Question(s) About Naked Advantage

[Lectryk]

I'm having a discussion with a friend who played 4th Edition and is return to 6th, about the use/application of NA. I'd like to ask you some questions to help frame my thinking, in replying to him.

 

The description says:
"There are two types of naked Advantages:
naked Advantages bought to apply to any one
of a group of powers (like the Autofire example
above); and a naked Advantage bought to apply to
a specific power (like the STR example above)."

My contention is that this leads to a limit on the number of powers - all drains, all blasts, etc, whatever a player defines (but it limits the selection) - and his that this means the NA could apply to whatever power you have - offensive, defensive, movement, etc, if the group is defined as 'all powers a character has'.

If, as GM, he chooses to allow it to apply to all powers, it's his call. My feeling is that 'all powers a character has' was/is not the intent of 'group'. Is there anything that states any limitations, or helps to conceptualize any scope on what a group may contain? How big is the bucket?

I can't find any threads discussing this, but since NA came into 5th Edition we're talking a 12-13 year deep dive, and I don't think the site's archives go back that far (if it came up and was settled before.  The only relevant post I found in 2009).

 

Edit:  I did a search using google and the term+sitename.  Maybe I didn't construct the terminology correctly, but no on topic hits that way, either.

[eepjr24]

This is one for the rules forum, I would say. RAW he could certainly make that case as the GM. It is going to radically change point values for characters, since I could set the group as "All fire based powers" on my fire using hero and then buy:

 

30 RP, No End Cost on up to 60 AP of Fire Powers

 

And if others are doing it, everyone would figure out an SFX to apply this to, so eventually it would balance the campaign to that. The only real trouble is that it would make using pre-written content much more difficult.

 

Personally, as a GM I would not allow this except in very narrow applications where it was not possible to buy it in other ways. I use the book write up as a primary example. Randall cannot buy AP on the powers without a Naked Advantage, because the powers are through a universal focus or power bought with money (depending on the campaign).

 

- E

[Hyper-Man]

Here are some additional thoughts to consider when dealing with Naked Advantages...

 

Normally any Advantages purchased for a power must always be used with the power.

 

There are a couple of easy ways around this.

• Variable Advantage
• Frameworks like Multipower and VPP that allow multiple versions of an ability to be constructed

 

So I would ask the player what they are trying to accomplish by using the Naked Advantage construction that can't be done more easily with these other methods.

 

For instance, the Naked Autofire example in the book is designed for Heroic games where characters don't pay points for equipment like guns.  It isn't needed for a superhero game.

 

HM

[Hyper-Man]

Here is a thread that deals with converting 4e characters to 6e.

Starting on page 4 the conversion of Solitare deals with using Naked Advantage.

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/89527-looking-for-iconic-crusader-and-starburst-from-bbb/?p=2389892

 

HM

[Lucius]

 

Even if one accepts that the possible "group" is "All My Powers" that doesn't mean "At once!"

 

If the player wants a Naked Advantage to apply to more than one Power at the same time (such as 0 END on all Powers that cost END, which would often be used more than one at a time) then the Naked Advantage has to either be bought more than once, or cover the TOTAL Active Points of ALL Powers in use.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Now the palindromedary wants to put the Advantage of Autofire on the Naked Advantage to apply it to multiple Powers at once....

[DasBroot]

A naked advantage is still an advantage - if you're playing a game with a 60 AP limit, for example, you won't be able to get any mileage out of a naked advantage that changes the active cost to 90 (at least on a regular basis: as GM I might, depending on the player, allow a temporary exceeding of the cap if the naked advantage had a very limited number of charges. 

 

Even In an uncapped game, depending on the naked advantage, there may not be any advantage in having it apply to 'all powers' over simply baking into whatever you were trying to apply it to.