A Bit of a Stretch

[Dr.Device]

I've got a few questions about stretching:

 

1. What happens to a stretching character who is restrained in two or more places at opposite extents of his stretching when his stretching power turns off (voluntarily or otherwise).
   For example, Flexo is using his 6" of stretching to punch Thuggo, 6" away. Thuggo, however, has cleverly held an action and grabs Flexo's arm in his iron grip. At the same moment, Thuggo's partner sneaks up behind Flexo and puts him in a headlock. The combined stun renders Flexo unconscious (or just stunned). Since Stretching is not persistent, it turns off. What happens to Flexo?
    
   
   1. 
      
   2. He automatically snaps free of one of the two bricks.
      
   3. He remains stretched, and must continue paying END, even once that starts doing stun.
      
   4. He remains stretched but doesn't have to pay END until and unless he recovers enough to act.
      
   5. Something else.
      

 

[*]Does the same thing, or something different happen to FreeHand, whose stretching is bought with Does Not Cross Intervening Space in the same predicament?

 

[*]What happens to a stretching character with Does Not Cross Intervening Space if the area their stretched part is in gets cut off?

For example, Freehand (6" Stretching, Does Not Cross Intervening Space, no Noncombat Stretching) is reaching into the open vault to disable the security camera when Captain Justice slams the vault door closed, with Freehand's hand still inside. What happens to Freehand's hand?

1. It's trapped inside the vault until he can get the door open.
   If this is the case:
   
   
2. Can he continue to move his hand around in the vault, as long as it stays within 6"?
   
3. What happens when he tries to get further than 6" from the vault?
   

   [*]He can just turn off his stretching and his hand reappears on his wrist.

   [*]His hand is severed. I hope he can regenerate limbs.

   [*]Something else.

    

   [*]How do senses interact with stretching?

   1. Can a character with Stretching with appropriate special effect stretch one eye around a corner to see what's going on?
      
   2. How about stretching two eyes around different corners (assuming enough stretching)?
      
   3. How about an ear to hear what's going on?
      

He can't without pulling his hand off?
He can, but his hand becomes useless until he comes back within 6".

[Steve Long]

Re: A Bit of a Stretch

 

I’ve answered all your questions below, but I should note in general that to a large extent you’re asking about common sense and dramatic sense issues that are usually best left to the GM. There’s no need for rules to define every “realistic” aspect of Stretching, so the GM should feel free to ignore what I’ve said below and do what he wants if he thinks another approach makes more sense.

 

1. He remains Stretched but doesn’t have to pay END until he recovers from being Stunned or awakens. This may expose him to various perils — such as waking up to find himself tied around a lamppost.

 

2. Same result, though visually it may look a little different and have different practical implications, which are left to the GM to resolve as needed.

 

3. Generally in that situation, whether the Stretching has the Does Not Cross Intervening Space Advantage or not, the character maintains control of whatever parts of his limbs aren’t restrained. In your example, the part of the character’s arm between his shoulder and the vault door is probably restrained (though he might be able to move so that he creates some “slack” that he can use), but the part of the limb inside the fault remains movable and usable. However, unless the character can see (or otherwise perceive) inside, that may not do him much good.

 

Regardless, a character cannot exceed his maximum inches of Stretching. If he has, say, Stretching 6” and reaches into the vault with it, he can’t Stretch any further once his arm is trapped by the shutting of the door. If he’d only Stretched 5”, he’d have 1” of Stretching left to use. Furthermore, the character can’t get his arm out of the vault door by turning off his Stretching (any more than a character can escape from a Grab by “turning off” a limb or his STR). He’s got to pay END to maintain the Stretching until he can free himself or passes out (in which case see above).

 

4. As a default rule, while a character could probably Stretch his neck (and thus his head) around a corner to see something, he can’t Stretch individual sensory organs (though of course the GM can permit this if he wants to). A better approach is to buy this as a Limited form of Clairsentience; see UMM 166 for an example power.