Flaws

FLAWS

The following section lists available flaws, starting with the flaw’s name and the amount it reduces effect cost (in character points per rank or flat value), along with a description of how the flaw modifies effects in game terms.

LIST OF FLAWS

Name	Per Rank	Flat Cost	Description
Activation	-	-1-3	Effect requires an action to activate
Check Required	-	-1-3	Must succeed on a check to use effect
Decreased Duration	-1-3	-	Decreases the duration of the Effect
Diminished Range	-	-1	Reduces short, medium, and long ranges for the effect
Distracting	-1	-	Vulnerable while using effect
Fades	-1	-	Effect loses 1 rank each time it is used
Feedback	-1	-	Suffer damage when your effect’s manifestation is damaged
Grab-Based	-1	-	Effect requires a successful grab attack to use
Inaccurate	-	-1	Effect is hard to control or wildly inaccurate
Increased Action	-1-3	-	Increases action required to use effect
Limited	-1-2	-	Effect loses about half its effectiveness or more
Noticeable	-1	-	Effect is distinctly noticeable
Permanent	-1	-	Effect cannot be turned off
Quirk	-	-1	A minor flaw attached to an effect. The opposite of a Feature
Reduced Range	-1	-	Effects double the disadvantage gained per range increment
Removable	-	-1-2*	Effect can be taken away from the user
Resistible	-1	-	Effect gains a resistance check
Sense-Dependent	-1	-	Target must be able to perceive the effect for it to work
Side Effect	-1-2	-	Failing to use the effect causes a problematic side effect
Tiring	-1	-	Effect causes a level of fatigue when used
Uncontrolled	-1	-	You have no control over the effect
Unreliable	-1	-	Effect only works about half the time (roll of 11 or more)

ACTIVATION (FLAT -1 TO -3 POINTS)
A Power with this flaw requires an action to prepare or activate before any of its effects are usable. If the power requires a Quick action to activate, the flaw is -1 point. If it requires a Move action, it is -2 points. If it requires a standard action, it is -3 points. Activation taking less than a Quick action is not a flaw, although may qualify as a complication.

CHECK REQUIRED (FLAT -1 to -3 POINT PER RANK)
An Effect with this flaw requires a Skill check to use. If the check fails, the effect doesn’t work, although the action required to use it is expended (so attempting to activate a standard action effect takes a standard action whether the check is successful or not).

DECREASED DURATION (-1 TO -3 COST PER RANK)
Effects have a standard duration: instant, concentration, sustained, continuous, or permanent. This modifier decreases an effect’s duration.

DIMINISHED RANGE (FLAT -1 POINT PER RANK)
Each rank of Diminished Range reduces the effect’s range by -1 rank. Three ranks is the maximum a character can have in this flaw.

DISTRACTING (-1 COST PER RANK)
Using a Distracting effect requires more concentration than usual, causing you to become vulnerable when you use the effect, until the start of your next turn.

FADES (-1 COST PER RANK)
Each time you use an effect with this flaw, it loses 1 rank of effectiveness. For effects with a duration longer than instant, each round is considered “one use.” Once the effect reaches 0 ranks, it stops working. A faded effect can be “recovered” in some fashion, such as recharging, rest, repair, reloading, and so forth. The GM decides when and how a faded effect recovers, but it should generally occur outside of combat and take at least a short rest. The GM may allow a hero to recover a faded effect immediately and completely by spending a Surge.

FEEDBACK (-1 COST PER RANK)
You suffer damage when a manifestation of your effect is damaged. This flaw only applies to effects with physical (or apparently physical) manifestations, such as Create, Illusion, or Summon, for example. If your power’s manifestation is damaged, make a resistance check against the attack’s damage rank, using your effect’s rank as the resistance check bonus. For example, if a manifestation of a rank 5 effect is attacked for damage 12, you must make a resistance check against damage 12 with a +5 Advantage (the effect’s rank).

GRAB-BASED (-1 COST PER RANK)
An attack effect with this flaw requires you to successfully grab a target before using the effect (see Grab). This generally applies to an effect that is close range, since you have to be in close combat to grab anyway. If the effect’s default range is not close, apply the Increased Ranged (Close) Extra modifier as well. If you do not succeed on the grab, you cannot use the effect. If your grab attempt succeeds, the effect occurs automatically as a reaction.

This flaw is essentially a form of Resistible, with a grab check rather than a regular resistance check (see the Resistible flaw for more).

