Defences confusion

[Jayde Tiger]

I'm sorry if this has been already covered, but I need a little clarification here:

 

26pts - Armor (12 PD/12 ED), Hardened (+1/4) (45 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (Luck Based or similar disad; -1/2), Nonpersistent (-1/4)

 

31 pts - Force Field (12 PD/12 ED), Hardened (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (54 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (Based on Luck or similar disad; -1/2), Nonpersistent (-1/4)

 

24pts - Combat Luck

 

Combat Luck is really confusing me.

Why is it cheaper than Armor with similar limitations?

This led me to try and compare it to Force Field as well. I realise the first two above are likely illegal builds, but I was trying to illustrate a point.

 

All three builds are hardened, all three builds are non-persistant.

 

The -1/2 disadvantage for Based on Luck, and your follow up answer in the FAQ have confused me further:

 

It doesn’t work if he’s asleep, unconscious,

 

Isn't that when a character would want to be lucky? Isn't his luck all that would protect him in this case?

 

or deliberately throws himself in the way of an

attack (for example, to save a comrade from injury).

 

This one makes sense because he is actively fighting against his own good luck.

 

Nor does it protect him from damage in most situations

where he deliberately does something he

knows will hurt him (such as performing a Move

By/Through, both of which cause him to take some

of the damage he does to the target).

 

Again he is actively fighting against his own good luck.

 

It won’t apply if the character is Surprised

(see page 380); the GM may require a PER

Roll or other roll to determine if the character perceived

the attack in time to use his Combat Luck.

 

If he is surprised, he is unlucky, and loses the benefit of his armor, but if he sees the attack coming (perceives it in time) he gets "luckier" and can avoid more damage.

 

Because Combat Luck depends on a character’s

ability to dodge, block, or otherwise avoid

damage.

 

Now I'm really confused. Is the character talented at dodging/avoiding damage, or is he lucky. The former suggests control by the character, the latter suggests "fate smiles upon him"

 

if the character knew he was attacking someone with a Damage Shield. But that depends largely on how the GM chooses to interpret the concept of “deliberately†putting one’s self in harm’s way; sometimes it might not be appropriate to apply Combat Luck. If the character didn’t know about the Damage Shield, maybe his Combat Luck would protect him... once.

 

This answer reverses the control vs fate model above. If the character knows about the damage shield, he's hoping his luck will protect him, (he perceived the attack as in the surprise example) and does not benefit from the protection, yet if he doesn't know its there (is surprised by it) he might be protected by his Combat Luck.

 

Any comments would be appreciated.

I hope I have been clear in explaining my confusion. Please ask if I have not.

 

Thank You!! JT

 

PS: If a character takes danger sense or a defensive maneuvers to reduce or eliminate the chance of surprise, would you reduce the amount of the "Based on Luck" modifier, since the Defensive Luck Armor becomes far less limited??

[Steve Long]

Re: Defences confusion

 

I'm sorry, but I don't answer game design/philosophy questions. What you've got here is mostly a topic for discussion, so you might want to post it on the Discussion board and get the opinions of fellow gamers.

 

The cost of Combat Luck is as stated in the book. The rules don't require any change in its cost based on other abilities a character's bought, though of course the GM can if he wants to.