What is your favourite underated trait, power or ability?

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Poodle
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What is your favourite underated trait, power or ability?

Post by Poodle »

Someone on this board was talking about how enhanced trait is hugely underutilised, how people just use it for ability scores when it is much more flexible than that.

My two favourites are 'grappling finesse' (because it means you can now be an aikido/jujitsu master without being a weightlifter and 'triggered' just because I like tge idea of leaving landmines behind. I suspect it is also more useful than I realise.

A quick question though. I know it is only for instant duration powers but could you use it for things like 'summon minion' so that when the party steps into the room the monster appears? If not how would you do that?

The other power that I think doesn't get much love is elongation. I think it is a cool power (in a dorky kind of way).
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination circles the world. -Albert Einstein.
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JDRook
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Re: What is your favourite underated trait, power or ability?

Post by JDRook »

Poodle wrote: Mon Jul 29, 2019 9:52 pmMy two favourites are 'grappling finesse' (because it means you can now be an aikido/jujitsu master without being a weightlifter and 'triggered' just because I like tge idea of leaving landmines behind. I suspect it is also more useful than I realise.

A quick question though. I know it is only for instant duration powers but could you use it for things like 'summon minion' so that when the party steps into the room the monster appears? If not how would you do that?
Triggered is good for any kind of "trap" power. I also like using it for powers that many people build with Reaction but only trigger a few times or with sufficiently long breaks to reset; an Electric Field bought as a Reaction Damage Aura can be expensive, but make it Triggered by contact and it's suddenly a lot cheaper or more powerful for the same cost. Adding it to Rituals, particularly jury-rigged ones, is nice for a quick trap, and a Triggered jury-rig invention could also work; I actually like the idea of adapting 2e's "Master Plan" to 3e by making it similar to a Tech-based Ritual with a Trigger, which could be a Fading Trait boost similar to the old Master Plan, but is open to be almost anything.
The other power that I think doesn't get much love is elongation. I think it is a cool power (in a dorky kind of way).
Elongation is one of those effects I used differently than is expected. I use Elongation instead of Growth for better reach simulation. It also makes a pretty good cinematic whip, able to Grab, Trip or Disarm at a distance without any difficulty, although a few Advantages can help. On the other hand, I use Burst Area Close Move Object for something like Doc Ock's tentacles to give them a 30' reach.

I really like Skill Mastery: Acrobatics as a way to make a really nimble character, like a Spiderman or a swashbuckler or cinematic martial artist, but you rarely see it in use even though it gives you all these fun movement options that don't require rolls.

(Actually, there are quite a few powers or traits that let you do things that allow you to ignore die rolls, but I strongly suspect many players just like rolling dice as often as possible so it doesn't appeal to them.)

Assessment is not that interesting on its own, but I like using it as a requirement for other effects or treating it as an exotic sense to make some powers Subtle.

Subtle for Exotic Sense is underused IMO. The default DC20 is almost too easy to overcome since Perception is so useful it's often overbought, but for the same cost you can make a power undetectable to everyone without Infravision or Ultrahearing or something. I like pushing the definition of exotic sense to allow things like Assessment for skill-based details or Rapid Senses vs Subtle Movement to spot those speedsters.
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Poodle
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Re: What is your favourite underated trait, power or ability?

Post by Poodle »

JDRook wrote: Tue Jul 30, 2019 1:44 am an Electric Field bought as a Reaction Damage Aura can be expensive, but make it Triggered by contact and it's suddenly a lot cheaper or more powerful for the same cost.
I thought it could only be applied to instant powers in 2e but it certainly makes sense for other powers like adaption that aren't instant. My idea was to have objects that I had made earlier using create object that were triggered by a magic phrase or something. I am not sure if trigger would work like that although it should. I also like triggered because it isn't game breaking (not that you can't do sneaky things with it) but a one-off trap or effect seems more friendly than a reaction based power. I guess you get what you pay for.
Adding it to Rituals, particularly jury-rigged ones, is nice for a quick trap, and a Triggered jury-rig invention could also work

I was thinking more for an emergency heal spell or effect that get's triggered when you go unconscious or something but for traps, if you add insidious then it gets nasty. "Hmmm, why is everybody lying down" (one insidious drain con trap later).
I really like Skill Mastery: Acrobatics as a way to make a really nimble character, like a Spiderman or a swashbuckler or cinematic martial artist, but you rarely see it in use even though it gives you all these fun movement options that don't require rolls.
I recently made a character with high dex and acrobatic bluff and acrobatics. I think it will be fun to see how it works out.
Subtle for Exotic Sense is underused IMO. The default DC20 is almost too easy to overcome since Perception is so useful it's often overbought, but for the same cost you can make a power undetectable to everyone without Infravision or Ultrahearing or something. I like pushing the definition of exotic sense to allow things like Assessment for skill-based details or Rapid Senses vs Subtle Movement to spot those speedsters.
Those seem a little GM dependent but a very good point about subtle. I am also inordinately fond of indirect3. I never really understood the point of level 1 and 2.

Thanks Rook. Those are some cool ideas I hadn't thought of.
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination circles the world. -Albert Einstein.
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