Jab’s Power Profiles: Deleted 2nd Edition Powers- Ward! Area Effects!

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Jabroniville
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Create

Post by Jabroniville »

CREATE:

Effect:
The "Green Lantern" power, covering two entire pages. You create objects from nothing for 2p/rank. The descriptor is up to you- energy, real matter, "hard water", whatever. Simple shapes only to start; nothing more complex than a hinge. The toughness and volume are equal to your effect rank- the most important aspect of your ranks- and you "assume" the weight is equal (so 20 tons for Create 10? Really?), and the Strength of the creation is also equal to its rank if you need it to hold stuff up. Volume again isn't much- Create 10 could mostly fill an average room. Objects are stationary without an Extra.

Objects vanish as soon as you stop focusing them- it's Sustained, but if your Create is in an Array, it vanishes the second you switch powers. Objects can be "repaired" simply by using your power again.

A big aspect of this power is its use as cover or concealment- stuff like putting a shield in front of you that the enemy has to break down to get past. However, it will also block outgoing attacks. Also, you can trap others within the effects- literally putting someone in a box or a bottle or something. This is an attack vs. Dodge. Unusually, you can also simply "drop" the effect on others- an Area attack based off of size. The target may try to Dodge, and this gives them no damage if they succeed (vs. the typical half-damage of other Area Attacks).

Who Uses It?: This power is defined by the Green Lantern Corps.- guys who can create any object they can imagine. Marvel's Quasar & Invisible Woman also swiped aspects of this for their powers. Mages can often "create" objects as well, and Earth & Water Controllers can often do it, too.

Extras & Flaws: This one has a MASSIVE amount, as you might expect.

Feats include Innate (if you make Permanent/Continuous constructs, they cannot be negated), Precise (making very detailed objects, even with moving parts and "considerable detail"), Tether (you can use your own strength to move objects you make), and Subtle. Subtle can make things not noticeable as construts for 1 point, or invisible for 2 (ie. this is how you build the Invisible Woman).

Continuous objects remain until you destroy or nullify them (however, this can't be part of an Array as it turns off automatically, remember). Impervious objects are using Impervious Toughness. Movable objects do not simply "hang" in the air, but move around- nearly every Create-based character in comics has this as a default. Selective is a big one, allowing some attacks to pass through your shield, and others to be blocked. This lets you Blast away while hiding behind something you made.

Stationary is a +0 Extra- your objects hang in the air and resist movement equal to their rank.

Flaws include "Feedback"- taking damage equal to the amount the object takes. Proportional is a rare one that means you have to use either Volume OR Toughness ranks separately, sharing the points- so a Create 10 power has 10 ranks to share among the two (so you can have Volume 5/Toughness 5 creations, 2/8 or 0/10, for example).

Permanent is a +0 Flaw- you can't dismiss them (like with Continuous). They cannot be repaired or altered after creation.

Related Stuff: Force Field is a more specific version of creating a field in front of you. Move Object is a common thing for Create-types, as is Snare (most GLs can full on ensnare someone).

How Effective Is It?: Create is actually very useful and potent, though you need the Extras to get a lot out of it. A stationary object is only so useful, you know? The issue there is that it RAPIDLY becomes expensive- Create 10 is okay, but to be really useful it sould have Movable & Selective on it so you and your team can make the most of it, and that's now 4p/rank, which is ULTRA high (making it easily the most costly part of an array using it, for the most part). Any hero with more powers (and you almost DEFINITELY will) will also need an array to be useful, meaning that unless you make it Dynamic, your Create vanishes as soon as you use another power. So you have to have a Dynamic Array (1 more point per power), and thereafter "share" your points among multiple things, likely dropping your Extras to use a Blast at the same time as Create, or spend the points to use both powers at once.

Fixing It?: It's hard to say... I don't think "Movable" needs to be a whole-ass extra point per rank. It's got more utility than mere "Blast" does, but is super damn expensive to have it be any good.
Jabroniville
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Environment

Post by Jabroniville »

ENVIRONMENT:

Effect:
You can change the environment in a certain area, creating one of the "Environment" hazards shown later in the book. 30 feet at Rank 1, and mostly doubling thereafter. Unusually, there are multiple options and you can either buy them up separately (for an Array, where you can only use one at a time) or all in one. As it's Sustained, you will drop your Environment the second you use another power, so someone doing Weather Control and other powers will actually have to buy this on its own, separate from other powers.

