Variations on Unreliable.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

It occurred to me recently that if you changed the "fail" part of Unreliable to some other detrimental effect you could have some pretty interesting outcomes: damage yourself, take combat penalties, maybe the power goes off but one of its extras doesn't function, etc.

I was originally thinking I could just use other power flaws for this. Then it occurred to me that if most are intended to work every time a power goes off then only having them go off 50% of the time would make them less than worthy of being flaws.

(Mostly this came about while thinking up a new version of Check Required:
It works like before but if you succeed and roll 10 or less you'd suffer some kind of setback. This way there's a balance between not having a high check bonus and failing a lot or having a high check bonus and suffering a bad effect.)

[Shock]

A side effect that happens every time is a -2 flaw. One that only comes up 50% of the time, whether the power succeeds or not, should be OK at a -1 flaw.

[Greyman]

It occurred to me recently that if you changed the "fail" part of Unreliable to some other detrimental effect you could have some pretty interesting outcomes: damage yourself, take combat penalties, maybe the power goes off but one of its extras doesn't function, etc.

Basically, you mean to combine Unreliable with Side Effect--so that the effect always works, but a side effect also happens on a d20 roll of 10 or less (whether the effect is successful or not)?

I was originally thinking I could just use other power flaws for this. Then it occurred to me that if most are intended to work every time a power goes off then only having them go off 50% of the time would make them less than worthy of being flaws.

Well, Side Effect is a -2 per rank flaw when it occurs every time the effect is used. So I think your idea comes out about right as a -1 per rank flaw.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Basically, you mean to combine Unreliable with Side Effect--so that the effect always works, but a side effect also happens on a d20 roll of 10 or less (whether the effect is successful or not)?

Yes.

The question is how to tell what's worth coming up on 50% of the time yet still making it worth a -1/rank.

[Greyman]

The question is how to tell what's worth coming up on 50% of the time yet still making it worth a -1/rank.

As noted above: if something happening 100% of the time is a -2pr flaw then it happening 50% of the time should be worth -1 per rank.

For what that something is: use the guidelines given for the Side Effect flaw: an effect of the same value as the effect without the flaw; typically an Affliction, Damage, Weaken, or the base effect itself. Alternatively: impose a Complication without awarding a Hero Point.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

So noted.