Always On or Physical Limitation? (on inherent DI)

[Dr Divago]

Well, back from lurking limbo again :)

I'm building this supervillaines, Orange Amber
She's a brick, so she's superstrong, supertough, etc

She has a permanent density increase, her molecular strubcture is mutated from a crystalline superdurable gem-like amber
So i've decided she has a DI with 0 END, Persistent, Always On and Inherent.

But seeking in CKC for Black Diamond, i see that she has a very similar history, and she does'nt have "always on" limitation (she does'nt have any DI, i see) but a very high strenght rating, and a physical limitation

so where's the matter?
I may buy always on on my DI? or i MUST buy DI? or worse, i CANNOT buy Always On if i can build this power with some other means?

[caris]

The standard in 5th Ed is that for characters that are always very large, very heavy or very small that you buy the benifits of the powers as seperate elements and apply a physical limitation to the character. As always, individual GMs can allow other ways of building something than the "official" version if it meets that GMs senses of balance, dramatics, and common sense.

[Hugh Neilson]

This was a pretty major 5e change. Basically, the rules now prohibit Growth, denisty Increase or Shrinking being purchased as "always on". They are supposed to be used only for characters whose size and/or mass is variable.

[Jhamin]

This was indeed a big change in 5th.

Back in 4th edition your solution was used all the time. One of the sample characters in the BBB was built this way.

It was changed because while it worked well for superheroic bricks, it was a huge pain most of the rest of the time.
If you wanted to be really big, to the point where it was more of a hinderance than a help (like an 8 ft tall sniper), you ended up paying points while never using your advantages.

It was really bad when you brought shrinking into the mix.

If you wanted to play a midget in Harlem Globetrotter Hero instead of getting a physical limit you ended up having to pay points for shrinking so you could be a really awful basket tender.

The ability to summon fruit flys used to cost a pile of points because they had to pay for all those levels of persistant shrinking.

While it is irritating to lose one of the ways of building a character, I tend to agree with Steve that just outright not using this method for anyone solves alot of other issues.

[Dust Raven]

I was originally against this change in 5th, but after reading the Bestiary with it's many creatures of varying sizes and detailed rules for making large and small character, I'm okay with it. There are advantages to 5th's method over previous editions, especially when you look at things like movement and STR. And the cost is sometimes (perhaps often) less than you'd spend buying any given size/density Power AO.

[TheEmerged]

My standard answer to this type of question is "use the mechanic that works." My personal opinion is that DI & Growth built Always On works but Shrinking with Always On doesn't.