RigaMortus2 said:
Not quite sure I am entirely following here, but let me give some examples and tell me if I am right or wrong...
Let's say I want to purchase 10 Ranks in your basic Energy Control (Cold). This would cost me 20pp (10 x cost of 2pp per rank), right?
Right
Now let's say I wanted to purchase a the Power Stunt "Drain Energy" for Energy Control (Cold). This would cost me 2pp, for a grand total of 22pp, right?
Right, and you would be able to use
either of them in a round. Not both.
Do I get to choose when I use the Drain Energy power stunt, or is my Energy Control (Cold) now forever altered by this stunt? Therefore, anytime I use the power, I will be draining the source?
Nope. You can use it either/or...that's how stunts work.
To model using them both at the same time (say, a cold blast that drains Heat Energy) You would...
Buy
Energy Blast: Cold (Base power) 2pp/level . +10 power =20pp
Add
Drain as an
extra (not a stunt) of the base power 2pp/lvl, -1pp/lvl as an extra. +10 Power =10pp
Add
triggered as an
extra on the
Drain power (Trigger is Energy Blast being fired)=10pp
So total is 20+10+10pp=40 pp for an attack that requires a damage save to avoid Stun hits and a Fortitude Save to avoid Heat Energy being Drained away
Let's go back for a moment and say I have your basic Energy Control (Cold). Instead, I wish to purchase the power stunt of "Energy Blast". This would cost me 2pp, or 22pp total (10 x 2 for the cost of Energy Control +2 pp from power stunt). Is this right so far?
So far so good.
What would my Power Rank be in Energy Blast if I purchased it this way?
the same as the base power...in your example +10
How do I increase it? Am I allowed to buy power stunts or extra's from Energy Blast if I bought it this way (if I bought it as a power stunt)?
you can fiddle around with the "pp" represented in the Power Stunt as you like, but they can't total more than the base power at any time.
So say you had your cold blast +10, That's 20 pp, ame as the Cold Control base power. All good.
But suppose you wanted
Area Effect on the Energy blast. To add that extra would be an extra 10pp, which would bring the total to 30pp...which is not allowed.
So you could add a flaw like
Tiring or soemthin on it, Which with the -1pp level cost, would cancel out the extra cost incurred by the
Area extra, and would bring it back down to 20pp.
Or you could Make the Cold Blast only +6 (12pp) with the area extra (+6pp_ which equals 18pp..spend the final two points adding
Penetrating as a power stunt and you have an effective +8 Area Cold blast for 20pp...which icomes in under the cap of the Power Stunt.
What if I purchase 10 Power Ranks in Energy Field (Cold)? Again this should only cost me 20pp total.
And it does...
If I then purchase Energy Blast (Cold) as an extra, does this bump the cost up for Energy Field by 1?
It does, because Energy blast is a 2pp/lvl power, and that is reduced by 1 for it being an
Extra
So it will cost me 30pp for a Power Rank 10, with the ability to project an Energy Field and fire off an Energy Blast?
Correct.
What would my Power Rank be in Energy Blast?
+10, same as the base power.
Can I purchase a power stunt or extra under Energy Blast? Am I able to use both Energy Field (Cold) AND Energy Blast (Cold) at the same time?
Yes, the Energy Field is a sustained power, triggered by a melee atack against you. It doesn't require an action on your part to "use" other than to activate and sustain it. The Energy Blast however, requires a half action.
What is more cost effective? To purchase Energy Control (Cold) and purchase Energy Blast (Cold) as a power stunt? OR to purchase Energy Field (Cold) and purchase Energy Blast (Cold) as an extra? What are the advantages and drawbacks of doing it each of these ways?
Well, they are entirely different power sets for one. Their effects are not similar.
The first one (Energy Control: Cold + Energy Blast Cold) will let you
- Fire off Energy Blasts
- Create "Ice Slicks" out of Ambient Moisture
The second (Energy Field + Energy Blast) will let you
- Inflict damamge on opponents as the hit you
- Fire off enegy blasts
The first costs 22pp, the second costs 30pp. The second has the potential for two damaging attacks (or more) per round.
You can't really compare them in terms of cost...you either
want to create ice slicks or you don't.
Sorry for all these questions, but I guess I am more confused with the rules than I thought I was. Just looking for clarity.
No apologies necessary. It's a pretty tricky ruleset, and not particularly well explained in the Core Rulebook.
Take a gander over at
www.mutantsandmasterminds.com and check the forums. Steve Kenson, the author of the game has a thread in the forum where he answers rule questions in a timely fashion.