How to Create Spell: Freedom of Movement

[Plucky]

I am almost positive I've read this here before but I cannot find it right now, so here it goes.

I want to create a spell that lets a person retain their freedom of movement under most situations.

I figure there are 3 main ways to stop a person from moving.
1) Entangle
2) Drain, Transfer, Change Environment or otherwise reduce Dex and Spd
3) Mental confinement

Are there any others?

Is the best way to build this spell using Dispel or Suppress for all these powers? How would I do that anyway? With Expanded Effects? To affect all Powers of a given special effect simultaneously?

I feel that I am close but not sure whether the solution is elegent.

Thanks!!
Plucky

[CrosshairCollie]

I'd go with Desolidification, Only To Protect Against Effects That Hinder Movement (-1), personally.

[Outsider]

In addition to draining SPD and DEX, one could immobilize someone by Draining their STR until they hadnt the strength to move their own weight, by directly draining their movement powers (Drain running, swimming, etc), or by draining some other stats to the point of crisis. (0 EGO people have to make an EGO roll to actually do anything but stand there, 0 CON people are limited to 2" of movement (since it takes no END) without making a CON roll, etc)

[gojira]

Is the best way to build this spell using Dispel or Suppress for all these powers? How would I do that anyway? With Expanded Effects? To affect all Powers of a given special effect simultaneously?

I only have Sidekick so I'm not sure exactly what "expanded effects" does, but basically you're going to have to build a Dispell (or Supress) that affects ALL of those things simultaneously.

Like 12d6 Dispell: STR Drain, plus 12d6 Dispell: INT Drain, plus 12d6 Dispell: EGO Drain, plus 12d6 Dispell: Entangle, plus 12d6 Dispell: Change Environment, plus 12d6 Dispell: Mental Entangle, plus ... etc. ... etc. ...

Which is not very elegant. A GM is with in his rights to require the most expensive build, too, which I'm sure the above is.

You might be able to remove a very large number of movement penalties if you just restrict what you're going to be effective against. For example, a good SFX could easily link CE (only to counter movement penalties) and Dispell: Phyical Entangles, and you'd have most of the common movement restriction powers covered there.

Also, a VPP would cover this. Just make a VPP for Dispells only with enough points for ONE of the above Dispells. Then when you need it, the VPP will counter that one effect. Good for Mages who can "invent" spells to counter effects, or gadgeteers, very powerful beings like gods, etc.

If you're a GM and this is an NPC, just use the VPP. Easiest that way to make sure you don't forget about one type of Dispell.

[AlHazred]

In Hero terms, Entanglement and Mental Confinement are mechanically identical - Mental Entangles go versus EGO instead of STR for breakout purposes. So you have two Powers usually used to limit movement: Entangle and Drain.

You want to have a spell that "cures" the condition of "not being able to move". So, for the Drain-type effects you need Healing, Affects Any One Characteristic (+1/2), Only To Heal Drained Characteristics That Limit Movement (-1/2).

For the Entangle-type effects, you could use Teleport 6", Position Shift, Only To Escape Confinement (-2). This would be used to let you get out of the Entangle, but not Teleport completely away - it's a special effects ability, not a Movement Power; the 6" range is just so that you can escape Area Effect Entangles. I would hand-wave larger Areas of Effect, but limit the character to 6" per phase (or whatever his Running speed is).

[Teflon Billy]

You'll also want to add Power Defense to prevent someone from re-Draining you during the duration of the spell.

What's the defense for Entangle? PD?

TB

[gojira]

It would be casual STR, yes?

[Teflon Billy]

It would be casual STR, yes?That'd work, a crap load of strength with (Only to resist effects that hinder movement, no added benefit or increased strength)

TB

[Thia Halmades]

Actually, you're running into two major problems here. The first is that this is HERO, not d20. In d20 the spell is called Freedom of Movement or something similar; it keeps you from being slowed down due to the environment I believe. If you wanted it to affect any and all other powers, you're running into a few problems.

First, to clairfy what I'm talking about:

This spell enables you or a creature you touch to move and attack normally for the duration of the spell, even under the influence of magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog, slow, and web. The subject automatically succeeds on any grapple check made to resist a grapple attempt, as well as on grapple checks or Escape Artist checks made to escape a grapple or a pin.

The spell also allows the subject to move and attack normally while underwater, even with slashing weapons such as axes and swords or with bludgeoning weapons such as flails, hammers, and maces, provided that the weapon is wielded in the hand rather than hurled. The freedom of movement spell does not, however, allow water breathing.

Material Component
A leather thong, bound around the arm or a similar appendage.

I think someone may have said it earlier, but anything that gets you out of that is most likely a variation on Desolid. You're in chains! Na na, no I'm not! Okay... SLOW! Aha! That'll do it! Nope - Desolid vs. Affects Which Hinder Movement. You could with GM persmission cast it/use it after the fact to get out. Ninjas use a limited form of Desolid to represent their ability to escape bonds and what have you. Vash the Stampede uses the same ability in Episode ... I think 7 of Trigun. He's simply untied, and then proceeds to tie himself back up. Why make a regular skill check when you can back it up with Desolid?

