Help me finish a character?

[Daeger]

I have a mission of grave importance for the internets. My GM said there was no game this week, so I took my time in reading the rulebook to learn more about the system. And then I find out that's changed, and my character isn't even near completion.. so I'm asking for help.

 

All I have picked out are a couple of Disadvantages and a few powers, really, and I'm willing to change them if necessary. The concept is basically a mutant with a bunch of limbs whom I want to be good at sweep attacks, grabs, the like, a melee combat specialist. It's a 75 point game.

 

Here's what I got..

 

Disadvantages:

Distinctive Features (20 points)

Psycological Limitation (20 points)

 

Powers:

Characteristics (+40 STR, Extra Limbs Only, No Figured Characteristics, Reduced Endurance (0))

Point Cost: 27

 

Clinging (Damage Shield)

Point cost: 17

 

Damage Reduction (50%, Resistant)

Point cost: 30

 

Extra Limbs (Always On, Inherent)

Point cost: 5

 

Yeah, I know, not a whole lot. Hopefully that should give you some idea on what I want to go for. Maybe I should invest in some +OCV for sweep attacks, I saw it in Ultimate Metamorph, but I have no idea what's involved in buying it.

 

Help is appreciated.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

If anyone's willing, talking over AIM or something is a lot easier.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

I don't know if you've gotten the help you need yet, but I can try. Sorry, I don't use AIM, but I do use MSN Messenger (dust_raven(a)msn.com).

 

I have a few clarifying questions though. First, what are the exact character building guidelines your GM has? You said 75 points, but is that 75 total (base+disads=75) or is it the base points available (75+disads=total points)? Also, has the GM set a max Active Cost of any Powers, and is anything prohibited or required? And possibly the most important, what is the campaign setting and genre?

 

Before I know that, I can only offer a bit of general advice.

 

First, I'd shy away from Damage Reduction for a number of reasons. First, it's disproportionately expensive for less than superheroic level gaming (characters build on 350+ points). It's usually better to stick with ordinary defenses.

 

Second, I'm not sure what value you've listed for Extra Limbs only on the STR, but I hope it's 0. If you have a huge amount of other Limbs available to you, it's typically not a hinderance to have to use them. And if it is, then you've already got that covered by a Distinctive Feature (I think, you haven't said what the DF is, but since you've described the character has a mutant with lots of limbs...).

 

Third, and this is a minor thing, as I may just be getting the wrong idea: Why is Clinging a Damage Shield? Normally, you use it, you cling. Even in combat.

 

Hope this helps at least a little.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

I don't know if you've gotten the help you need yet, but I can try. Sorry, I don't use AIM, but I do use MSN Messenger (dust_raven(a)msn.com).

 

I have a few clarifying questions though. First, what are the exact character building guidelines your GM has? You said 75 points, but is that 75 total (base+disads=75) or is it the base points available (75+disads=total points)? Also, has the GM set a max Active Cost of any Powers, and is anything prohibited or required? And possibly the most important, what is the campaign setting and genre?

 

Before I know that, I can only offer a bit of general advice.

 

First, I'd shy away from Damage Reduction for a number of reasons. First, it's disproportionately expensive for less than superheroic level gaming (characters build on 350+ points). It's usually better to stick with ordinary defenses.

 

Second, I'm not sure what value you've listed for Extra Limbs only on the STR, but I hope it's 0. If you have a huge amount of other Limbs available to you, it's typically not a hinderance to have to use them. And if it is, then you've already got that covered by a Distinctive Feature (I think, you haven't said what the DF is, but since you've described the character has a mutant with lots of limbs...).

 

Third, and this is a minor thing, as I may just be getting the wrong idea: Why is Clinging a Damage Shield? Normally, you use it, you cling. Even in combat.

 

Hope this helps at least a little.

Standard heroic, 75 points before disadvantages.

 

Point taken about Damage Reduction.

 

Only on Extra Limbs is an established limitation it gives, the example specifically used strength. Keep in mind that with only with extra limbs I won't be able to leap any farther or lift any higher. Distinctive Features is, yes, derived from the limbs.