INACCURATE (FLAT -1 POINT PER RANK)
An effect with this flaw is hard to control or wildly inaccurate. Each rank gives you a –1 Disadvantage to attack or power checks with the effect.

INCREASE ACTION (-1 TO -3 COST PER RANK)
Each effect has a default action required to use it: standard, move, quick, reaction, free, or none (for permanent effects). This modifier can change an effect’s required action from a move to a standard, a quick to a move, or a free or reaction to a quick. Each increase in the required action from that effect’s base action type (quick to move, for example) is a -1 cost per rank modifier. Increasing a free action to a reaction is 0 cost per rank.

LIMITED (-1 OR -2 COST PER RANK)
An effect with this flaw is not effective all the time. Limited powers generally break down into two types: those usable only in certain situations and those usable only on certain things. For example Only While Singing Loudly, Only While Flying, Only on Men (or Women), Only Against Fire, Not Usable on Yellow Things, and so forth. As a general rule, the effect must lose about half its usefulness to qualify for this modifier. Anything less limiting is better handled as an occasional complication. If the Effect is limited severely, only useful a quarter of the time, it is worth –2 cost per rank.

If your effect is only somewhat effective in particular circumstances, apply the flaw to only some of its ranks. For example, an attack effect that does less damage against targets with Protection (to represent a diminished ability to penetrate armor, for example) applies the Limited flaw to only those ranks that are ineffective.

NOTICEABLE (-1 COST PER RANK)
A continuous or permanent effect with this modifier is noticeable in some sort of way (see Noticing Power Effects). Choose a noticeable display for the effect. For example Noticeable Protection may take the form of armored plates or a tough, leathery-looking hide, making it clear the character is tougher than normal.

PERMANENT (-1 COST PER RANK)
A continuous effect with this flaw becomes permanent in duration. It cannot be turned off, it is always on by default. If some outside force—usually a Nullify effect—does turn it off, it turns back on automatically at the earliest opportunity.

Permanent effects may be inconvenient at times (including things like being permanently incorporeal or 30 feet tall); this is included in the value of the flaw. Some Permanent effects will have a cost per rank of 0 for various reasons, like effects that are permanent while triggered or activated.

QUIRK (FLAT -1 POINT PER RANK)
A Quirk is some minor nuisance attached to an effect, essentially the reverse of a Feature (see Feature under Extras). A Quirk is generally worth, at most, 2–3 character points, and many are simply 1-point flaws.

As with Features, the GM should ensure a Quirk is truly a flaw (albeit a minor one) and not simply part of the power’s descriptors. For example, the fact that an attack with a “sonic” descriptor likely will not travel through a vacuum is not a Quirk, simply part of the “sonic” descriptor (especially since the attack may be enhanced by a medium such as water). On the other hand, a shapeshifter unable to change color (losing some of the power’s utility), or a telepath unable to lie while using Mental Communication, do have Quirks to their powers.

The GM sets the rank (and therefore value) of any given Quirk for an effect, based on how troublesome it may be, similar to setting ranks for the Benefit advantage and Feature effect (see those trait descriptions for details).

REDUCED RANGE (-1 COST PER RANK)
Effects with this flaw double the disadvantage gained per range increment. Effects that are close range by default cannot take Reduced Range.

REMOVABLE (FLAT -1 OR -2 POINTS PER 5 POINTS)
Effects with this flaw can be “taken away” from you, removing your access to the effects until you regain it. Typically, this means a power that resides in an object, called a device, which someone else can remove. There are two different versions of this flaw covered in the following paragraphs; the first is Removable and the second is Easily Removable.

RESISTIBLE (-1 COST PER RANK)
When applied to an effect that doesn’t normally allow a resistance check, this flaw gives it one. Choose the defense when the flaw is applied. Since effects that work on others allow a resistance check by definition, this nearly always applies to personal effects that allow someone interacting with them to circumvent the effect with a successful check.

For example, an Enhanced Parry defense effect might reflect a low-level reading of a target’s mind to anticipate and avoid attacks. It allows a Will resistance check to overcome the effect, denying you the defense bonus against that opponent (and applying this flaw to the effect). Likewise, your Concealment effect might be illusory rather than a true physical transformation, permitting a Will resistance check for someone to overcome it. A sustained Protection effect might be some sort of “kinetic field” that permits an attacker a Fortitude resistance check to overcome it.