Interestingly, there's no real "you can make it rain" power aside from some of the things in here. I guess "Create" might work.

The Powers:
* There are 5 different types for "Environment"- two that do damage (Heat & Cold), one that impedes movement, one that counters Concealment, and one that affects visibility like Concealment does. So each one is kind of entirely for a different purpose.

Cold: Intense Cold (1p/rank) or Extreme Cold (2p/rank). Characters can become fatigued for failing DC 10 checks, then exhausted by failing another, then incapacitated then dying. Only check once per hour for Cold 1, then every 10 minutes for Cold 2.

Heat: Intense Heat (1p/rank) or Extreme Heat (2p/rank). Same rules for fatigue as above.

Impede Movement: Impeding movement via high winds or icy conditions. Reduce movement by 1 rank for 1p/rank, or by 2 for 2p/rank. Could potentially also affect Acrobatics & Athletics checks. Note also that it would mess with fliers as well as ground-based people.

Light: Counter darkness by creating light. 1p/rank lets you turn Total Concealment into Partial or Partial Concealment to none. 2p/rank sheds light as bright as a sunlight day, negating all darkness-based Concealment. It can also affect powers with the "Darkness" descriptor.

Visibility: -2 modifier to perception (1p/rank) or -5 (2p/rank).

Who Uses It?: Storm is of course the most iconic example, as she literally changes the weather- she would use Impede Movement & Visibility the most. Thor is another big one. In movies, Queen Elsa of Frozen is your iconic example, literally almost dooming her entire kingdom with an all-expanding snowstorm that can nearly make people freeze to death. Dazzler is a big Light-Based heroine, as is Doctor Light.

Extras & Flaws: Selective lets you vary the environment, but only affecting some people. Handy for someone on a team. You can also mix-and-match your environments

Related Stuff: Visibility is a lot like a Concealment Attack. Heat & Cold are often related to Fire Guys or Ice Guys. A few Movement powers are based entirely around ignoring stuff like this, as is Immunity. Impede Movement can be like an "Ice Slick" power (generally an Affliction), and is countered by Speed-based powers.

How Effective Is It?: Environment can, at best, impede most characters, but that it works as an Area Effect makes it tricky (and annoying) if you work in a team. Storm for example rarely uses this while in combat with the other X-Men for that reason. In the big fight among 20+ of my builds that Gazman did ages ago, the Elsa player inadvertently changed the game entirely be creating a massive snowstorm on her first turn, rendering all other combat affected for the duration.

One major issue is that Environment effects would otherwise turn off if used in part of an Array (that is, an Alternate Effect of something), so Environment-using people often have to stick them outside of the Array, making them much more expensive. I would imagine very few PCs would stick high numbers of this on any character. Especially since only Heat/Cold can harm others.

HOWEVER, there's a lot of limited utility here. Affecting increasingly-huge areas is a big deal in comics, but in M&M there's not much use in 20 ranks of Heat to affect the entire planet. Note that only Cold & Heat can hurt others, too. And a single-point Immunity completely negates either, as will a decent Fortitude Save (as you can't simply buy more ranks to surpass it).

Impede Movement is tricky because it's IMMENSELY useful tactically, so long as you're not fighting quick people- even a couple ranks in Speed makes this hilariously easy to ignore. It would rapidly be very annoying and a lot of math for the GM or other players to always be subtracting from stuff.

Light is effective as a counter to darkness- people with Low-Light Vision can be quite dangerous in dark conditions, and "Environment 2 (Light)" isn't that pricey and can neutralize the advantage of any nocturnal opponents.

Visibility is arguably the handiest, as there's no save- you just affect everyone around to a certain level, lowering their offensive PL by 1 or 2.5. For not a lot of points, either!