The only way around it (offensively) is to build an Entangle that ignores states - such as a Hold Person spell, which isn't paralytic, it's a brain grab. But as was mentioned, if you want to get out of everything, all the time, you're asking for a lot, especially in HERO where there's many many ways to slow someone down, up to and including tossing a Suppress on them.

[Nevenall]

I would use the Expanded Effect advantage which is described along with the Dispel power.

12d6 Dispel; Expanded Effect (All Powers with a Movement Hindering Special Effect Simultaneously; +2). Active Points: 108.

You could probably get away with just the +1 version of Expanded Effect, which is any 4 powers of the same special effect at once.

It depends upon how you want to think of special effect though. Would a monster's sticky excretions be affected in the same way as a spell of magical holding? If not, then try something like this...

12d6 Dispel; Expanded Effect (All Magical Powers Simultaneously; +2), Only Powers that restrict movement (-1).

[AlHazred]

The spell as written doesn't eliminate the effect for anyone else, just the person the spell is cast upon. Dispel is not the answer.

[mattingly]

Here's how I did it (written to fit a 75-point Multipower):

Freedom Of Movement: Succor STR, DEX, EGO, SPD, and All Movement 5d6, Variable Effect (all powers of a related group, +2); Only to Negate Movement Penalties (-2), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), OAF (-1), 1 Charge lasting 1 Hour (-¼)

[Erkenfresh]

Possibilities:
1. Power Defense, only works before a Drain happens (e.g. shield to protect a necromancer's stun ray from working)
2. Healing only to return drained points, only works on drains in progress (e.g. reverse the effects of the necromancer's ray instantly)
3. Dispel "Entangle", works on entangles in progress but only once (e.g. dissolve a spider's web)
4. Suppress "Entangle", only works against targets before they perform the entangle (e.g. preventing a spider from spinning it's web)
5. Life Support Environmental Movement (Underwater), lets you move freely underwater

It really depends on what you want. You could make a compound power all of these or a multipower. In the long run, there's no clear direct correlation to Freedom of Movement. But, maybe there shouldn't be.

[gojira]

I just re-read Sidekick. Expanded effects is called Variable Effects there. It's with the special rules for Adjustment Powers on p. 37.

The Variable Effects advantage does say that it must be tied to a common SFX, even at the +2 level. The example used is a Drain that could drain all Characteristics and Powers simultaneously related by a Fire Power common SFX when the Drain is bought at +2 Variable Effects.

So a Dispell or Supperss may only work on one SFX at a time, according to how the GM feels. Even tho a given spell might, for example, Mental Entable and Ego Drain at the same time, and could be countered simutaneously, a character that was also Grappled, Entangled by another spell (say a "clinging vines" or something) and also someone had tied a rope around his neck, might still require four activations of this Dispell to get rid of them all.

Ugh, horrible run on sentence. I hope that scanned ok...

[sbarron]

I'm throwing my hat in with the Desolidification, Only To Protect Against Effects That Hinder Movement (-1), crowd. As the GM, I would allow this Desolid to work against any spells that were specifically designed to impede movement too, like drain or suppress, at least as far as movement was concerned. You might not be able to lift your sword, but so long as this spell is up you can move freely.

There may be a bit of handwaving in my solution, but some effects just don't tranlate well from D&D to HERO, and this looks like one of them. I'm not trying to get all bogged down in the details...

[prestidigitator]

You could also add very limited Movement Powers that are only to buffer loss due to Adjustments and Change Environment, and extra Str only to break free of Entangles (and maybe Grabs). You could put them in a Multipower if you like (though there would be some disadvantages to this).

[Plucky]

Thanks for everyone's help!!! I wasn't actually trying to translate from d&d to Hero. Instead, I have an avatar of the god of travels who cannot be restricted from moving and can free others from immobility. Freedom of Movement was simply the easiest example I can think of.

Plucky

[Erkenfresh]

Ugula boogula... *waves hands about*

[sbarron]

Ugula boogula... *waves hands about*Did it work? I don't feel any different...

[prestidigitator]

Thanks for everyone's help!!! I wasn't actually trying to translate from d&d to Hero. Instead, I have an avatar of the god of travels who cannot be restricted from moving and can free others from immobility. Freedom of Movement was simply the easiest example I can think of.
Oh. How about a god-granted 200d6 Dispel against anything at all that might conceivably hamper movement? ;)

[Curufea]

Personally I don't stat-out anything a God does. I can't see the point.

[gojira]

Yeah, ditto. If we are talking about a god, you just say "the god does it" and that's it. Is this a spell granted to the follower of the god, perhaps?


(I still like my VPP idea... ;))

[Erkenfresh]

Did it work? I don't feel any different...

As long as the players believe it, it worked. ;)

I guess if a God wills it and that's not good enough for the players, you can just let them drown in that vat of honey.

