Summon or Duplication in a Multipower

[Christougher]

If a character has Duplication and/or Summon (expendable duplicates) in a Multipower, what happens to the additional bodies if the Multipower slot changes to something else?  I checked the rules for Multipower, Summon and Duplication and didn't see a concrete answer.  The Duplication and Summon notes on Adjustment Powers seemed to indicate they would vanish, but an Entangle doesn't vanish if its Multipower slot is switched.  If there are specific rules covering this, please let me know where.

 

Chris.

[Hugh Neilson]

Looking at each in turn, Summon is an Instant power.  Fire and forget.  The summoned creature can stick around or leave at its discretion (subject to the EGO roll contest).  The use of Summon only brings the creature to the character's location, so there is no ongoing maintenance required, the same as an Entangle or a Barrier.

 

Power durations are discussed at 6e Vol 1 p 127.  The discussion of Instant notes that these powers often have lingering effects after the power is used.  The damage inflicted by a blast, the entangle and, by extension, the Summoned entities don't vanish if the power itself vanishes.

 

Duplication is Persistent.  If you don't keep the points available, it stops working and the duplicates logically vanish.  That's an issue, though, as recombination normally requires a full phase and is done at no range. 

 

However, Duplication is a Special Power, which means that, by RAW, it cannot be placed in any power framework ("requires GM permission" to me is no different from "the GM can waive the rules").  The decision to allow a deviation from that rule comes with the need to assess how the power will work when included in a framework.  Maybe the points are "locked in" until the duplicates are recombined under the normal rules. 

 

Of course, the character has to spend a half phase to Duplicate (more, or have an advantage, to get more than one duplicate).  The duplicate needs the rest of that segment to orient itself.  Next phase, it could move away, but avoiding being at half DCV and using a full phase to recombine is a big benefit if they can just switch the MP points out, over and above recombining at range.  Perhaps one condition on GM permission to have this Special Power  in a framework is spending 10 points on the Easy Recombination added, and paying for the +1/2 Ranged Recombination advantage.  So a 60 point MP could have a 150 point Duplicate (30 base points) +10 Adder (Easy Recombination) = 40 x 1.5 (Ranged Recombination) = 60 points.  Remember that the duplicates also have to have the full Duplication power of the original "unless the GM permits otherwise".

 

Duplicating a 400 point character on this basis would cost 80 + 10 = 90 x 1.5 = 135, which would need a pretty big Multipower!