I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

[firelynx]

I'm working on a new character that has some powers centered around a fate-altering cloak that he wears.

 

The cloak acts as a black hole of sorts, sucking in most Energy Blast/ranged types of attacks. The attack is then stored in the 'realm' of the cloak, and can be unleashed later, at any time and at any target, by the wearer.

 

My original thought was to buy it as Missile Deflection/Reflection, with a Trigger on the Reflection that would go off when he used the word that unleashed the stored energy. But after looking at Trigger more closely, I'm not sure if that would work. If this doesn't work, I think I'm stuck getting an Energy Blast with Variable Special Effects - limited to attacks that have been Deflected... and the SFX is that the attack gets sucked into the cloak. This is the least favorite alternative, since I'll have to buy this EB with enough points to be able to handle whatever gets fired his way. With the Variable SFX, campaign limits are going to beome an issue as well. Any thoughts?

 

Also on the Missile Deflection, I want it to work independent of my character's actions. In other words, he's not having to direct/control it, it just happens because the cloak alters these attacks and draws them into it's folds, like a giant Energy Blast magnet. If I bought it Always On, does that mean I would still need to abort to Deflect/save an action, or will I be able to Deflect/Reflect in addition to normal actions? Always On Damage Shield with GM permission? Uncontrolled? Though Uncontrolled would need to be bought to 0 End, and that's a GM permission as well.

 

I appreciate any and all comments or suggestions, and I thank you in advance.

[levi]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

Here's how I might go about what you are trying to simulate.

 

39 Cloak of Redirection: Absorption 5d6 (energy into Energy Blast), Can Absorb Maximum Of 75 Points' Worth Of Energy Damage, Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1/4) (59 Active Points); OIF Cloak (-1/2)

 

17 Absorbtion Field: +30 ED (30 Active Points); OIF Cloak (-1/2), Bonus ED cannot exceed the amount rolled on the Absorbtion Dice (-1/4)

 

0 Stored Energy Blast: Energy Blast 0d6; OIF Cloak (-1/2), Incantations (-1/4), Variable Special Effects (Limited Group of SFX; only energies recently absorbed by cloak; +1/4) Total final Mod = -1/2

[massey]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

What you want is hard to do, and expensive. You may need to talk to your gamemaster and see if he'll let you get away with the Missile Deflection Trigger thing. Otherwise, you're stuck with the vsfx EB thing.

 

As far as not taking an action, you'll need to build the cloak as a follower. Make the missile deflection usable while adjacent. That way, the cloak is the one that uses an action. This is very powerful, however, so your GM might not like it.

 

You might also just have the cloak-absorbing energy be the sfx of the power Force Field. That won't take an action, and it will always work, though Stun will probably leak through.

[ghost-angel]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

Here's an alternative.

 

High Def: SFX icoming blast is Stored.

 

VPP: Only Attacks; Only Attacks "Absorbed" (i.e. things you've been attacked with); Cosmic; Uncontrolled: Character has no control over which Attacks are available.

 

This won't be cheap, but this is a moderately powerful ability to begind with.

[CBikle]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

I think Massey has the right idea.

 

You might want to run the SFX past the GM first. Perhaps he has a way he wants this effect duplicated or he may just veto the whole idea from the get-go, saving you the waste of time persuing the concept.

[firelynx]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

Thanks for all the ideas, they helped a lot. The Follower is a neat idea that I might have to try... but it would be very powerful, I agree.

 

As for the stored attacks, one idea I overlooked, and just reread, was Delayed Effect. I think that may be a good way to try it. I'd need GM approval to use it in a superheroic campaign, but it sure seems to be the closest to what I'm trying to do.

 

Thanks again for the input!

[i3ullseye]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

I would build it as a supress. I would make it 1 hex area effect, and no range. By making it constant, and zero End, we can simulate what you are after reasonably well.

 

Expensive, but a reasonably game altering power.