 

Heck if I know, but Damage Shield is one of the examples they used as an advantage. Clinging also sort of vaguely gets into what happens when pulling a clinging character away from another character, so it's apparently possible.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

Mm, after rereviewing Damage Reduction, I have to disagree with you. The 30 point investment for 50% off everything may not be good in modern settings, but futuristic setting weapons do a lot of damage.

[CraterMaker]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

Hi.. I'll chime in 2 cents..

 

A 150 point character doesnt really give you a lot of fleshing out room - I'm assuming that's why Dust Raven thought Damage Reduction a bit pricey for that power level. For what it's worth, I agree with him - remember, that 50% reduction happens after defenses, so on a low power character you will need either large defenses to avoid getting stunned a lot or a pretty high con and stun score. Thats efficiency wise, mind you, if it really fits the character conception then get it.

 

A clinging damage shield will mean that anytime someone touches you while the power is on will be stuck to you.. Blob from Marvel comics had that, where if you punched him in the gut he could tighten his muscles and trap your arm. Just remember, it's not selective when it's on, so if BadGuy knocks your buddy into you while it's activated he'll be just as stuck as your opponents. Plus, can your character climb sheer walls? This power de facto gives you that ability, so if it don't fit conception stick with martial manuevers to increase your combat fu.

 

Definately give him a martial art - it's one of the least expensive ways to increase combat prowess. Something like

Martial Grab

Blocking Grab

Choke Hold

Block

Crush

Fast Strike

 

Would give you some cool combat skills. Buy 3 point martial art skill levels up to your OCV cap, then a couple of 2 pt penalty skill levels with sweep. Two weapon fighting is a good skill, too, and check with the guy running the game to see what flavor of two weapon fighting he uses (iirc, fantasy hero's version is a little modified for the genre).

 

Instead of buying the str as a power, buy it as Martial Art DC's - though your mileage may vary with that.. And define your MA as the power of having multiple limbs - It's not Hapkido or anything that lets you block so well or efficiantly, it's the fact you have 3 or 4 arms all trying to block at the same time. This should alleviate the need for a MA knowledge skill.

 

If your character is geared up for fighting multiple minions at once, you'll need combat sense to keep the bad guys from getting a multiple attacker bonus on you.

 

And if you have extra points, you can get imaginative - Like Find Weakness with Fast Strike, defined as hitting the same spot multiple times. Or an autofire attack (or define your last two MA DC's as multiple hits).

 

Alltogether, A multiple arm character isn't too hard to flesh out - But what is his story, his origen, his background? Thats the stuff that really gives a guy flavor.

 

Hope that helps - CraterMaker

[Doc Samson]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

A clinging damage shield will mean that anytime someone touches you while the power is on will be stuck to you.. Blob from Marvel comics had that' date=' where if you punched him in the gut he could tighten his muscles and trap your arm. Just remember, it's not selective when it's on, so if BadGuy knocks your buddy into you while it's activated he'll be just as stuck as your opponents. Plus, can your character climb sheer walls? This power de facto gives you that ability, so if it don't fit conception stick with martial manuevers to increase your combat fu.[/quote']

 

Clinging, bought as a Damage Shield, does not allow the character to also walk on walls, he would have to buy Clinging twice for that. As far as being a detriment to teamates, Clinging is one of the most mild Damage Shields as it won't make teamates lose an action or do damage to them if they are knocked into it. Clinging also provides some protection from knockback, which makes it less likely you will be knocked into a teamate. It is, however, a nightmare to opponents seeking to distance themselves from the character, especially if you are in the teams "brick" role.

[BoneDaddy]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

+40 is a metric butt-ton of STR for a 75 pt game. If it's damage you're after, go for csl's and damage levels w/ martial arts or maybe a hand to hand attack power (3 pts/ d6 net instead of 5). If it's raw strength you want, ask your GM what he or she has in mind for campaign maxima.