Fixing It?: Environment is in a weird zone where it's kind of useful in small amounts, but awful for team adventures without "Selective" and hard to justify at any significant level.
Jabroniville
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Transform

Post by Jabroniville »

TRANSFORM:

Effect:
The ability to transform inanimate objects from one form to the next, by touch (yes, it's not Ranged by default). The ranks affect how much mass you can transform only- Transform -6 Mass on the table, so 1.5 lbs. at Transform 1, 25 lbs. at Transform 5, 200 lbs. at Transform 7, 3 tons at Transform 13, and 400 tons at Transform 20. As this can cover quite the variety of things, it has a variety of costs laid out:

* 2/rank: Transform One Thing into One Other Thing (wood to metal, iron to glass, broken objects to repaired ones).
* 3/rank: Transform a Broad Group of Things into a Single Thing (any metal to gold), Transform Single Thing into a Broad Group of Things (lead into any other metal, water into other liquids).
* 4/rank: Transform a Broad Group of Things into a Broad Group of Things (solids into any other solids).
* 5/rank: Transform Anything into Anything Else.

The fact that you need "Continuous" to make anything permanent means it's often found outside of Arrays, as it's Sustained otherwise. You can attack things held by another person, but need to make a close attack first- characters can make a Dodge check with a +5 bonus. Note, however, that gear NEVER GETS A SAVE so is automatically transformed. This is one of very few "Automatic" powers in the game.

Who Uses It?: A variety of characters have transmutation powers, but typically only the most powerful types can do this. Element Lad of the Legion of Super-Heroes is the most potent by far, able to transform 100 tons at a time (and that's a low estimate of his powers- his transmuting the atmosphere of Daxam to contain more lead defeated BILLIONS of Daxamites at once!). Marvel's Eternals have vast restructuring powers, able to transform nearly anything into another form, and high-level mages like Doctor Strange or Doctor Fate can do it, too (but can just as often just Create something). Chemistro I-III are defined by their "Alchemy Gun", which can also transform anything to anything- a ludicrously powerful weapon. The Silver Surfer and other Heralds of Galactus are so mighty and godlike that they are able to do things like this in a casual manner, almost as a way to do a tiny thing to stun others with their might.

Geokinetics & Magnetic characters can shift things in form as well for the low-cost version. Box of Alpha Flight has machinery-transmuting powers allowing him to create a powersuit from random metals and even make the Box-Suit out of a giant spaceship. I've actually used it to justify an "Open Locks" power, I believe- only 2/rank but it's as pretty mundane use of the power (given how many superheroes can just bust right in).

For a lot of reasons, characters who can use very versatile amounts of this (especially Element Lad) tend to be Glass Cannons- potent, but easily beaten by a person with a brick in their hand.

Extras & Flaws: I think the vast majority of characters with this power in comics use the "Ranged" extra, which is not default- this can sneak up on you and mean that the cost is much more than expected. Continuous is a pretty regular extra, as a lot of stories feature permanent transformations. Note that this pushes it outside of the Array if you want to use it, but a lot of my builds "cheat" and don't include that because I find it annoying to type it all out and add up, lol. My builds may not be rules-legal!

Related Stuff: Create is when you don't need an original item. The "Transformed" third-tier of Affliction is when this happens to people (and the book has to specifically bring this up a couple times so people get it- I think 2e had this be the same power), and is a much more common application in comics. Variable is probably the best way to depict Box's ability to create any kind of technology he can imagine, lest you basically use a "get a Powersuit for free" application of Transform.

How Effective Is It?: This one is a bit tricky, because much of it has little battlefield effect except in certain cases, and because the ranks affect only the amount of material you can transform, you often don't need to spend that much on it. But something like "Transform Armor to Glass" could conceivably be rather a huge deal when facing certain opponents, or "Transform Machinery to Separated Parts" to render someone's Devices inert. However, you still have to make an attack and foes get a pretty solid save (+5 to defenses), so it's effectively PL -2.5 right out of the gate.

Otherwise it has a lot of "outside the battlefield" effects- Magneto & Box altering the shape of metal, or Terra affecting earth, doesn't make a huge difference in fights but will be pretty pricey as they can affect a mass amount at once- typically Transform 10-12. Though the 5p/rank version is IMMENSELY useful and could be used to justify almost anything- turning buildings to glass, ships to sawdust, etc.

