Hey there. Have quite a few questions about the Focus and Independent limitations. I only have the 4th addition rule book, so maybe 5th addition is clearly, but to me the rules are very vague.
1. Can a villain kill a hero (or possibly another villain) and permanently take a universal focus?
2. What about someone whose character gimmick is a thief, could you play a focus thief, against other players or NPC. If so how long could they keep them. Could that character turn around and sell them to another player, until the original owner was able to retrieve it. Or, is this only the case if the power has Independent hook to it.
3. What about guns and the such, according to my interpretation to the rules, in a superhero campaign a character must pay for everything including mundane things like guns. So what's the point of spending points on the Resource Perk (especially the 15pt gazzilionare one)? Were reasonably if one had enough money and the resource, they could by anything: robots, tanks, M-60s, etc.
4. What about Contacts and Favors? If one's Contact is a weaponsmith, shouldn't they be able to purchase weapons (or maybe even more exotic things depending on who or what the contact specialty is) without having to pay character points for them? If so how long can they keep them? Until the end of the adventure, until they are broke or lost in the heat of battle?.
5. What if someone's universal focus is a "Death Ray Ring" and a opposing character successfully wrestles it away from the owner. They then turn around and use it on the original owner and turn him to cinders, is this a free item or are the points used up when the original character is dead? Once again is it all up to whether or not Independent is involved?
Please let me know the answers to these questions (and any other clarifications you would like to add), they have been a thorn in my GM side for a long time. Appreciate your time.
