Halo Hero

[Dust Raven]

Re: Halo Hero

 

Oh? Mmm. Since when have we been afraid of composing multiple Powers to achieve a desired effect' date=' particularly if we desire to accuratly model a given piece of source material? [/quote']

 

The SFX "my shields protect me from taking any damge until they fail, and they grow weaker with every hit they absorb" is not satisfied by buying an ablative FF plus Armor.

 

Or rather, the SFX "has protective shields and no armored hull" is not satisfied by buying Armor.

[RDU Neil]

Re: Halo Hero

 

Maybe i tis time we were allowed to buy our force walls with Body as well as defence...

 

Nothing is stopping you from doing that. The rules are just words on a page.

 

Without considering cost changes (which may not be necessary at all) I think you could easily play with the numbers (5 gets you 2 of either defense or body) and go from there.

 

If it works right for your game... you could say that default is 5 gets you 1 Def (not pd or ed.... this is wall after all) and 1 Body... GM approval to change this ratio...

 

good to go.

 

 

I really like this, actually.

[Old Man]

Re: Halo Hero

 

Maybe i tis time we were allowed to buy our force walls with Body as well as defence...

 

That's called Entangle, Does not Entangle(-0).

[RDU Neil]

Re: Halo Hero

 

That's called Entangle' date=' Does not Entangle(-0).[/quote']

 

Not really... because an entangle wall (great for ice walls and such) is a persistent structure, stays in place, not moving with character, etc. It has it's own limits you would have to adjust/over write.

 

Neither is perfect... but it seems to me that simply changing Force Wall to having Def/Body, rather than rPD/rED makes much more sense... and in some ways is more internally consistent.

 

If Force Wall actually creates a "wall" that interacts (while it is up) as an independent/separate object... why should it have character like defenses? Why not exist like other "objects?"

[prestidigitator]

Re: Halo Hero

 

The SFX "my shields protect me from taking any damge until they fail, and they grow weaker with every hit they absorb" is not satisfied by buying an ablative FF plus Armor.

 

Or rather, the SFX "has protective shields and no armored hull" is not satisfied by buying Armor.

How so? Armor is a Power. There's no reason you can't define it with the SFX that it is, "part of your shield."

 

But let's say we don't even go with Armor. Say we go with two FFs: one that weakens and one that does not weaken but is Linked to the other. Now the second FF will drop completely as soon as the first FF has ablated away entirely.

 

Or whatever. Play with it. There's no reason two or more Powers can't be used to achieve the desired effect.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Halo Hero

 

How so? Armor is a Power. There's no reason you can't define it with the SFX that it is, "part of your shield."

 

But let's say we don't even go with Armor. Say we go with two FFs: one that weakens and one that does not weaken but is Linked to the other. Now the second FF will drop completely as soon as the first FF has ablated away entirely.

 

Or whatever. Play with it. There's no reason two or more Powers can't be used to achieve the desired effect.

 

I guess you missed the following post:

 

Then again' date=' I suppose you could by a second FF, defined as the impact threshhold, and link it to the "ablative" FF. That way, you've always got some solid DEF up, but once the shields fail, it all goes down.[/quote']

 

All I'm really saying about the Armor thing is that Buying a persistant DEF, such as Armor, doesn't satisfy the SFX of having shields. A linked FF might though, or for that matter, a nonpersistant linked Armor might as well.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Halo Hero

 

I guess you missed the following post....

Ah, err...I guess so. Or I forgot about it. I'm hopeless. Sorry about that.

 

All I'm really saying about the Armor thing is that Buying a persistant DEF, such as Armor, doesn't satisfy the SFX of having shields. A linked FF might though, or for that matter, a nonpersistant linked Armor might as well.

Ah. Yeah, that makes sense. There could be some SFX where it works, like having, "backup," shields that work with very little power and can essentially always stay up no matter the damage or other power requirements, or some additional shield technology that works on a different principle from normal shields but isn't sufficient for high levels of defense (e.g. "permenant magnetic shields can be installed that will complement the standard shield generators nicely, but in order to fully stop most attacks by themselves they would have to be approximately 50,000 times the mass of the ship..."). But in general I would agree with you.

[Old Man]

Re: Halo Hero

 

Not really... because an entangle wall (great for ice walls and such) is a persistent structure' date=' stays in place, not moving with character, etc. It has it's own limits you would have to adjust/over write.[/quote']

 

no no no

 

**If an Entangled character is attacked, the Entangle takes damage from the attack first. After the Entangle has been destroyed, the character takes damage normally** - or something like that. FREd.

 

Using Entangle, Self Only (-1/2), Does Not Entangle (-0) isn't exactly book legal (I think) but seems to fit the bill.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Halo Hero

 

How about using a, "Stun Reserve," or, "Body Reserve," that is along the lines of an End Reserve (not in terms of having a different cost structure, but in terms of having a stat that is separate from the character's personal Characteristics).

 

Pros: Doesn't count as personal Stun/Body, so you won't be Stunned, Disabled, etc. from losing it.

 

Cons: You couldn't get anything extra from taking Recoveries, bed rest/hospital care won't help, though other things like appropriate Skills might. Counts as a defense, so NNDs, certain AVLDs, etc., ignore it as if it isn't there at all. Doesn't decrease your negative Body score for determining when you actually die (same for negative Stun if that is used for anything in the game, like figuring where the practical limit of damage can take you).

 

Just an idea.

[Lethosos]

Re: Halo Hero

 

And Entangle by default restricts any Movement Power except Teleportation. So Neil's pretty much there with his description; you'd just have to tack on an appropriate adder to allow movement with the PC.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Halo Hero

 

Hello again. I'm not sure (from the original post) whether the defence of the shield is supposed to lessen, or if it works like Star Trek shields and seems to give full protection while they are up, but 'weaken' as they are hit and eventually fail.

