Any ideas?

[CaptD]

I'm looking for ideas on how to simulate a telekinetic shield that comes up automatically when the character is attacked. He wrote it as a missle deflect that is basically always on. I vetoed it because I don't allow missle deflect to be used that way. I had him change it to a higher DCV for ranged combat but that still isn't working for me because it makes his dcv too high. There only so many AOE or Explosions to throw at the character. (Villians can't hit him otherwise.) If I just give the villans combat levels then It will hurt the rest of the team alot.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Any ideas?

 

Well, does it need to work out of Combat and be always reliable?

 

Force Field: Trigger

 

Or is it just a "Field that appears anywhere an attack comes from that protects him when knows he's in combat" ?

 

And Defense Power with the SFX: A telekinetic shield that appears when he is attacked.

 

Armor; Visible could be a good example.

[Daemon]

Re: Any ideas?

 

Ranged DCV isn't a bad idea. The character is still vulnerable to melee and Mental attacks.

 

Missile Deflection can't really be set up as always on, it's a declared or abort action and doesn't happen automatically. ( Though I did have a powered-armor character that sleazed this ). If the player wants to apply Uncontrolled, the standard rules for it apply ( namely, there has to be a common and obvious way to bypass it ). Missile Deflection also does not protect against AOE, Mental Attacks, or Melee, so it's really in the same boat as Ranged DCV.

 

He needs to define the effect a little tighter; typically active defenses are subject to positioning and target awareness rules- like if the character is surprised or attacked from behind, or from concealment. The character would need Danger Sense to be able to react to all incoming attacks, in addition to an active defense like MD or DCV levels.

 

Like ghost-angel said, it's probably best simulated as a resistant defense of some kind, probably Force Field, but conceivably Force Wall. I'll post some examples momentarily ( I'm bored ).

[Daemon]

Re: Any ideas?

 

here you go..

 

TK Shield: Missile Deflection (Any Ranged Attack), Uncontrolled - Does not work on energy-based attacks (+1/2) (30 Active Points); Costs Endurance (-1/2), Visible- Area of shielding is visible to the naked eye (-1/4) ( Real Cost: 17 )

 

This shield deflects physical incoming objects that the character can perceive. It does not work on lasers or other non-physical attacks. Mental attacks, AOEs, and Melee are all effective against it, as are hidden or surprise attacks. It costs END, and is Uncontrolled, so the character needs to fuel it. Additionally, Missile Deflection's roll ablates as more attacks come in between the character's actions; -2 for the second and another -2 every successive attack. This is a weakness for an Uncontrolled power, since the character cannot choose which attacks to Deflect and which not to. A few thugs with Autofire weapons could easily overwhelm it. This is a pretty balanced power even if the character buys up CSLs with Missile Deflect.

 

 

TK Shield: +5 with Ranged Combat (25 Active Points); Costs Endurance (-1/2), Visible (-1/4) ( Real Cost: 14 )

 

Basic DCV levels that cost END, so they're not Persistent. Again, no defense against AOE, Mental, Melee, concealed or surprise attackers. This is a pretty balanced power on its own.

 

 

TK Shield: Force Wall 1" (8 PD), Trigger- When attacked physically at range (Activating the Trigger is an Action that takes no time, Trigger requires a Full Phase to reset, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; +1/4), Transparent to ED Attacks (+1/2) (35 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2) ( Real Cost: 12 )

 

This is a weird power. Trigger states that the Trigger condition can be activated by anything the character can normally perceive, so this power would activate regardless of whether the character actually perceives the incoming attack- in other words, it will protect him from surprise or invisible attackers. However, the character only gets one activation for every one of his Phases, so the power could be tricked into activation by a distracting attack. Then a second attacker slams the character from an unprotected side. Additionally, the power costs END, but the character doesn't control the activation, so he could be paying 2 END every Phase whether he wants to or not. It is a PD barrier, so it offers no defense versus Mental, Energy, or Adjustment powers.

 

 

TK Shield: Force Field (10 PD/0 ED), Trigger- When physically attacked at range (Activating the Trigger is an Action that takes no time, Trigger resets automatically, immediately after it activates, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; +3/4) (17 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2) ( Real Cost: 6 )

 

Basically the same power as above, only built on Force Field. This time, the field comes on and stays on as long as the character keeps taking attacks. This will drain 2 END per phase as long as the character is under fire. It's not directionally weak, but suffers all the same weaknesses as the Force Wall example above.

 

 

What I think you should be suspicious of is the character buying a lot of Danger Sense. Additionally, with the active defenses ( MD and DCV ) what you want to look out for is the character buying lots of Resistant Defense on top of them.

 

This sort of thing tends to be self-balancing in the long run, in my opinion. Characters spending a lot on defenses aren't spending a lot on attacks, so they may run into the classic brick situation where they are simply unable to affect their opponent. The opponent may have lots of Movement, or Concealment type powers, or very high defenses on his own. Overspecializing brings it's own weaknesses. Find the area the defensive character skimped on and exploit it with Adjustment Powers, Mental Powers, or situations where his defenses aren't useful- like chasing someone down or winning a negotiation. Challenging characters isn't about bringing stuff against their strengths- it's bringing it against their weaknesses.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Any ideas?

 

It's just a SFX for defense. If it only works vs. Ranged then its got a limitation on it. NBD

[Sean Waters]

Re: Any ideas?

 

There's nothing wrong IMO with a character who has + 10 DCV against ranged attacks, defined as a TK deflection shield. I mean, it is a bit extreme, but so long as there are still plenty of ways the character can be hit - in melee - for example - then I wouldn't sweat it too much. Even then, ranged attacks can get to him if he does not perceive them. We sometimes worry about homogenising characters too much and something quite extreme can be interesting now and then.

 

Of course if this IS actually meant to be a telekinetic shield, it is unlikely that it would affect some types of ranged attack, for instance, lasers.

 

Personally I'd probably let him away with the triggered missile deflect, which at least means you can probably slip a shot or two past defences if you get everyone to target him at once.

[sbarron]

Re: Any ideas?

 

It's just a SFX for defense. If it only works vs. Ranged then its got a limitation on it. NBD

This is the right answer.

 

Activating a power is a zero phase action. So as soon as this character realizes he is in combat, he can activate his shield with no loss of time...or, you could say, automatically.

 

I'd probably build this as a forcefield if I were doing it. To me, that's a shield. If the character is actually preventing each attack from hitting him, then I'd go with the missile deflect or +DCV. Or if he's just making turbulance around himself, then maybe just +DCV. Personally, I like my defenses to always work when they're on, which is why I'd go with FF.