On VPP UBO gadgets and Continuing Charges

[BoloOfEarth]

In 6E1:370, you state:

Quote

If a power with Continuing Charges is bought through a Multipower or VPP, and the character switches the Framework to another slot after using a Continuing Charge, the Continuing Charge does not immediately turn off. It continues to affect the target or area until its duration expires.

 

There has been some disagreement about whether, as soon as a UBO power with Continuing Charge is activated, those points are now freed to be re-used in the VPP, or if those points are unavailable to the VPP owner until either the duration expires or the next day.  To me, the above quoted rule indicates that the points are immediately freed to be re-used.

 

Example:  Maker uses her 25-point gadget VPP to make an invisibility belt [Invisibility to Sight Group, UOO (+1/4), IIF (-1/4), 1 Continuing Charge of 5 Minute Duration (-3/4) -- 25 AP,  12 RP] for her teammate Pops to use.  After Pops activates that belt, does Maker have 25 points to use in her VPP, or 13 points?  And if the latter, does she only have 13 points in the VPP Pool for the rest of the day, or does she have 25 points in the Pool after the duration expires?

 

Edit to add:  Basically, is a power on a Continuing Charge independent of the VPP Pool as soon as it's activated?

[Steve Long]

Mea culpa -- I had to answer quickly yesterday and in the process forgot about a couple things. So I have revised my answer, as follows:

 

In the situation you describe, the VPP pool points assigned to the Invisibility Belt remain unavailable to the character with the VPP until the character with the Belt returns it. The Belt continues to function, and the recipient character could use its Charge each day for its 5 minute duration. That being the case, those VPP points remain “locked into” that power, and thus cannot be used for some other power.

 

Furthermore, for the Charges Limitation to have any meaning in a VPP, there has to be some restriction on how quickly the character with the VPP can get those points back. Otherwise the character could create a slot with just a few Charges (thus getting a hefty Limitation), then after he uses up all the Charges he can just create a new slot that’s exactly the same — with the result that the Charges Limitation effectively doesn’t restrict him at all.

 

How to handle this is up to the GM, based on common sense, dramatic sense, game balance, how the character’s VPP functions, and similar considerations. Some possibilities include:

 

—reduce the value of the Charges Limitation, possibly all the way to -0

 

—require VPP pool points assigned to a slot with Charges to remain allocated to that slot for a minimum of 1 Day

 

Given the potential complexity of the issue, it's entirely possible I'm still overlooking something. If so, please feel free to PM me or post a new question, and I'll try to sober up long enough to answer coherently.