Questions re: Adjustment Powers & "Unified Power"

[Soleil Noir]

The superhero "Hall Monitor" is attempting to apprehend "Joe Cool" -- a supervillain with a suite of Ice-related powers (including an Ice Slide defined as extra Running), all bought with the "Unified Power" Limitation.  To keep him from getting away, Hall Monitor zaps Joe Cool with his Drain vs. Running...:

 

1.) Who gets to decide where the Drained Points in Running come from -- does Hall Monitor get to pick, or can Joe Cool, do the points get split 50/50, or do they get Drained from both in proportion to how much each is worth (e.g.; if Joe has 12m in normal Running and 24m from his Ice Slide, 1/3 of the points come from his regular Running and 2/3 from the Ice Slide)?

 

2.) If Joe Cool's legs are completely paralyzed (i.e.; his natural Running has been Drained down to zero), can he still use the additional Running that his Ice Slide Power provides to move around?

 

After immobilizing Joe Cool, Hall Monitor then goes after Max Micro, a size-changing villain with a suite of "Unified" growth and shrinking-related powers (including the Growth Power).  Again, Hall Monitor busts out his Running Drain.

 

3.) Since one benefit of the Growth Power is increased Running, can Hall Monitor Drain ONLY the additional meters of Running that Growth provides?  Or does he have to Drain the value of the entire level of Growth that provides the additional Running, before those extra meters in Running go away?

 

4.) If Hall Monitor Drains ONLY the Running aspect of the Growth power, to what extent are the other Unified Powers affected by the Drain?

 

Thanks in advance for your time and insight.

[Steve Long]

1. I’m going to restate this question generically to make sure everyone knows what I’m answering (and that I understand what you’re asking).

 

Q:  Suppose a character buys an additional amount of a Characteristic, Running, Leaping, Swimming, or some other ability he already has as a power with the Unified Power (-¼). If an attacker Drains that ability, what’s Drained first — the inherent portion of the ability or the portion bought as a power?

 

A:  In most cases the answer is “it doesn’t matter” — it’s all one ability for purposes of Drain and Unified Power, so which is lost “first” is irrelevant. If the GM feels that it does matter, apply the Drain to the bought-as-power portion first, unless he believes common and dramatic sense, special effects, or other game considerations would affect the situation. For example, a mental power defined as “I reduce your brain’s ability to control how you move” might affect a character’s inherent Running before Running he’s bought as a power (as, say, Ice Slides or Friction Control). But even in that case, it probably doesn’t matter which gets affected “first.”

 

2.  Generally speaking, no. If a character buys a power defined as adding to something else, and that something else doesn’t work or can’t be used (for whatever reason), he can’t use the “added” power either. But again, the final call is up to the GM based on common sense, dramatic sense, logic, special effects, the phase of the moon, and other factors.

 

3-4.  Unless the GM rules otherwise for some reason (see above ), a Drain Running applies to all of a character’s Running, regardless of whether it’s his standard Running 12m, extra Running he’s bought, Running from Growth or a Usable By Others power, or any other source.

 

In the case of Growth (or the like), Draining the Running the Power provides wouldn’t ordinarily affect the rest of the abilities the Power also provides. However, if the entire Growth ability is bought with Unified Power, and the Drain affects any one of the powers linked by Unified Power, then the GM may, in his discretion, decide to affect the entire Growth Power rather than just the Running. This may result in less of the Running being Drained (an odd result for a specific type of Drain like Drain Running), but is consistent with the nature of Unified Power.