02-03-2020, 12:25 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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An Alternative to Warp
I was musing recently on how to potentially build a Super I came up with many years ago in GURPS, and thought up an alternative to (relatively) short-ranged Warp that seems like it would work a bit better, but I'd like some input on how to properly price it. It basically consists of going Insubstantial for a fraction of a second, and during this time having Enhanced Move (Flight). We'll start with the Enhanced Move.
This variant of Enhanced Move is comparable to the Second Nature Enhancement in that it essentially replaces your Basic Move. However, it has an added bonus in that the movement occurs in a fraction of a second, but then shuts down for the remainder of the second. One idea would be to give the character a movement rate equal to the maximum speed, but somehow limit it down to only work for a short moment. For example, someone who can move at the speed of lightning would need a Move of roughly 100,000,000 (assuming he moves at the speed of the return stroke; only 100,000 for the leaders). Only being able to move at such a rate long enough to travel a mere 50 yards would, of course, be a sizable Limitation. Perhaps a better option would be to simply allow for instantaneous travel with a single Enhancement. That seems roughly on the level of Adding Utility/Avoiding Drawbacks for Cosmic, so +50% sounds roughly fair to me. The player and/or GM can set an actual speed here if desired. Roll this together with Second Nature (itself a meta-Enhancement of Complete Maneuverability, Instant Acceleration, and Retained Speed) and call it Warp +200% or similar. If you want a "warp" that only works on the ground (or in the air if you have Flight or Walk on Air) and doesn't allow you to bypass barriers without spending movement points going around them, you could end here. Enhanced Move 5 (Ground; Warp +200%) [300] allows a character with Move 5 to reach anywhere Ground Move 160 would let him reach in an instant. Of course, being forced to travel in a (relatively) straight line might be appropriate, dropping Complete Maneuverability for a Linear Warp +150% variant. For purposes of collisions, dealing and taking no damage (pseudovelocity) I feel would be worth +0%; otherwise, damage is as per what the character's speed would be without the instantaneous movement in play (above, Move 160). For 3D travel and ignoring obstacles, you need to get Insubstantiality in on things. Being able to be Insubstantial for up to 30 seconds would be a -75% Limitation, but then you need to wait 5 minutes before you can go Insubstantial again; I'd prefer not to have this cooldown, but only allow the character to go Insubstantial for an instant. This is comparable to Active Defense -40%, but Insubstantiality has additional benefits (3d movement, passing through walls) that wouldn't be properly accounted for. On the other hand, I'm allowing for it to be used not only for an active defense (in the form of a Power Dodge, which can optionally be combined with the increased Step for a Retreat) but also actively whenever the above Enhanced Move is in play; indeed, the two are linked (in the form of the Only While Using (Ability) Limitation). I'm eyeballing Insubstantiality as getting a grand total of a -50% Limitation here - does that sound appropriate? All told, if I want a character who has Move 5 to be able to instantly teleport 20 yards away, I'd be looking at something like Enhanced Move 2 (Flight; Warp +200%; Only While Insubstantial -10%) [116] ([108] if using Multiplicative Multipliers) and Insubstantiality (Active Defense -40%; Only While Warping -10%) [40], for a total of [156] ([148] with Multiplicative Modifiers). Using Linear Warp +150% on Enhanced Move drops its cost to [96] ([90] with Multiplicative Modifiers), for a total of [138] ([130] with Multiplicative Modifiers). This scales up fairly readily - every x2 to range is [+58] ([+54] with Multiplicative Modifiers) to cost for Warp, or [+48] ([+45] with Multiplicative Modifiers) for Linear Warp. Note the character is stripped naked (or, more likely, stripped down to his/her Supersuit) when warping in this way; buy Carrying Capacity on Insubstantiality to be able to carry more. Does that sound about right? To compare, Enhanced Move 2 (Flight; Linear Warp +150%; Only While Insubstantial -10%) [96] + Insubstantiality (No Encumbrance +10%; Active Defense -40%; Only While Warping -10%) [48], total [144] ([134] with MM), would be roughly comparable to Warp (Reliable 4 +20%; No Die Roll Required +100%; Maximum Range 20 yards -45%) [175] ([121] with MM). Things scale quite a bit differently, however - each x2 to Range is [+48] ([+45] with MM) for the former build, while for Warp every x5 to Range is only [+5] ([+11] with MM). I feel my build works well for short-range warps; beyond x2 or maybe x2.5 to Move, Warp is more affordable. Of course, the actual Super I had in mind basically turns into energy for a moment, dashing forward and damaging whatever is between the character and his destination. I'm thinking that would be Affects Substantial on Insubstantiality (at least in this case, I'd certainly use Multiplicative Modifiers!) combined with a Burning Innate Attack with Aura (and thus Melee, C) and Affects Substantial. That, or drop Insubstantial from the build, give the character Walk On Air modified as Insubstantial was (for 3D movement), and only allow the character to go through things that the burning aura destroys.
