Lighting Rod - Build Question

[Sparxj]

Have a friend trying to build a metal superhero that can absorb energy attacks and heat up.  We have the basics on that.  Then we came up with the idea that the character may actually act like a lighting rod, drawing at least electrical attacks, to her if shot nearby.  We just can’t come up with a passive way this power might work.  This would mean she actually takes the hit, instead of someone else, not dispel it.

 

Any thoughts? 

 

Thanks.

[Killer Shrike]

In the simple version, it might just be a Physical Limitation.

[ScottishFox]

You could probably do a complex build with barrier and adding fully invisible and mobile with the limitations no range, single instance, only to block electrical/energy attacks, and feedback. 

Then use the damage coming in through the feedback limitation on the barrier and Absorption to power up their attacks.

 

Possibly you could do something similar with Reflection (only to reflect attack at yourself) and the Trigger advantage.

 

@Killer Shrike provides an elegant solution, but a limitation has to be limiting.  If their ability to power-up by taking energy hits is actually an advantage for them and the team then it should be built with powers.

[Tom Cowan]

add Area Of Effect (8m Radius; +1/2) to Absorption?  Ask the GM thou, it may be a bit OP

[ScottishFox]

5 minutes ago, Tom Cowan said:

add Area Of Effect (8m Radius; +1/2) to Absorption?  Ask the GM thou, it may be a bit OP

 

Clever idea.  Add a limitation - perhaps Side Effect - so that you're automatically hit by the attack.

 

That should balance the power and possible - get the hero clobbered if a large number of attacks are entering their Absorption area.

 

PS:  I like the character concept for this.  Good stuff.

[Doc Democracy]

I like the idea, if you have an area effect, usable by others, ED defence against electrical attacks, then it means any attacks within the area have less effect against the person targeted while powering up the character.

 

Doc

[Killer Shrike]

2 hours ago, ScottishFox said:

@Killer Shrike provides an elegant solution, but a limitation has to be limiting.  If their ability to power-up by taking energy hits is actually an advantage for them and the team then it should be built with powers.

 

 

Yeah, as always details matter; a fully correct answer would depend on how the rest of the character is built. It is however worth pointing out that by default Absorption does not provide defense against the thing absorbed...so if the character attracts lightning / electricity and takes damage from it...then it may very well be more of a complication than a benefit. Similarly, if the character draws lightning / electricity to themselves, then anything between them and the source of the energy will presumably be hit, so it does not necessarily offer much protection to teammates. Similarly, the hero might not entirely sink either the heat or the electricity (depending upon their Absorption roll)...in which case the excess heat and electricity might very well cause collateral damage. 

 

It is also worth pointing out (depending on how realistic one is being) that not all kinds of metal react to electricity in the same way...they are subject to Ohm's law and have varying conductivity and resistivity. Some metals are highly conductive, allowing electricity to flow thru them while others resist.

 

Also, the OP mentions "heating up"...conductivity of heat is different than conductivity of electricity...also one is measured in kelvins and the other is measured in siemens. Copper happens to have both high thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity, but stainless steel on the other hand is more than an order of magnitude less heat conductive and is something like 30 times less electrically conductive. Heat which is not conducted builds up, and can in extreme conditions result in the metal reaching its melting point.

 

In a superhero physics setting such details get in the way, but in a grittier heroes setting these kinds of flourishes can help add to the grist.

[Oruncrest]

I don't suppose you could just use Missile Deflection, Area Effect with a Side Effect that says that the lightning always hits the character?

 

For FREd:

Quote

• Lightning Rod:  Missile Deflection (Any Ranged Attack), Range (+1/2), Persistent (+1/2), Area Of Effect (4" Radius; +1*) (60 Active Points); Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Deflected Lightning is Reflected onto [Character]; -1), Only Works Against Lightning/ Electical attacks fired at other characters in the AOE Limited Type of Attack (-1/2)

 

For 6th ED:

Quote

Lightning Rod:  Deflection, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Constant (+1/2), Area Of Effect (12m Radius; +3/4) (55 Active Points); Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Deflected Lightning is Reflected onto [Character]; -1), Only Works Against Lightning/ Electical attacks fired at other characters in the AOE Uncommon attack (-3/4)

 

[archer]

5 hours ago, ScottishFox said:

 

 

 

Possibly you could do something similar with Reflection (only to reflect attack at yourself) and the Trigger advantage.

