Container

A Container places a group of effects, modifiers, feats, and drawbacks sharing common descriptors together in a structure that can be modified as a whole power by "outside" modifiers and feats affecting the accessibility and use of the Container|s traits.

A Container costs 5 points per rank and grants a pool of (rank x 5) power points you can use to acquire certain traits that are all part of a common "meta-trait" or overall power, an example of this is the Alternate Form power (see Alternate Form, page 133); a group of traits all connected to assuming a different form. While the form|s effects may have their own individual modifiers, durations, and so forth, the Alternate Form also has its own qualities. Activating the Container structure brings all of its powers "on-line" at once and likewise deactivating the structure makes all of its powers "off-line" or inactive.

As you can see, at the default level, a Container has the same cost as acquiring the traits independently (5 points per rank providing 5 power points per rank to spend on traits). The difference comes into play when modifiers are applied to the Container itself, and when the Container|s own action and duration are considered.

Action

A Container as a whole is considered either active or passive, just like an effect (see Active and Passive Effects in Chapter 1 for details) and this determines, and is determined by, the Container|s action and duration:

An active Container requires a free action to make the Container|s effects usable. This free action can also activate any effect in the Container that also requires a free action or less to use at the same time. An example is Alternate Form: a free action shifts the character into the other form and activates any of its free action effects.

A passive Container does not require an action (it has an action of none). Its effects are always available, although not necessarily always active and it may require different actions to activate them individually. An example is a Device (see Device, following), an item that contains various effects. The Device is a passive Container for those effects, which are always available, so long as the wielder has the Device, although they may require activation on their own.

The Container|s required action does not affect the required actions of its effects: they remain the same unless modified with extras or flaws. So a Container that holds a Damage, Flight, and Protection effect, for example, has an action of free or none, by its effects still require standard, move, and none actions, respectively, to use.

You can change a Container|s action with extras and flaws like an effect. This modifies the cost of the Container structure itself: so changing an active Container|s action from free to move, for example (a -1 modifier), changes the structure|s cost from 5 points per rank to 4 points per rank (but the Container still grants 5 power points per rank to apply to its effects).

Duration

An active Container has a default duration of sustained: the Container|s effects remain accessible so long as you maintain the Container|s activation each round as a free action. If you|re unable to maintain the Container, you also lose access to its effects. If a character in Alternate Form is unable to maintain that power, he reverts to normal form.

A passive Container has a default duration of permanent: the Container|s effects are always available and, in fact, cannot be made unavailable unless some other modifier comes into play. Take a suit of armor as a Device: it is a real, permanent item with certain traits that don|t go away unless you take off the armor, which is a particular flaw of Devices (see Device, following).

Like action, a Container|s duration does not affect the durations of the effects it contains, with one exception: permanent duration effects in a sustained or continuous duration Container do stop working if the Container is deactivated. While active, these effects still have the limitations of being permanent (no extra effort, no countering other effects) and you can|t switch them off selectively; you have to deactivate the entire Container.

So, for example, a hero who turns into solid steel has an active Container with (among other things) the Protection effect to reflect his steel-hard skin. Protection is a permanent effect, meaning our hero can|t improve it using extra effort. He also can|t just choose to turn off his Protection to allow a hypodermic to penetrate his skin, for example. He needs to turn off his entire Alternate Form Container, along with all its other effects. In some cases, the GM may decide a permanent duration doesn|t constitute a significant flaw when applied to an effect in a Container you can turn on and off, in which case the effect may have to have its duration modified.

You can change a Container|s default duration with extras and flaws just like an effect, which modifies the cost of the Container structure: so changing an active Container|s default duration to continuous (a +1 modifier), changes the cost of the structure from 5 points per rank to 6 points per rank (although the Container still grants 5 power points per rank to apply to its effects).

Containers And Modifiers

In addition to the Action and Duration modifiers, certain other modifiers may apply to a Container structure at the Gamemaster|s discretion. As a general rule, a modifier must affect the ability to activate, access, or maintain a Container in order to apply to it rather than to its individual effects. The following are some guidelines on applying other modifiers to Container structures:

Action: Modifying the action required to activate an active Container is a drawback rather than a flaw (see the following section).

Affects Others: You can bestow a Container with this extra on someone else. With the +0 version, you can only grant the Container and its effects to others; with the +1 version, you can grant the Container|s effects while also using them yourself. Note that you can only grant all of a Container or none of it. The GM may allow selective granting of effects for an additional +1 extra (like the Selective Attack extra).

Duration: A Container can apply a Duration flaw to change its default duration.

Limited: Certain Limited flaws--concerned with activation or maintenance--may apply to Containers, such as only being able to activate a Container at night. The flaws applied to the Device structure (see Device in the following section) are essentially particular Limited flaws.

Range: Container structures are personal range by default and cannot apply this extra unless they first have Affects Others (which makes a Container touch range). One application allows you to grant a Container|s effects at range, while two allow you to grant them at perception range.

Side-Effect: This flaw can apply to Containers with Unreliable or similar conditions that make their activation uncertain, in which case the Side-Effect applies when the activation fails. If the Side-Effect always applies, then no roll is required.

Tiring: If activating an active Container causes fatigue, this flaw can apply. It does not mean using the Container|s effects are tiring, only activating the Container itself.

Unreliable: If applied to an active Container, it means it doesn|t always activate when you want it to. You need to make a reliability roll each time, with the Container activating on a roll of 11 or higher.

Drawbacks

Action: An active Container can apply an Action drawback to take longer to than a free action to activate.

MMEstructuras

Lunetas : MMContainer

Revision [845]

Container

Action

Duration

Containers And Modifiers

Drawbacks