Change Environment: Radiation

[Zephrosyne]

I have a question about Change Environment: Create Radiation. For the sake of argument, we can use the Radioactive Zone power (Champions Powers pg. 251) as an example. If my character has this power, he generates 300 rads in a 32 meter radius. Anyone in the Area Of Effect when I unleash this power is hit with 300 rads and I consult the table for radiation effects and compare their Constitutions to determine the effects. For the record, I am using the table in Hero System 6E2 (pg. 154), instead of Champions Powers, since the Con/Body loss is a little less severe in that it takes a little longer to fully effect the character.

 

Lets say Sam the Butcher of LA is in the zone I create. He has a Constitution of 25 and is immediately bombarded with 300 rads. According to the table, that would be greater than 10 times his Con and he would suffer a loss of 2d6 Con. He would lose 1d3 immediately and the remainder of what is rolled at a rate of 1 Con per hour. Ok, Sam is not very bright and hangs around in the radiactive zone long enough to be there for my next phase to occur. As per the rules for powers with a Constant duration, he would be bombarded again with 300 rads. My question is this, would he suffer the same effects as the first segment he was affected by the radiation--2d6 loss Con, 1-3 immediately and the remainder rolled at a rate of 1 Con per hour (actually 2 per hour since this is his second exposure)--or would I treat Sam as though he were exposed to 600 rads of radiation and consult the table again. In other words, do the rads add up for each phase of exposure or do you use the same number of rads and just keep adding the Con loss as per the table for the 300 rads for as long as someone is stupid enough to stay in the zone. Thanks.

[Steve Long]

Re: Change Environment: Radiation

 

The non-damaging effects of Change Environment don't accumulate, round after round. If, for example, a character's in a field that imposes a -3 on PER Rolls, he suffers that -3 as long as he stays in the field -- not -3 the first round, -6 the second, and so on. (A CE field could require a character to make a new roll each Phase, of course, but the penalty wouldn't increase.) However, a CE that causes damage (or some similar effect) will, like any Constant Power, cause that damage again and again as long as the target stays in the affected area. So in the case of a radiation field, a person in that field will continue to suffer the "damage" -- 2d6 CON loss, in this case -- for the level of effect. But the level of effect (300 rads, in this case) won't "stack" or "increase" from Phase to Phase; it remains the same over time.