Ice9
Jun 10th, '10, 05:45 PM
I've been thinking about adjustment powers recently. While they work fine from a mechanical perspective, they're often quite strange from the SFX point of view. For instance, Power Defense - what does that even represent? What kind of Drain Blast makes sense for any of a thrown rock, a telekinetic force wave, or a magic beam of fire? There are certain SFX that could cover all varieties, but they aren't common.
From a "concept" perspective, adjustment powers do two different things:
1) Shut off / boost a source of power. Example: An EMP, suppressing electronic devices. A ley line, boosting magic.
2) Impose an external hindering/boosting condition. Example: Make sand stick to the target, slowing down their movements. Infuse the target with adrenalin, boosting their strength.
So my idea is to mechanically differentiate these a bit. We split all adjustment powers into "Power Source" and "External" versions.
Power Source Adjustment
Power source adjustment powers start at the "any one power of the given SFX" level, where the SFX is a power source. This works best if the campaign has a specified list of power sources - for instance, IMC those would be Bioactive, Psychic, Dark Matter, and High Dimension. These are always against Power Defense (if applicable), and thus Power Defense specifically represents how durable and resistant to tampering your powers are.
External Adjustment
External adjustment powers are always bought with AVAD. They can be bought to effect multiple powers, but the given SFX should be a related group instead of a power source. For instance, "Thickened Air - Suppress (all movement powers that cross intervening space)" or "Dispel (any one fire/heat power)" but not "Drain (all mutant powers)". NOTE: Characteristics might be good AVADs for some powers - for instance, a vitality drain that was resisted by half Constitution (seems roughly equal to Resistant DEF on the AVAD scale).
This houserule probably isn't for all campaigns. In a "kitchen sink" setting, it's a bit pointless. In a single power source setting, it may be unnecessary. But I think for a setting where you want a clearly defined "basis" of powers, it could be useful.
If using this, you probably need a concrete list of "power sources", and to define the power source even for characteristics and skills. For instance, a mentalist might have Presence 15 "naturally" and then +20 more Presence that was Psychic in nature - in a psychic-jamming field, that part would be suppressed, but not the base ability.
So does this seem at all useful? Any important cases it doesn't cover? Too complicated, or not complicated enough?
From a "concept" perspective, adjustment powers do two different things:
1) Shut off / boost a source of power. Example: An EMP, suppressing electronic devices. A ley line, boosting magic.
2) Impose an external hindering/boosting condition. Example: Make sand stick to the target, slowing down their movements. Infuse the target with adrenalin, boosting their strength.
So my idea is to mechanically differentiate these a bit. We split all adjustment powers into "Power Source" and "External" versions.
Power Source Adjustment
Power source adjustment powers start at the "any one power of the given SFX" level, where the SFX is a power source. This works best if the campaign has a specified list of power sources - for instance, IMC those would be Bioactive, Psychic, Dark Matter, and High Dimension. These are always against Power Defense (if applicable), and thus Power Defense specifically represents how durable and resistant to tampering your powers are.
External Adjustment
External adjustment powers are always bought with AVAD. They can be bought to effect multiple powers, but the given SFX should be a related group instead of a power source. For instance, "Thickened Air - Suppress (all movement powers that cross intervening space)" or "Dispel (any one fire/heat power)" but not "Drain (all mutant powers)". NOTE: Characteristics might be good AVADs for some powers - for instance, a vitality drain that was resisted by half Constitution (seems roughly equal to Resistant DEF on the AVAD scale).
This houserule probably isn't for all campaigns. In a "kitchen sink" setting, it's a bit pointless. In a single power source setting, it may be unnecessary. But I think for a setting where you want a clearly defined "basis" of powers, it could be useful.
If using this, you probably need a concrete list of "power sources", and to define the power source even for characteristics and skills. For instance, a mentalist might have Presence 15 "naturally" and then +20 more Presence that was Psychic in nature - in a psychic-jamming field, that part would be suppressed, but not the base ability.
So does this seem at all useful? Any important cases it doesn't cover? Too complicated, or not complicated enough?