 

You say "a bunch of limbs." Flesh this out. How many? What kind? Arms? A tail? Legs? Tentacles? A trunk? Amoeboid pseaudopods that can be extended and retracted at will? Can these limbs buy you an inch or two of stretching? Always handy (so to speak). Can they justify an extra inch or two of running? How about a super leap? Extra limbs = extra blocking. Additional CSLs with martial block could be a lifesaver, and a cheap one. The lesser forms of missile deflection can also be justified by extra limbs.

 

Consider a multipower or elemental control based around the extra limbs, like this:

 

Extra Limbs Elemental Control:

7 Control Cost (All powers restrainable -1/2)

7 Superleap 20"

7 STR + 20

7 Stretching 4"

7 Clinging Damage Shield, +9 STR

5 Missile Deflection, bullets and shrapnel, +3 to roll (Costs END - 1/2)

 

Total cost - 40 points. You have 110 left to round out the character. One entangle and you're toast, but such is life. Achilles had his heel, too. You could do it as a Multipower for less - About 25 or 26 points, I think, but it diminishes utility significantly.

 

Buy some armor instead of Damage Reduction. Make it Ablative if you're feeling frisky - it cuts down on cost but doesn't last as long as you might like. It will make you fight smarter, and damage reduction will get a 75 point character hosed in the first turn. (The character you sketched above had a PD of 2, and a STUN of 20. A 22 point attack would CON stun him, and that's an average 6d6 attack - a typical brick or martial artist punch at 75 point level. Two shots and he's history. Meanwhile, 30 points of armored jacket gets you a PD of 25, and an ED of 25, and the 22 point hit does nada. In truth, you don't have 30 points to blow on defenses. I'd suggest about 20 tops, and probably closer to 15 if you can squeak it.

 

I think the clinging damage sheild is a nifty idea, but it will get you in trouble when you fight Captain Hedgehog.

 

And save a few points for a background skill or two. It makes it look like a character, and the ability to do something besides push-ups out of combat can be handy.

 

FWIW, the only on extra limbs limitation on the STR would be worth very little if I was GM. -1/4 maybe.

[Insaniac99]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

+40 is a metric butt-ton of STR for a 75 pt game. If it's damage you're after, go for csl's and damage levels w/ martial arts or maybe a hand to hand attack power (3 pts/ d6 net instead of 5). If it's raw strength you want, ask your GM what he or she has in mind for campaign maxima.

 

You say "a bunch of limbs." Flesh this out. How many? What kind? Arms? A tail? Legs? Tentacles? A trunk? Amoeboid pseaudopods that can be extended and retracted at will? Can these limbs buy you an inch or two of stretching? Always handy (so to speak). Can they justify an extra inch or two of running? How about a super leap? Extra limbs = extra blocking. Additional CSLs with martial block could be a lifesaver, and a cheap one. The lesser forms of missile deflection can also be justified by extra limbs.

 

Consider a multipower or elemental control based around the extra limbs, like this:

 

Extra Limbs Elemental Control:

8 Control Cost (All powers foulable -1/4)

8 Superleap 20"

8 STR + 20

8 Stretching 4"

8 Clinging Damage Shield, +9 STR

6 Missile Deflection, bullets and shrapnel, +3 to roll (Costs END - 1/2)

 

Total cost - 46 points. You have 29 left to round out the character. One entangle and you're toast, but such is life. Achilles had his heel, too. You could do it as a Multipower for less - About 25 or 26 points, I think, but it diminishes utility significantly.

 

Buy some armor instead of Damage Reduction. Make it Ablative if you're feeling frisky - it cuts down on cost but doesn't last as long as you might like. It will make you fight smarter, and damage reduction will get a 75 point character hosed in the first turn. (The character you sketched above had a PD of 2, and a STUN of 20. A 22 point attack would CON stun him, and that's an average 6d6 attack - a typical brick or martial artist punch at 75 point level. Two shots and he's history. Meanwhile, 30 points of armored jacket gets you a PD of 25, and an ED of 25, and the 22 point hit does nada. In truth, you don't have 30 points to blow on defenses. I'd suggest about 20 tops, and probably closer to 15 if you can squeak it.

