How do you handle "Power Negation"

[chaosnet]

In my session last night, one of my heroes Doc Fusion (a radiation controller type) and his allies squared off against a creature called Genetico (a recombinant dna beast) that also had radiation powers thanks to having some of Doc Fusion's DNA.

After a couple of rounds, Doc Fusion wanted to use his radiation control to dampen Genetico's radiation abilities, specifically the Radiant Aura (counterattack) that almost took out Doc's ally Adam.

Doc rolled and generated a D10 effect which Genetico was unable to overcome. Per Doc's narrative the D10 effect would negate Genetico's radiation abilities using Doc's radiation abilities. I ruled that any abilities from Genetico's Rad Monster that were below D10 would effectively be negated. Doc, being pretty sharp, spent a PP to make it persistent so that the creature's powers wouldnt flare up. With the rad powers gone, Adam (the brick) and Precision (superspy) made short work of the creature.

Now, my confusion is this: What TYPE of effect was Doc's action? Was he creating a Complication (for which others would gain a D10, but that didnt make sense to me), an Asset or what? I ruled it an ambiguous "Negation Effect", but this would mean that there was no way to overcome the effect (like you would a complication) since there was nothing specific to target (except of course Doc, but since he spent the PP he wouldnt necessarily need to maintain the effect).

This brought up the well known "Mutant Negation Devices". If these are treated as Complications, then how would they be overcome if the powersets are at D0 (i know there is no D0!)? Or is that the point?

If my villain, Nemesis Boy, has a power of Mutant Power Negation Aura at D10, what does this actually mean?


Mutant Power Negation Aura
*Superhuman Stamina D10
*Detect Mutants D8
*Negate Mutant Powers D10

SFX: Area Effect
SFX: Boost

One of my NPCs, Glide created a Resource of Mutant Negation Dart D8 (with his D10 Tech Mastery), so what would this do?

Any help would be great!

[N01H3r3]

I imagine this would be covered by targeting a trait, which is on OM54 and OM55 - you pick the trait you're targeting, form a dice pool, and if successful you the compare your effect die to the trait's normal rating - if it's higher, you shutdown the trait, if it's lower you step the trait back by -1. It's the same way you'd disarm someone, shut down the blasters or flight capabilities on a Sentinel, and so forth.

[chaosnet]

So in order to negate Magneto's powers, I have to target each trait in his "Master of Magnetism" power set?

So if he had (just an example):

Master of Magnetism
*Superhuman Stamina D10
*Magnetism Supremacy D10
*Superhuman Senses D10
*Subsonic Flight D8
*Superhuman Durability D10 (Force Field)
*Superhuman Attack (Metallic Barrage)

I would have to target each to fully negate Mags?

[Supplanter]

Sure. Unless he has a Limit that shuts down his whole power set, in which case you can pay to activate the Limit, with your rad-power as narrative justification.

I suppose you could also adapt the mind-control effect ladder to this purpose, which gives you more traits at a time to target.

Superhero Power Negation in supers games SHOULD be hard.


Jim

[chaosnet]

So basically my Mutant Negation Bands are actually a plot device and not actually a mechanic that can be resisted. If I NEED the (Mutant) Negation Bands to work, then they work but if the heroes CAN escape, then it could be turning into a complication that they are able to whittle down until they can escape?

[N01H3r3]

So basically my Mutant Negation Bands are actually a plot device and not actually a mechanic that can be resisted. If I NEED the (Mutant) Negation Bands to work, then they work but if the heroes CAN escape, then it could be turning into a complication that they are able to whittle down until they can escape?

In essence, yes. Of course, as mutant-related technology, it would trigger the characters' Mutant limits, so they'd all gain 1PP for being so affected.

[Spatula]

As N01H3r3 says, mutant-negation effects are specifically targeting the characters' Limit: Mutant.

There's a generic power-negater in Breakout in the form of Vertigo. While by the rules you can only target power traits and not power sets, I think in a lot of cases removing or stepping down one trait would also remove or step down traits that are tied to it. Magneto is a good example, since his flight, force fields, etc. are tied to his magnetic control. If that specific trait was shutdown, I would rule that he couldn't do the other stuff, either. If his magnetic control was stepped down, I would step down the ancillary traits by the same amount.

[chaosnet]

Ok, so Mag's gets his traits tied to his Magnetic Supremecy stepped down as well.

How does he overcome the negation?

[Spatula]

Mind you, the Magneto example is just how I would personally rule it. The rules state that you can only knock out or step down individual power traits.

Reactivation is a good question. Rules-wise, you just have to activate a Watcher opportunity, but I believe that still has to be justified somehow. In the comics, such effects tend to be pretty binary. You have no powers until you get out of range or it wears off, or maybe you were just playing along and never lost your powers in the first place because of some hidden advantage.