Affliction: Insubstantiality question

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

When you design an ability with Affliction, you (the player/GM) choose whether or not the target has control of the ability, or whether it just affects them. That decision can't be changed on the fly; the ability just works one way or the other.

Since you can design both versions as alternative abilities, it wouldn't seem the most horrible house rule to instead make it a +20% enhancement for "Beneficial or Not" to be able to specify either version when attacking. Less book-keeping than duplicating the entire thing as Alternative Attacks.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Plane

it wouldn't seem the most horrible house rule to instead make it a +20% enhancement for "Beneficial or Not"

Not horrible, no. The biggest difference would be that AAs require a Ready action to switch back and forth. Maybe bump it to +25%.

(Because if simplicity is the goal, you really don't to have to tack on Compartmentalized Mind ("Only for Ready actions to switch Affliction X") -80% for 10 points for each such ability, unless they require something physical to happen, so it's ATR -80% and 20 points.) The other really simple option is just to ignore the difference...)

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Not horrible, no. The biggest difference would be that AAs require a Ready action to switch back and forth.

This for some reason doesn't apply to attack abilitles like Innate/Binding/Affliction which can switch as a free action =/ I too had thought the general Alternative Abilities rules applied retroactively to create such a delay in Alternative Attacks swapping despite it explicitly reminding me it was still instant.

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

(Because if simplicity is the goal, you really don't to have to tack on Compartmentalized Mind ("Only for Ready actions to switch Affliction X") -80% for 10 points for each such ability, unless they require something physical to happen, so it's ATR -80% and 20 points.)

I guess if that's cheaper than taking 'Reduced Time' on an attack advantage? That seems fair since you're not making the attack instant but rather just it's switching.

Alternative Ammo in Power-Ups seems to imply you can take -5% if it costs aready maneuver to switch attack types though that's just piercing damage.

[transmetahuman]

Originally Posted by Plane

Since you can design both versions as alternative abilities, it wouldn't seem the most horrible house rule to instead make it a +20% enhancement for "Beneficial or Not" to be able to specify either version when attacking. Less book-keeping than duplicating the entire thing as Alternative Attacks.

+20% on Affliction is a flat two points, no matter what it does. Whereas those Exoport, or "Bestow the Ability to Teleport" Afflictions will both cost ~110 in their most basic forms.

110/5 is 22.
20% of 10 is 2.
Not particularly balanced at all.

[kirbwarrior]

Originally Posted by Plane

Since you can design both versions as alternative abilities, it wouldn't seem the most horrible house rule to instead make it a +20% enhancement for "Beneficial or Not" to be able to specify either version when attacking. Less book-keeping than duplicating the entire thing as Alternative Attacks.

I'd put the +20% on Warp, not Affliction, but I've done this in the past. It's basically the same as Alternative Enhancements, with the houserule that an attack can have both a beneficial grant and maleficent curse.