A Question about Adjustment Powers

[Gaelinic]

When positively adjusting expendable characteristics like END, Stun, and Body, if the character loses those stats during the course of combat, how do you adjudicate the fade rate for the adjusted portion?

 

This may be easier to explain through an example. Let's say Medic has Aid with a 5/turn fade rate. Medi Aids Strongman by giving him 30 points of Stun, then Strongman person loses 10 points of Stun in the fight. At the end of the turn (post segment 12), how much (if any) Stun is Strongman supposed lose?

 

Does he lose five stun? Does he not lose any since 10 stun was lost in the fight?

 

Also, would these rules apply to Absorbtion? Using the same numbers, if Absorbo added the same amount of Stun to himself and lost the same amount in a fight, how much, if any, Stun would he lose at the end of the turn.

 

Thanks.

[Vondy]

Re: A Question about Adjustment Powers

 

For simplicity's sake, I have always ruled the points resulting from adjustment powers are removed first. It makes for less bookkeeping and speeds play.

[Nevenall]

Re: A Question about Adjustment Powers

 

Points you lose are taken from your boosted points first.

 

So, StrongMan would lose 10 points of stun from his extra 30 and then 5 points of stun would fade. Fade is different from losing points through damage.

 

Absorbo would lose all his boosted stun first. And he has no extra stun left to fade, so he would lose none due to fade.

 

Check out the section on adjustment powers, page 105 in 5ER for more details.

[Gaelinic]

Re: A Question about Adjustment Powers

 

Let me just clarify. In my examples, Strongman and Absorbo only lost 10 stun in that fight by the end of the turn. So they still had 20 extra Stun obtained through Aid (Strongman) or Absorption (Absorbo). The question is if the fade rate is 5/turn, how much of that extra 20 stun, if any, do they lose at the end of the turn. This issue wasn't addressed in that section of the book. I know I'm overanalyzing here but I just wanted to know in case this occurs in my game.

 

Thanks.

[prestidigitator]

Re: A Question about Adjustment Powers

 

I think of Aid as providing you a whole seperate pool for such traits. The original Aid gives you the maximum for the pool, and the fade rate simple takes off of this maximum. In your example, Strongman has his normal Stun, plus a temporary pool of 30 Stun that will be the first to go due to damage. After he is hit, his temporary pool is at 20/30, and at the end of the Turn it drops to 20/25, then 20/20, then 15/15. So I would say that if you take damage to these stats, you get a temporary reprieve from the fade, in a sense.

 

Of course, I would also allow those temporary points to be Recovered, so the example above isn't quite true. If Strongman Recovered and wan't damaged each Turn, his temporary pool would actually go from 20/30 to 25/25 (provided he has a Rec of at least 5) to 20/20, etc.

 

EDIT: BTW, similarly to how points left in a temporary pool are always the first to go due to damage, I would say natural points in the character's permenant pool would always be the first to Recover.

[Vondy]

Re: A Question about Adjustment Powers

 

Let me just clarify. In my examples, Strongman and Absorbo only lost 10 stun in that fight by the end of the turn. So they still had 20 extra Stun obtained through Aid (Strongman) or Absorption (Absorbo). The question is if the fade rate is 5/turn, how much of that extra 20 stun, if any, do they lose at the end of the turn. This issue wasn't addressed in that section of the book. I know I'm overanalyzing here but I just wanted to know in case this occurs in my game.

 

Thanks.

 

The fade rate should be applied to whatever is left, IMO.