It also prevents the Hindering Terrain Modifier if used on Defenses. On the JSA map, there is a lot of Hindering Terrain so its like 'free-Superman Ally-lite" in a way...

so how would this work if someone got a critical with mind control, or incap? could you deal dmg with mind control this way? could incap give them a token AND 6 dmg? do you still get item dmg added on?

Mind control is a "No Damage" attack. Per the Danger Room glossary, such an attack deals no damage and may not have the damage further modified by powers or team abilities. It doesn't explicitly say so (yet), but I imagine the next FAQ (as well as the Legion of Super Heroes set rules), will confirm that this definition will also apply to damage modifiers from feats and battlefield conditions. The only thing you gain from a successful Mind Control attack is the ability to give the target an action.

Incap. is a little different. The attacker's dmg value becomes zero, but I believe that value can be modified by things like Crit.Strike that change damage value during an action. Anyone else want to chime in and confirm/deny this?

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. This does not create a different kind of action. This follows all the rules of heroclix. There is no structure in the rules for giving players actions, only characters. A player may give any of his characters next to a bystander a free action and remove a bystander token, by the wording of the BFC.
From the Danger Room Glossary:

One exception to your reasoning is the Laser Turret special object. The card specifically states that the object is given the action, not the character that occupies the object's square. This would seem to refute the idea that only characters can take actions in the game.

Also, what about Leadership? Leadership doesn't say "give the Leadership fig a free action" (as pretty much every other power on the PAC does); it simply states: "You (the player) may roll one die." Older incarnations of Leadership never mentioned any free action - Leadership was just something a player did, without any mention of an action being taken. Later, someone thought the phrasing should make the Leadership ability a free action... but that doesn't change the fact that the action is taken by the player, not the figure.

If you look at the phrasing of Nanobots (the card out there most similar to P.T.I.'s play mechanic), it specifically states "...give the character a free action...". P.T.I. has no such phrasing, stating only "...as a free action, you (the player) may choose...".

Certainly, this exceedingly rare issue of using a Mind Controlled character to trigger P.T.I. and get rid of a bystander as its MC'ed action could be ruled either way... It could be just a question of bad phrasing (like so many other HC cards) on the BfC. So which of the below would truly be the correct errata for this card?

#1: Once per turn, you may choose to give a friendly character a free action to remove from the game a bystander token adjacent to that character. No victory points are scored for the removed bystander token.

#2: Once per turn, you may choose to remove from the game a bystander token adjacent to a friendly character. No victory points are scored for the removed bystander token.


I guess we know which ones we'd vote for... but what about the RA?

I'll have to agree with Gumpold on the character getting the action, not the player.
The reason for this is HSS move and attack (or heck, even just flying/moving).

A figure cannot take a Free Action mid-move, such as; Move, Outwit, continue moving.
So with Protect the Innocent you should not be able to move up to a pog, remove the pog, and then continue the movement.
However, if the action were the player's free action to take, then it would fall outside the established rules and the above would be possible.

Hey, Tawky Tawny is an awesome name.

Nice review as always.

Thanks for chiming in, AZS. However, I don't believe your reasoning is the most convincing for this argument. Returning to the Laser Turret idea: Can a Hypersonic character, during its option 1 move&attack, stop temporarily on the Turret's space and let the Turret have a free action potshot at an opposing fig, then continue its movement to resolve the HSS action?
No. Even though the character doesn't take the action itself, it's still an action that's trying to take place during another action, and therefore wouldn't be allowed. The same is true of P.T.I., whether we attribute the action to a character, player, or otherwise.
So, the question becomes again: Is the free action of P.T.I. taken by a player (implied by "you" in the card text), or by the friendly character next to the pog (NOT implied by the text). If it is ruled that it is indeed the player's action, then the MC idea is out (the player's free action could not take place during an MC action). If it is ruled that the adjacent-to-pog friendly character takes the action, then choosing it as the one action an MC'ed character can perform while controlled would be an option (a complete waste of a successful Mind Control, but an option ). I've yet to see the ruling, though. Time will tell.

Can a Bystander be your friendly figure next to another Bystander you want to remove? If so you could MC a Lian Harper to Protect away another Lian Harper (rather than trying for the crit hit to kill her) and thus break up a group of MM fodder/mobile terrain. I could see using MC on pogs with no damage value to try to remove another pog, especially if it gets you LOS on the creamy center figure of a pog turtle.

Kind of a long way to go for that, but at least you totally won't take feedback damage.