 

I think the clinging damage sheild is a nifty idea, but it will get you in trouble when you fight Captain Hedgehog.

 

And save a few points for a background skill or two. It makes it look like a character, and the ability to do something besides push-ups out of combat can be handy.

 

FWIW, the only on extra limbs limitation on the STR would be worth very little if I was GM. -1/4 maybe.

 

I think I would with -1/2 restrainable limitation on the EC and all it's powers instead of -1/4. that allows a few more points to flesh out the character and seems to be the same limitation you're going for.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

I appreciate all the help so far, although unfortunately I was stuck watching during the first session - I felt a bit queasy and sleepy in any case.

 

I love all the ideas so far. I would just like to point out a few things about the Clinging Damage Shield. Clinging is a constant power, not persistent, and the clinging basically says I cling to things at my own will, so I don't think teammates would get stuck, and I also don't thing I'd have to Cling to something. I got it to represent how hard it is to grab and attack me with all my limbs, and how much easier it is to grab my opponents. It was a trick shown to me in the Entangle as improved grab thread.

 

I would like to know how you get 25 PD and ED out of 30 points of armor - given that you put in 3 points for every 2 points of resistant defense (and having to choose a type!). And I agree that Damage Reduction is a waste now that I know it applies after defense, not before.

 

I want the brute strength. As was pointed out, if someone uses entangle I'm screwed, and it should not be that easy to keep me down. The GM had similiar sentiments on the Only on Extra Limbs limitation and said that he'd bar it to not affecting my lift capacity or leaping unless I took it as a -1/4, in which case I'd keep the lifting.

 

I do want to throw in stretching somewhere so I can make longer sweeps when I'm facing opponents.

 

I have 150 points to work with now after I made some decisions about my character. Hunted by Creators for 20 points (he's an escaped experiment), Distinctive Features for another 20 (he looks pretty freaky), Psycological Limitation: Autophobia for 20 more (he will kinda freak out if he finds himself alone), and Physical Limitation (Knows Nothing of Civilized Society) for the last 15.

 

I'm also curious on the Power Framework construction. I taked a look at it but it seemed kind of limiting, being able to only use one power at once, for instance. Did I perceive it wrong?

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

(All powers foulable -1/4)

I couldn't find any 'foulable' limitations in the core book, where is this from?

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

I love all the ideas so far. I would just like to point out a few things about the Clinging Damage Shield. Clinging is a constant power' date=' not persistent, and the clinging basically says I cling to things at my own will, so I don't think teammates would get stuck, and I also don't thing I'd [i']have[/i] to Cling to something. I got it to represent how hard it is to grab and attack me with all my limbs, and how much easier it is to grab my opponents. It was a trick shown to me in the Entangle as improved grab thread.

 

The damage shield itself is Constant, which means you decide when to turn it on or off. You can only turn it on or off when you have an action, however - you can't decide to turn it on when an opponet hits you, or to shut it off when an ally bumps into you.

 

At any given point in time, it's either on or off. If it's off, no one (friend or enemy) is affected by it. If it's on, it affects anyone in contact with you. If you have a friend and an enemy stuck to the shield, you can either shut it off, freeing both of them, or keep it on, keeping both of them stuck. You can't release your friend without also releasing your enemy.

 

I would like to know how you get 25 PD and ED out of 30 points of armor - given that you put in 3 points for every 2 points of resistant defense (and having to choose a type!). And I agree that Damage Reduction is a waste now that I know it applies after defense' date=' not before.[/quote']

 

You get +20 resistant defenses (alllocated as you wish between PD and ED) from 30 points of Armor. Presumably, you also have a base level of PD and ED from your STR and CON.

 

However, 30 points of Damage Reduction gets you 1/2 reduction to either physical or energy attacks, not both. If you're buying both physical and energy Reduction, 15 points invested in each will get you 25% damage reduction to each of physical and energy damage.

