Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

[The Souljourner]

I have a character I'm building (I always have a character I'm building) whose body is a fusion reactor. As such, he has access to effectively infinite power. All his powers are bought with 0 END, not because they don't use power, but to represent the fact that he has so much power available, their effect is negligible. I applied 0 END to his running, strength, etc, too - this guy can run forever and not get tired. Because he has no abilities that use it, I sold back all his END (when your END reserves are already infinite, infinity + 40 is just silly).

 

So, here's the effect I'm having a little trouble with - by touching another character, he can provide the power (END) for another character's ability. The game effect I'm looking for is to be able to apply the "Costs no END" advantage to another character's power.

 

Sounds like naked modifier (0 END +1/2), usable by others (one at a time +1/4).

 

I'm not exactly clear on how Naked Modifiers work... I assume that by default I have to choose a specific power this would apply to, like "Energy Blast", but I want it to be able to apply to any one power of my choice, so I could power Brickman's Strength or Blasterman's EB. This sounds like the adjustment power advantage - variable effect, which is +1/4 for any power with a given special effect. Is that good enough? Maybe +1/2 since I'm not really limited by special effect, just "powers that use END", which is a little more broad?

 

Thoughts, suggestions, and comments welcome.

 

-Nate

[Bloodstone]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

My first thought would be that Aid and/or Healing END would be a lot easier then Naked Modifier.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

You can go a few ways with a Naked Advantage.. given GM Permission it wouldn't be to out of line to make it "Vs Powers that cost END" as the target of the Naked Advantage.

 

If not then the approach to use the Adjustment Advantage "Variable Effect" works just fine, I would say +1/4 is decent enough.

[The Souljourner]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

My first thought would be that Aid and/or Healing END would be a lot easier then Naked Modifier.

 

He has those too, but the game effect is a little different. I like the way 0 END nicely translates in-game to "infinite power". Use it all day, all night, and you'll never get tired.

 

-Nate

[The Souljourner]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

You can go a few ways with a Naked Advantage.. given GM Permission it wouldn't be to out of line to make it "Vs Powers that cost END" as the target of the Naked Advantage.

 

If not then the approach to use the Adjustment Advantage "Variable Effect" works just fine, I would say +1/4 is decent enough.

 

That's cool, just wondering if I missed an advantage in there somewhere, sounds like not.

 

-Nate

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

One small negative consequence of 0 End is that any abilities that this is applied to cannot be "Pushed". This is the major reason I use only 1/2 End for attack abilities. 0 End as a Naked Advantage Usable By Others would actually rob the target of the ability to push any abilities it is applied to.

 

For the sfx you describe I would give the character a REC high enough to accommodate the END use of his highest attack power X his speed with a little left over. As far as giving the ability to others I would build it as an AID to END and REC.

[Robyn]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

IThoughts' date=' suggestions, and comments welcome.[/quote']

 

Provided below.

 

I have a character I'm building (I always have a character I'm building) whose body is a fusion reactor. As such' date=' he has access to effectively infinite power.[/quote']

 

Is the SFX a standard scientific fusion reactor?

 

By the way, what happens if his structural integrity is pierced? Does he, uh, you know . . . go boom?

 

So' date=' here's the effect I'm having a little trouble with - by touching another character, he can provide the power (END) for another character's ability.[/quote']

 

It sounds like the ability to touch someone like that and transfer the power to them usefully, instead of electrocuting them, is part of the basic cost for whatever power it will be.

 

I assume that by default I have to choose a specific power this would apply to' date=' like "Energy Blast", but I want it to be able to apply to any one power of my choice, so I could power Brickman's Strength or Blasterman's EB.[/quote']

 

I'm a little unclear on how you're achieving this, to be honest. It sounds like you want to have Variable Special Effects on it so you can assist anyone no matter how their powers work; I mean, if my Endurance reserve were based on a reservoir of blood (as a vampire), then how would your fusion reactor supercharge that blood to help it last me longer? I would consider taking a Limitation "only for compatible SFX" to reflect that you can't help everyone out (most people don't run on electricity, otherwise we'd all plug ourselves into a wall socket instead of sit down to a table full of real food whenever we wanted to eat). Or, if your energy can somehow transform itself into whatever form is needed, I would want you to come up with a really good story to explain how this is accomplished.

[Robyn]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

For the sfx you describe I would give the character a REC high enough to accommodate the END use of his highest attack power X his speed with a little left over.

 

This occurred to me, but I thought "What if the character has had his Endurance drained? The desired effect is that he has so much energy available, those powers don't even make a dent in the supply. He should never be in a position where his power is at less than full."

