Delaying others' effects

[Aversill]

How do you delay other peoples' powers from going off?  Say, if someone has a poison that takes a phase to activate (Time Delay limitation), how would you alter that delay (say, with a Slow Poison spell)?  Can you buy limitations on other peoples' powers, usable as an attack (like a Naked Advantage)?  Or am I looking for something else here?

[Hyper-Man]

A lot depends on what the power is that you are trying to delay.

 

In the poison example the first questions to ask would be "how is the poison built" and "what is the defense against the poison?".  It could be an attack built with the Attack Versus Alternate Defense Limitation vs. Life Support: Chemical agents or it could be a Drain and the defense would be Power Defense. 

 

To build something like "Slow Poison" just use a limited form of the appropriate defense. 

[bret]

Sounds like more of a Suppress. You are preventing the power from taking effect for a period of time, but after that time the power works.

 

Suppress poison in the example.

[Christopher]

At least for heroic games, Poisions are often built with: HKA/Drain/Blast, AVAD (LS: Immunity to specific Poision, NND) or AVAD (Power Defense), Damage over Time.

 

As bret said:

"Supress Poision, Only delays effect" could work agaisnt Poison, but it depends how they are built.

 

Alternatives to Supress:

LS: Immunity to Poision, Only Delays effect (for the NND version)

Power Defense, Only Delays effect (for Power Defense version)

 

Once you have a full effect, you can limit it to have a lesser effect - if you can totally stop the poison, you can limit that power to only delay the Poison.

 

 

One way to Modify Powers while they are still on the users side is Transform. Among the things it can do is "imposing a Limitation on a target’s power but
doesn’t totally deprive him of its use".

You could even define it as "Transform Posion to version with longer delay" and leave the details of wich Limitation is changed till it is actually used.

 

Let's look at some actall Poison builds from the books:

"Crimson Agony Poison: rka4d6, nnD (defense is life support [appropriate immunity]; +1), Does BoDy(+1) (180 active points); oaF Fragile (easily spilled or diluted liquid; -1¼), no range (-½), no knockback (-¼), 1 charge (-2). total cost: 36 points."

This Power is purely isntant. Only preventive actions would work.

For the Supress/LS/Power Defense builds casting "Slow Poison" on a Character in Advance would work.

The only way to get the Transform/Drain build to work preventively would be to cast it on the Flask/Poisoned dagger before someone is hit.

 

"Slow-Acting Poison: rka1d6, nnD (defense is life support [appropriate immunity];+1), Does BoDy (+1),

Damage over time (4 damage increments, 20 Minutes between increments; +¼) (49 active points);

oaF Fragile (easily spilled or diluted poison; -1¼), no range (-½), extra time (onset time of 20 Minutes; -2½), no knockback (-¼), 1 charge (-2).

total cost: 6 points."

This power is "instant with lasting effects". As such it can be Drained, Surpresed, or Transformed while it is in the target. Also the defense can be applied while the Onset time is running.

For this version you could Transform it while in the body or still in the flask. All you have to do is expand/worsen the already existing Extra Time Limitation.

 

A MinorTransform could bump up one Increment on the Time Chart (-1/2 more Limitation)

A Major Transform could easily go two increments (-1 more Limitation).

A Sever Transform could do anything, including completely removing the Poison (from the Sheet, from the Flask, from the Weapon or from the Target). Severe can totally disable a Character, taking a Power is a small thing.

[Lucius]

 

IN GENERAL, Suppress or Drain are good ways to slow down someone else's effect.

 

In the specific case of poisons, if the campaign generally defines poisons such that some kind of immunity can stop them, buying Life Support: Immunity, Usable on Other, can keep a poison from doing more harm but doesn't undo what it had already done.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary wants to know how to hasten someone else's effect

[Aversill]

I forgot about suppress, probably because I've always thought about it stopping someone from using the power and not stopping the effect itself.  Still trying to get used to this whole 'can target  the power itself' kind-of-thing.

 

Assuming I go with the transform option, what Body am I trying to beat?

[Hyper-Man]

The character's Body.

[Greywind]

Melee attacks are usually good for a beating.

[Hyper-Man]

Melee attacks are usually good for a beating.

Look!

It's a Pun Of Opportunity

 

*aka POO

[Christopher]

I forgot about suppress, probably because I've always thought about it stopping someone from using the power and not stopping the effect itself.  Still trying to get used to this whole 'can target  the power itself' kind-of-thing.

 

Assuming I go with the transform option, what Body am I trying to beat?

Some options

Body of Attacker. This is what you do with preemtive Transforms if the power is inate

Body of the Focus: Should be equal to the PD/ED provided from Active Points (usually 1/5 AP). The propable way if the power is on a Focus (poisoned dagger or poison flask)

Body of the Target: When the power is already in the target. But would not really make sense here that durable targets are harder to de-poison.

Body of the Power: another approach if the Inate Power that is "in Flight"* or already in the target. Like the Focus approach, calulate a BODY based on Active Points.

 

*Either Drain or Disple had rules for "hitting a Instant power while it is in Transit". No point in not including Transforms and the like. APG I 170 has more extensive Rules about the "Interference" maneuver wich is about hitting one Ranged Attack with another (Deflect for powers wich cannot normally be defelcted).