 

I want the brute strength. As was pointed out' date=' if someone uses entangle I'm screwed, and it should not be that easy to keep me down.[/quote']

 

Part of what makes it difficult to provide suggestions on this is that you have told us nothing about the character. All we know about are the statistics and powers you want to give him, not the concept of the character which gives rise to these abilities. It may well be consistent with the character concept that an Entangle WOULD disable him completely. If the character does possess significant brute strength, why is it restricted to the extra limbs, with the rest of the character being weak and puny?

 

The fact we don't know what parameters your GM has set on the game also makes it tough to asses where the character fits in. +40 STR may be well beyond your campaign's damage limits. Most games have guidelines for damage, defenses, CV's, Speed, etc.

 

Note that a Drain or Suppress - Extra Limbs (a power that restrains your extra limbs in some fashion) will eliminate that extra STR just as effectively.

 

BTW, has your GM addressed whether that limited extra STR will enhance your figured characteristics? To me, STR that resides only in extra limbs would also be purchased with No Figured Characteristics, since it doesn't reflect a stronger body overall.

 

I'm also curious on the Power Framework construction. I taked a look at it but it seemed kind of limiting' date=' being able to only use one power at once, for instance. Did I perceive it wrong?[/quote']

 

A Multipower restricts you to one power at a time. An Elemental Control allows all slots to be used at once.

[BoneDaddy]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

I couldn't find any 'foulable' limitations in the core book' date=' where is this from?[/quote']

AKA "Restrainable." I think "Foulable" was either the ramblings of a sleep deprived mind or a remnant of the fourth edition. Additionally, it turns out to be worth -1/2, so I'll adjust my numbers accordingly.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

The damage shield itself is Constant, which means you decide when to turn it on or off. You can only turn it on or off when you have an action, however - you can't decide to turn it on when an opponet hits you, or to shut it off when an ally bumps into you.

 

At any given point in time, it's either on or off. If it's off, no one (friend or enemy) is affected by it. If it's on, it affects anyone in contact with you. If you have a friend and an enemy stuck to the shield, you can either shut it off, freeing both of them, or keep it on, keeping both of them stuck. You can't release your friend without also releasing your enemy.

This Advantage allows a character to set up a field around himself that causes damage to any target who comes into contact with it. A Damage Shield affects anyone who hits or Grabs the character' date=' or is Grabbed by him.[/quote']

In order for the effects of the Damage Shield to be applied to an ally, an ally would have to try to grab me for some reason or another (or use a HTH attack on me if I pay an extra +1/4 for the advantage, which I am). Simply touching someone with a damage shield does not seem to be enough (like patting on the shoulder or something). Not to mention that Clinging dictates that you may stick to a surface when you have the power on. The 'tar-baby' thing is only an example, and as someone has pointed out, actual characters in superhero comics have control over it as well. I think it is fairly reasonable to say Clinging Damage Shield is something you have control over, inherently.

 

Edit: Plus, I venture to say that an ally being affected by my damage shield if they're thrown at me is a good thing, since I sort of 'catch' them.

 

 

You get +20 resistant defenses (alllocated as you wish between PD and ED) from 30 points of Armor. Presumably, you also have a base level of PD and ED from your STR and CON.

 

However, 30 points of Damage Reduction gets you 1/2 reduction to either physical or energy attacks, not both. If you're buying both physical and energy Reduction, 15 points invested in each will get you 25% damage reduction to each of physical and energy damage.

Indeed, my mistake.

 

 

Part of what makes it difficult to provide suggestions on this is that you have told us nothing about the character. All we know about are the statistics and powers you want to give him, not the concept of the character which gives rise to these abilities. It may well be consistent with the character concept that an Entangle WOULD disable him completely. If the character does possess significant brute strength, why is it restricted to the extra limbs, with the rest of the character being weak and puny?

I already gave information on what his background will be. I have not made a strict decision on his appearance yet because I'm still looking at different types of abilities, and whatever the result will be, I want it to be derived from what I think is cool.

