Control Air? What does it do?

[Bruno]

I looked at Control Air but it seems... well, for 20 points or so it seems like you aren't able to do much, and at a very short range too.

I can stir up air within 1 yard (2yd radius) and um. That's it as far as I can tell.

I'd like to be able to move smoke clouds off my friends, blow away foul smells, and make an attempt to blow out small fires (or fan a spreading fire in a given direction), which at first thought seemed like a Control Air sort of thing...

But for 20 points, a concentrate action, and an IQ roll that seems like a lot to just sort of shoo air along at a move of 1, and of course once it's 1 yard away from me it's completely out of my control and just stops. Ranged Control Air is 28 points, which at least means I can push it along while still making my Concentrates.

Air isn't cover against almost any attack (some interesting high TL weapons would be mildly hindered by it) so it can't be used defensively in combat - and since it isn't an energy or force I can't even use Control Air to reduce wind buffeting.

Should I just be using TK here? What's the limitation for "TK: Air only"? How much does a 2 yd radius of air weigh for the purposes of TK? It's sort of neutrally buoyant in a normal atmosphere and TK is based on weight not mass :/

[Refplace]

IA with the Jet enhancement would do some of what your looking for.
I would let Control Air do an attack on someone by keeping the air out of or from exchanging fresh air into their lungs.
Though not sure how I would handle the defense, possibly resisted by ST or HT.

Moving air around would be more useful where you had less air like underwater or in a ship then in normal conditions, though a large enough Control and you could make vacuum bubbles and with e Natural Phenoma you can make a decent large wind.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Refplace

IA with the Jet enhancement would do some of what your looking for.

A crushing attack on the air isn't going to help me much, I'm afraid - double knockback or not :D

Originally Posted by Refplace

I would let Control Air do an attack on someone by keeping the air out of or from exchanging fresh air into their lungs.
Though not sure how I would handle the defense, possibly resisted by ST or HT.

You can't. No attacks from Control - it's very strict about that. If you want to attack, make an attack as an alternate of it.

Originally Posted by Refplace

Moving air around would be more useful where you had less air like underwater or in a ship then in normal conditions, though a large enough Control and you could make vacuum bubbles and with e Natural Phenoma you can make a decent large wind.

I'd need a LOT of points to buy that much - and it's way overkill for what I"m looking for. It's like there's only two options for this one - massively overcharged for nothing, or massively over-powerful.

Which makes me think I'm missing something.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Bruno

A crushing attack on the air isn't going to help me much, I'm afraid - double knockback or not :D

I am basing that off Air Jet and while not strictly RAW special effects that can have minor effects are RAW.

Originally Posted by Bruno

You can't. No attacks from Control - it's very strict about that. If you want to attack, make an attack as an alternate of it.

I agree an AA would be easier. However you can move the ground away and mess someones footing. I think this would be the same, easily countered in combat mostly because they can simply move away unless there pinned.

[whswhs]

Control is not meant to have much combat utility. That's not what it's for.

I might allow Control to raise or lower air pressure. The analogy of force (since gravity is a force!) would suggest that Control Air 5 would let you get down to 0.5 atmospheres or up to 1.5.

I would allow Control to move air and thus provide convective cooling, perhaps giving a bonus to HT rolls to resist overheating.

Control could certainly enhance the flow of air toward something burning, and thus enhance combustion by some percentage—again, perhaps 10% per level. On the other hand, it could blow out a candle or match flame with a gust. A similar gust could scatter small objects, turn a page, carry along light fabric, or the like. Or you could use your power as a vacuum cleaner.

Air, like water, is not going to be something you can sculpt in a lasting way.
So the "shaping" effect is limited. But I might let you create a small whirlwind out of air, with ST equal to your level.

If you were in a hot air balloon, I'd let control move the air inside the balloon, making it steerable, if you had enough levels. I don't know if I'd let you expand the air in the balloon for greater buoyancy; that seems to entail making air hotter, which isn't part of the standard remit.

Bill Stoddard

[ULFGARD]

Originally Posted by whswhs

If you were in a hot air balloon, I'd let control move the air inside the balloon, making it steerable, if you had enough levels. I don't know if I'd let you expand the air in the balloon for greater buoyancy; that seems to entail making air hotter, which isn't part of the standard remit.

Bill Stoddard

Well, if you reduced air pressure inside the balloon by 50% without changing the volume, that would substantially increase the buoyancy....

[jeff_wilson]

[QUOTE=whswhs;1374083]If you were in a hot air balloon, I'd let control move the air inside the balloon, making it steerable, if you had enough levels. I don't know if I'd let you expand the air in the balloon for greater buoyancy; that seems to entail making air hotter, which isn't part of the standard remit./QUOTE]

How about making a whirlwind around the top of the balloon, to draw it upward via the Bernoulli principle?

[Gnome]

I had a character once with Control Air, and the GM allowed me to create a stable air bubble around myself which I take with me under water (provided I concentrate continuously). So there's a use.
Also, if you take control of the air around you and get it going fast, it will still have some velocity when it leaves your area of control, so I would allow you to do tricks like blowing smoke clouds aways, etc., based on the theory that a wind that started 1 yd away from you could end up somewhere else...

[Refplace]

Or just a hang glider. boost the lift a bit.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Bruno

But for 20 points, a concentrate action, and an IQ roll that seems like a lot to just sort of shoo air along at a move of 1, and of course once it's 1 yard away from me it's completely out of my control and just stops.

No it doesn't. You retain control of it for as long as you want and can move it where ever it can reasonably move. Powers Page 91, paragraph 7. However you must be touching the area at the start to take control of it unless you have Ranged. And yeah it can be used to hold back poison gas and smoke. Or push some of it toward someone you don't like.

Air isn't cover against almost any attack (some interesting high TL weapons would be mildly hindered by it)

It's cover against gas and wind attacks.

s

o it can't be used defensively in combat - and since it isn't an energy or force I can't even use Control Air to reduce wind buffeting.

Sure you can. Although if you have only Control 1, you can't use it to reduce it by much. What you can get for 20 points is pretty limited when it comes to such a flexible power.