power pool question

[Bathawk1]

Hey all I have a question about power pools which hopefully should be easy to answer (yes I'm dumb)

 

I still use Champs 4th edition. After all why go out and upgrade to 5th if 6th is right around the corner tight?

 

But short version what exactly is the "control cost" in a power pool used for? and an example?

[Hyper-Man]

Re: power pool question

 

...

But short version what exactly is the "control cost" in a power pool used for? and an example?

 

The control cost of a VPP is equivalent to the slot cost for a Multipower. Just think of a VPP as a Multipower with an infinite # of slots.

 

Also see the last link in my sig below.

[Bathawk1]

Re: power pool question

 

so if I have a 100 point pool and a 30 point control cost, no one power can have more than 30 active points?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: power pool question

 

Essentially, the Control Cost is what you pay for the privilege of having a pool of points you can assign to whatever Powers you wish. It might help to compare it to a Multipower, which has a Reserve costing X Character Points, and the cost for each slot in the Multipower. The Control Cost is rather like adding up the cost of all those individual slots. Past a certain number of slots, the VPP is plainly more cost-efficient.

 

And welcome to our community! Any further questions you have, don't hesitate to ask.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: power pool question

 

so if I have a 100 point pool and a 30 point control cost' date=' no one power can have more than 30 active points?[/quote']

 

For a standard VPP, the Control Cost is half the Active Point total of the Pool, e.g. for a 100 point Pool the CC would be 50 points. You could reduce the Control Cost to 30 Points by taking Limitations which affect all the Powers in the Pool, which also reduces the cost of individual Powers within the pool, but doesn't affect how much you have to pay for the Pool itself.

 

Conversely, you can apply Advantages to the CC which make the VPP easier to use, such as No Skill Roll To Change or No Time To Change, which makes the Control Cost more expensive but, again, doesn't change the cost of the Pool.

[prestidigitator]

Re: power pool question

 

And the biggest power in the pool isn't determined by the Control Cost, but the size of the pool itself. For your example, no slot (simple or compound power you construct with the VPP) could be greater than 100 Active Points. But note that you could have two 100 Active Point slots constructed with your VPP at the same time, because they could each have Limitations of at least -1, so their Real Cost (which is what you really spend the pool's 100 points on) would be 50 points or less. Make sense? Example:

 

10d6 EB; Area of Effect: Radius (+1) [100 Active]; Requires a Magic Skill Roll (-1/2); Side Effects: 5d6 Speed Drain (-1/2); Extra Time: Full Phase (-1/2) [40 Real]

 

10d6, 10 DEF Entangle [100 Active]; Does Not Prevent the Use of Accessible Foci (-1); Requires a Magic Skill Roll (-1/2); x2 End Cost (-1/2) [33 Real]

 

8 PD/8 ED, 6-hex long Force Wall [60 Active]; Restricted Shape: Sphere (-1/4); Self Only (-1/2); No Range (-1/2) [22 Real]

 

These three powers are legal at the same time. They are all no more than 100 Active Points, and their Real Costs together (40+33+22=95) are also less than 100 points (you could buy another power with a Real Cost of 5 if you could think of one).

[ghost-angel]

Re: power pool question

 

The Control Cost doesn't DO anything. It's a premium you pay on top of the cost of the Pool that allows you to have an infinite number of Powers inside the Pool itself.

 

Everything else about a VPP (total Active Points in a single Power, total number of Real Points that can be utilized at one time) is determined by the Pool Points.