But overall, the cheapest version is too limited to really be that good. And the most expensive is a SERIOUS points-sink so most characters wouldn't use it- Sersi of the Avengers uses 13 ranks of that to the point where it costs NINETY-ONE POINTS with all the Extras.

That said, clever players could do some really nasty stuff with this- imagine being on a bridge and just turning it to sawdust so everyone falls and has to roll for "Falling Damage". Turning the air around you to noxious gas. There's a lot of GM control that needs to be here, as a LOT of these things could conceivably by full-on attack powers that nasty players could whine "But it says ANYTHING TO ANYTHING!". And... with the cost you pay for this, I can see some of it almost being justified. A dude paying 6p/rank for Transform 10 (Range) would be paying 60 points for it!

Fixing It?: I feel like this one is so potent it SHOULD be expensive, especially if players are gonna try and argue that they can turn things into poisonous chemicals.
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Davies
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Re: Transform

Post by Davies »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Apr 04, 2023 7:13 pm Related Stuff: Create is when you don't need an original item. The "Transformed" third-tier of Affliction is when this happens to people (and the book has to specifically bring this up a couple times so people get it- I think 2e had this be the same power)
Yep.
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greycrusader
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Re: Jab's Power Profiles: Create! Environment! Transform!

Post by greycrusader »

Honestly? I almost think Transform should fall under the "Feature" power, allowing NON-COMBAT applications at much lower point costs, with all the other potential effects bought as other abilities (Damage that only affects non-organic matter, Perception-based Damage and Weaken effects, various Afflictions, Change Environment, Protection bought with Useable by Others) in an array. This would clear up just what the power can do and how effective it is in a battle, rather than it being so open to interpretation.

All my best.
FuzzyBoots
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Re: Jab's Power Profiles: Create! Environment! Transform!

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Regarding Create, it's probably worth mentioning both that 2E specifically carved out an exception for Continuous and Arrays and the wording didn't change. Also, in early versions of DCA, the "damage with object" was just Ranged Damage until someone pointed out that it was as cheap to buy Create as it was to buy Ranged Damage. This was fixed in errata, but is still present in the printed books. Also, GMs should be wary of ranks of Create past PL, since a Toughness 20 wall in a PL 10 game can be virtually unbreakable even if it is Defenseless.

As regards Environment, I agree that it's usually not all that terribly useful. Kind of wish they'd used it bootstrap Obscure instead of "Attack Concealment".
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Power Profiles: Create! Environment! Transform!

Post by Jabroniville »

And now for one I just happened to miss while going through the list of powers, lol. I actually missed a handful of the ones in little boxes- serves me right for not just taking things from the master list at the front.
Jabroniville
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Invisibility

Post by Jabroniville »

INVISIBILITY:

Effect:
This is literally just "Concealment (Visuals)" but written out again, possibly to make it easier to find. It's either 4 points (Vision) or 8 points (All Visual Senses)

Who Uses It?: The Invisible Woman & Invisible Kid, mostly.

Extras & Flaws: See "Concealment".

Related Stuff: Other Concealment effects.

How Effective Is It?: This is actually the core problem with Concealment in general- it's way, WAY too good for what it is.

Fixing It?: Make it more expensive- even twice as much might still make it almost too good.
Jabroniville
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Attack Powers

Post by Jabroniville »

ATTACK POWERS:

-This is the "meat" of the powers in the game, so I might as well get to them now.

* Affliction
* Area Effects (in general)
* Aura
* Blast
* Element Control
* Energy Control
* Damage
* Magic
* Move Object
* Nullify
* Sleep
* Snare
* Suffocation
* Weaken
Jabroniville
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Damage

Post by Jabroniville »

DAMAGE:

Effect:
You do damage in melee. I mean this is maybe the core effect of the game, lol. 90% of what you do in fights involves this. Characters even get it automatically just by having any STRENGTH stat at all; only ghosts & shit can't do it. It's oddly thus one of the few effects that has negative numbers in it (you can do -5 damage) because it has a save of DC 15.