 

 

That was my first thought with some area of effect to it so that it would affect attacks which aren't already aimed at you.

 

However, the rules in Champions Complete say:

 

To Reflect, a character must have prepared to Block (such as by having a Held Action); he cannot Reflect if he Aborted to Block. After the successful Block, the character may then attempt an Attack Roll to hit the target with the Reflected attack

 

I don't think "must have a Block ready to go in order to use this power" would interact, at all, well with the Trigger advantage...it seems (to me at least) that the trigger event would still look to see if there was a Block available then fail whenever there wasn't, or use up your phase whenever there was a Block available. That's probably not how the player would hope the power would work.

 

Now if the GM were willing to wave the "Block" portion of it for the sake of flavor, because the reflected attack could only hit herself, and because it only applied to electrical attacks, that'd work fine.

 

 

[archer]

2 hours ago, Killer Shrike said:

 

Yeah, as always details matter; a fully correct answer would depend on how the rest of the character is built. It is however worth pointing out that by default Absorption does not provide defense against the thing absorbed...so if the character attracts lightning / electricity and takes damage from it...then it may very well be more of a complication than a benefit. Similarly, if the character draws lightning / electricity to themselves, then anything between them and the source of the energy will presumably be hit, so it does not necessarily offer much protection to teammates. Similarly, the hero might not entirely sink either the heat or the electricity (depending upon their Absorption roll)...in which case the excess heat and electricity might very well cause collateral damage. 

 

 

I really like the idea of "Physical Limitation: attracts all nearby electrical attacks to herself". I could see any character with electrical powers or who is made from metal (ala Colossus) going in that direction.

 

If getting hit with those electrical attacks limiting in some way, maybe it's worth some points.

 

If it doesn't limit at all because of Absorption, defenses, or whatever else including "it often protects innocents from electrical attacks", maybe it's worth zero points...or should be built as a power and cost points. Say if her frequently recurring arch-nemesis also uses electrical attacks, the fact that all the attacks hit her rather than the villain's intended target is a huge advantage rather than being a disadvantage. Her arch-nemesis would be unable to interact effectively at all with the surroundings or with her teammates who would just pound him into paste whenever he showed his face.

[massey]

If you wanted to be weird, how about lots of Growth, 0 End Persistent, Invisible, with like a -5 custom limitation "provides no benefits at all" and another -2 "only to be bigger when electrical powers are used".  Buy enough so that you fill up multiple hexes.  So if somebody shoots a lightning bolt that travels near your hex, they end up hitting you accidentally because you're just in the way.

 

[Greywind]

Wouldn't it be easier to refer to the Dive For Cover rules that allows you to interpose yourself in front of another to protect them?

[ScottishFox]

13 hours ago, archer said:

I don't think "must have a Block ready to go in order to use this power" would interact, at all, well with the Trigger advantage...it seems (to me at least) that the trigger event would still look to see if there was a Block available then fail whenever there wasn't, or use up your phase whenever there was a Block available. That's probably not how the player would hope the power would work.

 

Now if the GM were willing to wave the "Block" portion of it for the sake of flavor, because the reflected attack could only hit herself, and because it only applied to electrical attacks, that'd work fine.

 

It seems like Triggered abilities ignore action economy to some degree.  One of the moves in Fantasy HERO is Riposte which is a HTH-KA that is triggered whenever the hero blocks an attack.

 

Since they've just blocked they wouldn't normally have an attack to use.  If the Trigger is bought to the level that it automatically and immediately resets I think you'd be good to go.

[mallet]

Electrokinesis. Character can control electricity and lightning, etc... build it like Pyrokinesis. Telekinesis but with electricity instead of Fire. If you don't want full control of it, maybe add limitations like "only to pull directly to the character", etc...