Super Trigger? Stumped!

[Yamo]

I'm trying to figure out a way to do a Power that activates every time X happens.

 

For example:

 

a) Every time the character takes 2d6 steps when outdoors, lightning randomly strikes somewhere within a set radius around him.

 

Every time the character sneezes, the person closest to him turns to stone.

 

c) Every time the character is touched, a random demon from Hell is Summoned.

 

I thought of using Trigger, but there's two problems with that:

 

1. Since the effects I considered were mostly negative, it's really not likely that the character would ever choose to "set up" the Trigger for them to begin with.

 

2. Even when the effect isn't negative, Trigger requires an action to set up again, so if the triggering action took place more than once before the character had his next Phase, the Power wouldn't activate again after the first time, which contradicts the concept (the concept being that X always causes Y).

 

In this case, is No Conscious Control actually what I'm looking for? Would something like "No Conscious Control (automatically activates every time character takes 2d6 steps outdoors/sneezes/is touched; -2)" be the appropriate way to do something like this? I'm thinking it might be good for a mostly negative effect, but how to do a Trigger-type effect for a beneficial effect that doesn't require active setup every time?

[jtelson]

I would most likely go with the -1 version of no conscious control and still require the +1/4 trigger advantage.

[Lord Liaden]

No Conscious Control at the -1 level is defined as "Powers which he can turn on and off at will, but whose effects he cannot control while the power is on." (FREd by 196) The examples you describe are for abilities which give random results, but since the concept defines circumstances under which the Power will activate, and those circumstances are presumably known to the character, he can cause them to happen when he deliberately fulfills the conditions, so -1 would be appropriate IMO. You might perhaps consider a further -1/4 Lim if what he does to activate the Power requires some perceivable action which an opponent can prevent him from taking, like having to take several steps.

 

For unwilling use of the Power, I'd suggest giving the character a Physical Limitation: "Power X activates when Y happens", based on how frequently you see this happening.

[PhilFleischmann]

This sounds more like a Disadvantage to me. I wouldn't charge any points for it if it is mostly an annoyance to the character. If it is useful more often than not, then I'd treat it like a Power.

 

Off the top of my head, maybe an odd variation of "Accidental Change" is appropriate. It's not a change into super/normal form, but rather an accidental manifestation of power. IOW, "Accidental Power" should have a similar cost structure to "Accidental Change," IMHO.

[Talon]

If it's purely bad, make it a Disad.

 

Based on the numerous examples of Trigger sprinkled throughout the system, it's possible to have a Trigger that auto-resets simply by getting the GM's permission. Personally, I'd require at least the Persistent Advantage before considering it.

[Col. Orange]

Could you build the trigger as a blind advantage then put side effects on it?

[coach]

Yeah, some of the other systems have something that might come down to "Accidental Activation", which is where a power would go off without the character willing it to do so. For some reason, we never got one of those in 5 editions of Champs.

 

So, from your examples I'd go with taking it as a Disad, like the others said. However, the question still remains, what to do if it were something good instead of bad. What if, every time a character sneezed, he got 2d6 Healing? I think that I would probably buy it Always On, with all the appropriate Advantages, and then give it a big Conditional Power Limitation, "Only works when X happens". The limitation bonus would be based on how often the triggering event happened, but I'd say at least a -1, probably more like a -2. Even higher if it was something that didn't happen every day, like sneezing. Unfortunately, I think that this would still come out as way too expensive for its utility.

 

What is the exact effect you are looking for? Maybe there is some other way around it.