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'Constant Instant' Power?


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I know I saw a way to do this somewhere, but I cannot figure out where, so I call upon the transinfinite wisdom of the boardgoers. :)

 

For those of you who watch Xiaolin Showdown, you'll probably figure out what I'm getting at more easily. ;) Using the Fist of Tebigong as an example ...

 

To activate the Fist, you call out its name; it has an Instant effect (you pound stuff with it), however you don't have to call out its name every time you want to swing; the activation lasts a little while after you turn it on, but it doesn't really qualify as Constant because you aren't forced to continuously swing (and, of course, have to roll to hit every time). There are no limits on daily activations of the Fist, so it's not Continuous Charges ...

 

Am I missing something obvious here?

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Re: 'Constant Instant' Power?

 

That could work. I've also used Costs End Only to Activate plus possibly a set of activation Limitations such as Extra Time, Concentration, Gestures, and Incantations, with the final sum of their values halved to represent powers that have to be actively turned on in an encounter, but that then stay on for the, "duration of the scene." This works well for things like laser swords that might be costly to turn on, but can be kept on and used repeatedly in a fight without anything other than a potential Str cost for using them. It's not quite standard, but if your GM's okay with it (or you are the GM), I think it is a fair build.

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Re: 'Constant Instant' Power?

 

Lingering does not reduce a Powers usefulness. It makes any Limitations on a Power that affect how that Power is turned on only apply once per time increment of the Lingering.

 

How useful that is depends entirely on what Limitations affect turning the Power on.

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Re: 'Constant Instant' Power?

 

I know I saw a way to do this somewhere, but I cannot figure out where, so I call upon the transinfinite wisdom of the boardgoers. :)

 

For those of you who watch Xiaolin Showdown, you'll probably figure out what I'm getting at more easily. ;) Using the Fist of Tebigong as an example ...

 

To activate the Fist, you call out its name; it has an Instant effect (you pound stuff with it), however you don't have to call out its name every time you want to swing; the activation lasts a little while after you turn it on, but it doesn't really qualify as Constant because you aren't forced to continuously swing (and, of course, have to roll to hit every time). There are no limits on daily activations of the Fist, so it's not Continuous Charges ...

 

Am I missing something obvious here?

 

I am not sure that anything is needed, at least not without knowing more about the specific situation. Taking the Fist of Tebigong as the example, is the use of the Hand-to-Hand attack actually limited by the "Incantation"? It isn't really, the calling out of the Wus' names when using them is almost more of a genre convention that no one is penalized for than an actual limitation.

 

Working from that standpoint, I would not go with something like an advantage on the power. Instead, I would modify the value of the Limitations on the activation of the power that do not have to be repeated each time, because this ability really only impacts the character in relation to those Limitations. I would not require Wolverine to buy an Advantage to be able to have his claws out, or a warrior in a fantasy game to buy a special sword or naked advantage to walk around with his sword unsheathed and ready for a fight.

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