Power Burnout

circumstance in which the Power ceases to turn ON

adapted from page 42 of "the White Book":
DC Heroes 3rd Edition by Mayfair Games

Symptoms

Unlike the Fatiguing Limitation, some Characters have a Power that will simply only happen a certain number of times at any AP rating before it fails. The Character themself may not be exhausted or drained. Perhaps they have run out of available physical components; perhaps they no longer have a buildup of spare Zeta Rays, or they are waiting to verify more Prime Numbers.

Rather than give a hard number at the outset and require the Character to account for each usage, we save time and increase usefulness of these Powers by representing the "empty" status with a severity. Powers that can be used many times before a recharge would have a Minor Power Burnout, while resource-hungry Powers may have a Catastrophic Power Burnout. In play, if the Burnout Number comes up on any roll of the dice for use of this Power, then the Power has Burned Out completely. A Recovery Check will be necessary before this Power is available to the Character again, which probably involves taking enough time for rest.

• The severity of the Power Limitation is determined at initial purchase of the Power.
• If any Power usage roll (before rerolling doubles) is equal to or less than the appropriate Burnout Number on the upcoming chart, the Power fails and is reduced to 0 APs. In this case, the Power cannot be used again until it has been Recovered.

Severity

Burnout Number

FC Modifier

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Minor

2

-1

Serious

3

-2

Catastrophic

5

-3

Affected Groups

Among kryptonian populations, one rare physical disability that sometimes appears is a Minor Power Burnout affecting all of their Dice Powers any time they are not in direct sunlight.

Hosts & Carriers

The hero Psypher has a Minor Power Burnout on his Mind Blast Power, which he calls "the psychic knife". When he uses this Power to fight evil, usually he has plenty of mental energy available to generate the energy field and use it. However, sometimes his mental energy has not built up enough excess power for a reuse; if his player rolls double ones, in addition to the general "Uh oh!" of a Critical Botch, this means Psypher has burnt out his available mental energy pool. The Psychic Knife will not be coming into existence again until Psypher has at least an hour of rest!

Over in New York City among the Knights Vigilant, Heroic Gadgeteer Tesla Coil built his power armor with a limited EMP Burst ability represented by an Energy Blast with the Catastrophic Power Burnout Limitation and the Area Effect Advantage. If he tries to fire it off but his player rolls a 5 or less, the C.O.I.L. Armor Mark 2 has burnt out its EMP Burst ... and, for that matter, probably needs a few repairs before the suit returns to the field.

Type: Power Limitation

Mod: Varies

Only: Dice Powers

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Type

Physiological

Affected Species

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

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This Limitation's severity can be bought down during Character Growth by paying the difference between the Power's total cost at the original severity versus the Power's total cost at the new, gentler severity.