Self affecting Penalty Skill Levels

[Ndreare]

I was wondering is it legal to buy self affecting penalty skill levels?

 

Example:

 

"Booming Voice": Stealth -5

 

Assuming it is legal would a character then be able to choose when to use those skill levels at will as he does with other skill levels or would they be persistent?

 

(I would not have asked but the question was presented.)

 

I would present that we can affect ourselves with most other adjustment powers and attack powers. (Guns, Healing Spells and what not.)

[Steve Long]

Re: Self affecting Penalty Skill Levels

 

The way to do something like that is to either (a) build the ability so its negative consequences are inherent in its use, ( take the "penalty" as a mandatory Side Effect, or © define the "penalty" as a Physical Limitation. Which method to use depends on the abilities, special effects, etc. involved.

 

For example, you want a character whose voice is particularly loud and noticeable. If there's a game benefit to this (and I can see in some campaigns where it would be), then it's a Limited form of Hearing Group Images with the PER Roll penalty flipped to become a bonus. In that case, the bonus itself has some negative consequences (being easier to hear when you speak isn't always a good thing) that's inherent in the ability -- it's not a Limitation, it's just the way things work. (Similarly, one of the drawbacks to Invisibility is that your friends can't see you either.)

 

If there's no game benefit to loud voice, the GM might let you define it as a Physical Limitation, or perhaps as some sort of Limitation on Stealth. There are lots of options -- but paying points for self-only NSLs is definitely not one of them. Characters shouldn't be made to pay points for something that's only harmful to them.