weirdal wrote:My big issue is trying to understand how Extra Condition works and how that can be used to, more efficiently, put someone to sleep.
Regarding Extra Condition, the way I think of it is that default Affliction has a "stream" of 3 conditions, one for each degree. Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep is a Sleep stream; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated is a Stun stream; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled is a Mind Control stream, etc. Most of these are carryovers from 2nd Edition M&M before Affliction existed: the creation of Affliction combined about 9 different 2e power structures into one effect. You don't have to build them exactly like the old powers, but 9 times out of 10 it'll give you want you want.
Extra Condition just adds another stream to the Affliction. The trick with bringing in second streams, though, is that the 3rd degrees for each when combined often gain no benefit over one; you can't Control someone who is Incapacitated, for instance, so you don't often see two Affliction streams with 2 different 3rd degree conditions.
The most common use of Extra Condition is for the Snare Effect, which uses Hindered/Immobile to slow or stop the target, and Vulnerable/Defenseless to make them easier to hit. This is usually combined with the Limited Degree effect so it has no 3rd degree, which also counters the cost of the Extra Condition. This is used for all kinds of snaring or entangling powers: nets, bolos, plant control, force field capture systems, etc.
As for "more efficiently putting someone to sleep", it depends on what you mean by efficiency. Your first build from about actually works alright, up to a point.
weirdal wrote:Sleeping Touch: Affliction (Resisted by Will, Impaired and Hindered, Defenseless and Stunned), Extra Condition, Limited Degree.
In practice, a touched target who failed by one degree would be slowed down a bit, moving at half speed (-1 rank) and taking a -2 penalty on all checks, which is a pretty good way to simulate grogginess. 2nd degree failure would leave the target unable to defend itself effectively (Defenses drop to 0) or take any significant action, which also sounds good for impending sleep, but don't forget that 1st and 2nd degree conditions are resisted by the target at the end of every turn, so they could break out of this sleepiness during combat. Also, this 2nd degree would not keep the target from sensing what's happening (still Aware), and arguably still on their feet, so they never actually fall asleep.
If efficiency means lower power cost, Extra Condition will probably not get you there. If it means effectively knocking a target completely out of combat with less than a 3rd degree condition, you can get close but not quite. The 2nd degree effect of your build would leave a target as a sitting duck in the middle of combat, but even a minion would get resistance checks every turn unless something else (like an ally) takes the target down, which should be pretty easy at that point.
tl;dr - your first build for Sleep Touch would make a target sleepy, but not fall asleep. The second one uses Limited Degree wrong.