Recharging Things?

[CrosshairCollie]

A quick How To:

 

A power that restores Charges to a device 'in the field'. Obviously, charges recover on their own eventually (unless you take that big -2), but how would you design (with a minimum of handwavium) the ability for Electroman to restore the batteries of Lazerblast's laser gun (4d6 RKA, 12 charges ... a pity the poor fool bought the gun with Charges and not an END Reserve, it'd be so much easier).

 

?

[Threnody]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

A quick How To:

 

A power that restores Charges to a device 'in the field'. Obviously, charges recover on their own eventually (unless you take that big -2), but how would you design (with a minimum of handwavium) the ability for Electroman to restore the batteries of Lazerblast's laser gun (4d6 RKA, 12 charges ... a pity the poor fool bought the gun with Charges and not an END Reserve, it'd be so much easier).

 

?

 

Howdy!

 

I'd just go for the direct way: Transform. Make it 5 or 6 dice of Major (ya might sneak on by with Minor).

 

Or make it 2 or 3 dice, and slap on "Partial Transform" and say the fraction of BODY done is the fraction of charges you got back.

 

There may be somethin' cleverer, but I can't think it up.

[gojira]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

Transform if Electroman does it all the time. If it's only occasional, then just a Power Tricks roll will do. (This assumes Laserblast's gun is powered by an electrical charge. Hmm, maybe the gun is AC, and Electroman is DC?)

[Thrakazog]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

I think some form of succor aid should be able to handle this duty easily.

[Gary]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

I wouldn't allow it unless it was a one shot deal. The person with charges likely saved a bundle of points and shouldn't be able to circumvent it.

 

If he wants to recharge in the field, buy his charges as Recoverable Charges.

[CBikle]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

If he wants to recharge in the field, buy his charges as Recoverable Charges.

 

Yeah, why not just buy it as a variant of that (but perhaps just -1 level on the charges chart instead of 2, to represent the fact that the charges are a little less recoverable.

[Thrakazog]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

Along those lines, would someone with a gadget pool only changed in a lab or foci charges that only recover in a lab be able to recover said charges or reconfigure said pool if the local big city PD mobile crime lab truck pulled up, assuming the pool or foci are of the science covered by the mobile lab?

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

I have modelled this power before by figuring what the normal END cost is for the item (in this case 6 END for a 4d6 RKA) and have it recharge at that rate with a Healing power with a custom advantage, like so

 

3d6 Healing vs. END, Can heal Charges of appropriate SFX (+¼), END per Charge = (Active Cost of Power being recharged/10), Act 14-, Side Effect: 2d6 RKA Explosion, centered on equipment being recharged. Active: 37, Real: 18

 

I did this in a heroic level campaign, where equipment being recharged was already "free" so there was no problem with someone saving points where they should not have. Besides which, when it failed to work (hey, it is tricky recharging a hydrogen fuel cell without proper connectors) the equipment was effectively destroyed and it stung a bit (or a lot), so it was only a last resort sort of thing anyway. LazerBlast might not be too eager to get a recharge if he knows his gun might be melted and his eyebrows burned off if it didn't go quite right.

 

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"Some people spread joy wherever they go. Others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde

[Armitage]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

H5R, p. 112. Adjustment Powers.

 

"With the GM's permission, a character can use an Adjustment Power just to affect a target power's Charges. Divide the Active Points in the power by the number of Charges it has. Using the resulting "point total" for each Charge, apply the adjustment Power as per normal."

 

So in your example, 5 points of Aid would restore 1 Charge to the RKA until it faded or the Charges were used.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

Along those lines' date=' would someone with a gadget pool only changed in a lab or foci charges that only recover in a lab be able to recover said charges or reconfigure said pool if the local big city PD mobile crime lab truck pulled up, assuming the pool or foci are of the science covered by the mobile lab?[/quote']

 

I generally assume so. If the lab/arsenal in question has to be that character's private stash for some reason, I'd probably increase the limitation value for the pool-changing limit.

 

On the downside, of course, as far as pool reconfiguration, he'd be stuck with what could be feasibly found in the lab in question. Great if you just raided a VIPER arsenal, not so good if you're raiding a cop shop in Podunk, Indiana.

[Lucius]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

The only other thing that occurred to me is to buy Charges as a Naked Advantage.

 

However, that's only one more idea in a crowd of good ones.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

I get a charge out of the palindromedary

[SteveZilla]

Re: Recharging Things?

 

H5R, p. 112. Adjustment Powers.

 

"With the GM's permission, a character can use an Adjustment Power just to affect a target power's Charges. Divide the Active Points in the power by the number of Charges it has. Using the resulting "point total" for each Charge, apply the adjustment Power as per normal."

 

So in your example, 5 points of Aid would restore 1 Charge to the RKA until it faded or the Charges were used.

 

I like this for a couple of reasons. It's already in the book and it tracks with the price break that taking Charges gave. If the power has scads of charges, it's very easy to give it one (or a few) more charges. If the power has only one charge, then the whole active points of the power would have to be aided for it to get another charge.