Is Area Effect too Cheap?

[AlexanderHowl]

I was just wondering if anyone else found the Area Effect enhancement to be too cheap. For example, using the Disease Power from Horrors, I can create the following Power for 50 Points. I call it City Killer.

City Killer (+1,150%): Toxic Attack 1d (Area Effect, 8192 yards, +650%; Blood Agent, +100%; Cyclic, 21 cycles, 1 day, Halted by a successful Physicians roll, Highly Contagious, +250%; Emanation, -20%; Selective Area, +20%; Symptoms, Blindness, -1/3 HP, +150%) [50].

With City Killer, a PC is capable of infecting any type of target they wish with a virulent and horrific pathogen. While individual doctors can halt the progression of the disease with a Physician roll, there are only so many doctors to go around (and a recently blinded doctor is going to have difficulty).

I think that Area Effect should be changed to +50% per two yard radius. It would not impact existing attacks much and would prevent abusive powers like City Killer from existing. What is your opinion?

[Railstar]

1 - Shouldn't it exist? One of the appeals of GURPS to me is you can design very very unusual things that wouldn't be part of another RPG.

2 - Is the problem with City Killer really the Area Effect part? As opposed to say the 21 Cycles or the Highly Contagious part, or even the prospect that the user can keep continue zapping it for more damage.

3 - That build has an unspoken assumption of "being able to do stuff like this is semi-normal in the setting". If not, then a hefty Unusual Background cost would account for having such a potentially disruptive ability.

[TGLS]

Here's an excellent piece of advice from Power-ups 4:

Just because something is built “legally” doesn’t mean the GM has to allow it in his campaign.

I'm fairly sure that area effect is designed to be competitive with explosion damage, which is why it escalates so fast. If you don't want people using such attacks, don't let them have it to begin with.

[ericthered]

The thing I actually find to be a problem is that it doesn't act multiplicatively with a handful of other modifiers, such as cyclic.

[Anthony]

I find area effect at its base level too cheap; it vastly outclasses explosion, for example, and it utterly negates active defenses a significant part of the time.

[Mark Skarr]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I find area effect at its base level too cheap; it vastly outclasses explosion, for example, and it utterly negates active defenses a significant part of the time.

For the first, I just think Explosion is over-priced, in general. Explosion is random area Area Effect with built-in IT:DR for the target, for a premium price.

For the second, I mostly agree. I play a lot of supers, so there are some really high steps in some of those games.

My biggest problem with Area Effect is that it keeps doubling in radius.

+50% for a two-yard radius, with +25% for each, additional yard of radius would allow for finer-tuning.

A quick Google Search says the visible universe has a radius of 46.6 billion light years. That's 4.8x10^26 yards. That's a lot of yards. Some back of the envelope calculations later . . . 89 levels of Area Effect has a radius of 6.2x10^26. Sure, that's a +4,450% enhancement, but, on a low-level ability . . ..

I mean, we've seen the universe killer attacks that do one point of unstoppable damage over the universe.

[weby]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I find area effect at its base level too cheap; it vastly outclasses explosion, for example, and it utterly negates active defenses a significant part of the time.

Yes, it is not the radius increase that is the problem with area effect, it is the active defense bit.

[Mark Skarr]

Originally Posted by weby

You need a LOT of dice of damage to affect the universe as at the edge the damage is divided by 6.2x10^26.

Area Effect damage is not divided over the area, it is applied equally to all points of the area.

Originally Posted by Character, pg 102

Everything in the area suffers the attack’s damage or other effects.

For Explosion it's divided, but not for Area Effect.

ETA:You're quoting rules for Explosions, which Area Effect does not follow. Explosions follow the rules on 414, but Area Effect does not.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by weby

Note that you divide the the damage by range to the center of the effect. (B414). So your 1d will be pretty useless beyond 6 yards and questionable beyond 3, so you are wasting most of that +650%. And since you are using Emanation you will have to be at the site as the attack has no range.

This is ONLY true of attacks with the Dissipation limitation.

[Refplace]

Just because the rules allow a build does not mean the GM has to allow it in a specific game.
Stuff like this is needed to let GURPS be universal and build anything and as a GM I have no problem vetoing abusive builds.