Side Effects Revisited

Copyright © 2000 by Christopher A. Goodwin.

All Rights Reserved

Introduction

Not that there's anything wrong with the current way of doing Side Effects, but, well, some of them are a little less than fear-inducing. (Which would you rather get hit with -- a 6d6 Energy Blast, or a 3d6 Presence Drain that recovers 5 points per turn? Thought so.) I intend to give GMs a few more options for Side Effects, as well as making them more scary.

We're going to discuss both Frequency and Power of Side Effects. We'll start with Frequency.

Frequency

Some Side Effects take effect more often than others. Some Side Effects take effect every time the power is used. Usually, Side Effects are related to an activation or skill roll. Thus, we have the Frequency. Every time the power is used, roll 3d6. If you roll appropriately, the Side Effects occur. The power still works, even if the Side Effects happen.

The rolls have been chosen to coincide with common values for activation and skill rolls. If the Activation Roll or Requires Skill Roll Limitations have been taken with this, and the rolls are such that the power either works or causes a side effect (such as a 14- Activation and 15+ Side Effects) then both Limitations can be rolled on one dice roll. If you want to use this with the Requires Skill Roll limitation, the roll should be based on the final roll for the power (in other words, the skill value -1 per 10 Active Points in the power). "Every Time" means that the Side Effect occurs every time the power is used, whether the power activates or not.

Side Effects only take effect once per activation of the power, usually when the power is first activated.
 
3d6 Roll Value
17+  -0
16+/15+  -1/4
14+/13+  -1/2
12+ to 10+  -3/4
9+  -1
Every Time  -1 1/2

Power

How many Active Points are in the Side Effect? These will no longer be based directly on the Active Points of the power; if you want a Side Effect equal to the Active Points of the power, choose the closest level less than or equal to the Active Points of the power. Note that the Active Points of any Drains used as a Side Effect are doubled; thus, a 30 Active Point Side Effect could be either a 6d6 Energy Blast, a 6d6 Drain that recovers 5 points per turn or a 3d6 Drain that recovers 5 points per 5 hours.

The power level of the Side Effect shouldn't be more than one level greater than the Active Points of the power; thus, a 35 Active Point power shouldn't have more than a 45 Active Point Side Effect (or a 90 point Drain). Of course, the GM can always give special permission to override this.
 
Power Value
30 Active Points 
(60 Active Point Drain) 		 -1/4
45 Active Points 
(90 Active Point Drain) 		 -1/2
60 Active Points 
(120 Active Point Drain) 		 -3/4
75+ Active Points 
(150+ Active Point Drain) 		 -1

Some Final Notes:

The GM should always have the final decision as to the exact nature of the Side Effect. Also note that the user of the power never gets any defenses against the Side Effects, though if the Side Effect is an Area Effect or Explosive power, anyone else within the radius should get to apply defenses.

The GM may wish to give the players a table of random Side Effects, especially in a Fantasy Hero campaign. The GM should use the average value of the rolled Side Effects as the basis for the Limitation value; a discussion of probabilities and weighting values toward the chances of each roll is way beyond the scope of this article.
 

  • Side Effects:  See tables above for Frequency and Power.