 

If the latter.....

 

Force field (20/20) Side Effect: drains own END Reserve when hit, proportionally to the strength of the hit. (say -3/4 = full -1 with a quarter less for 'specific act - getting hit) 23 points

 

End Reserve: 80 END 24 RECOVERY 32 points

 

Total 55 points (not THAT much less than a 20/20 FF with 0 END, so you wouldn't be doing this for the powergaming and point efficiency so much as for the character concept and flavour)

 

Now assuming the character is SPD 6, keeping the force field up is going to take 4x6=24 REC per round: by a stunning cooincidence that is what you have. You could put this down a little, say to 18 to save a few points and to indicate you can't run it forever at full power even if you are not attacked. Whatever.)

 

Each hit on the shield drains END from the reserve. If the shield blocks 20 STUN then the reserve drops by an amount (the side effect drains 20 active points of END which is a 2d6 drain, doubled as END is 1/2 a point per, even from an END Reserve) and the END Reserve loses 14 points of END. When fully charged, it can take about 6 hits before it starts to fail.

 

If you make it a side effect at the -1/2 level (down to -1/4 with the modifier) the power costs 32+32=64 points - really not points efficient - but only takes about 7 END from a full strength hit so can last much longer.

 

Cost aside, how does that sound?

[Old Man]

Re: Halo Hero

 

And Entangle by default restricts any Movement Power except Teleportation. So Neil's pretty much there with his description; you'd just have to tack on an appropriate adder to allow movement with the PC.

 

"Does Not Entangle (-0)"

[Lethosos]

Re: Halo Hero

 

"Does Not Entangle (-0)"

Realistically, Entangle should default to "allow movement" since it's an advantage to "root" someone to the ground. (A limitation would work inversely if it's on the PC instead.)

 

But I think we've beaten this bush to death already; I just find it irritating to apply that particular limitation when it easily goes both ways.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Halo Hero

 

I just want to beat the bush a little more to make sure it's dead....

 

Even leaving aside that you would be using an attack power as a UBO defence power (you naughty thing), so you couldn't, for example, abort to it and you'd need to take a half phase action that ended your phase to activate it, I'm pretty sure that Entangle: does not entangle is going to be an advantage. Even if it isn't, you are going to get - what - 6DEF/6BODY from one use, with additional layers only adding 1 BODY. That's going to last 1 attack, my friend. Well, maybe 1, than it is gone like the morning mist.

 

Having said that I can only applaud your innovative approach.

 

I thought i saw a leaf twitch, but I'm pretty sure it's dead now....

[Old Man]

Re: Halo Hero

 

I so want to say something but I'll be good.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Halo Hero

 

I so want to say something but I'll be good.

 

Does it involve people not getting your sense of humour?

[Funksaw]

Re: Halo Hero

 

Here's my Halo Armor Build

 

[27] +20 Body (40 Active Points); OIF (-1/2) --- {Notice that I do not add "no figured characteristics because these points DO add to Body}

 

[5] Healing Body 1d6 (Standard Effect, 3 Points), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (15 Active Points); Conditional Power: Power does not work int Very Common Circumstances (Power does not work in a Turn the Character Takes Damage; -1) OIF (-1/2); Only for Halo Armor (-1/2)

 

[20] +40 Stun, Stun Loss Does Not Contribute To Stunning Checks (+1/4) (50 Active Points); Has To Ues It's Own REC (-1) OIF (-1/2)

 

[4] +6 REC (12 Active Points); Conditional Power: Power Does Not Work in Very Common Circumstances (Power does not work in a Turn the character takes damage; -1); OIF (-1/2), Only for Halo Armor (-1/2)

 

[30] Armor (20rPD/20rED) (60 Active Points); Side Effects (Armor Effectivness Drops By 50% each time it takes damage, regenerates 1rPD/1rED each Phase; -1/2), OIF (-1/2)

 

 

[19] Halo Firearms: Multipower, 50 Point Reserve, All Slots Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (75 Active Points); All Slots Independant (-2), All Slots OAF (-1)

 

[1u] Covenant Needler: Killing Attack - ranged 3d6+1 (50 AP) Reduced Penetration (-1/4)

 

[1u] Covenant Rifle: Energy Blast 8d6, Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) (50AP)

 

[1u] Covenant Pistol: Energy Blast 10d6 (50 Active Points)

 

[1u] M9 HE-DP Frag Grenade: Energy Blast 6 1/2d6, Explosion +1/2) (49AP) 4 Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances: Must Find More; -1/2), Range Based On Strength (-1/4)

 

[1u] M19 SSM Rocket Launcher: Energy Blast 4d6+1, Explosion +1/2) Double Knockback (+3/4) (49 Active Points)

 

[1u] ST AM Sniper Rifle: Killing Attack Ranged 3d6-1, Increased Maximum Range (1,000"; +1/4) (50 AP)

 

[1u] MA5B Assault Rifle: Killing Attack - Ranged 3d6-1, Autofire (3 Shots; +1/4) (50 Active Points)

 

[1u] MGD Pistol: Killing Attack - Ranged 3d6+1 (50 Active Points)

[Sean Waters]

Re: Halo Hero

 

Interesting build, but a couple of comments:

 

Should the healing be built as regeneration?

 

Does the ARMOUR have to take damage to get the reduction of defences i.e. does it have to be specifically targetted, or does it have to get hit or does it have to let damage through?

 

Potentially you have a character who wil need quite a lot of downtime between fights.

[Funksaw]

Re: Halo Hero

 

Yeah. I thought I did.