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Change Environment and OCV Penalties


Tonio

Question

Who is affected by the OCV Penalties from a Change Environment?  The characters inside the area of effect, the characters targetting characters inside the area of effect, or anybody targetting anybody else into, out of, or through the area of effect?

 

(And am I correct in understanding that Darkness affects anybody perceiving anybody else into, out of, or through Darkness's area of effect?)

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First, I’m not entirely clear what you mean by “the OCV Penalties.” While it is possible to create a CE that reduces a Characteristic (see the “Dr. Fear’s Terror Aura” example on 6E1 176, for instance), that’s fairly rare. My guess is that you mean the OCV penalties involved in not being able to perceive a target with a Targeting Sense, since many CEs impose PER Roll penalties. But I’ll cover both concepts in my answer just to be sure. If you meant something else that hasn’t occurred to me, please post a follow-up. :)

 

For a Change Environment that directly reduces the OCV Characteristic:  If the Change Environment lacks the Area Of Effect Advantage, it reduces the OCV of the single character targeted and no one else. If it has that Advantage, it affects any character within the Area as long as they remain in the Area (and as long as the effect’s maintained by paying END). It does not affect characters firing into or through the Area, unless the GM rules otherwise.

 

For a Change Environment that interferes with PER Rolls:  As noted on 6E1 175, a Change Environment that has the Area Of Effect Advantage and affects PER Rolls blocks Line Of Sight using the same rules as for Images (6E1 237). By implication, the PER Roll penalties must therefore apply to anyone attempting to perceive into, out of, or through the Area — and thus, a failed PER Roll could impose an OCV penalty on a character shooting a Ranged Attack at a target inside the Area (or on the other side of it from him). This is an exception to the general rule that you have to be inside the Area affected by a Change Environment to suffer its effects, but it’s an exception consistent with Darkness, Images, dramatic sense, and common sense.

 

(The same exception may apply to other types of Area-affecting Change Environments. For example, it applies to the Range Modifier-altering combat effect of the Change Environment in the Distance Distortion Zone power on CP 92, but not to the movement-altering combat effects of the power. Again, common sense and dramatic sense make this pretty self-explanatory, I think.)

 

Your understanding of Darkness is correct. To quote the relevant text:  “Darkness makes the covered area impenetrable by the Senses it affects. For example, unlike natural nighttime darkness (which imposes up to a -4 on Sight PER Rolls and can be counteracted with Nightvision and other Powers), Darkness versus the Sight Group is impenetrable by Sight Group Senses — even someone with Nightvision cannot see into, out of, or through it. It doesn’t just make PER Rolls with the affected Senses harder, it makes them impossible.”

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