Alternate Form (Projection) without losing control of original body

[N.H.Alicia]

I'm trying to build an ability similar to the Stands from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, or the eponymous psychic projections of the Persona series. Esentially, I want to build a character that projects a second entity without losing control of their original body. The entity is not a separate character and does not have its own actions - the user must use their own action to have the projection attack. Think Extra Limbs instead of Ally or Duplicate. I found one possible build, and would like to know if it is feasible.

Alternate Form (Projection, -50%; Cosmic, Can Be Compartmentalized, +50%; Dissipation, -50%; Reduced/Increased Range, ±X%; Super, -10%) [X]
Compartmentalized Mind 1 (Limited, One Ability, -30%; No Mental Separation, -20%) [25]

Is this a valid usage of Cosmic? I would like to hear alternative methods if not.

[Varyon]

P44 under the "Projection" box suggests Duplication, which is arguably the best way to build something like this. The fact the dupe is build on a different template than the character is arguably a +50% Enhancement (that level of Cosmic is for Adding Utility, Avoiding Drawbacks, etc, which seems appropriate here). Alternatively, you could use Kromm's Ally build here, drop it to a single ally, and add something like Summonable. In either case, Mindlink and Telesend are appropriate. If you want the two to basically share all experiences, the Sensie Enhancement (+80%, P82) on Telesend is appropriate. While Racial is the RAW Limitation to make it so you can only communicate with your dupe/ally, I'd suggest instead using an Accessibility; a single person is -80%. It makes no sense to charge the same to an elf who can use Telesend to contact every other elf on the planet as an elf who can only use it to communicate with his personal guardian spirit.

If you want the dupe/ally to be unable to function unless you take a Concentration Maneuver, make certain you have a Mindlink and Telesend connection to it, make it mindless (IQ 0), and give it Compartmentalized Mind (Controls). Sensie is pretty much a requirement on the dupe/ally's Telesend in this case.

[Refplace]

I normally use Duplication for this butsince you want the astral form to only reavtt as the body does I would go with TK andpossibly linked Clairsentience.
You dontuse theProjetion limitation at all. Thats for leaving a helpless body behind.

[N.H.Alicia]

Would linking Alternate Form to Duplication work? Would I need the Construct enhancement to avoid spending points every time the dupe died? For example, Duplication (Construct) linked to Alternate Form.

As an ally: Summonable, constant rate of appearance, Sympathy, Mindlink and Telesend (Sensie) on both ends, ally has IQ 0 and Controls. Is this appropriate?

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by N.H.Alicia

Would linking Alternate Form to Duplication work?

I considered this, but it didn't set right with me. Technically you could give the dupe Alternate Form (as he's built separately anyway) to get a discount on the template, but that's a point crock so I'd advise against it.

Originally Posted by N.H.Alicia

Would I need the Construct enhancement to avoid spending points every time the dupe died?

Correct.

Originally Posted by N.H.Alicia

As an ally: Summonable, constant rate of appearance, Sympathy, Mindlink and Telesend (Sensie) on both ends, ally has IQ 0 and Controls. Is this appropriate?

You'll want Mindlink and Telesend on both ends, with the dupe/ally having IQ 0 and Controls, regardless of which approach you take. You really only need Sensie on the dupe/ally, default Telesend should be sufficient to operate the controls (or, rather, Telesend that lets you operate controls instead of talk and send pictures should be worth the same as default Telesend).

Note the above is if you want the two to be unable to act at the same time. If you want them to be able to act in tandem, build the dupe/ally with normal IQ and both characters with Mindlink and just the default Telesend (simply being able to talk with each other freely should keep both sufficiently in the loop, although if you really want it to run passively the Sensie Enhancement isn't a horrible idea). In this case, for an Ally you'll need the +50% "Controlled as a PC" Enhancement from the previously-linked Krommpost. You may be able to save points by building the dupe/ally as mindless with controls and giving the character an appropriately-limited version of Compartmentalized Mind, but that doesn't strike me as a great idea (it's mostly a point crock, although I suppose it does limit the build a bit in that the original must remain conscious for the dupe/ally to be able to act).

If you want Sympathy, you may want to consider dropping the cost of Construct to +40% so that No Sympathetic Injury (which is automatically part of Construct) doesn't apply. Note, however, that Ally's Sympathy works a good deal differently from the default sympathetic injury built into Duplication (the first means certain status conditions affect both parties, and death of the Ally either reduces the Master to 0 HP or kills him outright; the second means a distribution of Injury and the like to the original when the Dupe is dismissed, and 2d Injury combined with severe Stunning if the dupe dies). Personally, I'd be strongly tempted to avoid any sort of Sympathy.

[N.H.Alicia]

The particular phenomena I was trying to replicate needed a conscious user in most cases. Mindless/Controls should work fine, unless it's too unbalanced.

Is it possible to apply sympathetic injury immediately in the case of a construct, or apply the sympathetic injury rules under Projection? In the case of Stands, from Jojo, injuries to the stand are immediately replicated on the user, in an analogous location.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by N.H.Alicia

Is it possible to apply sympathetic injury immediately in the case of a construct, or apply the sympathetic injury rules under Projection? In the case of Stands, from Jojo, injuries to the stand are immediately replicated on the user, in an analogous location.

Having Injury apply to both parties instantly is arguably a Feature for Duplication if it's divided equally amongst the character and dupe (it's advantageous as it's functionally IT:DR x0.5 for "free," disadvantageous in that you can immediately harm the character by striking his dupe, or vice versa). It's a Limitation if full Injury applies to both parties, probably somewhere between -20% and -50%. It's harder to come up with a fair cost for tacking this onto a build using Ally.

[N.H.Alicia]

Ally Sympathy at -50% causes the PC to die if the ally does. That would be a good place to start. Around -60% - -70%, I think, considering that you would also have to worry about non-fatal injuries being shared - if your Ally takes leg damage, so do you.

A shared health pool would be an advantage if it allowed one character to hide and heal another character by healing themselves. I'm not keen on that, but it could be interesting as a concept. A villain who can offload damage onto their minions, who then heal it. Kill the minions first to solve the problem.

[Plane]

How about forget insubstantiality+projection...

Instead you take Duplication...

Then you take Possession with the enhancement of Telecontrol 2 (Powers 67)

This kinda covers the "doesn't have own actions" thing because whichever body you don't prioritize has -4 to whatever it does. Kinda works like the "Splittin Image" talent in Nightbane.

[Anaraxes]

The particular phenomena I was trying to replicate needed a conscious user in most cases. Mindless/Controls should work fine

That won't let both entities act normally. On any given turn, the character is either focused on his own body, or he's drone-piloting his astral construct. (Don't forget the Telecommunications, Telepathy, and/or Mindlink.) That's not the same as unconscious, certainly, but it's also not the same as two independent characters.

Go with whichever fits the concept.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Having Injury apply to both parties... disadvantageous in that you can immediately harm the character by striking his dupe, or vice versa).

Also slightly disadvantageous in that it's double damage from area attacks, should the dupe be so close. (And not astrally Insubstantial...)