When applied to an effect that does normally allow a resistance check, this flaw gives it an additional one, which may be the same as its normal resistance, or different. The target makes both resistance checks and applies the better of the two to determine the effect’s result.

For example, a Damage effect might involve whirling blades an attacker can avoid with a successful Dodge resistance check, circumventing the need for a Toughness check against the damage. Similarly a Weaken effect based on a poison dart might add a Toughness check to see if the dart penetrates the target’s skin in addition to making the usual Fortitude check against the effect.

SENSE-DEPENDENT (-1 COST PER RANK)
The target of a Sense-Dependent effect must be able to perceive the effect for it to work. The target gets a Dodge resistance check. Success means the target has managed to avert his eyes, cover his ears, etc. and the effect doesn’t work. Otherwise the effect works normally and the target makes the usual resistance check against it, if any.

Opponents aware of a Sense-Dependent effect can also deliberately block the targeted sense: looking away, covering or blocking their ears, etc. This provides a +5 Advantage to resistance checks against the effect, but gives others partial concealment from that sense. An opponent unable to use a sense (blind, deaf, etc.) is immune to effects dependent on it. Opponents can do this by closing their eyes, wearing ear- or nose-plugs, or using another effect like Concealment. This gives you total concealment from that sense.

Sensory effects are Sense-Dependent by definition, and cannot apply this flaw. To give a target additional resistance to a sensory effect, use the Resistible flaw.

SIDE EFFECT (-1 OR -2 COST PER RANK)
Failing to successfully use an effect with this flaw causes some problematic effect. Failure includes missing an attack check, or the target successfully resisting the effect. If the side effect always occurs when you use the effect, whether you succeed or fail, it is worth –2 cost per rank.

The exact nature of the side effect is for you and the Gamemaster to determine. As a general guideline, it should be an effect about the same in value as the effect with this flaw. So an effect with a cost of 10 points should have a 10-point side effect. Typical side effects include Affliction, Damage, or Weaken, or the base effect itself (it essentially rebounds and affects you instead). The Side Effect does not require an attack check and only affects you, although the GM may permit some Side Effects with the Area modifier on a case-by-case basis. You get a normal resistance check against the Side Effect. If you are immune to your own powers, you aren’t immune to its side-effect.

The GM may also allow a Complication Side Effect, which essentially imposes a complication on you without awarding a victory point. See Complications for more information.

TIRING (-1 COST PER RANK)
An effect with this flaw causes you to suffer a level of fatigue when you use it. You recover from this fatigue normally, and can use Destiny to overcome it by spending the Destiny at the start of the round following the use of a tiring effect. In essence, the power requires a Surge in order to use it (see Surge). This makes Tiring a useful flaw for creating an effect you can only use with a Surge.

Tiring is often applied to just some ranks of an effect to represent a higher level of the effect, usable only through a Surge. For example, a hero might have a rank 12 Damage effect, but routinely use only 8 ranks of it. The remaining 4 ranks are Tiring, so using them quickly fatigues the hero.

A Tiring effect can be combined with a Surge, but the fatigue stacks, causing a minimum of two levels of fatigue per use.

UNCONTROLLED (-1 COST PER RANK)
You have no control over an effect with this flaw. Instead, the Gamemaster decides when and how it works (essentially making it a plot device). This flaw is best suited for mysterious powers out of the characters’ direct control or effects the GM feels more comfortable having under direct, rather than player, control.

UNRELIABLE (-1 COST PER RANK)
An Unreliable effect doesn’t work all the time. Roll a die each round before you use or maintain the effect. On a 10 or less, it doesn’t work this round, but you’ve still used the action the effect requires. You can roll again on the following round to see if it works, although you must take the normal action needed to activate the effect again.

Alternately, instead of having a reliability roll, you can choose to have five uses where your effect works normally, then it stops working altogether until you can “recover” it in some way (see Fades flaw for more on this). The GM may allow you to spend Destiny to automatically recover a spent Unreliable power.

Powers that are only occasionally unreliable (less than about 50% of the time) are better handled as Complications. One possible application of the Unreliable flaw is to reflect weapons or equipment that occasionally run out of ammunition or “jam” or “crash” and must be reloaded or reset in some way. It really only applies to effects where this happens fairly often. Large ammo or fuel capacities, which only occasionally run out or inconvenience the character, are better handled as descriptors and occasional complications when they actually prove problematic.