Megascale and Teleport Sighting

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

The more I GM, the more things come up that I can't spot. Speaking of spotting...

 

A character with Megascale Teleport (Scalable) is typically able to hit their distance marks for memorized locations. Especially this one, who has direction sense and eidetic memory.

 

But what about teleporting 100 Miles by sight. I realize Tport isn't explicity "line of sight". Does anyone see a problem with a character doing a 100 mile teleport across an open area to a spot they can't see? (In this case, across the ocean, presumably above the water, so there would be some falling at the end).

 

I picture it's not a problem over such an open area, barring unluck rolls of course.

 

Well, here's the scenario:

 

The heroes are 157 Miles out to sea on an aquatic base. Rather than take a boat which will take far too long to get to land and then back out to see, the teleporter (who is on land) will go out to meet them, memorize a location there, bring them back to land to a memorized spot and then take them back out there to complete their task later.

 

So the problem isn't getting back to a spot on land or to a memorized location within range; It's teleporting about 100 Miles out to sea, which is a distance she can't see.

 

She does have unluck (which will be rolled) but aside from that, is there any other rule impediment I need to keep in mind with a blind megascale teleport over open terrain (Aside from unluck and making sure she lands above the water but not too high)?

 

 

The issue seems to be how easy/hard it is for the teleporter to get to the base. Presumably, the character can have a memorized location on land and can fix an on-base location once he or she can see it. So, let's say the GM says "Nope - blind teleport rules apply".

 

The players then say "fine - we'll play the nitpick game. Try this:

 

 

- the Energy Projector on the island will fire a blast straight up in the air - maximum range. That should be visible from shore.

 

- the flier will fly up in the air.

 

- the teleporter will Port to the top of the EP's blast.

 

- the flier will catch the teleporter on the way down.

 

- alternatively, after falling for a couple of segments, the teleporter can look down and Port to the ground, taking some falling damage for transfer of inertia, or port just above the Brick who will catch the Teleporter

 

IOW, it sounds like, given a little time, the teleporter can reasonably get to the island. They don't need split second timing or pinpoint accuracy. Does it add to the game to make the players jump through hoops like those above, or should we simply gloss over those little details and let the game flow?

[Thrakazog]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

For the record' date=' LOS at sea level is 13.2 nautical Miles[/quote']

 

Can you distinguish two two-meter targets laid on the ground/surface, each two meters apart from the other, at that distance? I can't.

[tesuji]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

WHuile it may be rules fashionable to try and hinder megascale movemnt with lots of details like requiring enhanced senses and so forth, to me it doesn't serve the game or the genre well to put too much work into it.

 

rapid non-combat movement between setups/scenes encounters is fairly common or innocuous in supers genres. Does 9t really matter whether the team spent a few hours on a boat ride between panels of "leaving the base" and "arriving at our base" as opposed to it took a few minutes or a few seconds?

 

If not, if this is not a tactical application thats hitting your "time is the challenge" scenario, then most of the time letting it be a "teleportation is so cool" moment for that PC is a good thing.

 

Complicating the build process to avoid something that rarely if ever happens in the comics seems not to be productive in the long run.

[Blue]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

The funniest part of the "How do I get there equation" was the idea: If I non-combat teleport 120", I have to do it above water level which means I'll be falling after each port, so I have to go progressively higher. By the time I hit my fifth teleport I'm only a fraction of the way there and I'm at least 30" up, falling at terminal velocity.

 

In the absence of some incredible telescopic vision, clairsentience, or another means of targeting the location safely, our hero is likely going to have to wait on a ride out there.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

The funniest part of the "How do I get there equation" was the idea: If I non-combat teleport 120"' date=' I have to do it above water level which means I'll be falling after each port, so I have to go progressively higher. By the time I hit my fifth teleport I'm only a fraction of the way there and I'm at least 30" up, falling at terminal velocity.[/i']

 

In the absence of some incredible telescopic vision, clairsentience, or another means of targeting the location safely, our hero is likely going to have to wait on a ride out there.

 

Too bad he didn't buy his Megascale T-port with x2 Increased Mass so he could carry the team flyer with him.

[Blue]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

It's not going to REALLY be an issue in the game. But it would have been nice to instill a sense of urgency.

 

You see, while 157 miles out to sea, the team discovered that the hideous mad scientist who created mutant sea life has been corresponding with the "friendly" mad scientist who works in their base. Now they're in a hideous mad rush to get back and confront him, for they are worried for the safety fo the base's owner, one Audra Blue, and fearful of what kind of experiments have been performed in their very own base.

 

Nothing like being stranded at sea when a message has been sent back to the base "Save your expiriments! Save Yourself!"

 

(Cue Dramatic Music)

[Dust Raven]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

No Range Modifiers is legal on Teleport' date=' right?[/quote']

No, but I'll allow a custom Advantage that does the same thing. And because Teleport isn't an actual Attack Power, I'd allow it at +1/4.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

Can you distinguish two two-meter targets laid on the ground/surface' date=' each two meters apart from the other, at that distance? I can't.[/quote']

 

Might be able to distinguish between two two-meter targets standing vertically with a space between them, and aim for that... What I'm picturing is a guy standing on the shore with a pair of binoculars though .

 

Unfortunately, that 13 miles is falling a bit short of the 157 stated earlier. There is no way to achieve any kind of visual targeting using the naked eye or any kind of visual enhancement. This is about as blind as you can get.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

I haven't read the whole thread but my approach is that you do not need to be able to sense a memorised (whether fixed or floating) loaction to teleport to it, whether you are teleporting normally or megascale.

 

As a GM I might want an explanation as to how the TP location memorisation works, but I certainly know of nothing in the rules which requires you to be able to sense a memorised location to TP to it.

