Q on a 'New' Disad.

[Wyrm Ouroboros]

Kid Hydro can convert himself into water, absorb it, that sort of thing; it's what he does, natch. However, he usually does it piecemeal, to soak damage (Armor or Damage Reduction), assume a 'giant size' (Growth), or ultra-hasten his movement through water (Swimming). He can also convert himself totally into water, flow under doors, through grates and pipes, that sort of thing -- but he hasn't been fully confident of being able to keep all the parts of 'him' together, hasn't gotten the knack of it down, whatever. Which means that, within a Turn or two (with an ever-increasing probability), he'll 'reconvert' back into normal form, with all the problems it may entail.

 

Q: What level of disad would you give 'Temporally Ablative'?

 

Regular Ablative is a -1, but is inappropriate for this; when you get hit above the armor, it degrades. This degrades automatically, every Phase, whether you want it to or not.

 

Or, possibly, how else would you build the disad? Maybe EGO roll, with a bonus to start, with a -1 or -2 every Time Increment? I dunno.

[McCoy]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

Are you looking for a disad on the character? If so, accidental change.

 

Or a limitation on the power? Burnout.

[Tribal]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

I would think you buy low levels of the Powers you want (maybe he could use the Humidity in the air) .

Then buy an aid (only with Water source nearby) and the fade rate would give you a similar effect.

 

Thats the way I would handle it

[Talon]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

The first question I have is, how long does the character have to remain in Normal form before the Ablative resets?

 

Secondly, don't forget that although this power Ablates automatically after a Turn, it will only ever downgrade one step per Phase (while normal Ablative powers can ablate multiple times if hit multiple times).

 

Also, the fact that you get a free Turn is very helpful. I'd be tempted to keep the Limitation at -1.

 

(As a comparison, 1 Continuing Recoverable Charge of 1 Turn is -3/4 plus -1/2 for Costs END for a total lim of -1 1/4.)

[Dust Raven]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

This looks like a plain ol' Activation Roll to me. You roll every Phase. Eventually a roll is failed and the Power turns off.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

No, what he wants is an "ablative burnout." It starts at 8-, and it goes up by one every phase the PC has. I wrote it for HERO: Combat Evolved (or something very similar to it) none too long ago. I made it -1.

[Wyrm Ouroboros]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

Sort of/essentially, Thia, though switched the other way around. The first Phase, however, the character should always be able to Desol; second Phase, a 15- chance to remain in the desolidified form. Third phase, 14-, so on and so forth. The character only needs to stay in solid form for one Phase in order to 'reset', but when you're 150' underground infiltrating an ultrasecure prison for Powers via the water table/aquifer, it becomes really damn important.

 

I originally set it at a -1 as well, just like Ablative, but the problem is that it'll always decrease... I dunno. -1 for Phase, -3/4 for Turn ... -1/2 for minute?

[Talon]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

Ah...if the "grace period" is only one Phase, I would be inclined to increase the Limitation value to the -1 1/2 range.

[casualplayer]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

Sounds like Requires Skill Roll to me, with modifiers for maintaining powers over time.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

A burnout activation roll (which looks about right - you roll after the power is used) would cost between -0 and 1 1/2.

 

The average figure falls between -3/4 and -1.

 

I'm normally a skinflint, but as this is a constant power I'd allow -1. I appreciate it could often be VERY inconvenient, but so can burnout on flight....

 

Mind you that allows you to use the power and, if it burns out, won't let you use it again for the rest of the session - or some significant time.

 

If you can turn it back on again more quickly (say after 1 phase of non-use) I'd only allow -1/2.

 

I LIKE casualplayer's suggestion: a RSR roll with a time penalty (-1 per phase after the first), which would probably get you an addiitonal -1/4 or -1/2.

