Basic Action Super Heroes!

Going by the rules, there's no restriction stopping you from using the Linked enhancement to link one 5 point attack power to another 5 point attack power (for a total cost of 7 points). This results in a very nasty double attack, especially if it's something like Immobilize linked to Weakness (Brawn).

Checking the example charcters in BASH:UE, I can see several characters with high point powers that are linked - but they aren't attack powers. For example, Champion Of Good/Evil has Immunity 5 linked to Armor 3. That seems fine - it's just a 1pt cost break on buying the Armor. But I don't see any Linked attack powers as examples, although they are specified as being possible in the description of Linked.

When I asked my players to create characters, they went straight for Linked 5 point attacks, to which I had to say No. One even assumed that Linked was 2 pt enhancement on top of the full cost of both powers, because he assumed that it was abusive otherwise.

I've made a house rule for my group that you can't have more than 5 levels (not 5 points) of attack powers Linked. Does this seem reasonable, or am I missing a limit on Linked attacks?

I would say you can't link two identical powers, just like you can't have two identical powers because that would be redundant. As for just not allowing people to link attack powers in general, the book does say you can link special attack and continual damage. It says so right where it describes linked, it even says that the continual damage starts on the turn following the attack. Basically, the target takes the 'special attack' damage first, then on the next turn starts to take continual damage based on the rank of 'continual damage'. Basically, all that power would do is give your continual damage two strikes before it goes out (continual damage ends as soon as its soaked, with this it could be soaked twice before ending, assuming the initial damage was one of the tics that was soaked).

I don't think that's overpowered. Though linking two special attacks shouldn't be allowed. But even if you said that two identical powers can't be linked, they could just give each one a variation with limitations (like say the power dealt both fire and electrical damage).

At the very least, I would disallow linking any two versions of 'special attack'. Though you do make a point that linking it with 'weaken brawn' could result in a similar effect, I would say just treat it like the continual damage thing. The 'weaken' part doesn't start until the turn following the initial damage. At the very least, I would insist that the player give some explanation as to how the power does that. Linking continual damage and immobilization can be explained as you somehow constricting the target. I can't think of any explanation of a power that both damages and weakens. Well, I guess you could say the weakening part is 'armor piercing', but I think there's an enhancement for that anyway in one of the awesome powers books. And even then, armor piercing shouldn't remove the victim's super strength. At best it should just be 'weaken soak'.

Also, I think the book does mention somewhere that players may find a way to abuse the rules. The narrator does have the authority to disallow some combination that may be overpowered. Its just the nature of point-buy systems, you can't perfectly balance them since the number of possible combinations is virtually endless, so the narrator has to watch out for things that could break the game and forbid them, even if the rules say nothing about it. Perhaps you should explain that to the players. Oh, and also damage can't go higher than a x10 multiplier, even if the math says otherwise. That is a limit set within the book.

It is true you can do Immobilization and Continual Damage Linked (I often use this as Petrification, where you become a permanent statue if the petrification "kills" you), but you can also break out of both effects.

Combining Weaken and Immobilization does seem pretty powerful, but remember you can get out of it. A Hero Die will end any status effects you are under.

I did put an update on Weaken btw that says that it lasts 3 pages after the last time it was successfully used vs. that target; so it has a time limit as well.