@Lightning Fast@bobert778 Well, there are certainly a few factors here to think about, and I will be adding this somewhere in the OOC because it is important information, so thank both of you for your perspective on this (And Mono for starting it all):
- Life Experience [15%]: Does this play an important part in use of the power? Ultimately, science says your heart is a muscle and there are ways to keep it strong and healthy. In a scenario where an old man lead a long, healthy life (or as much as one can be on Dust) versus a young homeless drug abusing alcoholic the old man is quite likely to win, just based on the strength of their hearts.
- Casual Use Overtime [30%]: This is a much more important factor. Think of this like snakes and venom; Adult snakes know how to control it whereas baby snakes will just dump it out with reckless abandon. Think of this also like using a machine for the first time, your inexperience is likely to put unwarranted stress on it. Driving a car for the first time puts more than average stress on it as opposed to a comfortable driver. Continual use and exploration of powers breeds a sense of familiarity and control about them. A really good example is Alex: Right now she fires wild arcs and blasts of lightning, half electrocuting and half exploding whatever she attacks. A more experience Alex could focus this arc into less of an explosive burst of energy into a concentrated strike of lightning. Explosive burst, versus a precise, controlled bolt; It's pretty clear which one uses less.
- Exponential Bursts [20%]: Another decently important factor. Pretty much the opposite of casual use and experience this is like leap frogging across the pool of comfortability. Casual use is more like an upwards slope, whereas this is a spike that rises and drops (Graph metaphors.) Emptying your entire payload into an attack and resolving the fight quickly could be effective, but leaves you using your power much less often and bursts an immediate sizable stress on the heart, as opposed to gradual stress like the form listed above. If the only experience you have is firing torpedos of power, a person with more control and familiarity of power use is probably going to last longer. This is really the Strong and slow, or weak and fast argument. "A candle that burns twice a bright, lasts half as long. This is a much more dangerous form of combat because if you don't resolve the fight quickly, you are left with nothing, and to continue in this manner would do much harm. Firing too big of a blow in a single instant could very likely put stress on the heart, enough to cause trauma or damage even though you only fired a single blast: Tell that to the smoldering ruins of the village you annihilated as you fall into cardiac arrest.
- Range [20%]: This is really just a "straining" modifier. The longer the rocket travels, the more fuel it must use. The bigger the missile, the longer it travels, the more fuel it must use. Pretty straight forward and clear cut. It is theoretically possible to extend one's range of use over time, but not in hugely significant amounts. It's also possible that over time, the distance of use will be less of a burden. I do commend all of you though, you all seem to have good control of this factor and have placed constraints on this, which is all perfectly fine. I don't worry about extending range, as the ranges we have established now are more than adequate in most cases, but it can always be discussed. The more important factor is building that casualness and having distance become less of a burden.
- Multiplicity [15%]: This is less of a factor because it's more modified by all of the factors above, yet still important. The more you carry the more stress is put on you sort of deal, actually kind of an obvious factor. Two missiles, more fuel, and going up the list from there.
In hindsight, yes, bobert is correct. Ivan would have an advantage over other characters because of his experience and control. He can jog longer than those just beginning, and much longer than those who sprint. This advantage isn't quite significant, as it just means he can use his power a little longer, I view his "dune mound travel" to be quite a simple task for him, allowing him to do it for a long period of time. Will he need to rest afterwards? Yes.
Think of the power as "heat" for this scenario. Now, you have a maximum heat of 100 before you blow up. Casual use gradually builds this up tick by tick, though a small increment does not build the gauge as fast because the heat will cool down in between periods of use. (Ivan's dune traveling for instance, he could go for a few hours, stop for twenty thirty minutes, and be good to go again, less strain takes less time to recover)
Alex, for example, spikes the heat gauge up dramatically, by 5's and 10's instead of gradual ticks, for instance. (There is no math involved in this, I'm just approximating to give a picturesque ideal.) So if she throws and enormous arc of lightning and shoots her gauge immediately to 40 heat, it's going to take longer to cool down. If she throws another one, before she is totally recovered, then it spikes up even higher, and so forth.
If she were to throw eight blasts, as large as she could make them, with as much force as she could put into them, then yes, she will get that single attack off and completely empty her reserves (she has that unique ability) or whatever. Boom, success, everything is blown up. Unfortunately she will immediately die afterwards as her heart will likely just explode from her chest cavity and fall straight into a grave.
Also keep in mind, the multiplicity factor does account for "charging up" manipulation. Ivan can draw as much sand as he wants, until his heart gives out from the strain of trying to manipulate that much matter. He could die before he ever gets an attack off. If an avalanche was about to bury a city Ivan could hold it back giving everyone a chance to flee, but even if he's just pushing against it, that's power use.
There's a lot to think about when using power, but I trust all of you to play this well, or be receptive of my criticism if you abuse it and not Kapuchu out when you don't get your way.
All drugs really do is mask these factors, making them less important to the character, but they are still very present and a drug high character could find themselves dying and not understanding why.
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