Unified, Linked, or Compound Power

[whitekeys]

I have been having trouble, lately, deciding whether to use Linked or Unified for certain powers - ones which require, as a result of their special effect, two power effects simultaneously. Can you clarify how they should be used? Examples below:

 

1. An attack power that does damage upfront (like a Blast 5d6) and has a percent chance to inflict a 'status condition' (like Flinched, say, as a Drain DCV). Is the Drain Linked to the Blast, because the effect of the Drain can only occur at the point of successful Blast attack (regardless of how you determine the "percent chance")?

 

2. An attack power that does damage over time (like a Blast 1d6+1, Damage Over Time), the amount of damage inflicted then heals the attacker (Healing, Uncontrolled?; Level Dependent on Damage Done by Blast?). Is the Healing Linked to the Blast, Unified with the Blast, or could there be some other Conditional Limitation Only Works Near Target Affected By [blast, Damage Over Time] after making the base Healing power Constant? Would it still need to be Linked, in addition?

 

3. A piece of equipment: the PokeBall, which the forums recently agreed would be built as (a pretty probably-not-legal-and-complicated) Entangle with Backlash plus Extra Dimensional Movement, UAA*. Is it a Compound Power because it's a piece of equipment? Or are the powers Linked/Unified, regardless of the Focus limitation?

 

*To clarify this power, the Extra Dimensional Movement transports the target into, what is essentially, an extra dimensional Entangle. If the target can break out of the Entangle, they are freed from the Extra Dimension and placed back in their Dimension of origin. If they cannot, as a result of Backlash, they are trapped in the Extra Dimension.

 

Thanks

[Steve Long]

I'm not sure what's going on here. I answered this question weeks ago, but for some reason the answer's not showing up. So let's try this again.

 

I don’t currently have access to all of my books and materials, which have been packed up as part of my home renovation project, so I reserve the right to edit or change this answer at a future time.

 

Generally I don’t answer how-to type questions, but in this case there might be some rules benefit so I’ll make an exception.

 

1. I would certainly build this as a Blast with a Linked Drain, the Drain having some sort of Required Roll to indicate a “percent chance to affect target.” But other GMs and players might prefer other ways to achieve the effect.

 

2. This isn’t really a Linked situation, and it doesn’t seem like a Unified Power to me either. I would build the attack and the Healing separately, with a successful attack Triggering the Healing. That way there’s no problem with the fact that the targets of the two separate effects are themselves distinct, and possibly a long way from each other.

 

3. I’m not an expert on the mechanics of the Pokemon Universe, but the approach you suggest seems overly complicated to me. I’d just build it as EDM, UAA, with the defined “does not work” condition being some sort of Required Roll that indicates whether the pokemon manages to break out. The pokemon’s level of power, and specific abilities, might modify the roll. (This is a tad cludgy, since typically you can’t base “does not work” conditions on a roll, but it works OK for a Pokemon Hero campaign where the attack can’t be used against ordinary characters.)