[2.1b][Bug?]Power Drawbacks not subtracted from power cost

[Cyjack]

Something I noticed tonight. Drawbacks applied directly to powers on the power construction tab are not subtracted from the individual power cost(on the powers tab).


They *are* subtracted from total character cost.


I don't know if it is intentional or not. The reason that it struck me as odd, is because when drawbacks are applied directly to powers they function as "negative feats", and the power feats *are* being *added* to the cost of the power.


I don't know if there's some finer interpretation of the rules at work, or its a simple glitch. I didn't see anything in the "known issues" section of the manual.


Thanks!

[Colen]

Cyjack wrote:
>
>
> Something I noticed tonight. Drawbacks applied directly to powers on the
> power construction tab are not subtracted from the individual power cost.
>
> They *are* subtracted from total character cost.
>
> I don't know if it is intentional or not. The reason that it struck me
> as odd, is because when drawbacks are applied directly to powers they
> function as "negative feats", and the power feats *are* being added to
> the cost of the power.
>
> I don't know if there's some subtle interpretation of the rules at work,
> or its a simple glitch.


I thought this was the way it worked, but I'm beginning to suspect that
it isn't. I need to look into this when I get back from Origins (hooray
hotel room internet!) but this will probably change.

[Colen]

Cyjack wrote:
>
>
> Something I noticed tonight. Drawbacks applied directly to powers on the
> power construction tab are not subtracted from the individual power cost.
>
> They *are* subtracted from total character cost.
>
> I don't know if it is intentional or not. The reason that it struck me
> as odd, is because when drawbacks are applied directly to powers they
> function as "negative feats", and the power feats *are* being added to
> the cost of the power.
>
> I don't know if there's some subtle interpretation of the rules at work,
> or its a simple glitch.


OK, I just got time to look at this in detail. According to Green Ronin,
when you apply a power loss drawback, this is what happens - the points
aren't deducted like a reverse power feat, they're applied as a drawback
to the hero (hence their presence in the Drawbacks section, not the
Power Modifiers section). Hero Lab puts them in the power list for
convenience when making a power, but they still act as regular
drawbacks. So I think we are doing it correctly as is.

Does that make sense?

[charlieluce]

Originally Posted by Colen

OK, I just got time to look at this in detail. According to Green Ronin, when you apply a power loss drawback, this is what happens - the points aren't deducted like a reverse power feat, they're applied as a drawback to the hero (hence their presence in the Drawbacks section, not the Power Modifiers section). Hero Lab puts them in the power list for convenience when making a power, but they still act as regular drawbacks. So I think we are doing it correctly as is.

Does that make sense?

Well, that appears to contradict the description of Power Drawbacks on Page 124. It also implies that Power Drawbacks don't count for the purposes of determining the cost of an Alternate Power, and I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

[R00kie]

Ultimate Power gets close tois prettty specific on this:

Ultimate Power p8

DRAWBACKS
Also just as characters may have drawbacks, some powers and
power effects have drawbacks of their own. These are minor limi-
tations on an effect, usually things that aren’t always a concern.
Like power feats, power drawbacks tend to be things that aren’t
significant enough to qualify as modifiers but still significant in
the power’s use. A drawback reduces an effect’s cost by a particular
amount, although generally not as much as a flaw.

Ultimate Power p109

A particular Alternate Power includes all effects, power feats, modifiers, and drawbacks included in that particular power. So if your Array gives you 20 power points to allocate, and you have an Alternate Power that is a 4 points per rank effect with two power feats, then you have 4 ranks in that power (for 16 power points) plus the two feats for a total cost of 18 points. Any “leftover” Array points not allocated to an Alternate Power don’t do anything.

Ultimate Power p110

DRAWBACKS
As noted previously, drawbacks applying to particular Alternate Powers of an Array are considered part of that Alternate Power and not the Array structure as a whole.

It doesn't really make a difference whether the points are removed from the power or the character as a whole unless those drawbacks are on a power within a Power structure (an Array, a Variable, a Container, a Device etc.). Then it becomes very significant.

[Colen]

charlieluce wrote:
>
>
> *Colen wrote:*
> OK, I just got time to look at this in detail. According to Green Ronin,
> when you apply a power loss drawback, this is what happens - the points
> aren't deducted like a reverse power feat, they're applied as a drawback
> to the hero (hence their presence in the Drawbacks section, not the
> Power Modifiers section). Hero Lab puts them in the power list for
> convenience when making a power, but they still act as regular
> drawbacks. So I think we are doing it correctly as is.
>
> Does that make sense?
>
>
> Well, that appears to contradict the description of Power Drawbacks on
> Page 124. It also implies that Power Drawbacks don't count for the
> purposes of determining the cost of an Alternate Power, and I'm pretty
> sure that's not the case.


Thanks for everyones feedback on this - I've sent in a question to GR
about it, so hopefully we can get this cleared up soon.


--
Colen McAlister, colen@wolflair.com
Chief Engineer, Lone Wolf Development