Building an uncontrolled attack with a very specific trigger

Morathor · 02-09-2013, 11:34 PM

I'm trying to design a villain for a superhero game I'm running. His basic power is easy enough to design: he absorbs impacts to convert them into his own power, so DR with Absorption (ST Only) and Limited (Physical Attacks Only).

However, I want him to have a secondary ability: if he absorbs too much power, he'll have an explosive overload. So it's an Innate Attack (Explosion, Emanation) that triggers automatically if he reaches his Absorption limit, and which he can't activate consciously. I'm looking at various limitations, and the best I can come up with is some sort of Accessibility, possibly combined with Unconscious Only (although the latter says its supposed to be used with Uncontrollable).

Of course, this is an NPC, so I don't have to build him as strictly as I would a PC; I could just say 'this is how it works.' But I want him to have a clearly defined point total, mainly to make sure I don't go out of control and make him too powerful.

A side note: another effect of his explosive overload would be to disable his power armor; in rules terms it would forcefully shift him out of his alternate form and disable that advantage for a while. I'm not sure how to handle that, either. Would I apply it as a limitation to the innate attack, or the alternate form? Or some independent disadvantage?

Any help would be appreciated.

02-09-2013, 11:34 PM	#1
Morathor Join Date: Apr 2012	Building an uncontrolled attack with a very specific trigger I'm trying to design a villain for a superhero game I'm running. His basic power is easy enough to design: he absorbs impacts to convert them into his own power, so DR with Absorption (ST Only) and Limited (Physical Attacks Only). However, I want him to have a secondary ability: if he absorbs too much power, he'll have an explosive overload. So it's an Innate Attack (Explosion, Emanation) that triggers automatically if he reaches his Absorption limit, and which he can't activate consciously. I'm looking at various limitations, and the best I can come up with is some sort of Accessibility, possibly combined with Unconscious Only (although the latter says its supposed to be used with Uncontrollable). Of course, this is an NPC, so I don't have to build him as strictly as I would a PC; I could just say 'this is how it works.' But I want him to have a clearly defined point total, mainly to make sure I don't go out of control and make him too powerful. A side note: another effect of his explosive overload would be to disable his power armor; in rules terms it would forcefully shift him out of his alternate form and disable that advantage for a while. I'm not sure how to handle that, either. Would I apply it as a limitation to the innate attack, or the alternate form? Or some independent disadvantage? Any help would be appreciated.