Short version:

I have a player playing a face that I'm trying to give a gimmick which is both incredibly powerful but has limited use.

I'm drawing a bit of a blank and am looking for suggestions. He's the last player on the team to receive such an ability, so in order to gauge the allowed power-level of these abilities here's what the rest of the team got: the physical adept found out he's a drake (can shapeshift into a (small)dragon when in extreme distress but has to be careful she leaves no witnesses.) The decker is involuntarily sharing his head with an AI (+12 dice on a matrix test, but in exchange the AI gets to control the player at an unspecified later time *GM cackle*). The street sam helped bring a powerful Free Spirit with a god-complex into the world, which he worships. (He gets to pray for divine intervention i.e. any force 10 spell, but prayers are rarely answered.)

The best idea I can come up with is stolen from Stephenson's Snow Crash: he gains access to a nuclear bomb rigged to detonate if he dies (or at his leisure, I suppose). But I'm sure the twisted minds here at dumpshock can come up with something better.

Longer version:

I've been running a campaign for over a year now; steadily introducing the major players of the final chapter which will be a run that decides who becomes king of the hill when a spell is cast that allows wireless traffic to traverse through astral space, essentially merging the matrix with the astral plane. The final run is going to be one of epic proportions, bringing the plans of Lofwyr, an evil hive-mind AI, a benign DI and aforementioned free spirit to a head. Considering the sheer ridiculousness of the scope and power-level of this arc, the players have been acquiring these abilities as they progressed through their own personal story-arcs, which all neatly intertwined with the ongoing plot. If anyone remembers Baldur's Gate, where Charname gets access to stuff outside of his regular character progression as he learns more about his Bhaalspawn heritage, well then you're thinking along the correct lines.

But a face is a hard person to shop for. I can't really think of anything that would augment his manipulative ways without being a constant nuisance. Mind control would be an obvious choice, but that is going to be a continuous nuisance and hard to plausibly limit. All the powers the other players received have a distinct inherent drawback to them which is difficult to replicate for a social-test oriented power.

So... Anyone got any suggestions?

Large-scale, unconcealable mind control. When it's on, everybody within a fairly large radius (possibly LOS) is his willing slave... but he can't turn it down, or target just one person. It's all-or-nothing, and you better believe that's going to attract a whole lot of the wrong sort of attention. Powerful, but with limited utility. There ya go.

Make a THOR operator his drinking buddy.

Make Damian Knight his drinking buddy.

A one use only Corporate Court get out of anything up to and including an Omega Order card?

Personally, I'd go with the hydrogen bomb, but that's my love for the classics talking...

If you played mass effect 2, I'd say make him the shadow broker.

Basically in the game there was a behind the scenes broker who had contacts everywhere and controlled a vast network of informants and spies, but no one knew who he was. Have him discover who the broker is and take over is spot as no one knows who the real broker is when commands come from the right spot with the right codes they are accepted as from the shadow broker. Basically make him a super fixer in the game.

I ummm... er... Don't have any drinking buddies. They are a security risk.

Fine then. "Contractual drinking companion and joke-teller, third class."
Flippin corporate and their politically correct terminology.

More fixer than thou?

I hear they can fix that these days.

as long as your going big.... why not an immortal elf for a girlfriend? he is the face after all.

a face is about social interaction, but also deception. perhaps a Japanese artifact that grants him powers, such as a magic bottle of sake- the downside is, you have to drink sake from it to then have its power, which fades as you sober up. drink more, get a better bonus but then your drunk. a never-empty bottle of sake would be interesting. spills would be problematic for anyone downhill.

Giving a player something that could conjure infinite sake sounds like a tremendously poor idea.

A poor idea that you won't remember come morning (though you won't forget the headache any time soon).

Make him a willing host to a bug spirit.

The Snowcrash idea seems ok. Just make sure he also gets the enforcers around to keep him alive...

Make him the "Bridge". He's a Face, he's a negotiator. He's the guy who gets the ability to "bridge all differences" between two or more entities. He gets into this sort of "God Voice" mode on occasion when he's talking or negotiating with people/beings/critters/hardware/cars/ideas .... he literally gets to negotiate between and/or with *ANYTHING*. "Come on, damn door... why don't you just open!!!" <click.....> "well, that's more like it". Use Tech and/or OR ratings as the opposed role to his negotiation test(s).

Here's the thing, He is the impending Bridge. He *IS* the thing that has to negotiate ultimately with the Dataport (of which said super-program is waiting) and said Super-Simsense spell (which the caster is ready with). He has to convince two diametrically (by anyone else's idiotic POV) forces into negotiating that first all important handshake ... and once made, through which all data and potential begin to exchange.

It would be right up the ally of a Face/Negotiator, but just imagine the looks on people's ... well, er their faces ... when the guy just starts talking to things all around him at random. You know what they say right ? Right???

From what I hear, you already are a security risk.....

Who's been talking?
*Make a note... Eliminate all casual acquaintances*

perhaps an ability to shapechange into the appearance (but not the attributes) of any sentient creature, but make him dual-natured while doing it? (he's either shunting most of himself into the astral plane to shed mass and shaping what's left appropriately, or essentially creating a materialized form from the astral plane like a spirit does and making it part of his body - though obviously, it would need to be "realistic form", not just the regular spirit ability). if you feel any sentient creature is too much, you could let him choose forms just like an ally spirit (1 karma per form, but the form is set once chosen). depending on any secondary areas of focus, you could even let him assume the form of anything, including objects (this would be very useful for talking your way into a location and then "disappearing" by assuming the form of something innocuous. it could also wind up meaning that he can turn himself into a GMC banshee with several very nice weapons if you're not careful though ).

because your physical form determines an awful lot of social modifiers, which can be very useful for a face... very useful indeed...

but being dual-natured, well, that is a definite potential drawback

(especially if it doesn't come with astral perception).

Well it comes with one hell of a day job flaw to balance it.

Or, perhaps, a pour idea? </incrediblylamepun>

In any case, you could give a Face connections to some of the Big Players, with the ability to call down favours from them if needed - but only if he's willing to owe them in return after the fact...

Out of everything I've seen so far this (the Sake bottle) is the most promising. I would however not have the bottle create the sake, but have it be a decanter that needs refilling with a special blend actually from a specific region of Japan. The source sake should be hard to get and expensive. So that the artifact has a double-drawback (picking up addiction/being drunk, and the cost to use).

Basically, a L6/C12 contact of whatever kind you care to create would be perfect. Too busy to reach easily, but when you do, they can move mountains for the character.

And when someone is Connection 12 and is calling you for a favour...

How about an ability that has to do with memory alteration? A very powerful tool if used cleverly. The drawback could have to do with the action you need to perform for the memory alteration to work. Or maybe that alteration is only temporary. Just my 2 .

Plot Armor.

Plot Armor protects from character death but does not protect from being blown up, shot, stabbed. It only protects the character from dying.

Give 'em the Twist Fate ability that Great Dragons have.

Or sticking with SnowCrash (and throwing in a little Chuck), someone using their knowledge of the 'human machine code', downloads said knowledge into the character's head, for reasons, and as they come to grips with this knowledge they get access to mind controlling abilities but they require extended periods of time, speaking to the target of the power in an obvious manner, making it a little awkward to use, but still super useful and powerful. Suits a face somewhat, aswell.