been so positive.

It would be nice if that could be changed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Danimal66

I guess the simple question is there a place I can put the power so I can use it for them?

---

You could put the powers in a PC and hide the PC from the players (right-click on the PC in the Character Selection screen and select "Take Ownership (as GM)" to hide it from players on the selection window. You could then either open it when you needed (drag the PC link to a hotkey slot for quick use) or add it to the combat tracker but keep it hidden.

Thanks for all the responses, the powers are basically tied to elemental damage. At this point I simply want them to be able to do 1d6 of <element type> damage from a touch attack. Once they learn more about their powers and seek out training they will also be able to cast a spell once per day such as fireball or lightning bolt but by that point the powers will no longer be a secret.

Just an idea:

Make the powers as items. Turn Item Identification on and have the power items start off as unidentified weapons. You can set the weapon damage to be 1d6 of the elemental type so that an entry automatically appears on the Actions tab for the players to use. Then in the full description (which the players won't see until you identify the power items), list the spell that can be cast as well as a better description of the power.