VPPs and uncontrolled changes

[memesis]

The character concept I'm working on is a precognitive whose power has been "linked" to an experimental regeneration treatment he was given, so that his body immediately produces the best possible defense against whatever attack he's about to suffer from - raw damage, environmental dangers, etc. I've chosen to represent this with a Variable Power Pool, character has no choice regarding powers or when powers change, etc.

My question is: Since the activation of the pool takes place outside the character's conscious control, do I need to also buy Zero-Phase Change and No Skill Roll? Or are these things implied by the limitations already taken?

[Tom McCarthy]

If it's a VPP, I would make it Cosmic, but then limit it as you've said. I think you'll have to think about just how frequently it can change (once per phase, once per second, once per DEX rank in a phase, an infinite amount in a phase).

I would consider buying it not as a VPP, but as an EC of END burning defences or even just straight defences.

For example, the chracter is effectively immune to all toxins. Rather than a VPP which allows him to do this, just buy the Life Support. Buy power defence, armour, hardening, flash defence, mental defence, etc.

[tesuji]

FWIW... when i built "reactive defenses" using vpps and other means, i always set them up so that the change was in response to an attack, not in anticpation of. So if you were hit by a firebolt, your reactive defenses would shift to ED AFTER the hit, not before.

If it shifts to whatever is about to cause damage, then that doesn't sound too much different than simply having every type of defense.

I mean, how is a set of defense, say 10 points woirth, that switches to "whatever works against any given attack" different from say 10 pd and 10 ed and 10 flash d and so on? The "its defense that morphs on demand" is just the FX for buying each of these.

Maybe you would need a limitation for "when hit with coordinated attacks of different defense types the total points spread about must total no more than 10". If so that limitation is not worth much unless coordinated attacks of different types is common.

[Gary]

I don't think No Skill Roll is valid. From your description, the character needs to make a precognitive perception roll for the defenses to activate. If he can't perceive the laser coming, his body can't adjust until it's too late.

[memesis]

One of the explicit problems the character can run into is an attack from two (or more) very different attack forms, which is why I went with the VPP rather than (say) Armor, Life Support, etc. as separate powers.

Unless or until the GM says so (and we've talked about it), a skill roll to precog danger isn't required either. I'm sure a bunch of people on the board will freak about that, but that's also because many people are accustomed to "who can beat up who first" as the only form of meaningful game challenge

Anyway, thanks for the feedback.