Unusually, it's the only effect in the game that's naturally stackable, giving enemies a negative modifier against further shots. Fail by less than 6 points and you are -1 to further damage (this was much easier when it was just called "Bruised" in 2e). Fail by 6-10 and they are dazed (that is, capable of moving OR attacking). Fail by 11-15 and they are staggered (dazed + -1 to movement, which actually isn't so bad). Fail by more than 15 and they are Incapacitated (ie. out cold and out of the fight). An additional attack to an Incapacitated opponent moves them to "Dying". A high-damage attack thus has a pretty good shot of KOing a Low-Toughness guy in one hit, so long as he connects- DC 25 or so and a Toughness +3 guy rolling less than 7- it could easily happen. You need one good roll and him one bad one, likely going against his superior defenses just to hit, but it can happen.

However, note that recovery is REALLY easy- a single minute of rest takes away your most recent condition, so Staggered characters become Dazed a minute after the fight ends, and so on.

Who Uses It?: Everyone capable of, uh, doing damage. Strong guys obviously do more.

Extras & Flaws: Almost everything, to be honest.

Feats: "Accurate" gives you +2 to hit (effectively the "Close Combat" skill but less typing). "Indirect" means you can strike in multiple directions. "Affects Corporeal" is often tossed as a game-breaking power on Insubstantial characters. "Affects Insubstantial" means you can affect otherwise-intangible people- this is, BY FAR, the surest sign that someone is Power-Gaming to me. If I see "Affects Insubstantial" on a build, I am instantly going to read into every aspect of the build because I know this player is attempting to cover for every available situation. Think about how rare this is in actual comics and then think of the players who toss that on as a "Just In Case" to game the system and prevent the GM from getting one over on them.

"Affects Others" is rare- just allowing other people to use it (like creating Swords others can use or whatever). "Reach" extends the reach of melee effects by 5 feet each- Spear-Users are justified in 1-2 ranks of it, as are others with long limbs or weapons. More than Reach 5 and you're probably better off just creating a Blast effect. "Incurable" is rare- you can't recover from this damage using Healing/Regeneration, unless superceded with their own "Persistent" extras.

"Indirect" is a complicated one with multiple choices- Indirect 1 (from a fixed point away from you; like an attack that's always from below or above a certain distance away), Indirect 2 (from any point away from you, or a fixed point in a fixed direction- like above the opponent and directing downwards), Indirect 3 (any point in any fixed direction, or a fixed point in any direction), and Indirect 4 (any point away from you and can fire in any direction). It's not a well-written part of the book and is a bit confusing- I mostly use it for characters with "floating" Blasters or in Fighting Games when guys shoot at the ground and the attack comes up through it in front of the other guy.

"Insidious" means the person doesn't know they've been damaged until they're out of it. "Precise" fits Laser-Fingers and stuff, doing infinitessimally small damage in precise manner. "Subtle" attacks are not noticeable, and Subtle 2 makes it impossible to detect at all. "Triggered" is a weird one that enables you to set something (like a timer or proximity) to use the power- this is kind of ugly and mostly use used for time bombs or landmines or whatever. You can make it Variable to set off in different circumstances each time.

"Penetrating" is wildly annoying- ranks in it oppose Impervious, so a character with Penetrating 2 attacks force the enemy to still test toughness vs. two ranks of damage regardless of the power of their Impervious.

Extras: "Ranged" is just the Blast power and probably the #2 most common power in comics. Boosting it to "Perception" (+2) lets you skip attack rolls entirely- you just hit everyone you can locate at your rank. "Multiattack" is a very common one, justifying things like automatic gunfire or multiple blasts coming from characters. It gives you more damage if you roll really high on your attack roll, OR can be used to "walk" to other characters (with -1 to hit each additional one). In melee it's more rare, but Multi-Limbed characters and Speedsters can easily justify it. One of the more reliable ways to deal with groups of attackers.

"Alternate Resistance" lets you use Fortitude or Will or something to resist it. Mental Attacks use the latter and are justified at +1 Extra. Fortitude is higher than Toughness in nearly every case so I don't think anyone should use the former. "Area" is something that doesn't require an attack roll at all, and affects entire groups. Something that's exceptionally powerful against groups, but can't be Power Attacked- I'll detail Area Attacks as their own thing later. Finally there's "Reaction", which is the Aura power, more or less. I'll detail that one separately.

