Adding DC to a Multipower

[torelin32]

Hi guys,

I'm alittle confused on how to add damage classes to a multipower. I have a character who wields a sword which does 1D6+1 HKA, my AP cap for this character is 50 or 60 AP. The sword in the MP is 30AP, even if the strength for the character is 20 that is only a extra D6 Killing I believe. so the question is how do I figure the rest of the DC to reach the AP cap of lets say 60 AP ?

Thanks in advance,

[Edsel]

A 1d6+1 HKA costs 20 points and, unless it has Advantages applied to it, that makes it a 20 Active Point power. Whether or not it is in a MP does not matter it is still effectively only 20 Active Points. You can add up to 20 points of STR to boost the weapon's damage up to 2 1/2d6 HKA and this makes it a 40 Active Point attack. You cannot more than double the base HKA damage with added STR so the only way to boost the attack's AP would be to apply Advantages and/or boost the base damage of the weapon.

If the character will have 20 STR and you want to sword's attack to do 60 Active Points worth of effect the simplest way would be to buy the sword as a 2 1/2d6 HKA (40 Active Points) and then add your STR damage which would make a total attack of 4d6 (60 Active Points).

If you add Advantages then added STR damage become more tricky. For example if the sword is 1d6+1 HKA with the Armor Piercing Advantage it would have a Active Point cost of 30. However due to the +1/2 Advantage it would now take 7.5 points of STR to boost the damage by a single damage class. So a 20 STR character could only add +2 DC to the attack making it a 2d6 AP HKA which is equal to a 45 Active Point attack.

[ghost-angel]

A 1d6+1 HKA costs 20 points and, unless it has Advantages applied to it, that makes it a 20 Active Point power. Whether or not it is in a MP does not matter it is still effectively only 20 Active Points. You can add up to 20 points of STR to boost the weapon's damage up to 2 1/2d6 HKA and this makes it a 40 Active Point attack. You cannot more than double the base HKA damage with added STR so the only way to boost the attack's AP would be to apply Advantages and/or boost the base damage of the weapon.

If the character will have 20 STR and you want to sword's attack to do 60 Active Points worth of effect the simplest way would be to buy the sword as a 2 1/2d6 HKA (40 Active Points) and then add your STR damage which would make a total attack of 4d6 (60 Active Points).

If you add Advantages then added STR damage become more tricky. For example if the sword is 1d6+1 HKA with the Armor Piercing Advantage it would have a Active Point cost of 30. However due to the +1/2 Advantage it would now take 7.5 points of STR to boost the damage by a single damage class. So a 20 STR character could only add +2 DC to the attack making it a 2d6 AP HKA which is equal to a 45 Active Point attack.

You can also use Combat Skill Levels, Martial Arts and Martial Damage Classes to boost the Base Damage Classes of the sword in question.

You can get a total of 4D6 Killing into 60 Active Points. Which is the best way to gauge an unAdvantaged attacks approach to AP Caps.

If you had a Martial Art with the sword you could get another 4 Damage Classes, but you do have to remember with Martial Arts they are their Damage Classes at a rate of 2:1 to Killing Attacks (a Martial Strike that does +4 Damage Classes only adds 2 Damage Classes to a Killing Attack).

[Hyper-Man]

HTH combat damage is always going to be a little harder to fit to a particular campaign's Damage Class Cap than ranged damage. This is because it gets more options to add damage than Ranged combat damage.

All of the following can add damage to a HA or HKA:

Bonus STR damage
Martial Arts Maneuver bonus damage
Haymaker bonus damage

Only Haymaker normally* gets added to most EB's and RKA's
(*unless Ranged Martial Arts are being used which is extremely rare.)

Any character with a multipower that can be used for both HTH and Ranged powers is usually going to do more damage in HTH.

Here is the mace of Hawkgirl (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1723226&postcount=38) from the Justice League. She has a 45 STR and 24 points in Martial Arts (no extra DC's):


38 Nth Metal Mighty Mace of Power: Multipower, 76-point reserve, (76 Active Points); all slots OAF (-1)
3u 1) Smash: Hand-To-Hand Attack +5d6, Indirect (Same origin, always fired away from attacker; Can't Be Blocked; +1/4), Armor Piercing (+1/2), Penetrating (+1/2), Double Knockback (+3/4) (75 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2) 7
Notes: 10d6 w/STR. 12d6 w/Martial Strike. Passing Strike adds +1 DC/15" movement.
2u 2) Throw: Energy Blast 10d6, Penetrating (+1/2) (75 Active Points); 1 Recoverable Charge (-1 1/4), Lockout (-1/2), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) [1 rc]


A 'smash' is always going to be more effective than a 'throw' unless range is a deciding factor on its own.

You should step away from the mechanics for a moment and decide on the 'effect' you want to build first.
Once that's done, talk to your GM about HTH vs. Ranged combat and your chosen 'effect' concept and how it can work with his Damage Class Cap (and whether it's Hard or Soft).