Ascending Limitations is a broad idea based on the example of Costs Fatigue, Variable. It is named opposite the Declining Enhancements rules.
Precedents[]
Basic Precedent[]
This is essentially what Growth does in regard to purchasing levels of ST in the middle column of B58:
- buy the ST necessary to support your form separately
- If your ST increases with height and is only avail-
able when you grow,
- you may buy it with the Size limitation (see Strength,
p. 14).
- Use your maximum SM to determine the limitation value.
- At intermediate SMs, find your height as a fraction of your maximum height.
- This is the fraction of your extra ST available to you at that SM (round down).
The difference between this and other forms though is that the Size limitation does not actually limit utility in any way. This is likely why Pricing Revised Strength (pg 18 of Knowing Your Own Strength) omitted the "Size" limitation.
What this does represent is the idea that if you buy a limitation at full price, it is assumed that lesser versions of it apply at intermediary levels (Size is worth less % at lower SM). This also essentially makes ST inherently "Variable" as an advantage.
This is the first instance of treating an attribute more like an advantage and less like an attribute. It somewhat follows the Attributes as Abilities rules, in that you won't always have your ST on (only when grown). This does allow someone to stay grown indefinitely, but then, normally buying high SM is free. The whole reason Growth costs points is it gives the ability to CHANGE.
Powers Precedent[]
Costs Fatigue, 1 FP/5points appears to be constructed this way.
Basics[]
The DE rules already allow some equivalent of this, as you can take Innaccurate limitations to bring Accuracy from 0 to 3 and then taking Accurate 3 as Declining Limitations, resulting in something which descends from 3 to 0 as it gets more powerful.
This is simply the inverse of that, by taking increasing amounts of Inaccurate, or similar.
Construction[]
Like CFV, it requires a leveled advantage with the Variable enhancement, and a limitation (like Costs Fatigue) which can be bought in multiple levels, where each level is worth the same.
Firstly: CFV should be allowed for any leveled advantage which resembles Innate Attack in that each costs the same. Not just Innate Attack!
Resulting modified limitations would be named in the same way as CFV.
The modified guidelines to find the size of the limitation using a limitation which creates leveled penalties (for example Inaccurate, or leveled Temporary Disadvantes):
- 1. Determine the maximum penalty when using the advantage
- 2. Divide this effect by the maximum level to find the penalty-per-level
- 3. Multiply penalty-per-level by “average” level – (1 + maximum level)/2 – to find average penalty
- 4. Drop all fractions.
Limited Enhancements[]
A more complex application of this is when treating enhancements as advantages and applying limitations to their value.
For example, consider taking progressive levels of recoil on a rapid fire attack
"Area Effect 4 (16 yard radius) +200%" could be taken as a "limited enhancement" where Recoil (5) +4 (-40%) reduces its cost to +120% (a much better approach than applying it directly!)
You could of course take 4 separate instances of limited enhancement Area Effect 1 +50% w/ Recoil +1 -10% = 45%. This would cost 180 points, not much of a savings!
Applying Declining Limitations to Limited Enhancements though:
- max penalty is +4 to recoil
- 4 (max penalty) divided by 4 (max level of area effect) is 1, this is the penalty per level
- the average level is 5 (1+ the max, 4) divided by 2, resulting in 2.5. Multiply the average level (2.5) by penalty-per-level (1) to determine average penalty.
- drop the fractions, average penalty is 2
This means since it averages out at +2 to recoil, you can simply take a -20% limitation on the 200%, reducing it to a mere +160%
Dropping fractions isn't necessary for modifiers though. 2.5 (average penalty of recoil) x -10% (cost per level of recoil) = -25% after all, and for very high-level advantages, decimals of percentages can still have effects. Rounding is really only needed when calculating point totals as a last step.
quotes[]
munin[]
2009 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=858050&postcount=3
Another possibility is that this is similar to the mechanic for proportional FP cost described on p. P101. First your attack needs the Variable enhancement, because you can choose its strength when you use it. Next, average the possible Takes Extra Time limitations: you can choose between no time, 1 second, and 2 seconds, so the average time is 1 second, which is equivalent to a single level of Takes Extra Time.
Crushing Attack 3d (Takes Extra Time, 1 second per extra 1d, -10%; Variable, +5%) [15]