Hero Designer - Suppress via Drain or Dispel?

[drophammer]

I believe the rules say that Suppress is built from Drain with modifications. I tried to figure out how to do it in Hero Designer, but couldn't. Then, I had the idea to check Dispel. The options were there.

I agree that Dispel seems like a better fit for Suppress than Drain. Was this done on purpose? Have the rules been updated and I just don't have a recent copy of 6E?

[Christopher R Taylor]

The flaw with using dispel is that any phase that the character gets to act on, they can turn on their power again until the next segment of dispel shuts it off, so it doesn't really feel like a suppress.

[unclevlad]

CRT, not the point.  HD is supposed to embody the RAW.  Suppress is not an option on Dispel.

 

In my HD, it's there, under Drain...it just doesn't use the word "Suppress."  The Limitation is "Costs END (to maintain)"...same as it's listed for Dispel.

 

I'm not seeing anything in APG that adds a suppress option to Dispel, nor anything in the 2020 version of the errata file.  The definition for the Dispel suppress in Main6E is

This means the character has to continue to pay END every Phase to keep the Suppressed Characteristic or Power at its Suppressed level (doing this is an Action that takes no time). As long as the character pays END, the Suppress doesn't fade at the usual rate of 5 Character Points per Turn. Once the character stops paying END, the Character Points lost from Suppress return immediately.

 

That doesn't fit the mechanics of Dispel.  It also has EXCLUDES DelayedReturnRate...which isn't a modifier for Dispel.  (That isn't that surprising, pretty sure I've found a few cut/paste errors related to REQUIRES and EXCLUDES as I've been tearing the template apart.)  So yeah, I think there's a template editing problem.

 

Also, there's NO WAY Costs END to maintain can be applied *as a Limitation* to Dispel...which is an Instant.  Fine, you can add Constant, no problem, but by definition, you're paying END to maintain it.

 

So it's a template mistake, it looks like.  Good catch.