Side Effect: Temporary Elimination of a MP slot

[MarioTani]

Today I was trying to create a mage that uses the "souls" of objects and dead people, to animate some other objects in order to get some powers.trying to create a mage that use the "souls" of objects and dead people, to animate some other objects in order to get some powers.

 

For you who knows the comic, this is heavily inspired by the manga: Shaman King

 

In the end I've decided to go with a Multipower, it's something like:

Huyl Weber's Souls'es Conjuring

Multipower 60 AP Limitations: RSR -1/2 Incantantion -1/4, Focus (OIF, Difficult to replace) -3/4, ET (Phase) -1/2, Concentration -1/4, LockOut -1/2

 

 

More than this there should be a side-effect that prevent from using anyone slot if the RSR roll is failed, something that i think is not more than a side-effect (to be generous). But...

 

To use Side-Effect the key is the Active point in the Side effect so I've to make up the cost of the drain.

To drain a 60 Point Slot you need a 20d6 Drain with the standard effect rule, this sums to a 200 AP power that end up in a Extreme Side Effect.

 

I'm GMing so I could easily rule that this is a limitation not worth more than 1/2 (depending on the redundancy of the slot in the multipower), but I prefer not doing it.

 

Moreover it seems to me that there's something strange about it.

 

200 AP are usable for:

Drain Body: 30 Pt (this leaves you dead if your CON is 15 or less)

EB: 40d Normal Damage (this leaves you dead as well standard effect 120 STUN 40 BODY)

HKA: 13d6 +1 Killing Damake (as Above for the damage)

EB: 20d6 AOE (this kills a lot of people in a 11" radius 22 meters that is more than two basketball playfields)

 

It just seems too much to me... way too much

 

I could build it with suppress:

Suppress a given Slot 20d6 Standard Effect, Red END 0 (disabled only for a couple of hours) +1/2. AP = 150

 

slightly better but I would not let a player have this kind of Red END limitation on a suppress, as it's clearly something worth more (from a turn to a couple of hours there are 5 Time slots or a 1 1/4 advantage by itself if used on a Adjustment Power) and moreover ac ouple of hours are usually more than you need to have your enemy without powers.

 

So it seems to me that or I'm missing something on the way this side-effect has to be build or the side-effect limitation is overpriced...

 

 

On the other side:

- The price of drain is well balanced as whown by the above examples.

- I've used the Side-effect limitation before And have not had this kind of problem

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Side Effect: Temporary Elimination of a MP slot

 

If I'm getting your description of the effect you want correctly, if the mage fails his Skill Roll with the Power in a particular slot, the mage should be unable to use that slot at all for X amount of time afterward. This would apply to every slot in the Multipower. Do I have that right?

 

If that's the case my suggestion would be to just apply a Custom Limitation to the Multipower, "Can't Use Slot For (X Duration) If Skill Roll Failed." I'd base the size of the Lim on "Extra Time" equivalent to the duration you prefer, but at half the value because it will only happen occasionally (or even less than half value if the character's Skill Roll is high).

 

If that doesn't work for you, feel free to post a clarifying followup and we'll try again.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Side Effect: Temporary Elimination of a MP slot

 

I'm not sure if I understand exactly what you're looking to simulate. I'm familiar with Shaman King, but have never picked up the manga (watched a few episodes on Saturday morning though, not that it's likely to be exactly the same).

 

 

From what I gathered, and what LL mentioned, you want a Multipower with each slot representing something this character can do using the souls of objects and dead things. Each slot requires a roll to use (represented by the RSR). However, if the roll is failed, that slot/power can't be used again for X amount of time.

 

That's fairly easy. Whatever Limitation you come up with for that effect (probably Side Effect), only apply it to the slots, and not the MP Reserve. That way it applies to the slots individually, and when one slots fails, the others remain unaffected and can still be used.

 

If you're looking for how to build that Limitation, I'd recomend Side Effects at the "equal Active Points" level, and call the SE a Drain versus that particular slot. Simply assume the Drain has enough dice to reduce the slot to 0 and it recovers normally (5 points/turn). When the slot is fully recoverd, the slot can be used again. In the case of an emergency, one can try to use the slot before it's ready, but you'll be doing so with less power (points).

[MarioTani]

Re: Side Effect: Temporary Elimination of a MP slot

 

Just a clarification post:

 

Lord Liaden - I've ruled it as a 1/2 limitation based on a similar reasoning.

 

Dust Raven - My point was not on "how to limit a MP" but more in the direction:

If I read the rules correctly, I should use Side-Effect, and in order to disable the slot I need a 200 AP power (classified as an Extreme Side Effect a -1 limitation).

The real matter it's that if the side-effect was a real power, it would have been limited maybe even heavily, after all it can only be used on a single combination Power-special Effect and only when it failed the RSR.

[MarioTani]

Re: Side Effect: Temporary Elimination of a MP slot

 

As written in the previous post, I believe it's a 1/2 limitation.

 

I've resoned in this way.

 

There are similarities between Activation Roll and RSR, in particular AR has two options, BurnOut and Jammed.

 

It seems to me that I need something like a RSR with the option Jammed.

As Jammed is worth 1/2 limitation more than AR, and its game effect it's just the one I want, I've decided to go with: Limited power (Disabled on a failed RSR) -1/2 .

 

It seems fair to me.