Little-Used ones: "Contagious" lets you have the effect work on any character who touches the victim. "Secondary Effect" lets you damage them the next turn with no action from yourself, like an acidic burning attack- you can't stack it with your own damage (the Secondary damage is now just delayed if you just hit them again), but can use other things like Afflictions.

Flaws: "Distracting" means you're vulnerable (halving their defense bonus, so someone with Dodge +10 now has Dodge +5 (Dodge 20 becomes Dodge 15), and "Fades" means it lowers in effect by "1" each time you use it. "Grab-Based" means you have to grapple opponents to use it (the semi-nerfing of grappling makes this unwise to ever pick). "Tiring" just wipes you out, suffering a level of Fatigue with each use of the power- the book suggests it's good for when only SOME ranks cause Tiring, like over-powering a Blast (damn that's pretty good- I never use that because it's uncommon in comics). "Uncontrolled" means the GM decides when you can use it, and "Unreliable" means it only works if you roll 11-20 on a D20.

Little 1-point Flaws: "Inaccurate" is used for more powerful but less accurate attacks, and is good to cover your bases and justify "Power Punches" and Super-Moves, like from Fighting Games or anime. "Side Effect" means you can't use it without harming yourself- -1p/rank if it goes off should you miss, and -2p/rank if it goes off EVERY TIME you use said power.

Related Stuff: Blast is this at Range. Aura is this as a Reaction effect. Acid combines this with Weaken Toughness. Speedsters boost things with Area & Multiattack.

How Effective Is It?: So this is the core ability of the game- the standard "One Point Power" because Damage costs 1p/rank and STRENGTH costs 2p/rank as all abilities do, combining lifting strength with damage. The only real issue with Damage is the famed noted discrepancy between "Accuracy-Focused" and "Damage-Focused" builds, in that the latter usually has the advantage mathematically. But that's more of a core issue with M&M as a whole, and is tough to sort out, short of house-ruling things.

Fixing It?: Damage is the game's core mechanic so everything should more or less be based AROUND this. The only thing I think is broken is that recovery is too easy and quick. Probably meant to be more "cinematic" and keeps games moving, but it really messes up a lot of stuff and overpowers other things like Regeneration, and makes guys impossible to really stop for long periods of time.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Apr 10, 2023 3:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
FuzzyBoots
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Re: Jab's Power Profiles: Environment! Transform! Damage!

Post by FuzzyBoots »

Quick clarification, failing from 1-5 is a Bruise (yes, I still use that terminology), 6-10 is Dazed, etc. Success starts at 0-4 over the target. Failure starts at 1-5 under.
Jabroniville
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Area Effects

Post by Jabroniville »

AREA EFFECTS:

Effect:
"Area" is an Extra that may be used on any power that affects others, turning a touch-range effect into one that affects an entire area. No attack roll is needed; the effect simply hits the entire area and everyone in it. Victims get a DC10 + effect Dodge save, reducing the effect to half (so Dexmonkeys with high saves can readily turn +10 Area Attacks into +5 damage or somesuch thing, mitigating the effects).

Notably, the starting ranges are usually 30 feet (Cloud is 15, Cones are 60). And to double the size on the Progression Table, you have to spend an additional +1 Extra, meaning this gets expensive FAST. Characters who can affect entire cities have a +13 Extra attached to their powers!

The effects on ranges are as follows: Close (it starts from you; Bursts do not hurt you, but would be an additional +1 if you wanted them to for Boosts & such), Ranged (placed anywhere in the effect's ranged), Perception (you can place it anywhere you can see). Note that if you can't see it (thanks to Concealment or cover), the Perception effect is useless.

Your Options:
"Burst": 30-foot spheres around you. Nearly every explosion is like this, and it's easily the most commonly seen in comics. If done on the ground they create hemispheres 30 feet high and wide.

"Line": A 30-foot long line from your frontal arc, 5 feet wide. Gets a bunch of people in a row (hard to aim, really).

"Cone": A 60-foot cone in front of you, the fine point starting from your frontal arc and getting wider. Cones on a level surface (ie. the ground) are half their total height. Used largely to reflect D&D-style "Cone of Fire" attacks, it's less commonly seen in comics in that format, but a lot of guys like Cyclops who blast multiple people in their front arc at once I would argue are using this Extra.

