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Help with advantage/limitation maths
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Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
Ok so highschool was many years ago and i haven't had much use for working with negative numbers and fractions since so i'm having trouble working out the advantage and limitation formulas.
Can someone walk me through them?
Can someone walk me through them?
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Base power cost: 30pts
+1/2 advantage = 30 pts * (1+1/2) = 30 pts * 1.5 = 45 pts
-1/2 limitation = 30 pts / (1+1/2) = 30 pts / 1.5 = 20 pts
So, for example, having a +1/2 advantage, a +1/4 advantage, a -1/2 limitation and a -1 limitation would be:
30 pts * (1 + 1/2 + 1/4) = 30 * (1.75) = 52.5 pts
and then
52.5 pts / (1 + 1/2 + 1) = 30 / (2.5) = 21 pts
MUCH easier than "Cryptic Math" that the MMO uses
Assuming it's the same formula that it used to be back when I had a PnP group to play with (many, many moons ago)...
First work out your base cost (BC). Multiply the BC by the number of advantages you have on the power plus 1 (1+Adv). Take the product of that calculation and divide it by the number of limitations you have on the power plus 1 (1+Lim).
Resultant Formula: Total Cost = (BC * (1+Adv))/(1+Lim). Remember PEMDAS!
Example: 6d6 Energy Blast (30 points BC) with Area Effect- Cone (1.25 Adv), 1/2 END Cost (0.25 Adv), and Obvious Accessible Focus (1 Lim).
Plugging the numbers into the formula, we get:
Total Cost=(BC*(1+Adv))/(1+Lim)
Total Cost=(30*(1+1.25+0.25))/(1+1)
Total Cost=(30*2.5)/2
Total Cost=75/2
Total Cost=37.5
And there you have it. Clear as mud?
You calculate active points like so:
8D6 Blast, 40 Base Points; Armor Piercing +1/4, Penetrating +1/2
1/4 + 1/2 = 3/4
You then add one so it includes the base points properly.
1 * 4 = 4 so 1 + 3/4 = 7/4
40 * 7 = 280 / 4 = 70
So that leaves you with an 8D6 Blast, 40 Base Points; Armor Piercing +1/4, Penetrating +1/2, 70 Active Points
To caclulate limitations you do the same thing, except you multiply by the inverse. To add OIF -1/2 to that same Blast from above you would do this:
1 * 2 = 2 so 1 + 1/2 = 3/2
Multiply by the inverse means you just swap the numerator and the denominator, so...
70 * 2 = 140 / 3 = 46.66 which rounds to 47 Real Points.
So the final power would be:
8D6 Blast, 40 Base Points; Armor Piercing +1/4, Penetrating +1/2, 70 Active Points; OIF -1/2, 47 Real Points
The only other thing you need to remember is that .5 rounds in your favour and that the minimum cost of a power is 1.
Almost. About that last part: the 52.5 is rounded off - in case of 1/2, or .5 in this case, it's rounded in favor of the player, and hence is just plain ol' 52. Also, I think you switched from "52.5" to "30" in mid-math, so here's a different version:
30 points (your Base Cost) with what adds up to 3/4 worth of advantages means you would multiply 30 by 3/4, and add that amount to the original 30 to get your 52.5, which is rounded immediately to 52 (you round at each step). This, by the way, is your "Active Point total".
Then, you apply the limitations. The total of the limitations is -1 1/2. So, you make that a positive number, add one, and get 2 1/2. Then you divide 52 by 2 1/2, or 2.5 if you prefer, which the calculator gives as 20.8. Since this isn't exactly half, you round normally, which would make the final answer of 21 still correct. This is your "Real Cost", and is the amount you would pay in character points and/or experience points for your power.
The reason i'm mentioning the base cost, active points, and real cost, is that even after a year and half of playing, the people I GM with still have trouble with that, so I just thought maybe I could clarify that one as well, just in case.
And don't feel bad if you don't things right at first, I've been GMing for over a year and a half, and read the books for a good 8 months on and off before GMing, and I'm still finding mistakes I've been making and new rules to apply lol.
Edit: Just wanted to say one last thing: if you've got the money, that character creator program is well worth the 20$. It's helped me learn the game, and is a real help when figuring out costs and whatnot.