 

It could still be done, assuming END cannot go negative, by giving him an END pool large enough to use all his powers before his free Recovery, and then buying up his Recovery to that level. It's not that much more expensive than the solution you gave, since END only costs half a point per and Rec costs 2. I'd still be worried about drains during the turn, though.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

This occurred to me' date=' but I thought "What if the character has had his Endurance drained? The desired effect is that he has so much energy available, those powers don't even make a dent in the supply. He should [i']never[/i] be in a position where his power is at less than full."

 

It could still be done, assuming END cannot go negative, by giving him an END pool large enough to use all his powers before his free Recovery, and then buying up his Recovery to that level. It's not that much more expensive than the solution you gave, since END only costs half a point per and Rec costs 2. I'd still be worried about drains during the turn, though.

That's easily solved by adding the advantage Inherent to his REC and END. That would make it immune to Drains.

 

EDIT: Also, the extra REC could be purchased with the limitation "Only Affects END" (-1).

[Robyn]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

That's easily solved by adding the advantage Inherent to his REC and END. That would make it immune to Drains.

 

Stop. I'm drooling. When does the next printing of 5ER come out again?

 

EDIT: Also' date=' the extra REC could be purchased with the limitation "Only Affects END" (-1).[/quote']

 

Good, that should cut the cost down quite a bit

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

Stop. I'm drooling. When does the next printing of 5ER come out again?

 

 

 

Good, that should cut the cost down quite a bit

 

 

Actually, now that I've thought about it some more this particular character's sfx would probably be better served by an Endurance Reserve. At that point it might be easier to apply UBO to the Reserve than using the Aid to REC and END as I suggested earlier. Making the Reserve and its REC Inherent is probably a better solution that having to buy the advantage for characteristics purchased as powers.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

That's easily solved by adding the advantage Inherent to his REC and END. That would make it immune to Drains.

 

EDIT: Also, the extra REC could be purchased with the limitation "Only Affects END" (-1).

Better leave some REC normal to heal BODY Damage...

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

Better leave some REC normal to heal BODY Damage...

 

probably.

 

However, if the sfx is like the version of Captain Atom from JLU or Wildfire from Legion of Superheroes it go either way.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

probably.

 

However, if the sfx is like the version of Captain Atom from JLU or Wildfire from Legion of Superheroes it go either way.

I was thinking more from Transforms really...

[The Souljourner]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

(paraphrased) just make his recovery enough to cover all his powers

 

This occurred to me' date=' but I thought "What if the character has had his Endurance drained? The desired effect is that he has so much energy available, those powers don't even make a dent in the supply. He should [i']never[/i] be in a position where his power is at less than full."

 

Exactly! No matter how much END I give him, it's really hard to make it truly a bottomless supply. 0 END is exactly that - he can use any and all powers as often as he wants and never ever run out of END.

 

As for not being able to push.... well, that kinda fits his abilities perfectly. If he has infinite reserves of energy, why isn't he pushing all the time? What does pushing even mean in this case? So, pretend he is pushing, he's just *always* pushing.... but since he never runs out of energy, you can't really tell the difference.

 

I do see how it could be a problem with the original power, a usable by others 0 END.... but honestly, pushing has such a small effect on most powers (woo, 2d6 to my EB, yippee), that I don't think anyone will really miss it. If it ends up being a problem, I'll link a little succor to go along with it.

 

As for being able to power other things.... it's not actually electricity. I guess I should say it's not a fusion reactor, just a controlled fusion reaction. The power he puts out is pure comic book "energy", which he can channel into whatever vessel he wants.

 

The special effect is this - he was a mutant when he was born, with the ability to channel energy. He couldn't actually produce any of his own, but he could stick one hand in a fire and grab a lightbulb in the other and the light bulb would light up. Some government types grabbed him and did some wild and nasty stuff to him in an attempt to make him a super weapon. They started a contained, continually cascading fusion reaction inside his body, using his conductive powers to maintain and control it.

 

Now that he has so much power inside him, it consumes all his channeling abilities, such that he no longer has the abilities he once had. He can no longer "take in" energy to transform it into something else, since his body is already so saturated with power. On the plus side, he doesn't have to worry about a source of energy any more, since he has effectively unlimited energy at his disposal.

 

-Nate

[Dust Raven]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

I have a question about mr. never runs out of power man. Can he drown? In Hero, when a character is suffocating, he loses END at the rate of one per Phase until he runs out, then he starts losing STUN until he's unconscious, then he starts losing BODY. If this character can drown, then by buying his END to 0 you've effectively made him more vulnerable to it. Easily covered with 10 points of Life Support, but only if that's in concept.

[SirViss]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

That's easily solved by adding the advantage Inherent to his REC and END. That would make it immune to Drains.

...

