Force field and the selective PF

[angrydurf]

So do you need the selective PF to fire out of your force field? Normal protection doesn't require you to buy selective to attack and forcefield is a 0 point trade off from normal protection so basically a descriptor.

Secondarily does force field prevent touch based powers that can't penetrate (defeat the toughness save) the forcefield? Would selective allow beneficial powers (healing) to go through then?

[Dr Archeville]

So do you need the selective PF to fire out of your force field?

Yes

Normal protection doesn't require you to buy selective to attack and forcefield is a 0 point trade off from normal protection so basically a descriptor.

Yes, but Permanent FFs can suffocate the user, so there's clearly some funkiness going on.

Secondarily does force field prevent touch based powers that can't penetrate (defeat the toughness save) the forcefield? Would selective allow beneficial powers (healing) to go through then?

Depends on the descriptors.

[Lord Fell]

Yeah... forcefields confuse the heck out of me.

I had tentatively come to the conclusion that adding Selective to a forcefield meant that you had the option of letting certain effects through and not others. It looked to me like if you wanted to use your forcefield to affect someone else, you needed to add Ranged to it. But, if you project your forcefield at range, do you lose it yourself? Or, perhaps more effectively add an Area to it, and make it Selective so you can pick and choose who it protects (including yourself, I would think). Of course, there's also the problem of what one players forcefield does to another players toughness cap.

Someone over at ATT suggested that Create Objects is a good way to design forcefield effects... Check out The Invisible Woman and another well respected user's Jean Grey build for more ideas.

[Dr Archeville]

I had tentatively come to the conclusion that adding Selective to a forcefield meant that you had the option of letting certain effects through and not others. It looked to me like if you wanted to use your forcefield to affect someone else, you needed to add Ranged to it.

Incorrect -- you need Affects Others, since Force Field is a Personal effect. And if you want to be able to affect someone else who's not touching you, you need Affects Others + Range.

But, if you project your forcefield at range, do you lose it yourself?

If it's Affect Others (Others Only, a +0 Extra), yes. If it's Affects Others (Self + Others, a +1 Extra), no.

Or, perhaps more effectively add an Area to it, and make it Selective so you can pick and choose who it protects (including yourself, I would think). Of course, there's also the problem of what one players forcefield does to another players toughness cap.

Still needs Affects Others.

[N/A]

Yeah, Affects Others changes the Range from "Personal" to "Touch." You need it to "share" any Personal-range power.

Here's how I understand it:

A standard Force Field is assumed to cling to you like a second skin.

An Affects Others, Touch-range Force Field let's you grab an ally and "expand" your field just barely enough to cover them as well. The Progression feat increases the number of people you can do this with.

An Affects Others, Ranged Force Field lets you create second-skin style Force Fields over other people at a distance. Again, the Progression feat lets you do this with more than one person at a time.

An Affects Others, Touch-range, Area Force Field coats everyone in the area of effect with a second-skin style Force Field. The Selective feat would let you choose who in the area gets one and who doesn't.

For a giant "force dome" that shields everyone inside, you want Create Object.

[Ecalsneerg]

Yes

Really? All it is is Protection with the Continuous extra and Permanent flaw. Nothing in that gives the drawback 'cannot attack'

[Dr Archeville]

Really? All it is is Protection with the Continuous extra and Permanent flaw. Nothing in that gives the drawback 'cannot attack'

As I said earlier, it's not just that, since otherwise Permanent Force Fields couldn't suffocate you.

[Ecalsneerg]

Since when can permanent FFs suffocate you? I've never heard that one before.

[angrydurf]

Well I was thinking it seemed kinda limiting without giving any bonus but the trade off of needing selective and being abel to use extra effort I think balances it now that I look at it more closely.

Thematically it makes sense as not being able to attack throught the FF is a clasic comic drawback though most comic FF are more like a create object force dome.

[Dr Archeville]

Since when can permanent FFs suffocate you? I've never heard that one before.

Sorry, my mistake, they don't suffocate, they just prevent you from eating or drinking.

... that's probably gonna change.

[Vith]

Wait, now I'm confused. Non-permanent Force field really needs to be selective to let you attack from it? That doesn't make any sense to me. Nothing in the description of force field says it's used to keep things in. Create object for a dome or whatever I could see. But selective on a force field is for.. say letting someone stick you with a syringe without having to drop it. Or eating(as you pointed out).

Or what if you're power set revolves around one thing. Like a light controller. Why wouldn't he be able to shoot lasers through his light-based FF?

[Dr Archeville]

I've checked through the ATT, and this is the best I can find on the matter:

I noticed that the power, Force Field, had the power feat, Selective, as an option that allowed the character to filter out some things but allowing others. What would be an example of this? At first I thought of gases and then I realized that most gases wouldn't use any effect that required a Toughness save so the Force Field would be useless against them, Selective or not. What did you have in mind with this suggestion?

Perhaps a character absorbs a certain material or energy and wants it to pass through the force field, or needs to tune it to a particular "frequency" to match another field as a power stunt, etc. It might also be important for things like physical contact.

[angrydurf]

So that seems to indicate that selective isn't needed to use your own powers through it.

Also what ind of action does it take to activate/deactivate the forcefield? I thought it was free so couldn't you drop it and put it back up with just enough time to fire?

[Dr Archeville]

It is Free, but I've always gone by the rule that you can't activate & drop a power in the same round. That way, you can't do the uber-cheesy "I drop my Insubstantial as a free action, shoot him in the face as a standard, move, then re-activate Insubstantial as a free action".

I did find a thread discussing Selective Force Fields on the ATT, and resurrected it (last post was from over two years ago).

[Ecalsneerg]

Nothing in the Force Field power stops you using your own powers through it.