Tunneling

[dsatow]

How sturdy are the tunnels you create with tunneling?

 

There is a discussion going on in the Hero System Discussion forum about creating a chamber.  So besides the obvious culprit, transform, tunneling has been suggested as a power to create a chamber.  The character being suggested would make underground bases on the cheap.

 

Is a tunnel the character creates stable in the long term, short term, or not stable at all?

Does a character need PS:engineer or some such skill to make sure the tunneling they use to create the chamber stable?

Does tunneling need to be "usable by X" or Area of Effect in order for it to be used in the excavation process?

 

Bonus Question!  Just came to mind.

If you have tunneling against def 12 or some such hard defense and you fill the tunnel behind you, is the area behind you 12 def or reduced due to the tunneling(rubble)?

 

[Steve Long]

The rules for Tunneling state:  “Unless filled in by the character when made, a tunnel remains in existence until filled in, collapsed, or otherwise changed or destroyed. Tunneling works a lasting physical change on the environment, in much the same way that a Blast used against an inanimate object can inflict lasting destruction. Deactivating Tunneling doesn’t cause a character’s tunnels to vanish.”

 

I think that says all that needs to be said regarding the permanency of spaces created with Tunneling; to the extent any other rulings are needed, they’re left for the wise and insightful GM.

 

When a character Fills In the tunnel he creates, he fills it with the same substance he Tunneled through, so it has that substance’s PD/ED and BODY. If the GM wants to reduce any of those Characteristics on the grounds (NPI) that the material’s already been “weakened,” that’s up to him.