Explosively Overclocking Your Brain

[Dr Archeville]

Had a thought for a new AP for Doc's Giant Pulsating Pseudonatural Brain: explosively overclocking it, gaining a temporary boost in brainpower, but at a cost.

At the moment, it looks like this

Enhanced Intelligence 24 (to 48/+19; Flaw: ???), Linked Enhanced Quickness 6 (to Quickness 12 [x10,000]; Flaws: Limited to mental tasks only, ???) [12+2=14pp]

The ??? Flaw is what I can't figure.

At first I thought Unreliable -- he tries to push his brain, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't -- but that doesn't quite fit my idea.

Then I thought of Side Effect, a Damage effect that happens to him when he activates the power. Or, as a tiny amount of damage at first, but slowly building as time goes on... but I have no idea if such is even possible in this system.

Thoughts?

[quotemyname]

As far as the name goes, I'd go with Side Effect. You strain your brain and pop a few blood vessels in the process. Sounds like it would hurt a little ;)

[N/A]

How about this?

Boost Intelligence 24 (Extras: Linked [boost Quickness], Total Fade, Flaws: Side-Effect) [24PP]

Boost Quickness 6 (Feats: Slow Fade [1PP/minute], Extras: Linked [boost Intelligence], Total Fade, Flaws: Limited [Mental Tasks], Side-Effect) [4PP]

Side-Effect: Damage 14 (Extras: Alternate Save [Will]) [28PP]

Since this isn't a power he can really "fail" at, I'd rule that only the -1PP/rank level of Side-Effect applies, not the -2PP/rank level. It goes off whenever he uses the power, period.

With Archeville's +15 Will Save, he'd need a 14+ to avoid any damage from the DC29 Will Save. But he'd only be Stunned on a 9 or lower.

[Dr Archeville]

How about this?

Boost Intelligence 24 (Extras: Linked [boost Quickness], Total Fade, Flaws: Side-Effect) [24PP]

Boost Quickness 6 (Feats: Slow Fade [1PP/minute], Extras: Linked [boost Intelligence], Total Fade, Flaws: Limited [Mental Tasks], Side-Effect) [4PP]

Since this isn't a power he can really "fail" at, I'd rule that only the -1PP/rank level of Side-Effect applies, not the -2PP/rank level. It goes off whenever he uses the power, period.

With Archeville's +15 Will Save, he'd need a 14+ to avoid any damage from the DC29 Will Save. But he'd only be Stunned on a 9 or lower.

Nifty, though I would point out that Doc's Will save is +15 only when he has his Enhanced Wisdom up; without it, his Will is +8.

[Avenger Assembled]

This is an awesome idea, Doc!

[N/A]

My construction does, of course, bring up one of the main problems with Boost - it's too easy to wind up with a Boost build that is either equal in cost or more expensive than just buying the traits (in which case, why would you bother going the Boost route?), or to wind up with a bunch of Boosted traits far cheaper than they would have cost on their own, with fading durations so long they're irrelevant.

[N/A]

My bad - I forgot the part about Side-Effect where the PP total of the attack effect you suffer is equal to the PP value of the power without the Side-Effect flaw. That changes the face of the landscape a bit.

Nifty, though I would point out that Doc's Will save is +15 only when he has his Enhanced Wisdom up; without it, his Will is +8.

Right! And if he's using this power, he's probably got everything shifted to Enhanced Intelligence. A DC29 Mental Blast would probably kill him.

So maybe something like this:

Enhanced Intelligence 24 (Extras: Linked [Quickness], Flaws: Side-Effect) [12PP]

Quickness 6 (Extras: Linked [Enhanced Intelligence], Flaws: Limited [Mental Tasks], Side-Effect) [2PP]

Side-Effect: Confuse 9 + Damage 9 (Extras: Alternate Save [Will]) [27PP]

With great power comes great insanity.

[Dr Archeville]

So maybe something like this:

Enhanced Intelligence 24 (Extras: Linked [Quickness], Flaws: Side-Effect) [12PP]

Quickness 6 (Extras: Linked [Enhanced Intelligence], Flaws: Limited [Mental Tasks], Side-Effect) [2PP]

With great power comes great insanity.

"I haff a particle vave ray gun und bipolar disorder! I haff no idea vhat it might do to you if I pull de trigger!"

[N/A]

With a probable +8 Will Save, Archeville would have a 50/50 chance of passing the DC19 Confuse save (11+). That's about right for a -1PP/rank flaw. He'd need to roll a 16+ to be completely unaffected by the DC24 Will Strike, but he'd get away with nothing more than a Bruise on a 12+. Consider switching from a Will-based Strike to a Will-based Stun if you're uncomfortable with that.

[Dr Archeville]

I'd be fine with the Damage effect; opening his mind this much hurts.

Re-reading the rules on Confuse, though, makes me concerned he wouldn't be able to use it very well -- each round I'd re-roll the effect, so as-written he'd only have a 15% chance each round of being able to act normally and use that extra brainpower. The rest of the time, he'd be attacking himself (taking a power drill to his temple to make the voices stop; 10% chance), doing nothing but babble (as he begins voicing his shoulder daemons [1] [2]; 25% chance), running from his project ("What am I doing?!"; 20% chance), or attacking the nearest creature (or vaguely anthropomorphic item, like the collection of parts that, to him, look like a leering, mocking face; 30% chance).

[N/A]

None of that happens unless he fails the initial save against the Confuse. He has a 50% chance of passing that initial save and suffering no ill effect. As a general guideline, a -1PP/rank Flaw should limit the usefulness of a power by about 50%. And since the duration is "Instant (Lasting)," he gets a new save each round, with a cumulative +1 bonus, to shake off the lingering Confusion before it takes effect.

Also, since it's a Lasting effect, there's always Extra Effort for new saves.