Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

[Haven Walkur]

Help, please -- does anyone out there know how much the Automaton Powers 'Does Not Bleed' and 'Does Not Take STUN' cost back in Fifth Ed? (I think those were the Power names, buuuut....)

 

And was there some sort of overall cost for even taking Automaton Powers in the first place?

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

 

Well, technically, a PC can't take Automaton powers because, well, you can't take them without being an Automaton, and with no Ego, no self-will and that sort of thing, you don't make a very good PC. Blah blah GM permission blah special cases blah blah.

 

I'm not sure it's technically board-legal for me to post the numbers, in any event ...

[Haven Walkur]

Re: Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

 

So you're basically posting to tell me that you're not going to tell me? Um, thanks, CC.

[Matt Holck]

Re: Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

 

no stunning 15

no bleeding 15

does not take stun 45 (+all defenses are divided by 3)

 

pg 311

[Haven Walkur]

Re: Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

 

Thanks, Matt. Have some Rep in exchange.

[Lucius]

Re: Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

 

Help' date=' please -- does anyone out there know how much the Automaton Powers [i']'Does Not Bleed[/i]' and 'Does Not Take STUN' cost back in Fifth Ed? (I think those were the Power names, buuuut....)

 

And was there some sort of overall cost for even taking Automaton Powers in the first place?

 

No overall cost for "taking them in the first place" but if you you took the "Takes not STUN" power, the cost of all defense is tripled - and "defense" is defined very very very broadly.

 

Also, at the "basic" level, each attack doing one BOD of damage or more causes the automaton to lose one Power, 1 pt SPD, one sense, or 10 STR.

 

(Even Inherent powers can be lost this way. Imagine knocking out a zombies "Life Support" - it coughs up some wormy grave dirt and starts breathing again....)

 

Spending another 15 pts on it means damage has no effect except to subtract from the BOD score - until you hit zero BOD, and are destroyed.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Buying a palindromedary as an autofire automaton

[Haven Walkur]

Re: Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

 

Many thanks, Lucius. That's immensely helpful.

 

Here's some "I Like Lucius" Rep in response.

[Ice9]

Re: Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

 

The "defense powers" thing always struck me as overly broad. IMO, it should only include powers that numerically subtract from damage which has STUN and BODY components.

So definitely yes on PD/ED and Resistant Defense, definitely not Damage Reduction, Desolidification, Power Defense, or Flash Defense.

There are a few powers which I'm not sure about - they can reduce damage, but they also have other uses that may be more significant: Barrier, Growth, and Density Increase.

 

Actually, the ideal solution would be to leave the costs alone but divide all PD/ED (from all powers) by three. Balance is preserved, and things like Growth still work correctly as far as Strength/Reach is concerned.

[Naanomi]

Re: Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

 

Q) Why do giant mecha always get thrown around so much and trash the city when they fight?

 

A) Takes No Stun divided their Size Related Knockback Resistance by 3!

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Automaton Powers in 5th Ed

 

I agree with this. Taking 50% as much BOD from a given attack isn't three times as valuable because you don't take STUN. The Barrier won't block attacks ay more effectively. Damage Negation removes 1 DC of damage.

 

PD and ED are the only real problematic items since much less PD/ED is needed to stop BOD damage than to stop STUN damage. Reducing all PD/ED to 1/3 of the usual results deals adequately with the Automoton who takes no STUN.