[prestidigitator]

No need to stat out such abilities, but I still find it fun and in some cases enlightening (gives you a nice basis on which to decide the specific results and judge how the ability influences the environment and other Powers it encounters, etc.). :p

[Zeropoint]

This is one of those cases in which it turns out that an apparently simple D&D ability is actually extremely powerful, and probably undercosted in D&D.

[Teflon Billy]

This is one of those cases in which it turns out that an apparently simple D&D ability is actually extremely powerful, and probably undercosted in D&D.Or conversely, overly complicated and costly to reproduce in Hero.

Not trying to rag on the system, but there are certain aspects that could use a widening of the seams.

I started a whole thread on the subject where I think Hero could stand to add a few basic Powers to the base system.

TB

[prestidigitator]

This is one of those cases in which it turns out that an apparently simple D&D ability is actually extremely powerful, and probably undercosted in D&D.
Indeed. This D&D ability is also poorly defined and extremely hard to arbitrate in all but the most simple, straightforward of situations. Trust me. (Never give your D&D PCs a Ring of Free Action! ;) )

[Curufea]

In the Fantasy Hero rulebook it discusses treating magic as a third power - PD, ED and MD. If you treat magic as a distinct type of thing - similar to physical or energy, it becomes much simpler to simulate-
You can have magic defense similar to mental defense. You can have a drain against MD, or an aid to it. You can supress the magical SFX.

[Plucky]

Personally I don't stat-out anything a God does. I can't see the point.

Oh, I didn't mean to say that it's a god/NPC. Actually, it's a minor avatar/PC of the god with that ability as his one claim to fame. (And it only works most of the time.)

And no...I wouldn't bother stating out a god as well...unless this is a campaign of Fantasy Hero gods...hmm....

[prestidigitator]

In the Fantasy Hero rulebook it discusses treating magic as a third power - PD, ED and MD. If you treat magic as a distinct type of thing - similar to physical or energy, it becomes much simpler to simulate-
You can have magic defense similar to mental defense. You can have a drain against MD, or an aid to it. You can supress the magical SFX.
The problem I have always had with that is that I really like spells working against PD or ED. A Hailstorm spell might work against PD and a Flamestrike spell might work against ED. If you keep that part and have a MagicD that works against all magic, it becomes doubly effective. If you don't keep magic working against the different normal defenses, you lose some flavor in the magic system. The same applies to applications that would normally work against PowD, FD, MentalD, etc.

I much prefer not defining a new defense for magic. Remember that the magical aspect of a spell is always going to be part of its Special Effects, so you can always define Adjustment Powers and Frameworks in terms of those SFX as usual.

The hole that exists for a catch-all magical defense type thing would really be covered if you allowed Suppress to work defensively like Dispel does. Then you could just define a (Persistent?) Suppress against, "all magic simultaneously," that can only be used defensively and have it reduce the value of any incoming spell/magical effect. Spells are then still free to work against PD, ED, PowD, FD, etc. as usual.

[Erkenfresh]

That sort of sounds like "globe of minor/major invulnerability". Cool. ;)

[prestidigitator]

That sort of sounds like "globe of minor/major invulnerability". Cool. ;)
Sure. Especially if you add in Area of Effect I suppose. :)

[Thia Halmades]

Well, the easiest way to build a Globe of Invulnerability is to build it as a Force Field, absolute effect, only vs. magic up to X Active Points. For example, in my world 3rd level magic is 60 AP. So your Minor Globe would be built as a 60pt. AoE Force Field, Only vs. Magic (-1) SER (+0) and since no 3rd level spell can be over 60 points, voila. Done. But I have that built into the system.

If your Avatar is knocking about and difficulty to hold down, then I'd have to say that Desolidify, Only to Avoid Limited Movement (character is not actually 'desolidified') -1, All Possible Instances as Variable Effect (+2), Fails at the Worst Possible Time (Activation Roll 14-). Does that roughly simulate what you're going for? That's... good grief. 120 Active?

Eep.

[Blue Jogger]

Indeed. This D&D ability is also poorly defined and extremely hard to arbitrate in all but the most simple, straightforward of situations. Trust me. (Never give your D&D PCs a Ring of Free Action! ;) )

Hmm.

Aquatic Movement 3 points
10"Teleport, 0 END, Only to move as if one had a Ring of Free Action on -1/2, 20 points
Power Defense (10), Only against those that affects movement -1, 5 points

Ok, that's about 28 active points.

I think that covers most of the situations. If you are entangled or grabbed, you can just "walk" out (or Dive for Cover via teleport). Under water, you have your full DCV. Even if your legs are too encoumbered to move or you don't have enough STR to move, your teleport has 0 END.

DEX, SPEED, and Movement Drains get 10 points of Power Defense stopping them.

Although there are no rules for escaping mental entangles via teleport, most mental entangles don't have Stops Teleportation. So technically, you can just teleport out of them. :rolleyes: