Multiform - Separate Physical State

[Steve]

I have a few questions regarding the Advantage "Separate Physical State" that can be applied to Multiform per APG2.

 

1. If a character takes Multiform with this Advantage but also has the Reversion modifier, they will return to their true form whenever KO'd or Stunned. Do they immediately come un-Stunned and/or un-KO'd after reversion to their true form?

 

2. Since the Multiform body doesn't heal while not being used, does this mean it remains Stunned and/or KO'd while not being used?

 

3. Assuming the answer to #2 is yes, it seems like these two power modifiers cause a lockout effect. The Multiform body gets KO'd or even just Stunned, causing reversion and freezing it into that status. The character then attempts to restart Multiform, but is thrown back out immediately due to reversion. Am I understanding correctly how these two power modifiers would interact?

 

4. Since the true form and Multiform bodies don't change while the character is not using them, do those bodies age or get hungry if they don't have the appropriate Life Support abilities? So if Billy Normal changes to Shazam Superhuman (Shazam having Life Support abilities for unaging, no need to eat, etc), he can stay in his Multiform body for weeks or years without harming his Billy Normal body?

[Steve Long]

Let me start by stating outright something that the rules for the Reversion Power Modifier imply but do not say directly:  reversion occurs at the very end of a Segment, after all other Actions except taking a Recovery. Thus, if a character is Stunned before he’s taken his Action in a Segment, he recovers from being Stunned on his DEX and doesn’t revert to a different form.

 

(Related issue, before anyone thinks to ask:  a character cannot voluntarily choose not to recover from being Stunned. Therefore he can’t trigger reversion to another form that way.)

 

If a character has Multiform with the Separate Physical State (+½) Advantage described on APG2 31-32, the following rules apply:

 

If the Multiform also has the Reversion Power Modifier (6E1 271) and an attack Stuns him, when he reverts to another form that form isn’t Stunned. However, when he returns to the form that was Stunned by the attack, that form remains Stunned until he has a chance to recover from being Stunned.

 

If the attack Knocks him Out, the same rule applies:  the alternate form isn’t Knocked Out, but when he returns to the first form, he immediately falls unconscious until he takes enough Recoveries to wake up (or is otherwise brought back to consciousness).

 

There is no “lockout” or “being thrown out” of Multiform effect such as you describe. That defies common sense and dramatic sense. When the character chooses to return to a form that’s Stunned or Knocked Out, he has to accept the consequences of that choice and deal with his hampered state normally.

 

The issue of whether alternate or true forms age while a character is in another form is separate from the Reversion or Separate Physical Form Power Modifiers. The answer is that unless the GM rules otherwise, the default rule is that all forms (true or alternate) age at the same rate, regardless of how much they are or aren’t used, unless a form has Life Support (Dinminished Aging) or some other ability that overrides this rule. Of course, there are plenty of character concepts where the GM may want to change that (your example of Captain Marvel being just one of many), but since character aging rarely has any sort of effect on a campaign it shouldn’t matter much.