Area Effect

power affects everything within 80 feet

adapted from page 41 of "the White Book":
DC Heroes 3rd Edition by Mayfair Games

Typically, Powers that take place at a target location will either have a built-in "area of effect" (such as the Darkness Power) that determines the total space influenced by the Power, or else said Power can only affect the specific {object/person/singular noun} at which it was aimed (such as the Broadcast Empath Power).

However! Certain individuals may have a variation of the Power that happens in a sphere with an eighty-foot radius!

The Area Effect Bonus adds +1 to the Factor Cost of the Power in question, increases what said Power affects on each use, but does not increase the difficulty of the power roll.

Let's demonstrate with a few examples!

Fenrir by Jarissa Venters

NOPE! I'm out!

I thought demos of Power Bonuses would be fun, but look at this.
Hell to the no.
Drag the catboy in here! It's his turn anyhow.

— Fenrir

Hey now, I have not even begun to set up a scenario of trouble as a demonstration. There's no need to push Puma on-stage just yet.

Pardonnez-moi, madame? Je ne comprends pas--

— a polite and extraordinarily adorable nine-year-old catboy

commission for Jarissa by Chai

Grayson, dear, your Maman understands French. I mostly don't. And I know you learned that whole "appear extra charming while getting your intelligence underestimated via strategic lingual slips" trick from your Papa, but is this the time?

Oh. A habit. Forgive me.

I was saying only this, that I do have several questions in regard to the whole matter of a Power that happens out at a Normal range?

— Corsair

commission for Jarissa by Chai

Thank you for volunteering to demonstrate, then!

Actually: I expect a lot of your questions will wind up in a side article, not in the discussion of this particular Power Bonus. Tell you what, let's demo this, and then we'll go off to make a Natural Law article for whatever confusion you still have.

Ahhhhm ... Madame ... I have no such Powers of my own? Perhaps another member of Young Justice would better suit?

— Corsair

commission for Jarissa by Chai

Nah, you're entirely qualified. Unlike your mother or your uncle, you have a properly functional Empathy Power on your own! It does not have to be an Attack Power, after all.

We'll need a few targets, though. Let's dig up, oh ... we're in Metropolis after all, how about the Trenchcoat Brigade. Yes, they'll do nicely.

I see here that The Shadow

:swallows tea hastily, which goes down the wrong pipe; begins coughing and sputtering:

— Andru Vandevik, hatless, scarfless, was in the middle of reading the Dawn Sun Register at his kitchen counter

has got an Int of 6 APs and a Mind of 6 APs as well. Corsair, you'll have to be close by and maybe concentrate for your Empathy to pick up on the Shadow's current emotional quality, but it's a reasonable possibility for our purposes.

Madame! I have to be within forty FEET of the man, not to mention needing two Column Shifts to get even one RAP, which will require at least a twenty-one by the dice!

— indignantly protesting Corsair

Hat! Hat! Lila, I need my hat, quick! And my scarf!

— The Shadow will start wondering why there's a blue-spotted leopard boy in his kitchen quite soon now.

Are you saying you can't roll that?

… Not at all.

— Corsair

:frantic cloth-ruffling noises:

— The Shadow

Right, then. Moving on!

For the purposes of this demonstration, what matters here is that Corsair is capable of using his Power at its Normal range on a single target. Corsair might succeed, might not, but what he cannot do is to simultaneously use the same Power on another person who happens to be standing right next to the target.

I could. Actually. Once again I interrupt -- I am truly sorry that it is so! -- but it is for this very purpose that a Multi-Attack Combat Maneuver has been written into the rules!

— Corsair

commission for Jarissa by Chai

He's correct on that.

— The Shadow

In which case, presuming The Shadow has the highest APs of Intelligence and Mind in the lot, you would have to roll at least 28 for two targets at once. Or a 32 if there are three to four people present. And if you don't roll high enough to get all of them, you don't roll high enough to get any.

Ouch.

— Corsair

commission for Jarissa by Chai

That's what I was thinking too.

