Power Stat Block Guidelines

[Choldath]

Hello,

 

I'm in the early process of attempting to make a Power Creation tool for a friend.  We'll see how it goes....

 

My question is, when creating a Power Stat Block, how much would be needed for display? 

 

I attached an image of where I'm at with the tool.  Still need to do Adders as well.

 

If anyone can point me to a document or reference, I would appreciate the help!

 

Thanks

Todd

[Choldath]

So, as an example using the image from the OP:

 

[Power Name]: Blast 1d6, Area of Effect (Radius 17-32m; +1, Explosion; -½) (5 Active Points); Focus (Inobvious, Inaccessible (IIF); -¼, Arrangement; -¼, Fragile; -¼, Difficult to obtain new Focus; -¼). Total Cost: 4 points.

 

I have not built in Adders at this point.

 

I did find the Writer's Guidelines Version 1.1 April 2003 online, but it really didn't give suggestions for formatting of powers.  Not all the power examples utilize more than one of a type (like Focus).  I'm just trying to make it so that any combination could be used, whether or not it is legal around the table.

 

Again, any help is appreciated!

 

Thanks!

Todd

[unclevlad]

First...if this is the actual output from your tool, your math is off.  5 points with a +1/2 advantage --> 7.  7 with a -1 limitation goes to 3.

 

I have a lot of this built for Champions Now...but that system is massively simpler.  Trying to do it for full-scale Hero...I'm gonna first suggest the cop-out.  Go Hero Designer.  Focus isn't even close to the most complex;  that's probably the full UBO advantage, where you start with 4 separate primary options.  AoE is similarly *messy*.

 

What I did when I was building the Champs Now tool, was to go through:

 

--every power...what kinds of switches did it have?  Were there, let's call them conditional adders...ones where B requires A, or A and B are mutually exclusive?  Are there bizarre (from a coding standpoint) interaction issues?  Not many, but a few...Desolid has some, and the Automaton powers have a couple BIG ones.  (Takes No Stun triples the cost of most defense powers.)

 

--every advantage and limitation...points here include, is this specific to a power, to a power type (attack, defense, adjustment), or to any power?  Is it simple (no options), fairly simple (a short list of exclusive options)...or messy, like AoE and UBO?  Does it affect END Cost?  Does it affect DCs?  Indirect doesn't.  HD doesn't include this, but it is a Nice To Have for HAs, if nothing else, to get a net attack power.  

 

When you're creating a power, you'll want to bring up full, complex dialogs;  there are no simple powers because all of them can have advantages and limitations.  When you're looking at a stat block, you're looking at the net result...so everything gets compressed.  

 

[Power Name]: Blast 1d6, Area of Effect Radius 28m Explosion; +½) (7 Active Points); Focus (IIIF, Fragile, Difficult to obtain new focus, requires Arrangement; -1). Real Cost:  3 points.

 

Notes...no ranges...the radius on the AoE is fixed to a specific value, and normally it can't be changed.  Note that the Active has to include all advantages.  This is critical for MPs and VPPs.  At the level of the stat block, aggregate the factors going into each advantage/limitation and just report the final value for it.  They aren't separable;  AoE 30m isn't a +1 advantage with Explosion a -1/2 limitation;  Explosion fundamentally modifies the value.  In some cases, a "limitation" can become an advantage;  I think there are some cases where an advantage can be tweaked to actually be a limitation.  (Non-selective AoE explosion, perhaps.)

 

A general format might be:

 

(Power Name when defined)   (Power) (level of effect, or what it applies to, or other descriptive info);  Adders;  Advantages;  Active Cost: x;  Limitations;  Real Cost: Y

 

I'd have to think about the +0 modifiers like Stun Only.  On a Blast, I'd prefer to lay that out as
 

Blast 10d6 Stun Only (+0) 

 

IOW, before the adders.  In some other cases, a +0 should go in different spots.

 

Writing this all up to be 100% automatic is a royal pain.  I have issues with writing to a PDF;  whether it's my system or something I did, HD doesn't like doing it.  I write to a text file...and find I want to extensively edit it anyway.  

 

 

 

[Choldath]

UncleVlad,

 

Thanks for the response. 

 

Yeah, my math is off.  I haven't determined how I want to do the rounding, since the error is the "in favor" rule.

 

I believe this helps.  My group does have Hero Designer, but it's a bit cumbersome for a few of us.  The GM also wanted a different way of looking at it.  Thankfully, I don't have a lot of hair to pull out 😉

 

Thanks,

Todd