2 4th Ed. Qs: CP "loans?"; Multipowers & advantages?

[JLHIII]

1) any GMs ever engage in Char. Point loans? I was just thinking about Packages and how they can reflect instant decisions involving character points. Say a PC is invited to join the brotherhood of assassins, a position that involves neat new toys, but he has no XP to pay for the package. I was thinking a CP loan might be the way to handle this, the PC gets the package for "free" but has to pay it back with XP before anything else.

 

2) My reading of the rules is that for Multipower Slots, the power and the advantages are the only considerations when calculating maximum AP, which at a glance seems to make this an illegal character (the mind control power, for example), yes?

[Lanith]

Re: 2 4th Ed. Qs: CP "loans?"; Multipowers & advantages?

 

1) No, I've never run into a situation where only one of my players would be "gaining an upgrade", and even less likely is a player willing to "loan" the points out.

 

2) You are correct the cost and advantages of a slot in a Multipower cannot exceed the AP of the Multipower, but the example you show is an Elemental Control pool. EC's do not have the same restraints.

[JLHIII]

Re: 2 4th Ed. Qs: CP "loans?"; Multipowers & advantages?

 

1) No, I don't mean interplayer loans, I mean just paying forward on future earnings of XP - loans from the GM from wherever XP come from.

 

2) Duh, my mistake.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: 2 4th Ed. Qs: CP "loans?"; Multipowers & advantages?

 

I've been known as a GM to "loan" players extra XP if there is a good in game reason for them to have suddenly acquired something that they don't have points for. I ganked an idea from Amber for it... all "on loan" points become essentially an instant mystery Disad pool, which I will freely play with (usually defaulting to Unluck) until the character pays of his karmic debt to the metaverse

[Lanith]

Re: 2 4th Ed. Qs: CP "loans?"; Multipowers & advantages?

 

Oh, well in that case. It would be up to the GM. Personally, I don't usually quibble too much about one or two extra points, but if the player is buying a package that is already heavily discounted and/or "character driven" (earned in game, background story, etc etc) I would encourage the player to save the XP. (Anything they save up for will be worth it)

[prestidigitator]

Re: 2 4th Ed. Qs: CP "loans?"; Multipowers & advantages?

 

1.) I occaisionally do this with either a partially functional buy (the character, "has," the Power/Perk, but it has Limitations such as Activation Roll or No Conscious Control, or isn't quite fully functional in some other way until fully paid for), or allow the character to take temporary Disadvantages appropriate to the situation in order to pay for it (if such Disadvantages work with the story, I don't worry about maximums like at character creation).

 

I may also be a bit odd in that often I don't require characters to pay for Perks gained through story. This may depend on the campaign: I'd be more inclined to make the character pay in a superheroic Champions game than in a heroic fantasy one.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: 2 4th Ed. Qs: CP "loans?"; Multipowers & advantages?

 

In one of the pre-4th edition Champions supplements (either Champions II or Champions III) Aaron Allston had an article where he wrote about occasionally holding back experience points, upon player request, for new toys such as that, mystery powers, etc.

 

I've seen a house rule for XP loans; it's effectively extra points, but XP awards are reduced (I think it's either 1 per session or all XPs) until those points are paid back by the reduction. At the moment I don't know where it is.

[Barton]

Re: 2 4th Ed. Qs: CP "loans?"; Multipowers & advantages?

 

My GM in a Champions game "loaned" my character 2xp. I payed it off after the very next game day. It allowed me to add a robotic follower which helped in the big battle the GM had cooked up for us. I as a GM would allow a small loan of xp but they must be paid off at end of the next game day.