 

Technically, this would be correct, but as a GM I would hesitate to allow a player to apply Inherent to stats. Really, I would have to look at it more closely before I would form an actual opinion. I am just leary of the fact that you would have to buy up the Inherent portion if you ever decided to buy up END or REC.

 

Personally , I would encourage the player to buy some Power Defense (Only to protect END; -1), like around 15 points or so, depending on any Active power cap you may have. That would represent how hard it would be to Drain END from the character, as no matter how much you drain, he still has more.

 

One note I would make is, for SFX purposes, I would allow any character that use Transfer END to X, to still be able to receive ponts for the Transfer but the character would not suffer any loss. You can draw as much power from him as you want, but he still doesn't get tired!

[Robyn]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

One note I would make is' date=' for SFX purposes, I would allow any character that use Transfer END to X, to still be able to receive ponts for the Transfer but the character would not suffer any loss. You can draw as much power from him as you want, but he still doesn't get tired![/quote']

 

Good implementation. Give it an RSR for the appropriate stat and you have an ability to feed others power that is limited by their ability to take it in and process it.

[The Souljourner]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

So, I added a succor linked to the 0 END UBO (which actually averages more than you'd be able to push), and I think that nicely fixes the problem of not being able to push a power that's 0 END. This is a kind of auto-push. You get a bunch (in this case, 8d6) of extra points in the power and now it's 0 END as well. Yeehaw, go to town, my friend.

 

The whole inherent on stats thing is a neat idea, but it does seem a little kludgy. His recovery really should be able to be drained, it just shouldn't affect his endurance. *shrug* I like the 0 END idea. Sure, I spent about 60 points making various things 0 END, but that's ok, it makes the character do what he's supposed to.

 

I will look into the drowning thing. Maybe life support: does not breathe. I mean, if you have a fusion reaction going on in your stomach, what's a little oxygen deprivation?

 

-Nate

[Silbeg]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

One small negative consequence of 0 End is that any abilities that this is applied to cannot be "Pushed".

Would you mind posting a page reference?

 

I see nothing under 5ER 267 Reduced Endurance.

 

AH... but I see it under 5ER 427 Pushing.

 

Gotcha

[Utech]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

So' date=' I added a succor linked to the 0 END UBO (which actually averages more than you'd be able to push), and I think that nicely fixes the problem of not being able to push a power that's 0 END. [/quote']

 

In games I run that would be a lot better than being able to push a power! I rarely allow players to push their powers. NPCs never do. Basically the same rules as 5ER page 427.

[Checkmate]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

To power someone else's power, what about END Reserve UBO? Sure it would have it's limits, but they'd be pretty high.

 

Also instead of the END and REC Inherent, switch that to the END Reserve too (a seperate one). Leave the stat END at zero and just use the END Reserve for everything.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

To power someone else's power, what about END Reserve UBO? Sure it would have it's limits, but they'd be pretty high.

 

Also instead of the END and REC Inherent, switch that to the END Reserve too (a seperate one). Leave the stat END at zero and just use the END Reserve for everything.

The only downside is the Power itself would have to have an Advantage to switch to using an END Reserve, or work off of one already.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

You could always, "rebuild," Pushing with some kind of Aid/Succor (or extra points on each power) with Side Effects or some other Limitation (Concentration, Extra Time, Requires a Skill Roll, etc.) instead of Increased End Cost. It's a lot of work and potentially a lot more points as well, but would allow you to, "Push," and still make things 0 End. Alternately you could come up with similar house rules for pushing 0 End powers instead of making the character buy it explicitly (for each power?).

[The Souljourner]

Re: Phenomenal Cosmic Power... itty bitty rules question

 

You could always' date=' "rebuild," Pushing with some kind of Aid/Succor (or extra points on each power) with [i']Side Effects[/i] or some other Limitation (Concentration, Extra Time, Requires a Skill Roll, etc.) instead of Increased End Cost. It's a lot of work and potentially a lot more points as well, but would allow you to, "Push," and still make things 0 End. Alternately you could come up with similar house rules for pushing 0 End powers instead of making the character buy it explicitly (for each power?).

 

Succor 3 1/2d6 (standard effect: 10 points), any 0 END power one at a time (+1/4) (22 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (x3 END; -1), Instant (-1/2), Self Only (-1/2), Requires An EGO Roll (No Active Point penalty to Skill Roll; -1/2) 6 Real Points

 

Costs 6 END. For my character, who has 0 END, costs him instead 6 Stun. I originally had it at x5 END so it would cost 10 END just like normal pushing, but losing 10 Stun is pretty harsh. I figure 6 Stun ~= 10 END. Works pretty well and is fairly well balanced, in my opinion. Not bad for 6 points.

 

Don't know that I'll bother, but it's a neat concept.

 

-Nate