Asmor, I've sent you on e-mail with some questions re: J-SIN, via the EN*World e-mail system. Hopefully it got through!
Rystil Arden said:
Not to derail, but just as an aside if you mean in the 'still have something to do with that array when disarmed of the first device' sense, I think they were all good with it because we have precedent from one of our earliest heroes (Gun Monkey) for having alternates that were each a separate device (in Gun Monkey's case, they were both basically the same device, and the point of the alt was solely to make him harder to disarm), so I guess from having alts that are each their own device, there isn't really a leap to alts that are a separate device and some that aren't.
Gun Monkey's case
isn't precedent, though, not for what you've got with Circe, since GM's things are all still Devices. And I would say it
is a leap to go from "Devices as alts of one another" to "Devices as alts for non-Device things."
If Circe's Ring and Diamond were Restricted to only Circe, I could sorta see it. But as written now, they're not, so anyone who takes them could use them, and in so doing prevent her from using any of her other powers (since those points have to come from/go somewhere).
Also, I'm not sure Gun Monkey's alternate/back-up Gun should work that way. There is no mechanic for having duplicate items on hand in M&M, AFAIK (I do know there's a rule for that in the HERO System... but M&M is not the HERO System, even if there are some similarities). I do recall that that was how it's been suggested to do Tony Stark's alternate Iron Man armors, by having them be alternate powers off the main Device itself, but cannot remember if that was shot down or not. Since I'm not 100% sure, I'm asking the folks at ATT,
here.
Rystil Arden said:
And it especially makes sense for a magic character who has innate power but can get different or better results through foci. The classic example would be a Wizard who needs his staff to use his best magic (Martin will be rewritten to look like this some time soon)--he might have Device with say, 10 ranks in Variable magic for when he has his staff, and then as an alt, Device with 6 ranks in Variable magic.
Depends on how you look at it. I'd see something like that as being built as the fully ranked power, with a Partial Flaw Limited the use of the higher ranks to only when you have the item in hand, or as a Power Loss drawback (as is done with gestures and incantations).
Plus, neither of Circe's Devices do the sort of "power enhancing" you mention, they seem to be wholly their own things. They're not boosting her effective ranks in anything, not adding any Extras or Powers Feats or offsetting any Flaws or Drawbacks, and as mentioned being non-Restricted, anyone could wear and use them.
(As an aside, why does her Diamond have Strike on it? Does she wallop bad guys on the head with it?
And why does the Ring grant Attack Focus Melee/Ranged rather than a flat-out increase to BAB?
Also, form a purely keeping-names-straight standpoint, all those feats it grants should be bundled together as Enhanced Feats [ex.: Enhanced Feats 4 (Fascinate/Diplomacy 4), or Enhanced Feats 5/6 (Attack Focus Melee/Ranged, Power Attack, Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, All Out Attack).])
Since I don't like making rulings (or even giving advice/criticism) solely on my own "gut instinct," though, I am posing this to the folks at the ATT,
here, and seeing what the consensus is over there. If it turns out such things are fully allowable, then I'll be cool about it.
I dunno, it's not just that one thread. In general I've seen you pushing to allow things I wouldn't necessarily allow in a living world, and I've seen rgordona speaking for very strict constructionist views for what should be allowed compared to what I would do in a Supers game (I figure it should be more fast and loose with supers).
