Ranged Poison attack

[Guyon]

How do I make a scorpion character with a ranged poison attack. I was thinking it would continue damage after the main attack.

 

Would that be ranged killing with a continuous modifier? If so how does continuous work?

[MitchellS]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

Yes, for attacks to continue you need continuous. The advantage makes an instant power work every phase of the attacker as if it were a constant power. You'll probably also want uncontrolled, meaning the attacker does not waste time and energy keeping the poison in the victim. The poison runs it's own course. Something along the lines of:

 

Scorpion Sting: 1d6 RKA, penetrating: +1/2, Continuous: +1, Uncontrolled: +1/2. Total 45 active points.

 

If the character only has so many stings you might go with:

 

Scorpion Sting: 1d6 RKA, penetrating: +1/2, Continuous: +1, 6 continuing charges lasting 1 min: +0 Total 37 active points.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

If you have it, the Hero System Bestiary has rules for creating poisons and venom, and includes a write-up for scorpion venom under that creatures write-up (I think it was a scorpion, might have been a spider).

[Citizen Keen]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

Be careful though. I don't remember to what extent Uncontrolled works in regards to how much damage you do. IIRC, Uncontrolled allows you to dump a fistful of END into an attack, so it might be better to go with a really big RKA (5d6 RKA or so) with Delayed Effect instead of Continuous/Uncontrolled.

[Guyon]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

SO if it has a Continuous: +1 how many phases does it act till it runs out.

 

Also if it is a 2D6 RKA does it do 2d6 every phase?

[MitchellS]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

SO if it has a Continuous: +1 how many phases does it act till it runs out.

 

Also if it is a 2D6 RKA does it do 2d6 every phase?

It acts on every single phase the attacker has, as long as he keeps paying end for it. You must maintain the attack with some conscious thought. If you are knocked out, the attack stops. That's why you would need to add either the uncontrolled advantage or make the power with continuing charges.

 

And yes, you always do the damage you purchase.

[Citizen Keen]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

I don't have 5R with me, so I don't know how much Continuous is worth. I wasn't even aware it was a variable advantage.

 

IIRC. Continuous is a static advantage that allows you to attack someone without re-rolling an attack. You just spend the END each turn, and they take damage.

 

IIRC. Uncontrolled lets you pay all that END up front so you can move on to focus other things.

 

So, using the first Scorpion Sting above, if the power costs 5 END to use, if you attacked, and you hit, you would dump some END in (I don't remember if you dump in before or after the attack roll - guy says before). So, you dump in 20 END into your Sting. BOOM! It hits, and this Phase, and during your subsequent 3 phases, your victim takes 1d6, with their Armor applying to each one independently.

 

With a 4d6 Delayed Effect, the armor would only apply once-ish.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

Be careful though. I don't remember to what extent Uncontrolled works in regards to how much damage you do. IIRC' date=' Uncontrolled allows you to dump a fistful of END into an attack, so it might be better to go with a really big RKA (5d6 RKA or so) with Delayed Effect instead of Continuous/Uncontrolled.[/quote']

Delayed Effect would work too. That's what I was thinking of suggesting in addition to Continuous/Uncontrolled.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

There is also Gradual Effect, which would split the dice of the attack up over several periods of time. The damage is cumulatively applied to the defenses of the target once though (which is kind of consufing, because you are rolling for damage several times, but adding the results on top of each other, with the idea that eventually the dice will overcome the target's defenses).

 

RE: Continuous. Continuous turns an attack Power into something like your Force Field. You turn in on, and it stays on until you stop paying END. Unlike your FF, you still need to aim and hit your target, but once hit, you just pay your END each phase and it keeps going. You can still attack, move and do other things, even attack the same target with the same or different attack, so long as you keep paying the END. One of the more nasty elements of a Continuous attack is it allows you to keep attacking the same target with it, and have as many total continuing attacks going as you can pay the END for. (each is still applied seperately versus defenses though).

 

Putting Uncontrolled on a Continuous attack makes it fire-and-forget. You put X amount of END into the attack, aim and fire. All that END is used up immediately, hit or miss. If you hit, that END will fuel the attack until it runs out and the attack ends. The neat thing about this is that it doesn't require you attention. You can leave, get knocked out or even killed and the damage will continue until the END runs out. On the down side, every Uncontrolled Power (attack or not) must have a "reasonable common" method for shutting down. The classic example if of a fire (bought Uncontrolled because it'll keep burning until there is nothing left to burn) that can be put out by smothering it with water or using a fire extinguisher.

