The obviousness of changing a VPP

[Christopher]

I have two tricky question:

 

Asuming a character bought a VPP + Power Skill to simulate his magic abilities and asuming no other advantages/limitations are on this VPP and Skill:

- If he changes the selection of his VPP (or tries to), would an enemy know that he just used an full action and is not holding/able to abort to defense directly?

- If an enemy has him in a Cover Maneuver, would he know that his target is not "holding still" but preparing something?

[Steve Long]

Re: The obviousness of changing a VPP

 

That's a good question; I'm surprised it's never come up before.

 

As a default rule the changing of slots in a Power Framework has the same perceivability as that of the Power being changed to: if a character changes to an Obvious power the fact he’s changing is Obvious; if he changes to an Invisible power the fact that he’s doing so is likewise Invisible. An observer won’t necessarily know what specific Power or slot the character’s changing to (though he might, depending on circumstances), but he will know that the character is making a change and is free to draw his own conclusions about that change based on the circumstances. Whether and how the observer reacts to the change is up to him.

 

As always the GM is free to rule otherwise based on common sense, dramatic sense, game balance, and other factors. Situations defined primarily by game terms/rules and not by “real world” considerations often require a certain amount of delicate handling.