Superpower (Power)
EFFECT
Cost 6 JP
Activate 2 PPs; move action
Sustain 2 PPs per round/hour; free
Range self
Save special; Power Resistance yes
DESCRIPTION
The superhero can project a bubble of solid energy around him. The bubble surrounds the superhero at a distance of about 3 or 4 feet (i.e., it’s a bubble but it takes up a 5-foot cube on the battlemap). It protects not just the superhero, and not just what he is wearing, but also anything he might be carrying that fits in that space and anyone who might have squeezed into it with him. The sustain costs are for per round in combat and per hour outside of combat.
Force Field bubbles are visible but fully transparent. The superhero can see through them with no penalty and his shape and position is visible. It can appear, for example, as a shimmering veil, a wall of blue energy, or a crystal barrier.
The bubble blocks all attacks from passing through it, including gasses, energy attacks, or Super attacks. It does not block mental attacks of any kind and incorporeal objects or people pass through. The superhero can hear sound through it. If anyone or anything tries to batter down his bubble by brute force, he must make a Will save, the DC of which equals the damage of the attack. If the superhero fails the saving throw, his bubble falls until he can reactivate it on his next available move action.
His bubble has an AC of 10. His personal AC bonuses (Dexterity, powers, equipment) are all inside the bubble, so they’re no help to its AC. If the superhero is moving (running, falling, flying), its AC rises to 12 because the bubble is a moving target. Flanking a bubble does not grant a +2 to hit because it’s not a living creature, so splitting its attention does no good.
However, the bubble is a separate target from the superhero. Attacks directed at the superhero strike the bubble instead, and attacks directed at the bubble do not strike him at all. Area effects that cause damage, like a Burst Energy Attack can potentially affect the superhero when he is inside a Force Field bubble. If the superhero fails his Will save, the bubble falls and the area effect acts on him normally. In this case, the Burst Energy Attack would do damage if the superhero fails a subsequent save.
There is enough air in a bubble to breath for 4 hours. At the end of 4 hours, and every hour thereafter, the superhero must make a Fortitude save (DC 20). If the superhero succeeds, he manages to remain unaffected by the lack of oxygen. The first failure, however, makes the superhero fatigued, the second makes him exhausted, and after a third failure, he falls unconscious, at which point the Force Field drops. Succeeding at any of these checks merely keeps the superhero in his present state, either unaffected, fatigued, or exhausted. The superhero doesn’t get better until he either refreshes his air supply or leave the carbon-dioxide environment.
The superhero can submerge a bubble in water or other liquid, but it’s a weightless globe of buoyant air so if is submerged, it immediately ascends at a speed of 30 feet per round. However, while submerged, the superhero must make a Fortitude save every round to resist the pressure of the water. The DC of the check is 10, but rises by +2 for every 10 feet of depth. Thus, at a 50-foot depth, the DC would be 20.
The superhero can maintain a Force Field bubble in a vacuum, as well. This requires a DC 15 Fortitude save every round. If the superhero fails, the Field drops and he begins to suffer the effects of exposure to vacuum and possibly to the radiation effects of being in space.
Enhancements and limitations
- Enhancement: Malleable Bubbles (Cost: 6 JP): The superhero can now control the exact shape of his Force Field. Instead of an amorphous bubble, the superhero can shrink, twist, and contort it at his whim. The superhero is no longer required to make the bubbles an enclosed space, either. The superhero can also flatten one and create a 10-by-20-foot wall. The minimum size is about 60 cubic inches, a 4-inch cube or a 3-inch diameter sphere. If the superhero has multiple bubbles, he can now snake them around corners and make them take creative shapes, thus, he can now create contiguous bubbles on diagonals, not just one facing sides. Reshaping a bubble requires a move action.
|
Number of Bubbles |
Radius (feet) |
Volume (cubic feet) |
|
1 |
3 |
135 |
|
2 |
4 1/3 |
260 |
|
3 |
5 |
400 |
|
4 |
5 1/2 |
540 |
|
5 |
6 |
675 |
|
6 |
6 1/3 |
810 |
|
7 |
6 2/3 |
940 |
|
8 |
7 |
1,000 |
|
9 |
7 1/3 |
1,200 |
|
10 |
7 1/2 |
1,325 |
- Enhancement: Multiple Bubbles (Cost: 3 JP per level): Activate: 2 PPs per bubble; swift action. Sustain: 2 PPs per bubble per round; free. For every level of this enhancement, the superhero can create another Force Field bubble. All his bubbles must touch each other on a side, not just a corner. They do not, however, have to be one, big block. The superhero can string them out into any shape he likes, as long as they still cover individual 5-foot squares. No two bubbles can occupy the same space, so the superhero cannot make a two-layered bubble. The superhero can, however, place a bubble around his whole team and then a second, much smaller one, around himself. The superhero can also make one big spherical bubble. Each extra bubble adds to the big bubble’s total volume (see table, right). If the superhero puts a bubble around someone else, that person can choose to make a Reflex save to avoid being encased, and she can also do damage to the bubble internally exactly the same way as she could from the outside. Doing so forces the superhero to make a Will save or lose the bubble, as described in the base power. While the power is activated, the superhero can increase or decrease the size of the field and/or alter its shape. This requires a swift action. Finally, instead of adding individual bubbles, or their equivalents, the superhero can increase the over-all volume of one, big, vaguely spherical bubble (see table).
- Enhancement: Ranged Bubbles (Cost: 3 JP): For every level of this power, the superhero can manifest his Force Field 30 feet away at its nearest point. If the superhero put a bubble around someone else, that person can choose to make a Reflex save (DC 10 + half of the freelancer’s level + his highest stat modifier) to avoid being encased, and she can also do damage to the bubble internally exactly the same way as she could from the outside. The superhero can take up to 5 levels of this enhancement for a total distance of 150 feet.
- Enhancement: Separate Bubbles (Cost: 6 JP): Activate: +2 PPs per extra bubble; special. Sustain: +2 PPs per extra bubble per round; free. The superhero can now create Force Field bubbles separately, not touching each other at all. Thus, the superhero can toss one onto himself and others on his team mates, for example. Keeping multiple bubbles active at once costs an extra 2 PPs for every bubble after the first one because his attention is split. The activation time for this enhancement and for the main power occurs simultaneously. Thus, if the superhero activates three 5-foot bubbles, the activation time is just one move action. Prerequisites: The superhero must have the Multiple Bubbles and Ranged Bubbles enhancements to buy this enhancement.
- Enhancement: Tough Bubbles (Cost: 1 JP per level): For every level of this power, his Will saves to keep his bubble up despite damage or pressure receives a +1 enhancement bonus. The superhero can take this enhancement multiple times. Its effects stack.