 

Cost Power

37 Energy Leech: Suppress Reduces Energy Attacks (EB and ERKA)

15d6 (standard effect: 45 points), Personal Immunity (+1/4),

Area Of Effect (One Hex; +1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2)

(169 Active Points);

Independent (Cloak is its own artifact/entity; -2), OIF (Cloak; -1/2),

No Range (-1/2), Restrainable (Inside of cloak must be accessible; -1/2)

 

Cost Power

50 Returned attacks: Energy Blast 10d6,

Variable Special Effects (Limited Group of SFX; only energies recently absorbed by cloak; +1/4), Variable Advantage (+1 Advantages; Limited Group of Advantages; May imitate up to +1 of original attack advantages; +1 3/4)

(150 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Restrainable (Must expose inside of cloak for blast to function; -1/2), Gestures (Must actively expose inside of cloak to use blast; -1/4), Linked (Energy Leech; Cloak is source of blast; Greater Power is Constant or in use most or all of the time; -1/4), Beam (All attacks are unleashed with all their remaining energy; -1/4), 4 Recoverable Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances; only last 4 attacks stored if not used... energy will dissipate; -1/4)

Powers Cost: 87

[The Monster]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

I'm a little shaky on the specific rules about this, but might be worth exploring:

Buy Absorption which takes EB energy and pumps it into an END Reserve.

The END Reserve powers your own EB through the cloak (which doesn't recharge any other way). It probably isn't too much of a stretch to simply say that the EB you release has the same SFX as the last blast which it sucked up (a bit of note-taking during the game, but not much). The GM might impose the "variable SFX" Advantage, but a counter-argument is that you don't have any control as to the SFX, which largely negates the edge of having that variability.

I'm not sure how Missile Deflection would work into this; maybe the cloak could have two effects to choose from.

[incrdbil]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

Possible avenue: Home grown advanage on the Missile Reflection, that allows you to hold attacks for a certain amount of time. It's up to you and your GM to define the value based on how long you can hold atatcks, if you can push or haymaker them, and if there are any attacks you can't hold.

 

The other avenue is an energy blast with both variable advantages and special effects; The limitation on the energy blast is that its use and the amount of dice used depend on the attacks you absorb; the limitation on the value of the variable advantage/FX advantage (not the eb) would be based on the same thing. There may be a general small limitation that you have to mimic certain limitations the aborbed attack had.

 

As for the missile defelction that always works withgout you using an action--thats a heft advantage. Uncontrolled at only +1/2 won't just cut it. And its doubtful he'd give you a limitation for always on. The GM could rule that you would have to buy combat levels to give it an OCV when you are not using an action to guide the deflection. But that is a tremedously powerful ability, especially if the cloak aborbs any attack, not just the ones you are aware of, and shouldn't be cheap

[ghost-angel]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

Possible avenue: Home grown advanage on the Missile Reflection' date=' that allows you to hold attacks for a certain amount of time. It's up to you and your GM to define the value based on how long you can hold atatcks, if you can push or haymaker them, and if there are any attacks you can't hold.[/quote']

This is a good idea, I would base it off of the Delayed Effect Advantage, probably the simplest method conceptually.

[OneWingedAngel]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

I had a character build very similar to that (he used force walls to "bubble" attacks for later use). Without working the numbers for you, it was a Missile Deflection / Reflection w/ *Delayed Effect* (with the standard INT/5 limit) bought on the reflection. It was stretching the rules ever so slightly, but my GM liked the idea enough to not only allow it, but use it against us in another campaign.

 

For your particular build, I'd say yes, you'd have to buy it Uncontrolled. Damage sheild doesn't have the right effect for what you're looking for, and the variable energy blast doesn't have the versitility, right?

 

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

[OneWingedAngel]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

As far as not taking an action, you'll need to build the cloak as a follower. Make the missile deflection usable while adjacent. That way, the cloak is the one that uses an action. This is very powerful, however, so your GM might not like it.

 

That's sneaky and malicious. I love it. Consider it stolen.

[The Monster]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

That's sneaky and malicious. I love it. Consider it stolen.

 

Unless, of course, the coat is secretly an alien symbiote.....

[MCMaenza]

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

 

This is a neat concept for a power/focus item. And this just goes to show why I enjoy the HERO system so much. The game system allows you to build some very interesting combinations of powers and effects. Granted, as many noted, this can come out expensive and a player really would have to work with the GM to determine what is within the realms of how he/she runs the game. Still, HERO is flexible.