 

The fact we don't know what parameters your GM has set on the game also makes it tough to asses where the character fits in. +40 STR may be well beyond your campaign's damage limits. Most games have guidelines for damage, defenses, CV's, Speed, etc.

There's someone in the game who paid a crapload for a ranged killing attack, so I think I'm fine in the damage category with 50 Strength. 50 is the max we can take for any stat, by the way.

 

Note that a Drain or Suppress - Extra Limbs (a power that restrains your extra limbs in some fashion) will eliminate that extra STR just as effectively.

 

BTW, has your GM addressed whether that limited extra STR will enhance your figured characteristics? To me, STR that resides only in extra limbs would also be purchased with No Figured Characteristics, since it doesn't reflect a stronger body overall.

If you'll see my first post, No Figured Characteristics was calculated along with Only Extra Limbs.

 

 

A Multipower restricts you to one power at a time. An Elemental Control allows all slots to be used at once.

I see, I see.. this looks like a viable option for my character.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

AKA "Restrainable." I think "Foulable" was either the ramblings of a sleep deprived mind or a remnant of the fourth edition. Additionally' date=' it turns out to be worth -1/2, so I'll adjust my numbers accordingly.[/quote']

What's Ablative too, by the way?

[BoneDaddy]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

I would like to know how you get 25 PD and ED out of 30 points of armor - given that you put in 3 points for every 2 points of resistant defense (and having to choose a type!). And I agree that Damage Reduction is a waste now that I know it applies after defense, not before.

 

As on Obvious, Inaccessable Focus, it is worth a -1/2 limitation. Ablative is worth -1. This makes your 30 Character points worth 75 Active points.

 

the "Ablative" limitation is discussed on the section describing Defensive powers (I can't cite pages because I am one of the few poor fools who bought the fifth edition before it was revised).

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

As on Obvious, Inaccessable Focus, it is worth a -1/2 limitation. Ablative is worth -1. This makes your 30 Character points worth 75 Active points.

 

the "Ablative" limitation is discussed on the section describing Defensive powers (I can't cite pages because I am one of the few poor fools who bought the fifth edition before it was revised).

OIF is not going to be much help to me. The GM saw fit to nerf Unbreakable (which most armor has to be out of sheer logic) down to +1/4, which means OIF would be a -1/4 limitation. He nearly gave unbreakable +1/2, but I pointed out that would give no reason to wear powered armor over being able to have it naturally. It's at the same level as 'Visible' now, which makes sense. Each has its upsides, Visible wouldn't require you to have to put on your focus, but you couldn't exactly turn it off if it's on a Persistent power. It made pretty good sense to me.

 

I'll take a look at Ablative.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

Wow. Ablative is very good. It would allow me to double up on my defenses at the cost of having it die down from powerful attacks (in which case I want to get the hell out of dodge anyway). Flavor-wise, it would reflect my natural defenses getting weaker from personal injury.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

In order for the effects of the Damage Shield to be applied to an ally' date=' an ally would have to try to grab me for some reason or another (or use a HTH attack on me if I pay an extra +1/4 for the advantage, which I am). Simply touching someone with a damage shield does not seem to be enough (like patting on the shoulder or something). Not to mention that Clinging dictates that you [i']may[/i] stick to a surface when you have the power on. The 'tar-baby' thing is only an example, and as someone has pointed out, actual characters in superhero comics have control over it as well. I think it is fairly reasonable to say Clinging Damage Shield is something you have control over, inherently.

 

Edit: Plus, I venture to say that an ally being affected by my damage shield if they're thrown at me is a good thing, since I sort of 'catch' them.

 

Clinging may state that you may choose to stick to something, but Damage Shield overrides that. For example, if you have an EB Damage Shield, you can choose to have it on or off, but if it's on, you can't choose to have it not damage someone who hits you (including someone successfully thrown at you).

