Basic Action Super Heroes!

Work continues on #AwesomePowers Vol. 5. Considering an Enhancement (mainly for Telekinesis) called "Very Fine Manipulation" which would allow you to pick locks or perform surgery, etc. telekinetically. Should that be a 1-point or a 2-point Enhancement?

I would say 2-points.

I'm going to vote for 1 point. It's the kind of thing that a character with the appropriate skill (and stat) would be able to do, but from a 5-25 square distance. Maybe there would need to be a Difficulty modifier applied to someone doing telekinetic surgery from 50 ft away (this is where Clairvoyance would be useful).

I'd guess 2 points. It's a very powerful ability. Imagine soldering a circuit board or painting a miniature from fifty feet away. You're going to need to take a big hit to counterbalance that.

Mendou wrote:I'd guess 2 points. It's a very powerful ability. Imagine soldering a circuit board or painting a miniature from fifty feet away. You're going to need to take a big hit to counterbalance that.

That's true that such feats are very impressive and such specific TK ability could be used to pull some very interesting tricks but in the over-all balance of the game, I really don't think that "Very Fine Manipulation" is important enough to merit a 2-point cost. I keep looking at what can be achieved with 1 point/level of powers like Suggestion, Clairvoyance (Present), Illusion 1 and others and can't see that one enhancement being any more "dangerous" for game stability. To me, Telekinesis with this enhancement is just "use skill X... but at a distance".

I am with you MrJupiter. Although potentially neat tricks can be done with it, most would likely require a skill roll to succeed. Also, being able to unlock a door with TK, or similar can be accomplished in other ways, more and less direct, depending on the character and powers. Four points of TK could rip the door off, for example. Or 4 points and a power stunt could manage a TK force field to absorb the damage from a bomb, instead of TK with VFM being able to defuse it. Different ways to accomplish the same end means it all comes down to player, character and style.

I think I'm leaning more towards the 1-point side, now.

I just need to be clear that a power that already has a certain effect might be used for some uses (like someone choking someone with it; there is already a power that does that, etc.)

BASHMAN wrote:I think I'm leaning more towards the 1-point side, now.

I just need to be clear that a power that already has a certain effect might be used for some uses (like someone choking someone with it; there is already a power that does that, etc.)

Yes, good points (and helps to remind people that such power uses are only one Power Stunt or Power Trick away).