[Meta-Tech] Cosmic, Chaining

[Varyon]

So, some further thoughts.

First off, there's a question of if the number of hits you calculate for (3 at +60%, 5 at +70%, 7 at +80%, etc) is the number of total hits or the number of additional hits. Personally, I prefer it to be number of total hits. This means it's +50% for a total of 2 hits (1 additional), +60% for 3 (2 additional), +70% for 5 (4 additional), etc. Otherwise one could argue for +30% for 1 additional hit (1 yard is SM -2, so 50% -20%), and that just doesn't feel right.

Next up, as I mentioned in the other thread, we need to handle the question of what happens when an attacks misses due to a successful defense. I feel the attack should simply end if the attack were Dodged, but if Blocked or Parried it can chain off that (basically arcing off of the shield/weapon) to hit another target... but a case could be made for a Dodged attack to arc off the ground to hit another target instead. Probably the best way to handle it is that it automatically ends upon any successful Active Defense, but a further Enhancement can change this. I'd say +10% if it uses up an additional hit, +20% if it doesn't. That is, let's say an attack can hit up to 5 targets. The initial strike hits the guy beside you with MoS 5+ and it arcs toward you, but you manage to get out of the way. At +0%, the attack ends there. At +10%, it arcs off you to target someone else, but it can only hit up to 2 additional targets (it used up one on the first target, one on you, and one on being able to continue after the defense). At +20%, it does the same but can hit up to 3 additional people (it used up one on the first target and one on you). If it only applies in certain cases, you could apply a Limitation to this Enhancement - I'd call only working on Blocks and Parries a -50% Limitation (making it +5%/+10%), while working on Blocks, Parries, and Dodges, but only if there's a nearby floor, wall, etc for it to arc off of as probably -10% (making it +9%/+18%).

There's also the question of if the attack can come back and strike someone who has already been hit (or has successfully defended if using the above Enhancements). I'd say by default it cannot, but a further +5% per time this can happen might be appropriate; I'd probably cap it at +50%, at which point there's no limit to how many times a single target can be hit (aside from the normal limits to how many total hits the attack can manage).

Another consideration is Cover DR. As written, this could potentially bypass Cover DR - you hit the wall someone is hiding behind and the attack arcs through it and hits them for full damage. That's too powerful, IMO. I feel this is actually a fairly simple fix - the attack cannot go directly behind the struck target without having it and all future hits be reduced by the target's Cover DR. So if someone is facing you directly and you hit them, the arc can go into any of their Front or Side hexes without issue, but to go into their Rear hex it has to go through them, and suffers a damage penalty equal to their Cover DR. Enhancements like Surging Arc and Armor Divisor would have their normal effect on this Cover DR.

Finally on things to address, there's how to deal with cases where MoS exceeds the maximum number of additional hits. This will generally only happen at relatively low levels of the Enhancement, but it occurs to me that treating each yard between targets as using up a hit is overly-harsh. If someone with Cosmic, Chaining +50% (2 total, so 1 additional target) manages to hit the first target with MoS 5, say, it seems unfair that they still can only target an adjacent foe for the second hit. So rather than each yard deducting 1 hit, just say each additional yard deducts 1 from MoS, and so does each hit. Simple enough.

With those issues out of the way, here are some further Enhancements.

Forking: Cosmic, Chaining normally hits targets one at a time. If you had three targets all in a line, to hit all three your best bet would be to aim at one of them on the end, as targeting the one on the middle would mean it would jump to one of the other two without issue, but then would have to traverse a longer distance to hit the one on the other side. With Forking, it could just hit the first target, then arc to both of the other two from the same point. Each target struck deducts from MoS, as per normal, so this can't be used to get you additional hits. I'd eyeball it at +10% per additional target that can be forked to (+10% if it splits into two, +20% if it splits into three, etc). Each fork can also fork upon hitting - so you could have 1 become 2, 2 become 4, 4 become 8, etc. Each fork must hit a different target, even if you have the above Enhancement that allows you to strike the same target multiple times.

Long-Range Chain: This increases the distance the arc can travel between targets before it suffers a -1 to MoS. As Long-Range is +50% and can go from Short-Range (-1 per yard) to Standard-Range (+0 up to 2 yards, -1 per SSR beyond this) or Standard to Long-Range, and the default for Cosmic, Chaining is similar to Regular, I'd call this +25%. A Cosmic, Chaining attack that is already Short-Range (so that it's already at -1 per yard) would probably require this Enhancement to be able to hit targets that aren't in the same hex as the original target (although it may be appropriate to reduce the price markedly), considering Cosmic, Chaining basically has a -1 step to Range built in (conversely, something with Long-Range would probably start at Standard for its chaining).


So, in summary, the proposed Enhancements are:

Forking +10%/level: This allows a Cosmic, Chaining attack to hit an additional number of targets from a single point of impact equal to the level of the Enhancement. Each additional hit subtracts 1 from MoS and counts against the maximum number of hits allowed - this cannot be used to increase the number of hits beyond what the ability's level of Cosmic, Chaining would allow for. Each fork can further fork. Each fork must strike a different target - even if you have Return Strike, below, you cannot have more than one fork striking a single target.

Long-Range Chain +25%: This increases the distance before additional attacks suffer a -1 to MoS from 1 yard to 2, and further has the penalty follow the Size and Speed/Range Table - -1 for 3 yards, -2 for 5 yards, -3 for 7 yards, -4 for 10 yards, etc. If the Cosmic, Chaining attack already has Long-Range, such that it uses Long-Distance Modifiers for the initial attack, it is treated as having this at no additional charge - or it can pay +25% to use the same Long Distance Modifiers as the initial attack.

Return Strike +5%/level: Normally, any given target can only be hit once by a single use of Cosmic, Chaining attack. This Enhancement allows you to strike one target per level who has previously been hit with the same attack. There must be at least one hit on a different target between two hits on the same one - the attack cannot simply loop back to strike the same target again, but you can have it jump continuously between two targets until all the hits are used up. At +50%, there is no limit to the number of times you can strike a previously-hit target.

Short-Range Chain -5%: This makes the additional arcs unable to strike targets that are not in the same hex as the original target. If the Cosmic, Chaining attack already has Short-Range, such that it suffers a -1 per yard for the initial attack, it is treated as having this at no additional reduction - or it can pay +5% to use the same Short-Range modifiers as the initial attack.

Unstoppable +10% or +20%: Normally, a Cosmic, Chaining attack ends prematurely if a target successfully defends. At the +10% level, the attack instead suffers a -1 to MoS from having been successfully defended against but otherwise continues on; at the +20% level, there is no further penalty to MoS, the attack simply continues as though it struck the target successfully. The target that successfully defended is treated as having already been struck for purposes of the Return Strike Enhancement, above.


EDIT:

Originally Posted by Kallatari

I've always modeled these types of attack as a combination of three modifiers:

Area Effect (Varies), Bombardment (varies) and a special variant of Overhead +30%.

Your proposed method can work for a randomly-chaining attack, but I get the feeling the proposed modifier is one where the character controls who each strike targets, like with Captain America throwing his shield (although I'm more inclined to just make that a special case of Rapid Strike, personally*).

*This in turn suggests an alternative to the above - I'd eyeball it at +20% and say it allows you to use Rapid Strike with an RoF 1 ranged attack as though it were a melee attack (normally you can only Rapid Strike up to the maximum RoF for a ranged attack). A version that is fluffed as bouncing between targets would be the same cost - it would gain the ability to potentially get around cover but would end prematurely upon the first miss or successful defense.