 

One options for simulating the ability of being really good at grabing and escaping grabs is to buy those specific Martial Arts maneuvers, or simply buy CSLs with Grab. Since it looks like your character is going to have a heafty amount of STR as it is, he probably won't have much trouble hold on or getting out in any case.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

Clinging may state that you may choose to stick to something, but Damage Shield overrides that. For example, if you have an EB Damage Shield, you can choose to have it on or off, but if it's on, you can't choose to have it not damage someone who hits you (including someone successfully thrown at you).

 

One options for simulating the ability of being really good at grabing and escaping grabs is to buy those specific Martial Arts maneuvers, or simply buy CSLs with Grab. Since it looks like your character is going to have a heafty amount of STR as it is, he probably won't have much trouble hold on or getting out in any case.

Could you point me to the specific quote in Damage Shield that overrides it? Also, it doesn't just say 'hit me,' it says Hand to Hand attack. And I don't think someone being thrown at me like a rag doll is considered doing a hand to hand attack against me.

 

Also, as I pointed out before, having allies stick to me when thrown is a good thing, because that means I catch them.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

Could you point me to the specific quote in Damage Shield that overrides it? Also, it doesn't just say 'hit me,' it says Hand to Hand attack. And I don't think someone being thrown at me like a rag doll is considered doing a hand to hand attack against me.

 

Also, as I pointed out before, having allies stick to me when thrown is a good thing, because that means I catch them.

Technically, being thrown into someone counts as a kind of Move Through, which is a HTH attack (from the point of view of the guy being thrown). Ultimately, it's up to your GM. Ask him for the final call.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

Could you point me to the specific quote in Damage Shield that overrides it? Also' date=' it doesn't just say 'hit me,' it says Hand to Hand attack. And I don't think someone being thrown at me like a rag doll is considered doing a hand to hand attack against me.[/quote']

 

The rules note that the field causes damage "to any target who comes into contact with it". It does not allow the character to choose whether to do damage on each target which comes into contact with him. It goes on to note anyone who hits, grabs or is grabed by the character is affected. It does not, in any place, indicate that someone who comes in contact by some other means (other than being struck by the character in HTH) is not affected. A character thrown into you like a rag doll has come into contact with you.

 

You should note that the rules also state explicitly that application of Damage Shield to anything but an Attack Power requires GM permission, so you may want to talk to your GM about this up front. The Clinging example is in the rules, bit does not override GM prerogative. Egven if allowed, the GM may see this as an effective advantage on STR for campaign limit purposes.

 

Also' date=' as I pointed out before, having allies stick to me when thrown is a [i']good[/i] thing, because that means I catch them.

 

You may catch him sideways to your own orientation, or upside down. He may leave a limb or two in your field of vision, or you may block his field of vision. Note that he's now being effectively lifted by you if he touched you at higher than gound level, so you have to use your normal strength to hold him up and may have some encumbrance problems.

 

If he came into contact with you, you already "caught" him - you and he will take damage from the impact, and you may take knockback as well (and he's coming with you in such case, since he's now stuck to you). Your Clinging won't change his velocity.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

I don't think the rules favor either side of logic, Hugh, I think it's really dependent on how the power works in concept. You did have a point about the velocity stuff though.

[Daeger]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

I have a question on Restrainable. Is it applicable to Characteristics (STR)? I mean, really, I'm not quite sure how that would work.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Help me finish a character?

 

The Damage Aura allows the character to surround himself with an aura that damages anything that touches it (or, in the case of Clinging, grabs hold of anything that touches it). The ability to refrain from harming a friendly target touching the aura is a significant advantage which I would definitely not allow at no cost.

 

I would consider allowing someone to take the Selective advantage (generally used for area effect attacks and written up there) on a Damage Aura so the character could pick and choose who it would effect, but that would also mean the aura would need to roll to hit on each target you want to stick to. You could buy 1 Hex - Accurate to make that attack roll easier to pull off, of course.

 

To me, however, if you're able to pick and choose, we're back to "this is a form of Grab, not a damage aura".

 

Of course, it's not me (or anyone else on this thread) that you need to convince - it's your GM. Have you discussed your concept with the GM?