Mass Area Effect

[Mazeus Xenon]

I have been kicking around a few ideas for this and none of them work out the way I want them to, so I figured I'd post here and see what people think.

 

What I am trying to do is make a magical amulet that causes all the spells the wearer has to gain an Area Effect. They could choose between whether or not to use the effect but would affect ANY spell they have, from a fire blast to a healing spell, from a skill bonus to a skill penalty, and everything in between.

 

I have thought about a transform that lasts for only a single action (-2 Limitation?) or a naked Area Effect advantage with a +2 Advantage of "Any Spell' and setting a maximum Active Point limit to the naked avantage. Neither really works for me (and I won't even mention the truely crazy idea I had for a massive Multipower) so I welcome input on this. I can, of course, just say it works that way but I would much rather have this defined within the rules than simply making it work!

 

Thanks folks!

[Outsider]

Re: Mass Area Effect

 

Considering how powerful that effect is, it shoud be pricey, however you do it.

 

One way would be to make a (really BIG) VPP that is limited to spells the character already knows with AoE added.

 

Without a little more tweaking, this idea of yours still wont always work well/legally. Some powers are self only, after all. So beyond AoE, you'd have to add "Usable by/against others" and maybe "at range". Then there is the question of what exactly happens to the END cost.. Does it skyrocket, or does the amulet pay all the extra END? Do people who have gained a positive (but end consuming) UbO power have to pay end now, or does the amulet make it END free for them?

[Mazeus Xenon]

Re: Mass Area Effect

 

Yeah, i kicked around the VPP things as well - THAT was expensive no matter how I did it! I may just have to junk this idea and do something else with it...

[Nightshade]

Re: Mass Area Effect

 

I'd go with a naked AoE advantage affecting spells up to a certain active point cost. To add to the fun, I would make it a +1 advantage to all spells from the caster. It will be great for some spells, but when you cast (for example) a healing spell, and it affects everyone in the area (bad guys included), I'd like to see the players' faces...

 

Nightshade

[Mazeus Xenon]

Re: Mass Area Effect

 

Do you think "Affecting Any Spell" would be only a +1 Advantage? I would see it as a +2 myself... it IS a very potent effect!

[prestidigitator]

Re: Mass Area Effect

 

Do you think "Affecting Any Spell" would be only a +1 Advantage? I would see it as a +2 myself... it IS a very potent effect!

I'd probably agree. It seems akin to an Adjustment Power that affects all powers with a similar Special Effect, all at the same time (+2). Note that it would make sense that this Naked Advantage could affect multiple spells at once (in case of a Multi-Power Attack, or use of a non-attack spell and attack spell in the same Phase). Of course, the differentiator where Naked Advantages are concerned is more like the Power used, rather than the SFX. It just seems like a good thing to base the price on.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Mass Area Effect

 

Hmm.

 

The big problem that hit me looking at the effect was that it needed some variable cost depending on the spells known by the wearer.

 

What about it simply being a transform attack that changed every spell known by the caster into one with variable advantage (though it would be a limited advantage in that he could vary between area effect and reduced/increased END).

 

You could even mitigate added END costs by having the amulet come with an END Reserve that could cover the first few uses of the area effect at added END cost.

 

Doc

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Mass Area Effect

 

i like naked power advantages, and i like VPP, so i'll suggest a VPP of naked power advantages

[prestidigitator]

Re: Mass Area Effect

 

The big problem that hit me looking at the effect was that it needed some variable cost depending on the spells known by the wearer.

It is true that various Powers use Adders to increase the area of effect, and increasing the area is conceivably a different Advantage than granting it in the first place, so I guess it depends on what he desires. If he wants to simply make all non-area-of-effect Powers into area of effect Powers, I think the Naked Advantage works fine. If he wants it to increase the area of those Powers which already have an area, it will I think be up to the GM. If I were GM I might allow the Advantage to be interpreted as +1 to increase area if the Power is already an area of effect.

 

If you wanted to be sure, you could make the Naked Advantage itself a Variable Advantage. Of course, this still may not help Powers like Change Environment and Darkness where an increase in area is an Adder. In that case it might be true that you need a small limited VPP or a Multipower so that you can get Area of Effect, a bonus to Area of Effect, and an Increased Radius Adder. Ouch.

 

Oh, wait. Actually if you used a VPP of Multipower, you could only do one thing at a time, so if you used two Powers in a Phase that had different means of increasing the area of effect, you could only boost one of them. Ultimately I'm thinking that if you really want to be sure you may need at least two parallel constructs payed for separately (or an Elemental Control ): a Variable Advantage Naked Adder for Area of Effect and Increased Area of Effect, and an Incrased Radius Naked Adder.

 

I have a slight problem with Naked Adders, as well: normally you have to apply Advantages to Adders, so how does it work if you apply a Naked Adder to a Power with Advantages? It's too cheap. If it is an incremental Adder (+1" per +5 Points), I might decrease the value of the Adder in the same manner as Str applied to damage is decreased in DCs for Advantaged HKAs and such.

[Mazeus Xenon]

Re: Mass Area Effect

 

This has been an interesting exchange of ideas... while I am more than willing to do a naked advantage, I don't like the idea of a "generic" one affecting any powers up to 100pts. it seems a bit too "easy" (but that could be just me). I also tried to kick around the idea of a transform, but that just ended up being very weird to me as it became very expensive to make an effective transform that would work every time consistently with any user. So, I re-addressed it with a VPP of Naked Advantages and decided upon this:

 

Storm Effect Amulet (50pt VPP)

Lim: 4 Charges (-1), Extra Time (Full Turn between Uses; -1), OAF Amulet (-1), Independent (-2), Only to Add/Increase Area Effect and/or Indirect Advantage to Spell (-2)

Total:53pts (if my math is right at least...)

 

Basically, by using the power of a storm (or whatever) a user can add any Area Effect or even Indirect to a spell, 4 times a day, with a Full Phase between uses, up to a maximum of a 50pts worth of advantages. You'd still need a full phase to "prep" the power and require a skill roll of some sort (mine being a basic Magic Roll kind of thing).

 

So, a 2d6 RKA could drop from the sky and affect a 5" Radius. What do you think of that? With a VPP one could also increase the area of effect for a Change Environment or even potentially add to an already AE power.