Re: [ORE] Buying off Flaws or adding on extras (Godlike)

It's not explicitly stated in Godlike or in Wild Talents that you can buy off Flaws and add Extras to a power.

You can purchase new powers and you can buy more dice in your power. Therefore, I've always allowed it even though it isn't specifically stated. It hasn't been a problem in the games I've played, and it is suitable for the genre.

I put in the stipulation that it can only be done using Will power, which means it can only be done in game and when there is the right kind of stimulus. For Extras, I require that they follow the rule of fitting the "theme" of the power (unless the player can justify it, and there's an example of that coming up).

For instance, say you have a guy who creates flames. You have a flaw that requires a source of fire before he can set off his flame. This is a -1/-2/-4 Flaw and you have 2d + 2wd in his flame power. During a game session, your character whips out his Zippo in order to set off his power, but an Ubermensch teleports it away, cackling maniacally. The PC is going to die if he can't get his flame started. This is clearly the right stimulus for the PC to amp up his power. He spends 10 Will and suddenly, to the shock of both him and the Ubermensch, he can start his fires without first needing a flame source!

Another example, this one from an actual game and explaining how you can justify an extra that isn't otherwise thematically correct. During the playtesting of "The Courtyard of Hell", my son Logan played a character with insane projectile control. Think the movie "Wanted", with bullets curving and bullets deflecting bullets. In three separate incidents, his character truly believed he could make his bullets explode. In one case he fired at an artillery shell, trying to deflect it. Dustin's character caused the shell to explode just slightly before Logan's shot hit the shell. In a second case, Logan shot a sniper at the exact same instant that Gavin teleported a bomb into the sniper's perch. In a third incident, Logan shot an Ubermensch in the head just as Gavin teleported a grenade behind the guy's head.

From a metagame perspective, it was hilarious. In each case it was just sheer luck that the width of the rolls hit in such a way that Logan's character shot the guy just a split second before or after something blew up his target. All the players knew this was a coincidence, and all but Logan's character knew it was a coincidence. All the other PCs, though, kept up the charade that Logan's bullets could explode!

I told Logan that if he wanted to buy the Area extra for his power, I'd allow it. I felt that, thematically, it worked. The Talents are all about the power of the mind, and I thought it was reasonable that if a power could manifest or get better, it could also mutate with play. In this case, his character truly believed his bullets exploded, so I saw no reason why he couldn't make his bullets explode as a way of improving the power. As it was, he didn't have a chance in the last session to realistically spend the Will points to make his bullets explode. If the campaign continued, he would have done so.

The improvement rules state that you can only improve a Talent by one "level". I rule that removing a Flaw or adding an Extra means you cannot also add a die to your dice pool.