In the hypothetical case where Corsair's Empathy Power has the "Area Effect" Bonus, however, the chances of success get a lot more flexible! Within 3 APs of the spot Corsair designates as his target point, every {character/gadget/animal/unknown noun} that potentially could be affected by the Power in question automatically gets treated as if it had been the sole target of Corsair's Power use. No Multi-Attack penalties to OV or RV apply. Corsair applies Hero Points if he wishes to do so, announces any Maneuvers he will apply, rolls once, and that number is resolved on The Action Chart and The Result Chart for each possible combination!

Some Restrictions Apply:

• The size of the Area Effect is 3 APs in radius, in all directions. This range cannot be reduced.
• This Power use will be applied to all qualified targets in the area, friend or foe. No exclusions.
• To have the use of this Power without always applying the Area Effect, the character has to purchase the Power twice, paying Base Cost and purchasing APs separately both times.

Advanced applications:

Excuse me, Game Master?

I naturally have made a thorough study of this "White Book" which is repeatedly cited in this section of the Anvil. I detect some, shall we call them, "overlooked nuances".

— The Shadow

Ooo! I know this phrase! This is l'idiome américain for "manigances"!

— Corsair

commission for Jarissa by Chai

See what happens when you do the research, kiddo?

— The Shadow to Corsair

Ehhh heh. This is my "skeptical" voice. What was your question?

I've been taking that Multi-Attack penalty when I cloud people's minds, so I thought maybe this Power Bonus would be a smart thing for me to pick up. You told us up above that it is always at a 3 AP radius.

But I see here, at the bottom of page 41, two ways for that rule to change.

— Andru, on thin ice already

Manigances indeed!

— Corsair, grabbing for the book in The Shadow's hand

commission for Jarissa by Chai

Careful with that thing! We can't acquire another physical print any more.

As for you, Andru: The book does indeed say that with GM approval, the radius of the Area Effect can be bought up one AP per one additional Factor Cost. I am going to take a good bit of persuading to allow any Character or Gadget to have an Area Effect bonus of more than one hundred sixty feet across. That's a little over fifty yards already permitted. I'd be comparing potential targets to the single die roll on the two charts for ten minutes of out-of-game time, depending on where you use it and what power you use it with.

I might, for example, let you use it with your Mental Illusion if you present a good case, but I'm not going to listen if Backdraft wants to purchase it on his Flame Project so that he could light up an entire football field at once.

Hey, neat!

— Brian Tanner

I know, right?

— Grayson to Brian

I said: No!

The other listed variant in the White Book says that, for an additional +1 to the Factor Cost of this Bonus, the Character can choose their radius of effect on the sliding scale from "designated target only" up through the total 3 AP radius. The GMs will consider allowing this more flexible version of the Bonus on the following restrictions:

1. It has to make for good story. This means that the Character in question started off not being able to modify their area of effect. During the course of more than one sequential adventure, the Character has put in repeated effort to learn and demonstrate deliberate control of this particular Power.
2. It has to be a Character's Power, not a Power built into a Gadget. No, not even Power Armor.
3. Unlocking this option is going to require a decent bribe to the GMs. For each Power, on each Character. Create art for a location or an NPC, write a sidebar article for the Dawn Sun Register, record a 30 second Public Service Announcement advertisement for a Bio-Investigations Limited Clinic opening up in Hob's Bay, put together a TikTok dance-off battle between the Disco Boys and Disco Girls.

Expect the +2 Factor Cost total, single target up to 3 AP radius version of Area Effect to be particularly rare in our campaign.

Thank you for elucidating. I may still pursue this option, but I do understand your reasons for caution.

— The Shadow

Hey, Scarf Dude, can we get your autograph?

— Backdraft to The Shadow

And the group selfie! For our clubhouse wall!

— Corsair to The Shadow

Yeah! 'Cause you are definitely NOT a crusty ancient white dude like the urban myths claim! Myth busted!

— Backdraft to The Shadow

Type: Power Bonus

Mod: +1 Factor Cost

Only: "Normal Range", "Dice Action" Powers that do not already have an area effect modification built in

---

Affected Species

• thanagarian
• metahuman
• kryptonian
• mutant
• atlantean
• mutate