Power Question

[ElrodtheAlbino]

In my campaign I would like to create a power or spell that enables a character to alter the shape of the forest. This ability would be in the possession of a select few who use this power to create forest friendly villages, using the woods around them and molding it into homes, shelters, walls, etc. I have looked through the powers in my many HERO books and I either do not have the imagination to figure it out, or I just keep skipping over the pertinent info. Any help on how to get started?

[joen00b]

I don't have my book with me, as I'm at work, but this would be Change Environment with some Advantages pushed in. It's not going to be cheap either.

Where's Killer Shrike when you need him? He'd make this look trivial in about 5 minutes, hehe.

[Killer Shrike]

In my campaign I would like to create a power or spell that enables a character to alter the shape of the forest. This ability would be in the possession of a select few who use this power to create forest friendly villages, using the woods around them and molding it into homes, shelters, walls, etc. I have looked through the powers in my many HERO books and I either do not have the imagination to figure it out, or I just keep skipping over the pertinent info. Any help on how to get started?
AoE Cosmetic Transform: Grove Of Trees To Inhabitation Friendly Grove of Trees.

If you want to make more significant changes just bump it to Minor Transform.

[lazarus]

In order to sculpt the trees into dwellings, that would likely take some ... not quite Major transform, but I think more than Minor?

Laz

[mudpyr8]

How about Summon Base? You are specifically creating occupied area, not turning oaks into bunny shapes. I agree that a cosmetic or minor transform would work, but a big tree has 11 body and you'd have to use the megascale advantage to cover the area appropriately.

Using standard effect that would take about 7d6 transform, AE +1, Megascale +1/4.

Or, summon 46pt base, Slavishly Loyal +1, is a 20 active point power which should not be allowed in the hands of most people. You need to make such a power have other costs so people aren't running around creating villages because they can.

36 pt base is 500m long and 250m wide. That represents the "village".
6 pts +1 DEF, +3 BODY = base is made of wood.
4 pts Grounds of the base are surrounded by a 2 DEF 2 BODY hedge, covering 15x the area of the village (see image, green are grounds, the numbers represent the extra points which covers those grounds).

[Killer Shrike]

In order to sculpt the trees into dwellings, that would likely take some ... not quite Major transform, but I think more than Minor?

Laz
If all you are really doing is changing their appearance. Cosmetic. If you alter them more significantly its minor. Major Transform would let you completely alter them, like change the trees into a titanium plated SUV with a hood mounted gattling if you wanted to.

[Talon]

Seems to me a Transform would be a more flexible solution -- summon Base gets weird if you want to use it over time to mold an entire forest (creating paths, etc.).

[Killer Shrike]

Summoning a Base is legal (see below), but as Talon points out it can get weird.

From the FAQ:



Q: Can you Summon an unliving object that’s defined by a point cost, such as a Base or Vehicle? If so, how do you calculate the cost?



A: Yes, a character could summon such an object (e.g., a Base, Vehicle, or Computer), subject to the GM’s approval. The character must apply the Amicable Advantage at the Slavishly Loyal (+1) level, since he has full control over the object. Additionally, if he Summons the same specific Vehicle every time (or the like), he must pay for the Specific Being (+1) Advantage, unless the GM waives it. Derive the cost of Summon from the total cost of the object, not its cost divided by 5.

A character may not use Summon in this way to substitute for another power. For example, a character cannot Summon a bunch of swords and hand them out to his friends; that’s HKA, Usable By Others. As always, common sense, dramatic sense, and the GM’s discretion apply.

If a character buys the ability to Summon an unliving object, he does not also have to buy the Vehicle, Base, or what have you separately. If that were the case, characters would have to buy as Followers whatever they Summoned, which wouldn’t make much sense. But by the same token, allowing unlimited Summonings of objects could become unbalancing, which is why GMs examine such abilities carefully (and often forbid them) and players should approach such constructs responsibly.