Sense-based Maledictions, Area Effect, and Dissipation

Genesis · 09-30-2014, 04:32 PM

Hey folks - I'm working on a magic power similar to a bardic-style mind/emotion control. I'd like it to affect everyone who can hear the music, not just a single target (a la generic Mind Control). I'm currently building it with Mind Control (Hearing Based, -20%; Area Effect, Emanation, +(50x-20)%, some other modifiers), with the understanding that for multiple targets I need the AE, even given that it's hearing-based.

Is there an Increased Range (Line of Hearing) variant? Can I buy some variation on AE to increase range to "anyone who can hear the music"?

Related: Dissipation, as written, gives +1 to resistance rolls per yard from the center of the effect. This seems... well, not scalable, frankly. If I buy Area Effect 128 yd radius with Dissipation, it's practically the same as buying Area Effect 16 yd radius, with Dissipation. Shouldn't Dissipation scale to the size of the area? Like, "+1 to resistance rolls per full 10% of the radius the target is away from the center"? It's more punishing for radii smaller than 10 yds, obviously, but the behavior seems weird even for small radii, for which there is still a hard cut-off in effect at the radius, Dissipation or no. Has anyone house-ruled this effectively?

09-30-2014, 04:32 PM	#1
Genesis Join Date: Dec 2010	Sense-based Maledictions, Area Effect, and Dissipation Hey folks - I'm working on a magic power similar to a bardic-style mind/emotion control. I'd like it to affect everyone who can hear the music, not just a single target (a la generic Mind Control). I'm currently building it with Mind Control (Hearing Based, -20%; Area Effect, Emanation, +(50x-20)%, some other modifiers), with the understanding that for multiple targets I need the AE, even given that it's hearing-based. Is there an Increased Range (Line of Hearing) variant? Can I buy some variation on AE to increase range to "anyone who can hear the music"? Related: Dissipation, as written, gives +1 to resistance rolls per yard from the center of the effect. This seems... well, not scalable, frankly. If I buy Area Effect 128 yd radius with Dissipation, it's practically the same as buying Area Effect 16 yd radius, with Dissipation. Shouldn't Dissipation scale to the size of the area? Like, "+1 to resistance rolls per full 10% of the radius the target is away from the center"? It's more punishing for radii smaller than 10 yds, obviously, but the behavior seems weird even for small radii, for which there is still a hard cut-off in effect at the radius, Dissipation or no. Has anyone house-ruled this effectively?