Afliction (cumulative +400%) is WAY too expensive

[RogerBacon]

OK, so I wanted to make a little affliction that would drain one point of IQ from someone with each hit...

Afliction: -1 IQ (+10%): 11 pts

However, I want each extra hit to take off another point of IQ

Afliction: -1 IQ (+10%, cumulative +400%): 51 pts

Wow! Am I missing something here? For the same price I could have:

Afliction: -10 IQ (+100%, permanent +300): 51 pts

It seems to me like the 'cumulative' should modifiy the cost of the other modifiers (i.e. the +10%) instead of the overall price. So, then we would have:

Afliction: -1 IQ (+10%, cumulative [+400% of +10 = +40]): 15 pts

Any thoughts?

Roger Bacon

[cccwebs]

You're not really comparing them correctly.

Yes, cumulative is a very expensive modifier, primarily because it doesn't have a cap on maximum "effectiveness". Sure, you can create a power which permanently drains 10 points of IQ for the same price as a power which temporarily drains 1 point of IQ for each successful hit, but in the end that power can only be used to drain a grand total of 10 points of IQ from any one person. It can't be used on the same person again as its effects can not be combined.


Now for some real fun, try Affliction 1 (-1 IQ +10%, Cumulative +400%, Rapid Fire 15 +100%, Total +510%) [61]. This gives an attack which can reduce even the most gifted individual to a drooling slug in very short order. Great for taking out those pesky mad-scientists.

[PK]

It has to be that expensive, to make the following expensive:

Affliction 1 (Advantage, DR 1, +50%; Cumulative, +400%) [55]

That lets you can add one point of DR per second -- given that your average duration will be at least a few minutes, even at 55 points, that's a hell of a "buffer" ability. If you made Cumulative cheaper, it'd be way too cheap.

[laserdog]

Originally Posted by RogerBacon

Afliction: -1 IQ (+10%, cumulative [+400% of +10 = +40]): 15 pts

First a quick nitpick:

+400% of +10% would be +50%, since the default 100% value is assumed.

One end run around the cost of the "infinite" cumulative enhancement, is to simply buy the power more than once.

For instance, if you wanted to be able to use the "same" power twice on the same subject:

Affliction A: Gives -1 IQ +10% [11]
Affliction B: Gives -1 IQ +10% [11]

That at least gives you a bit of granularity between not cumulative, and infinite cumulative.

You could probably use the same logic to just make a +100% leveled enhancement as well to reflect the same thing, (e.g. Cumulative once +100%, Cumulative twice +200%, etc.. ) up to the diminishing returns of Cumulative ad-nauseum.

But of course, these are merely band-aids on the real problem, that negative cumulative effects are less open to abuse then positive cumulative effects, yet are priced the same.

As is the post script to nearly every question these days, I understand positive afflictions might be getting a revamp in Powers, possibly fixing this.

[CharlesGriswold]

Dr. Feelgood: Affliction Level 1 (Advantage: HP +1 [+20%], Irritant: Euphoria [+30%], Cumulative [+400%], Total [+450%]) [55 points]

Sure, you'll feel good, and it may even save your life. But just wait until the extra HPs wear off. :-}

[BeUrgaust]

Originally Posted by CharlesGriswold

Dr. Feelgood: Affliction Level 1 (Advantage: HP +1 [+20%], Irritant: Euphoria [+30%], Cumulative [+400%], Total [+450%]) [55 points]

Sure, you'll feel good, and it may even save your life. But just wait until the extra HPs wear off. :-}

Why stop there link it to an affliction that makes a permanant addiction to dr feelgood and then give dr feelgood rapid fire.

[RogerBacon]

Originally Posted by laserdog

First a quick nitpick:
But of course, these are merely band-aids on the real problem, that negative cumulative effects are less open to abuse then positive cumulative effects, yet are priced the same.

As is the post script to nearly every question these days, I understand positive afflictions might be getting a revamp in Powers, possibly fixing this.

Yes, that is the real problem. Negative effects that are cumulative are generally not worth the cost considering how powerful you could make a one-shot affect for the same price.

Consider a gun that does 1d damage (in a world with no damage reduction because there is no damage reduction against the ability drain that we are talking about in this thread). The gun attack is, by it's nature, cumulative because you can shoot someone more than once and the damage you do with successive shots is not reduced by the damage you've done with previous shots.
If you were charging points for this attack and had to make it +400% cost, you would be saying it is the same as a 20d or 40d attack that either kills the target or does no damage. I think most people would tkae the larger attack, even though the 1d attack could do more damage in the long run. That's because most players won't want to waste the time wittling down a foe when they could dispatch him in one shot. For the same reason, players rarely take attacks that cause their foe long term damage... like radiation. No one cares if he is going to die in 3-6 months if he can still stay in the fight today. For an NPC, however, an attack that causes lingering effects is a nice plot device.

Roger Bacon

[Not another shrubbery]

[randomly musing] Why is the general price for afflicting disadvantages (1% x the point value of the disadvantage), but the price for afflicting attribute penalties only half that?

If we reset the two types of afflictions to cost the same (using the greater cost), then RB's comparison would look like this:

Afliction: -1 IQ (+20%, cumulative +400%): 52 pts
versus
Afliction: -6 IQ (+120%, permanent +300%): 52 pts

Does that seem more reasonable?