A short guide to how lordnull builds his powers. These are just guide-lines, and not hard and fast rules.

Realitive Power of Effects and Statuses

There are a huge number of effects and statuses, more than can be usefull put into a reasonable hierachary. However, there are a few that lend themselves to reasonable groupings. This is helpful when designing upgrades

• forced movement N < forced movement N + M
• push, pull < slide
• grant combat advantage < dazed < removed from play, pretrified < stunned < dominated
• ongoing damage N < ongoing damage N + M
• until start of it’s next turn < end of it’s next turn < start of your next < end of your next turn < save ends < (any of the above) + aftereffect

There are a few effects that are quite powerful for a controller to have. This are refered to as ’significant control effects (sce) for this article. They are removed from play, petrified, stunned, dominated, and forced movement of 3 or more.

Range vs Melee

It’s also important to consider the effect of range has on a power. A power that just deals damage is more useful if it has a range (even if it’s as small as 2) than if it is melee. This is more true in DnD than SSRPG since DnD monsters heavily favor melee. Also, the more monsters a power can potentially effect, the more powerful it is.

Does this mean that ranged powers are just plain better and should be penalized? Not necessarily. The basic retaliate cannot be used against a monster at range. Furthermore, nearby enemies effectively block squares. This means combatants in melee just by thier very presence are limiting a monster’s movement. This means the melee characters are more likely to be a target. This is accounted for primarily in a classes’s threshold and stamina, and so doesn’t need to be reflected in a power.

The part that needs to be in a power is how likely it is to be used while in melee, and do we want to punish a player for using a power in melee? If a power has range of Range or Area, they will be provoking if they target anyone not adjacent. Close, Melee, and Personal powers do not. So a class that is intended to stay at range (due to it’s lower stamina and threshold) should prefer Range and Area powers, while classes designed to be near combat should prefer melee for single targets, and close should they need to effect multiple targets.

Close comes in two flavors: burst and blast. Often these are used to allow a close-combat class to target something at a moderate range, or to be effective if completely surrounded. For example, the tactitian has a close burst taunt that, while it only targets a single creature, allows him to target a creature up to 3 squares away without provoking. This allows him to be effective without risk beyond simply being close to the monsters. Close blasts are also useful for ranged classes at near distances as either a flavorful attack (dragon breath) or a fallback incase the monsters did manage to close a gap.

Range Numbers

Thus far in our playtesting, a battle has been on a 37x24 grid, and has not significantly used that space. This indicates that ranges do not need to particually large or long as even single digit ranges can cover a large portion of the field.

If your power needs to effect an area, consider how much of the field should be covered, and how much can be targeted. A close blast 1, close burst 3, and area burst 1 within 5 all cover the same number of squares on effect, but can potentially target 8, 48, and 169 different squares respectively. Thus, area powers that cover a large area over a long range are incredibly powerful even before a control effect comes into play simply due to the number of squares it can target.

The nature of a power will strongly influence the range of a power as well. Healing power of clost burst N is going to be more useful than a healing power of close blast N simpley because the burst N will effect more on use. This is because a burst is a radius, while a blast is a diameter. This is also why a damaging power of close burst 2 is more powerful than one at close blast 2; the former can target 25 squares, while the later can only target 4.

The other portion to consider is how quickly a monster, once hit, can reach the hitter. The standard speed is 6, give or take 1. This means that at range 5, a monster will be able to reach and attack. At range 10, the monster can reach and attack, but will be granting. At range 20 the monster cannot retaliate. This means the range given on the power will also determine how open to retaliation the user is.

Classes using close power likely already expect retaliation; the primary reason to use a close power is because it does not provoke. Thus, we should design the power based on how many (or few) targets it can reach. Minor boons meant to effect most of the party could be a close burst 5. Damaging attacks should aim to be closer, burst 1 or blast 3. Upgraded powers can increase those to burst 2 or blast 5.

Powers that have strong controller effects or effect a large area should put the hitter are a decent risk, thus should be at range 5. Moderate damaging powers, or smaller areas, should be at no more than range 10. This allows the monsters to chase them down, but leaves the monsters vulnerable to do so. Longer ranges should be reserved for very rare but powerful attacks as there is no effective risk to thier use.

How Effective Should It Be

At-Wills are going to be used the most, thus the monsters will be effected by them the most. They should do the usual amount of damage and have a minor effect, but no more.

Encounters should have a larger effect than at-wills, either by effecting more targets, doing more damage or have a stronger controll effect. They should not do all 3. Avoid significant controller effects on the base power, especially if they are on a recharge.

Dailies can be pretty insane. They should always have buffed damage. They should either effect more targets, have a stronger controller effect, or last longer. They can also have a buff that lasts until the end of the encounter. While a daily alone should not win the battle, it has the potential to swing it back in a player’s favor.