Activation Roll vs. Required Skill Roll

[Sociotard]

One of the dire warnings in the big book is to look out for abuses of RSR, where the player buys up his skill high, and gets a bunch of powere with RSR.

 

Why not just do activation rolls and avoid the whole mess? After all, the point at which a skill is too high is awfully hard to define. If a mage has a skill roll for all his spells, and he buys an 18- with that skill, then his spells with low active point totals will activate on an 17- and his high active point totals will activate on an 8-. So for one power it was limiting (in fact, worth far more than a mere -1/2), and for the other it wasn't.

 

Whats the advantage to using RSR over just activation roll?

[Sean Waters]

Re: Activation Roll vs. Required Skill Roll

 

One of the dire warnings in the big book is to look out for abuses of RSR, where the player buys up his skill high, and gets a bunch of powere with RSR.

 

Why not just do activation rolls and avoid the whole mess? After all, the point at which a skill is too high is awfully hard to define. If a mage has a skill roll for all his spells, and he buys an 18- with that skill, then his spells with low active point totals will activate on an 17- and his high active point totals will activate on an 8-. So for one power it was limiting (in fact, worth far more than a mere -1/2), and for the other it wasn't.

 

Whats the advantage to using RSR over just activation roll?

 

...as someone else pointed out to me, activation rolls are buggers with continuous powers: you need to roll every phase, whereas RSR continuous powers keep going once started withut further rolls.

 

Whilst I don't necessarily disagree with your premise, I don't think you can just get rid of RSR: you'd need to add a bit to Activation Rolls that allowed you to maintain continuous powers without further rolls.

 

The other thing that RSR is good for is situational modifiers - Activation Roll will stay at 14- whether you are trying it in the middle of a battle or resting and meditating at home - RSR will change appropriately with the situation. Thes is a feature of the limitation IMO.

 

As is often the case the potentially silly abuse situation here is easily solveable: just don't allow abusive constructs in the game.

 

On the high/low active point spells thing - again, matter of construction. You can have extra levels with SOME of your spells (the hard ones you really had to study) or a different level of the limitation (-1 per 20 Active points) to make it even out a bit.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Activation Roll vs. Required Skill Roll

 

One of the dire warnings in the big book is to look out for abuses of RSR, where the player buys up his skill high, and gets a bunch of powere with RSR.

 

Why not just do activation rolls and avoid the whole mess? After all, the point at which a skill is too high is awfully hard to define. If a mage has a skill roll for all his spells, and he buys an 18- with that skill, then his spells with low active point totals will activate on an 17- and his high active point totals will activate on an 8-. So for one power it was limiting (in fact, worth far more than a mere -1/2), and for the other it wasn't.

 

Whats the advantage to using RSR over just activation roll?

Well, for one thing characters can apply appropriate Skill Levels,Extra Time, and other relevant bonuses to improve their probability of success. They can't do that with Activation. And it makes a good reason for a mage or other multi-purpose type not to use his full power: He's far more likely to blow his roll if he fires off all 15d6 of his fireball than if he pops off a 10d6 one.

 

I agree RSR can be potentially abusive; but like all builds it requires GM examination.

[Vondy]

Re: Activation Roll vs. Required Skill Roll

 

Do not fear the Imperial Power and Majesterial Wisdom of the Gamemaster. Embrace it.

[Wanderer]

Re: Activation Roll vs. Required Skill Roll

 

As long as the power is Instant, or not meant to be used continously and reliably for significant spans of time (say STR vs. Flight or FF), Activation Roll is to be preferred in almost any case to RSR, *especially* if the AP level grows significantly past Heroic, since there is not the annoying problem of active Point penalties to the roll. In summation, RSR is more suited for Heroic, AR for Superheroic, especially high-powered.

[transmetahuman]

Re: Activation Roll vs. Required Skill Roll

 

...as someone else pointed out to me, activation rolls are buggers with continuous powers: you need to roll every phase, whereas RSR continuous powers keep going once started withut further rolls.

 

Whilst I don't necessarily disagree with your premise, I don't think you can just get rid of RSR: you'd need to add a bit to Activation Rolls that allowed you to maintain continuous powers without further rolls.

This has been bugging me. Anyone want to take a crack at ruling how the limitation value for Activation Roll ought to be modified, for use on continuous powers that continue to work reliably once Activated? Halve the regular value? -1/2 "off" the regular value? There ought to be some way to create this kind of power; it's a pretty common concept after all.

[TheEmerged]

Re: Activation Roll vs. Required Skill Roll

 

RE: Activation rolls for continuous powers. Well, speaking for myself I just ignore the bit about requiring an activation each phase -- I only require activation rolls when the power, um, activates or is tested. The difference is just not that great in my opinion.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Activation Roll vs. Required Skill Roll

 

Sean pretty much said what I was going to say, and then Wanderer actually when on to add what I wanted to any myself.

 

I've never really seen any problems with using RSR. If anything it's the lease abusable Limitation. In order to abuse it, you have to 1) spend points on a high level Skill (which doesn't sound like saving to me) and 2) buy a LOT of Powers with RSR on that Skill. You have to buy so many, in fact, you most character simply can't afford them all. In some cases, you save points overall, but in most cases I've found that you'll save more points using Activation Roll or not having any Limitation at all.