Area Effect and Wall height

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Agent

Unfortunately, the Explosion modifier doesn't seem to indicate a further consideration of height either, nor do the rules on page 414 seem to specifically reference it. It would appear 'explosions' would follow the same default considerations as Area Effect unless I'm missing something therein or in another book.

I think what you're missing is that it's not an area effect. It's a point effect, and everything refers to distance from the origin point. I'm just not sure how the area description can possibly apply to it, because otherwise it's also 2 yards maximum radius as well, as no hard radius is specified.

Originally Posted by Agent

As to Area Effect being inappropriate for 'explosions' I guess it depends on your definition. I was just using the term generically. As an example, in Powers under Heat/Fire sample abilities (pg 139), you have Fireball that indeed has Explosion, but Inferno several examples later is Area Effect based. And these are designed to be used in multiple levels.

Which suggest to me that the Inferno isn't an explosion. There are many things that aren't explosions, and for them using the Explosion modifier isn't appropriate.

I guess what I'm not really following is what the existance of something using Area Effect has to do with the explsions? There's nothing really "generic" about the term, after all. Outside of excitable advertisers scripts[1], we don't refer to things with a volume as being "explosions". Area Effect makes all kinds of things into volume-filling abilities (often in combination with Affects Others). Explosion makes things that go boom, which is why it's restricted to a limited range of base advantages.

[1] I'm sure I've seen "an explosion of flavor" before somewhere.