Boost and Fade?

[blink]

I was working on a PL6 hero and wondered how the following would all work out?

Drain - Linked [23]

LP1 - Boost 6 (Flaw: Personal, Feat: Slow Fade 1, Boost [Energy Array])

LP2 - Drain 6 (Extra: Area [burst]; Drawback: Noticeable, Drain [Con])

LP3 - Nauseate 1 (Extra: Area [burst], Feat: Progression Area 2)

So the concept there is that the character is going to use this to actually power the rest of their stuff.

Energy Redirection - Array 15 (Flaw: Fades [Recharge w/ Boost only]) [19]

AP1 - Blast 5 (Penetrating)

AP2 - Blast 6 (Burst, Uncontrolled)

AP3 - Disintegration 3

AP4 - Healing 7 (Total, Personal, Persistent)

AP5 - Leaping 5

First question, is that something reasonable (even if it's formatted wrong)?

Second question, is slow fade 1 a no-no on the boost?

Third question, can I put an uncontrolled power in an array? The character concept is that they need to pull energy from people all the time to survive. Yet they have to "digest" that energy and if it's not used, or they get too much, they can go boom without wanting too. I'd like them to be able to boom by choice too, so I am not sure how that would get modeled.

Last Question, I assume that boost will not allow a power to go above the PL (with the exception of trade offs)

Edit: Last last question: Since the fade is on the array I assume that means that every time I use a power, I loose a power point from all of the powers in the array. That's what I was aiming for. Should I have put fade on each of the powers instead?

Thanks in advance, just thought I'd get a head start on the PL6 character seeing how long the PL10 one took me...

[quotemyname]

Isn't the transfer power already a linked power with both boost and drain? check that out.

[blink]

It is, but I am adding in a single rank of Nauseate, so I deconstructed the power, and made the linked power out of it. My questions were more of whether or not this would be something acceptable to the game or not... and then some of the implications of how they worked together.

[angrydurf]

Boost can not go above PL, Slow fade 1 is usually acceptable on boost as long as the boost isn't in an array or anything wierd.

Uncontrolled in an Array is a no-no I'm pretty sure, since it really only has a chance of going off when its the selected power. I think I see what you ar trying for with the effect as a Bleed off if you don't use the energy though I am uncertain how that woudl be built.

As for boost tboosting an array I think it woudl be a higher level boost than the 'one power or trait' catagory if its on an array if it would be allowed at all.

I'm pretty sure drain starts as noticable so I don't think thats a valid drawback.

[N/A]

The first thing that leaps out at me is the Area Drain Constitution. You said this was a Hero. Then an Area Drain CON is a bad idea.

Drain CON is one of the very few ways in this system for you to outright kill someone. With lethal combat damage, you can render them "Dying." But if your CON drops below 0, you're just dead, right then and there. The average PL0 bystander has a CON of 10. Children, the elderly, and the disabled are more in the 6-8 range. This power would probably kill any small children in the area of effect, and a second use would finish off anyone who isn't a super. In a PL6 adventure, it might even kill your fellow PCs.

This game leans toward the lighter side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism. It's generally frowned upon for Heroes to even kill Villains, let alone fellow Heroes and innocent Bystanders.

So maybe you should change it to, say, Drain Fortitude, instead of Drain Constitution. Or reduce the Drain CON to rank 1. Without Slow Fade, Drained traits get 1PP back per round, so anyone hit with it would fully recover in about 6 seconds.

5 ranks of Penetrating on that Blast are probably a waste. Penetrating is twice as efficient as Impervious is. It basically adds to the power rank for purposes of overcoming Impervious. And you don't have to buy full ranks of an extra/flaw for a power. Blast 6 (Penetrating 4) is a perfectly legal construction, and more effective than Blast 5 (Penetrating 5). They both overcome Impervious 10, but the first also has a higher saving throw difficulty.

I could see an Uncontrolled power being part of an array, if it was agreed that sometimes, the GM is going to step in and seize control of the entire array, saying "Sorry, but whatever you were planning to do this round isn't going to happen. Instead, you're gonna switch array slots and explode." Since you can only reconfigure an array once per round, that could be a significant flaw. But a case could also be made that Uncontrolled just isn't a good flaw for a power that's rolled up into an array.

