Poodle Posted August 16, 2019 Posted August 16, 2019 (edited) I just read the house rule that constructs if hit by a non-lethal attack automatically convert it to a lethal attack! This seems harsh, especially as constructs can't heal themselves, by definition. I know they get immunity to fortitude but it still seems to penalise them a lot considering that they also have to buy at least one stat up as well. Just out of interest how does extra effort affect constructs? I assume that they just can't do it (as they can't suffer from fatigue) which is another huge drawback especially when it comes to alternate powers, My interpretation may be wrong though... Any thoughts? Edited August 16, 2019 by Poodle
Amelia Posted August 16, 2019 Posted August 16, 2019 Speaking as a player whose main PC is a construct: You're wrong. The house rules clarify our interpretation of the existing rules, but it's not just something we made up. That's the most common interpretation of the rules-as-written. If nonlethal damage that hit a construct wasn't automatically converted to lethal instead, then all constructs would effectively have Immunity to all nonlethal damage. That's a 40PP trait they'd be getting for free. Constructs already have the advantage of not suffering nonlethal damage conditions. Constructs don't get Bruised, or Staggered, and they don't fall Unconscious. So if they purchase Regeneration (see more on that below), that's half as many conditions they have to worry about recovering from. Constructs don't have to "buy up" any "stats". To be a construct, you only need to do two things: 1) Cash in your default 10 points of Constitution. 2) Purchase Immunity 30 (Fortitude effects), so that having no Constitution doesn't kill you. The net cost is 20PP. The Equipment chapter of the core book also recommends dropping two other ability scores to zero, so that it's a net zero change in cost, but that isn't required. Constructs can use Extra Effort. They suffer fatigue from it, just like living creatures. Constructs do not have a Constitution score, so they're not living creatures, so, by default, they do not recover from damage or fatigue over time. They must be repaired with a Craft skill instead. They can repair themselves if they're capable of taking actions. Otherwise (if they're too damaged or too tired), they need outside assistance. If they want to be an automatically self-repairing sort of construct, then they can purchase Regeneration ranks to acquire a recovery bonus. Since having 0 Con would normally put you at a -5 Con penalty, the first rank of Regeneration a construct buys gives them a -4 recovery "bonus", and since they now have a recovery bonus, they can now make checks to recover from damage and fatigue with rest as if they were a living creature. They can invest more points if they want a higher recovery bonus (it's common to purchase 14 ranks, since that would give them a +9 bonus, which is enough to make the DC10 recovery check automatically, even on a "1"). Constructs can also be healed with a Healing power effect which has the "Affects Objects" extra (see Ultimate Power for details), whether they have any Regeneration or not. This doesn't really work for getting rid of fatigue, since the "Energizing" extra on Healing transfers the fatigue to the character using the Healing power. Constructs, like living creatures, can also just spend Hero Points to get rid of fatigue.
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