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

These are all good suggestions for the attack, but I personally don't believe poison damage should ever be subject to reduction by armor.

 

Given that I am fairly new to the HERO system, I'd have to do some research on this to get it right, but some NND damage may be appropriate, don't you think?

 

Too bad I don't have the Bestiary.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

These are all good suggestions for the attack, but I personally don't believe poison damage should ever be subject to reduction by armor.

 

Given that I am fairly new to the HERO system, I'd have to do some research on this to get it right, but some NND damage may be appropriate, don't you think?

 

Too bad I don't have the Bestiary.

 

NND (and AVLD) is the traditional method of by passing armor. Don't overlook Adjustment Powers though, as their lingering effects can prove extra effective when applied to things like STUN and BODY.

[MitchellS]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

These are all good suggestions for the attack, but I personally don't believe poison damage should ever be subject to reduction by armor.

 

Given that I am fairly new to the HERO system, I'd have to do some research on this to get it right, but some NND damage may be appropriate, don't you think?

 

Too bad I don't have the Bestiary.

NND is fairly common but there's a lot of different special effects which can be simulated by different attacks. The version I gave, for example, will always do 1 body assuming the character has no hardened defenses. The special effect can easily be that the poison can't penetrate the skin of someone with hardened defenses.

 

I've long advocated that poison should be its own power or advantage within the system because it's far too complicated and expensive to make poisons the Hero way. The fact that you need to use the NND advantage on a drain just so it can be stopped by life support seems pretty stupid and overly expensive to me. It seems to make much more sense to just say "Power is stopped by appropriate life support immunity: -0" and forget needing to pay for the advantage.

[Guyon]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

Thank you so much for your suggestion.

 

One bad thought, could a power gamer set it up as zero end so it would be a death weapon?

[Zed-F]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

Yes. So you get to practice saying 'No.'

[Dust Raven]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

Thank you so much for your suggestion.

 

One bad thought, could a power gamer set it up as zero end so it would be a death weapon?

 

Yes, and so can evil GMs

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

Sure, you could set the Poison Attack up with 0 END, but I'm almost certain you can set up Healing with the same benefits -- Continuous Healing, 0 END.... Fight fire with fire. Forgive me, but I'm new to HERO, and the book (which I greatly depend on at the moment) is downstairs, so I may be wrong.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

Sure' date=' you could set the Poison Attack up with 0 END, but I'm almost certain you can set up Healing with the same benefits -- Continuous Healing, 0 END.... Fight fire with fire. Forgive me, but I'm new to HERO, and the book (which I greatly depend on at the moment) is downstairs, so I may be wrong.[/quote']

 

You sure can. In addition, any attack with that many Advantages is not going to have a lot of dice (when compared to other attacks with equal Active Points and less advantages), making the defense for it that much cheaper. And if it's NND, a minimum cost of something is likely to be enough (typically FF or LS: Immunity, both of which are fairly cheap).

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

So, the lesson here is: all powers, however powerful, must be finite. Someone has to be paying for it, or it has to run out eventually, etcetera.

 

Although, if you bought a low-damage, Continuous, 0 END poison attack with a made-up Limitation that basically says, "You take damage until you receive an 'antidote'", I might allow it for a CREATURE... but not a player.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

So' date=' the lesson here is: all powers, however powerful, must be finite. Someone has to be paying for it, or it has to run out eventually, etcetera.[/quote']

 

More or less, although you can create "Permanent until Ended" (I love that term) effects that last forever, or until someone some specific event occurs (like a Transform's change-back conditions).

[Super Squirrel]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

Be careful though. I don't remember to what extent Uncontrolled works in regards to how much damage you do. IIRC' date=' Uncontrolled allows you to dump a fistful of END into an attack, so it might be better to go with a really big RKA (5d6 RKA or so) with Delayed Effect instead of Continuous/Uncontrolled.[/quote']

Of course you could just use an Endurance Reserve for determining the power of the poison.

[Citizen Keen]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

By Delayed Effect, I meant Gradual Effect.

 

<--- Idiot.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Ranged Poison attack

 

By Delayed Effect, I meant Gradual Effect.

 

<--- Idiot.

Don't worry. I saw the reference and made the same mistake. They are easy to confuse with each other (especially if you don't use one or both incredibly often).