Confused by the FAQ on Afflictions

[naloth]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

I would insist on Active Change on the Alternate Form if the afflictor doesn't have to spend the time normally required by Alternate Form, yes. That would produce an affliction that would still take 10 seconds to take effect, during which the afflictor could do other things, but so could the target, since the new template wouldn't take effect until the 10 seconds were up.

Obviously there is a total miscommunication.

You implied that when you Afflict an advantage, you gain the ability to use it on the target, turning it on or off, for the duration of the affliction if you possessed the advantage. That would imply that rather than using Exo-Teleport to send someone once, that you could Exo-Port them for the duration instead. That's not how it works for Exo-Port, so it shouldn't follow that way for other Afflictions.

As a guideline it should fit into one of these categories:
- You afflict someone with an effect that lasts over time. You buy it with how it works, and when cast, that's what the target gets for the duration. No more, no less, no turning off and on, no modifying the effect after you use Affliction. You afflict shrink them, they shrink for the duration. You afflict shape-shift them, they shift for the duration (onset still being 10 seconds by default). You don't get to switch it on and off selectively, and being able to end it early in any way is an enhancement or advantage.

- You get one use forced one use of an "active" ability on your target, choosing how it is used. Exo-Teleport, for example, lets you port someone to a place of your choosing once (not multiple times over a duration). Note that Flight grants the ability to move in a new way, but doesn't have anything to do with where you navigate so you can't mind control someone this way into flying into a building. Likewise, Extra Attack, Altered Time Rate, and Compartmentalized Mind shouldn't give you the ability to control the target either. That's Mind Control instead. A villain with the ability to afflict "innate attack w/area & emanation" can have fun turning heroes into a bomb once per time Afflicted - not for minutes at a time. (Just try it, that latter is horribly abusive.)

- You can gift someone an ability under their control, such that they can use as if they purchased it for the duration.

And the cost difference is actually non-trivial - an Affliction with Alternate Form (Active Change, +20%) costs 28 points, while the Affliction with Alternate Form (Reduced Time 5, +100%) costs 40. And that difference only multiplies if you want to buy more levels of Affliction to make it harder to resist.

Not even remotely related to what I said. I even clarified that the goal was not to reduce the amount of time for the Affliction to shift the target into another shape. The trade off was control (being able to shift them back and forth, later, at will, taking 10 seconds of concentration by whomever cast the Affliction for the remaining duration) vs how I described it as: zzzzap, you got hit with a shape-shifting Affliction, unmodified it takes you 10 seconds to shift and that will last the duration without further action on the caster.

If you think that's too much of a boon for afflicting shape-shifting, we can discuss that separately. There's quite a bit of broken stuff you can do with Affliction, and certainly not forcing the caster to buy a very limited ability to ignore/concentrate/ready a weaponized Affliction isn't the biggest issue.

Psionic Powers lists Cancellation for Affliction at +10%, but that requires a touch or a roll with current range modifiers to the subject. Being able to do so at will without a roll at any distance would presumably be a bit more expensive.

Sounds like a pattern where the ability to modify an ongoing Affliction has quite a bit of utility.

If you are treating afflicted advantages as if you can turn it off and on remotely as part of afflicting, you're adding more use than I am by waiving a few turns of activation maneuvers.