 

Say -1/2, then a RSR -1 per 10 points and -1 per phase after the first would give you a -1 limtiation.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

No' date=' what he wants is an "ablative burnout." It starts at 8-, and it goes up by one every phase the PC has. I wrote it for HERO: Combat Evolved (or something very similar to it) none too long ago. I made it -1.[/quote']

 

Sort of/essentially' date=' Thia, though switched the other way around. The first Phase, however, the character should [i']always[/i] be able to Desol; second Phase, a 15- chance to remain in the desolidified form. Third phase, 14-, so on and so forth. The character only needs to stay in solid form for one Phase in order to 'reset', but when you're 150' underground infiltrating an ultrasecure prison for Powers via the water table/aquifer, it becomes really damn important.

 

I originally set it at a -1 as well, just like Ablative, but the problem is that it'll always decrease... I dunno. -1 for Phase, -3/4 for Turn ... -1/2 for minute?

 

I still think this is best represented by a plain old Activation Roll. The GM can always waive the first roll for concept purposes, especially since it's a Constant Power. If you really want to receive penalties over time, borrow the Time Modifiers Limitation (-1/2) from Clairsentience. In any case, this can't really be a Burnout as the character can just turn it on right away (relatively) after it turns off.

[Wyrm Ouroboros]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

Essentially true, yes. It doesn't tend to be a 'combat action' thing, note, more like an 'escape route' / 'infiltrate' version. But if he has to resume his true form while he's oozing through millimeter-wide cracks 150' belowground ... damage each phase as per Teleport Into Solid Objects. Ouch!!

 

Incidentally, I'm also looking at recommending to him to purchase 'Can Affect Real World' on his Strength while in desolid form. Though this is a +2 advantage to be placed on a truly serious Strength total, I'd prefer to lessen it by adding a Disad -- 'NonCombat Grab/Squeeze Only'. This way he could seep around the bottom corner of the sub-sub-sub-basement of the high-tech prison, grab hold of the corner, and *CRUNCH* crumple the corner, enabling penetration into the facility. Disad value?

[Rapier]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

Are you looking for a disad on the character? If so' date=' accidental change.[/quote']

 

Sounds almost like a perfect example of AccChange.

 

AccChange is SO underused.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

Sounds almost like a perfect example of AccChange.

 

AccChange is SO underused.

Agreed. I'd guess that probably a solid third of unusual "What Disad should I use for this?" questions are best simulated with creative use of Accidental Change.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

Agreed. I'd guess that probably a solid third of unusual "What Disad should I use for this?" questions are best simulated with creative use of Accidental Change.

 

Accidental Change is the Transform of the Disad world?

 

 

 

Edit: [facepalm] D'oh! I was trying to be funny, but only after I posted it, it hit me... change = transform... so of COURSE it is...

[alexraccoon]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

As it is a question of the person's confidence go with accidental transform whilst in water form with a variable increment based on time. Also an ego skill roll on the power itself to reflect his state of mind for example once he's calmed down he can transform himself again. I would further allow pluses to remain transformed if there is a sufficient distraction to his mind (like you dont notice you're hungry when you're busy)

[Dust Raven]

Re: Q on a 'New' Disad.

 

Incidentally' date=' I'm also looking at recommending to him to purchase 'Can Affect Real World' on his Strength while in desolid form. Though this is a +2 advantage to be placed on a truly [i']serious[/i] Strength total, I'd prefer to lessen it by adding a Disad -- 'NonCombat Grab/Squeeze Only'. This way he could seep around the bottom corner of the sub-sub-sub-basement of the high-tech prison, grab hold of the corner, and *CRUNCH* crumple the corner, enabling penetration into the facility. Disad value?

 

I've done "Only To Grab/Crush" as a -1. What do you mean by "noncombat"? Is it not as accurate so he can only "attack" non-moving targets? Does it require lots of concentration making it easy to attack him? Does it require longer than a full phase to attempt? All you'd need to do if figure out why it's non-combat and place the appropriate Limitation on it. That way, maybe he can still try it in combat, but at the designated penalties.