Spider-Woman's Pheromones

[Crion]

I found this one to be rather odd, and was wondering if someone could clarify this for me.

Spider-Woman as a Pheromones SFX under Bio-Electric Metabolism, which states "Add a D6 and step up effect die by +1 when using any powers to inflict mental stress." Considering that her powers are Flight, Superhuman Stamina, and Venom Blast, I am curious how any of these powers can be used to inflict Mental Stress, which is normally only used for changing someone's mental state (duels of wits, psychic attacks, etc).

Anyone able to clear this one up for me?

[kipling]

She's zapping to either side of a villain to confuse him.

She's going to try to flatten one bad guy in an attempt to intimidate the whole group of them.

She's going to just take the punch (durability) to make the villain think she's tougher than she is.

As Jessica Drew, she's going to walk six inches off the ground as an attempt to make him doubt his senses.

There are ways she could use her powers to inflict mental stress--I admit that her powers don't obviously lend them to mental stress, but it is, in this case, about the intent.

[Crion]

She's going to try to flatten one bad guy in an attempt to intimidate the whole group of them.

She's going to just take the punch (durability) to make the villain think she's tougher than she is.

With the first option, wouldn't she have to spend a PP to split her focus and get another effect die (one to splat the first target and the other for the Mental stress)?

With the second option, wouldn't that be as a reaction? If so, wouldn't she have to succeed at the defensive roll and spend a PP to cause the mental stress? If so, wouldn't that negate the d6 to the dice pool as it isn't certain that the effect could even happen?

The "walking six inches off the ground" option may be viable, but seems clunky.

And what do you mean by "zapping to either side of a villain?" She doesn't really have speed going on for her, and her flight is merely a utility.

[N01H3r3]

To be honest, I think you could justify using Stamina to cover control of metabolism and physiology in numerous instances - for example, it seems to cover Iron Fist's control over his chi (as demonstrated by the fact that he can use it to heal other people), so I think you could reasonably use Spider-Woman's Superhuman Stamina to represent her control over her pheremones.

[figurefour]

With the first option, wouldn't she have to spend a PP to split her focus and get another effect die (one to splat the first target and the other for the Mental stress)?

Not necessarily, though it's probably a good idea. She could splat the first target dramatically, but without inflicting physical stress, in order to mentally stress another target.

With the second option, wouldn't that be as a reaction? If so, wouldn't she have to succeed at the defensive roll and spend a PP to cause the mental stress? If so, wouldn't that negate the d6 to the dice pool as it isn't certain that the effect could even happen?

It would probably be a reaction, but I'd say as long as she declares her intent to inflict mental stress, she can use the SFX. It actually works the same with an attack, she gets the extra d6 long before she knows that she's certain that she's actually going to inflict stress.

[ShaodwWolf073]

I think most of the problem stems form the affected stress, to me it seems like it should be emotional stress. Generally with I think about pheromones I'm thinking about a more emotional response than a mental one. Seduction attempts would be part of creating an emotional stress. Mental stress deals more with the actual thought process and internal struggle.

[kipling]

Sure, I'm just pointing out ways you could do it narratively. But for instance, having her pheromones interfere with the thinking process--a kind of confusion--could be more mental than emotional.

With the declared effects of pheromones in the game (I don't want bio majors to leap on me, here: I was a bio major once upon a time), she could be creating a strong emotional reaction (which would be emotional stress) or she could be keeping them from thinking by inducing a strong emotional reaction (which as Watcher I might call mental stress). That's why I said it depended on the intent.

The same action might cause different kinds of stress, depending on what you're trying to do. Using her venom blasts on low power to provide light, as she does in Breakout, is a terrible way to hurt a bad guy (induce Physical stress) but a great way to get rid of a Scene Distinction (Dark: d8). Sure, she can't normally hit multiple targets with her venom blast, but in some narrative contexts, I'd probably let her pepper the area around the villain with low-power blasts that are just intended to confuse him, all in one turn. (I'd probably make it clear to the player that we're not talking about her suddenly growing the ability to do multiple target attacks, but about a narrative convenience, but we could model it with stepped back dice and multiple effects and PP--I just think that the coolness factor would outweigh that for a single person as target. That's personal, though, and not necessarily part of the RAW.)

Just an explanation of my way of thinking: Right now, I'm biased in the area of declaring your intent and then finding a way to make the rules fit that, with relatively little "No, sorry, you can't do that." It seems to me to be more in keeping with the nature of the game system. I love Mutants and Masterminds too, but there you get the discussion about whether maybe she has attractive because of the pheromones or whether it should be a power or should it really be a rank 10 effect. So, when I think about MHR, I want the opposite: I want cool narrative effects, and make the rules fit to that.

But--and here's my standard disclaimer--I'm still a newbie, and still figuring things out. I could very well be wrong.

[Lazy Wombat]

I would think pheromones would actually be best represented as a complication.

[Prof]

I agree that Pheromones should cause emotional stress. I would have added a Mind Control D6 power to the power set if I wanted the pheromones represented, as the writer obviously did.

[Cam]

Mental stress is confusion, lack of focus, disorientation, inability to reason, etc.

Cheers,
Cam