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02-03-2020, 06:21 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: An Alternative to Warp
It is probably cheaper to buy modified Warp and link it to an Innate Attack.
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02-03-2020, 07:03 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: An Alternative to Warp
It's not directly relevant, but a recent build was giving me trouble, as I wanted a flier with hypervelocity top speed, but the cost for all that EM was bothering me. I finally started looking at Warp, and the Hyperjump limiter, and came up with a special limitation for Warp that require moving through space at a huge (but finite) speed. I picked 36000 mph as the speed limit for this build, gave it a special -5% limitation (along with Only While Insubstantial), and went smugly on my way. At short distances, it doesn't differ much from regular Warp, but longer distances (especially trans- or intercontinental ones) can make for potentially meaningful lags.
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02-04-2020, 08:34 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: An Alternative to Warp
Quote:
Back to the short range, Green Shadow would probably have either Enhanced Move 0.5 or Enhanced Move 1 (and probably a base Move of 7 or 8, meaning a Warp Move of 3, 4, 7, or 8, and total movement of 10, 12, 14, or 16 yards in a second). Assuming the smallest range, and ignoring Reliable, his Warp would be Warp (Link +10%; No Dice Roll Required +100%; Maximum Range 10 yards -50%), for [160] normally, [105] with MM. The attack would be something like Burning Attack 5d (1 yard Cone +60%; Link +10%; Reduced Max 1/10 -15%), for [39] normally, [37] with MM; for a final cost of [199] or [142]. Meanwhile, Enhanced Move 1 (Flight; Linear Warp +150%; Only While Insubstantial -10%) would be [48] normally, or [45] with MM. Insubstantiality (Affects Substantial +100%; No Encumbrance +10% Active Defense -40%; Only While Warping -10%) would be [128] normally, or [84] with MM. The attack would be Burning Attack 5d (Affects Substantial +40%; Aura +80%; Melee C -30%; Only While Insubstantial -10%), for [45] normally, [33] with MM; for an end cost of [221] or [162]. So, yes, Warp ends up being a bit cheaper (although if Green Shadow has IQ 10, he'd require Reliable 3, for [+15] or [+8], which gets things a bit closer). Of course, the game-breaking aspect of Affect Substantial that causes it to be so expensive isn't present here; ignoring its price on Insubstantiality and the attack reduces us from [221]/[162] to [131]/[116]. I'll give it further thought; simply reducing the price of Affects Insubstantial may be more appropriate. An appropriate alternative may be Diffuse (Infiltration) with Walk on Air - Diffuse (Infiltration +40%; Active Defense -40%; Only While Warping -10%) would be [90] or [70], while Walk on Air (Active Defense -40%; Only While Warping -10%) would be [10], for an end cost of [183]/[152]. Again, I'll need to give it some thought (Shadow Form may also be an option).
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insubstantiality, powers, warp |
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