 

You DO need to be able to sense a location you are teleporting to that you have not memorised, unless you are willing to risk appearing inside something else. Of course that risk is reduced substantially if you are TPing over open ocean: you can be reasonably sure that there will be nothing in the way, but open ocean around the curvature of the planet? Well, I'd probably have you make a TP Power Skill roll (or default INT roll) and I'd probably assign numerous minuses depending ont he distance and other factors, to arrive at the exact spot you intended (I want to be 157 miles THATAWAY, and 3 hexes above the surface of the ocean....). I'd then use 3D grenade scatter rules, multiplied by how much you failed by (assuming you did).

 

You could wind up under the ocean or much higher than intended, or even a mile or two to the left or right. A single teleporter culd search a few square miles of ocean for DAYS before locating the rest of the team, unless there was ongoing communications or a short range beacon.

 

I'm now going to read the rest of the thread and apologise to those I've inadvertantly plaigarised.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

The funniest part of the "How do I get there equation" was the idea: If I non-combat teleport 120"' date=' I have to do it above water level which means I'll be falling after each port, so I have to go progressively higher. By the time I hit my fifth teleport I'm only a fraction of the way there and I'm at least 30" up, falling at terminal velocity.[/i']

 

In the absence of some incredible telescopic vision, clairsentience, or another means of targeting the location safely, our hero is likely going to have to wait on a ride out there.

 

Interestingly enough a problem that Nightcrawler has faced after a long fall: he could keep teleporting up high enough to keep himself in the air, at least until he got tired, but couldn't kill his velocity.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

To clarify my earlier answer, having read more, you do not need to sense OR TARGET a memorised location, so long as it is in range: you just activate the teleport and arrive safely. Unless some git has filled your base with concrete.

 

Grr.

 

Long story.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

To clarify my earlier answer, having read more, you do not need to sense OR TARGET a memorised location, so long as it is in range: you just activate the teleport and arrive safely. Unless some git has filled your base with concrete.

 

Grr.

 

Long story.

 

I've always assumed (or perhaps read in the rules, but I forget where or when) that if the space you have memorized is occupied, you move into the nearest "safe" hex as with Safe Blind Teleport. Moving to a Fixed or Floating Location is always safe (but occasionally inconvenient).

[archermoo]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

I've always assumed (or perhaps read in the rules' date=' but I forget where or when) that if the space you have memorized is occupied, you move into the nearest "safe" hex as with Safe Blind Teleport. Moving to a Fixed or Floating Location is always safe (but occasionally inconvenient).[/quote']

 

I've always done it that way myself. As to whether it is in the rules or not, I have no idea. Its presence or absence wouldn't change my opinion on the matter.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

I've always assumed (or perhaps read in the rules' date=' but I forget where or when) that if the space you have memorized is occupied, you move into the nearest "safe" hex as with Safe Blind Teleport. Moving to a Fixed or Floating Location is always safe (but occasionally inconvenient).[/quote']

 

I'm nowhere near that generous

[archermoo]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

I'm nowhere near that generous

 

That greatly reduces the usefulness of memorized locations.

 

Or increases the need for Safe Blind Teleport.

 

 

Out of curiosity, what would you charge someone for SBT just for memorized locations? The advantage applied to the cost of the memorized locations?

[Dust Raven]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

I'm nowhere near that generous

I'm nowhere near the cruel.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

I'm nowhere near that generous

You're just a scrooge!

 

...or maybe a grinch.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

That greatly reduces the usefulness of memorized locations.

 

Or increases the need for Safe Blind Teleport.

 

 

Out of curiosity, what would you charge someone for SBT just for memorized locations? The advantage applied to the cost of the memorized locations?

 

SBT advantage on the memorised locations cost, or about 1 point

[Sean Waters]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

You're just a scrooge!

 

...or maybe a grinch.

 

No, I'm lovelable.

 

Most people are masochists.

[Silbeg]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

To clarify my earlier answer, having read more, you do not need to sense OR TARGET a memorised location, so long as it is in range: you just activate the teleport and arrive safely. Unless some git has filled your base with concrete.

 

Grr.

 

Long story.

 

Do tell!!

 

Please say that it wasn't Foxbat?!

[TaxiMan]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

I've seen the Andromeda Galaxy while at the beach. My LOS is a cool 2.2 million light years (that's about 11,238,210,000,000,000,000 nautical miles - I'm a god!).

 

Never understood questions like "How far can you see?". See what?

[archermoo]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

I've seen the Andromeda Galaxy while at the beach. My LOS is a cool 2.2 million light years (that's about 11,238,210,000,000,000,000 nautical miles - I'm a god!).

 

Never understood questions like "How far can you see?". See what?

 

Details.

 

[Dust Raven]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

I've seen the Andromeda Galaxy while at the beach. My LOS is a cool 2.2 million light years (that's about 11,238,210,000,000,000,000 nautical miles - I'm a god!).

 

Never understood questions like "How far can you see?". See what?

LOS is only ever limited by obstacles. In the case of establishing LOS on the surface of the globe, you will always be limited by the horizon. If your eyes are about a hex above sea level, you can only see about 3 miles out to sea. You can see further if you can get a higher vantage point; to see over 150 miles away, you'd have to be in an aircraft flying over 2.5 miles up. It's amazing what you can't see when there's a planet in the way!

[Thrakazog]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

Details.

 

 

Details in real time.

[william_nova]

Re: Megascale and Teleport Sighting

 

FWIW, there's a great writeup of a "Teleportation Sense" on p.340 of the Champions Powers for 6e book. I don't know what the copy/paste guidelines are, so I won't snip it, but it's a very cool use of MegaScale Clairsentience that might help. Or it might make things worse, depending on yr group. Either way, all this stuff helps me visualize how stuff is envisioned to work from the end of those who write the rules.