Dropping defences

[Sean Waters]

Re: Dropping defences

 

Sounds a lot like an 'Always On' Power Defence to me.

 

You could have it 'normal' i.e. it does not interfere with beneficial adjustment on you even in combat , or reduces ALL adjustments unless specifically dropped, or reduces all adjustments and there is nothing you can do about it.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Dropping defences

 

A) Power Defense is Persistent. You don't turn it "on" and "off". It's just on.

 

The rules explicitly state what it does:

 

A character with Power Defense is especially resistant to Drains, Transfers, Transforms, and related attacks. The character can, AT HIS OPTION, also apply Power Defense against Aid. Each point of Power Defense costs 1 character point.

 

When an attack against which Power Defense applies is used on the character, he subtracts his Power Defense from the attack. Any remaining points of effect in the attack apply normally to him. Power Defense does not cost END to use.

 

Power Defense is not Resistant, but characters can purchase Damage Resistance for it.

 

Now, Heal isnt specifically mentioned along w/ Aid, but

 

A) Heal is just a variation on Aid

though it is targeted Heal isn't an ATTACK power, and its effects are not harmful

C) if a Aid or Heal or Succor or some other normally beneficial effect were harmful somehow due to advantages such as "Does Knockback" (a rather silly construct some people seem to think is funny), then personally I would qualify it as an attack and allow PowD to apply. However if a player had taken a susceptibility to Heal, etc or something similar on their character I wouldn't allow it since the player opted to define such an effect as something harmful to their dude and allowing PowD to apply would dilute the impact of it.

[Cernenus]

Re: Dropping defences

 

Seems to me that both the FAQ and the description that Killer Shrike quoted for us are fairly clear on this.

 

That being said, we've had characters in our campaign who took some disadvantages/limitations to their power defense such that it always applied to ANY kind of adjustment power. Not my char so I'm not 100% sure of the exact limitation or point value, but it might have been 'always on' or 'no conscious control'. This was part of their character concept. The defense was provided by their power armor and it was deemed that it resisted ANY attempt to modify the character's body and was not sophisticated enough to tell if something was helping or hurting.