"Cloud": A unique effect, this fills a 15-foot radius, but lingers for one round after the duration expires (so 2 rounds total for the vast majority of cases), allowing you two shots for the price of one.

"Cylinder": A cylinder 30 feet in diameter and height. Really, a very strange thing and I can hardly think of anyone who does it. Some Fighting Game characters create big pillars of energy and I use it for that, but it's highly unusual.

"Shapeable": The hardest to explain and hardest to use in your game. Effectively a "travelling" blast that can hit multiple targets in a 30-cubic foot area. Most people would just use Selective. I use it for some "Bouncing" attacks.

"Perception": Unusually, this one affects everyone who can perceive you with a particular sense, chosen when you gain this Extra. Targets get the same Dodge save, but if successful suffer NO effect. This effectively represents Area Dazzles (where people cover their eyes in time).

Who Uses It?: A great many Blasters technically have this as an option- you very frequently see guys nail entire groups of people at once with an energy attack or something like it. The Human Torch, Cyclops and others do this. Any "Gun Guy" tends to also have Grenades which are Burst Area, and any Archery-themed hero worth his salt (Green Arrow, Hawkeye, Arsenal) can fire off Explosive Arrows (Ranged Burst Area Damage). Smoke Arrows & Smoke Grenades are the same thing but with Afflictions & Concealment Attacks.

Guys with bouncing weapons, like Captain America's Shield, can justify a Selective Shapeable Area Attack. Spider-Man can even fire off a "Cone" of webs in a pinch. The Hulk and other powerhouses have tricks like Line Damage when they strike the ground and Area Afflictions for clapping loudly and creating bursts of pressure. Dazzle-based characters like Dazzler can easily blind whole swaths of enemies at once in an arc. And many Mass Teleporters can 'port entire groups of people against their will.

You can use "Affects Others" like this, too- Tempo of the Mutant Liberation Front could affect her allies with a speed boost (affecting speed, accuracy and defenses) but not nearby enemies- a Selective Area Boost.

Extras & Flaws: The "Selective" Extra gets used to make it hit only certain people. This is a PHENOMENAL Extra for team-based characters, making them far more useful with Area Attacks, but it definitely gets pricey. "Ranged" is for a ranged explosive or something like that- tanks, cannons, grenades and explosive arrows are all doing this (making them 3p/rank weapons). You can also use Area as only a partial thing- the Main Rulebook even details how a tank's main cannon is a Blast with only a few ranks of Area, so direct hits do tons of damage but if you miss you can still get the area around them.

Related Stuff: N/A

How Effective Is It?: Area Attacks are one of the most reliable methods of dealing with an entire group of people- it's fantastic for solo characters and Mega-Villains who have to fight entire teams, and is debilitating for foes who try to surround you. However, it can harm your allies or the area around you as well, so "Selective" often needs to be added in, which is pricey.

Most controversially, Area Effects become REALLY, REALLY EXPENSIVE when bought over wide ranges. 2nd Edition made this a 1-point boost, but 3rd Edition countered it by making it +1 Extra for EVERY PROGRESSION, meaning it's +2 to hit a 60-ft. Burst, +3 for a 120-ft. Burst, etc.

Note that one of the only problems with this is you can't use Power Attacks or any other modifiers to damage. Characters are thus often stuck at their level of damage, and because the save is based entirely off the damage and not accuracy/damage-shifted, your Area Effect can only be equal to your PL.

Fixing It?: Okay, so... wide-ranging Area Effects are definitely useful, but +1 Extra PER AREA RANK is crazy and probably way too far. Maybe make that half-cost? I get that +1 point per rank is a bit too cheap but they went alllllll the way to the other side, and it really messes with the cost of a lot of character builds, even for established guys.
Jabroniville
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Blast

Post by Jabroniville »

BLAST:

Effect:
Blast is literally just "Ranged Damage". It used to always be named "Blast" in 2nd Edition, and I kept that up with my own builds. Like, I'm not writing "Damage (Extras: Ranged)" every goddamn time across 8,000 builds, lol. F*ck that.

This at least illustrates a core mechanic of the system- that making something Ranged instead of Touch is a +1 extra, and most Ranged Powers cost 2 points per rank. So that sort of sets up how "worth it" nearly every other power is by comparison.