Also keep in mind that taking something as a Drawback or a Flaw generally means that you won't get Hero Points when it comes up, like you would with a Complication. Those bonus power points you gain at character creation are the only compensation you'll ever see.

The whole array itself is constructed wrong. If you're using the Array structure from UP, Arrays cost 2PP/rank. If it's meant to give you 15PP to work with, that would be Array rank 7.5, not 15. And if the Array has a -1 flaw like Fades, it should cost half as much, while still giving you the same number of points to work with. So a rank 7.5 Array with a -1 Flaw would cost 7.5PP and give you 15PP to work with when building each power.

Also, the first power in the array is the "base" power, not an Alternate Power. Listing it as an Alternate Power is confusing.

Mechanically, there is no difference between putting the Fades flaw on each power in the array, or just on the Array structure itself.

And you do realize that Boost 6 is only going to pump 6PP back into the Array, right? It would take 3 uses to replenish the Array once it's fully Faded. And those 3 uses would be very deadly to anyone standing next to this "Hero."

If you want the Boost to be able to push the powers in the Array over the ranks you've bought them at, yes, keep in mind that no trait can be Boosted beyond PL caps. If you only want the Boost to recharge the array, you should apply the Restorative flaw to the Boost to reflect that. And if the Boost is just for recharging the Array, there's no use for the Slow Fade feat. Restorative Boosts are just replacing Drained or Faded trait ranks, so the points don't disappear until they're Drained/Faded again.

I'm pretty sure drain starts as noticable so I don't think thats a valid drawback.

Correct. All Active and non-Continuous effects are Noticeable by default, and require the Subtle feat. Otherwise, the effect and source are immediately obvious to all observers.

[blink]

Thanks Shane! That's the sort of info I was looking for.

A while back I had written this character in a series of short stories. He was a hero who continuously exerted a drain around him. Items eventually crumbled and people generally got sick and felt fatigued. Short term stints were usually ok and if he concentrated he could limit the effects. He really disliked using his powers, because he knew what they did to people. However, in the stories he had to rise to the challenge of being a hero (which he did).

So yeah, perhaps a fort drain, or a toughness drain if that's even possible. It shouldn't kill people at all, just make them kind of . That wasn't what I was looking for, Con just seemed the trait that modeled the effect (I wasn't aware of the 0 CON = dead). The advice is awesome, and most appreciated.

Perhaps this character is not right for this setting, which is a shame, because I had fun writing him when I did. People liked what he did, but never really wanted him around for obvious reasons.

[Dr Archeville]

Well, I see one problem trying to model the effect: due to the differences in how creatures, construct, and objects are damaged in Mutants & Masterminds, there's no one effect that an both make items crumble and make people sick.

Drain Con would make people ill (and could kill them), but does squat to items.

Ditto on Drain Fortitude save, though that can't kill folks.

Drain Toughness would make items crumble (if it has the Affects Objects extra), and would make people weaker, but not ill (in the sense that their resistance to disease and poison -- their Fort save -- won't be affected).

You could in theory do a Linked Drain Fortitude + Affects Objects Drain Toughness... bu that seems a tad clunky.

Closer, I think, is some sort of Area Strike effect for the "items crumble & people get hurt" thing, and have some sort of flaw/drawback on your other powers that you have to periodically use the Strike in order to "power up" the other abilities... but I'm not exactly sure on just how that would stat out.

But, as Shaen pointed out, heroes who have to make others sick/destroy property in order to use their abilities (even if they do angst over said powers) doesn't fit well with the overall mood/tone we're trying to maintain here.

[blink]

I had sort of gathered that as this question languished with the stench of a rotting fish Beyond the mechanics, that's why I didn't submit the character at the time and threw up the post here asking if this sort of thing was reasonable. I kind of thought it would be the case, but you never know until you ask. Besides, I was still curious as I'll likely write up the character for a PnP game that I'll run. I'll probably have it as two very mild drains, one on fort and one on tough linked to a boost. Then tie all that back into making the array work.

Thanks again guys.