Who Uses It?: Um, maybe 50% of superheroes, I dunno. Everything from Batarangs to shuriken to guns to fire blasts use this. Grenades are this with an Area Extra on them. "Blaster" and "Flying Blaster" are among the most common superhero archetypes, with Superman & Green Lantern being some of the more iconic heroes with Blasts as a core power. Cap's Shield, Thor's Hammer, Human Torch's flame, etc., are all this.

Extras & Flaws: Burst Area is common for explosive blasts. Otherwise everything that works on "Damage" works here.

"Extended Range" doubles the distance you can accurately strike at. It's not THAT common but any Cosmic/Space character could justify it. This mostly just improves accuracy at range but will affect any long-reaching damage. "Homing" allows you multiple chances to hit- With only a Free Action, you can attempt your attack again if you missed it last round. Each rank in Homing gives you an additional chance for this. If countered or misses due to Concealment, it runs out of chances. This is for a lot of "Homing Missile" attacks and things in fighting games- boomerangs do it, too. "Ricochet" is similar and lets you bounce effects off of walls to avoid cover. It stacks, allowing you to bounce things once per rank.

"Diminished Range" means your accuracy is lowered at close range- things like Grenades (which have to be tossed and thus can't match the range of guns) or just close-in Blasts in general. I often use this for Fighting Games (where Fireballs often fade out before they reach the end of the screen).

Related Stuff: A lot of Blasters also have Area Attacks, Auras, and other things. Many can also fly (sometimes by propulsion of whatever it is they're blasting).

How Effective Is It?: Very much effective- a tactical player could just hang in the sky and blast opponents who couldn't strike back. It's a good, solid price to the point where most other powers can be weighed against it directly to see how "worth it" they are.

Fixing It?: Probably one of the more solid "baseline" powers.
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JDRook
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Re: Blast

Post by JDRook »

Jabroniville wrote: Mon Apr 17, 2023 7:46 pm BLAST:
...
Extras & Flaws: .... "Ricochet" is similar and lets you bounce effects off of walls to avoid cover. It stacks, allowing you to bounce things once per rank.
Ricochet is another one of those traits that's cool to have for certain characters but has rapidly diminishing returns as it ranks up. It doesn't actually damage multiple targets like Multiattack or Split (both of which could be used for a "ricocheting" attack), it just allows attacks to avoid cover and possibly become Surprise Attacks. This is also exactly what Indirect does, although without the need of a surface to bounce from. So for Ricochet I like to treat the first rank as Indirect 2 (the "any point away from you" option) with Flaw: Requires appropriate reflective surface, and the second rank as Indirect 4 (capable of eventually shooting in any direction, including towards the user) with the same Flaw. This abstracts the actual number of bounces which may be unsatisfying for some, but it keeps you from blowing a dozen points on Cyclops's Ricochet Beam shot with a mechanic that shouldn't cost more than a few points.
Jabroniville
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Re: Blast

Post by Jabroniville »

JDRook wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2023 8:22 am
Jabroniville wrote: Mon Apr 17, 2023 7:46 pm BLAST:
...
Extras & Flaws: .... "Ricochet" is similar and lets you bounce effects off of walls to avoid cover. It stacks, allowing you to bounce things once per rank.
Ricochet is another one of those traits that's cool to have for certain characters but has rapidly diminishing returns as it ranks up. It doesn't actually damage multiple targets like Multiattack or Split (both of which could be used for a "ricocheting" attack), it just allows attacks to avoid cover and possibly become Surprise Attacks. This is also exactly what Indirect does, although without the need of a surface to bounce from. So for Ricochet I like to treat the first rank as Indirect 2 (the "any point away from you" option) with Flaw: Requires appropriate reflective surface, and the second rank as Indirect 4 (capable of eventually shooting in any direction, including towards the user) with the same Flaw. This abstracts the actual number of bounces which may be unsatisfying for some, but it keeps you from blowing a dozen points on Cyclops's Ricochet Beam shot with a mechanic that shouldn't cost more than a few points.
Yeah, all it really does is lets you bounce it around corners, which is really limited utility. A really wide-reaching one is like how I build Cap's Shield- a Shapeable Area Attack.
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