Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

[JimLotFP]

My players for my upcoming HERO game have no experience with the system... so I'm having them just write out their powers freeform to start with, and I'll see if I can gracefully port them into HERO terms for them.

 

First power description came back more detailed than I'd bargained for, but hey, that makes it easier to model. This will now be the first power I actually try to make myself since I last played HERO 4th in 92 or 93 or so, so I need some guidance in getting things right (we're the nearsighted leading the blind here!). Direct from the player's email:

 

---Wormholes---

Area of Effect: 9m2

Time to open: 1 sec+

Gets tired when opening holes over distances 100km+

The longer distance, the longer time it takes to open (10= 1 sec,

100km 10 sec)

Min opening time: 1 sec

Can't change the holes size when open

May be used to cut down ranges (on charges and etc.)

May open holes to other Dimensions

Can't be open for longer times (1 min without tiredness penalties,

then ther's some serious penalties...)

Can be open for max 5 min

May seal portals in > 1 sec

You can put up the holes over materia, and can still travel without

taking notice of it

The travel is basicly as the openings should be touching eachoter, so

the traveling takes no time

If an Wormhole opening is in or > 1 m to materia highrer than half a

meter, you can't enter it

The holes are one-way-holes

The opening can be seen as a skimmery picture of the place where the

exit is, whilst the exit CAN'T BE SEEN

If you're half-throught the hole, you can still pull back, out of the exit If anyone is half throught the hole when it's closed, the person (or

thing) will be trown into the WARP

Holes can be used for spying (by opening small holes), and for survailance Holes can be closed fromthe "exit side" Flash can travel throught holes, whie he is ceeping them open The holes are opened (and kept open) by focusing on the place where

Flash wants 'em yo be (he dont need to have been on the place. he can

nominate "over my friends' house's roof" or, "by the street named

*********") and they are closed by thought

Averything can pass throught the holes, but Flash can see the object,

even if he hasen't got visual to the hole

 

Looking through the 5ER book, I was pleased to find the "gate" option already covered under Teleportation. So let's see if I can get this close to what he wants...

 

Teleportation Version 1

20" (40pts)

NCM x 32 (+20pts)

Extra Mass 1600kg (+20, 80 base points)

Area of Effect: 1 hex (+1/2)

Usable on Others (+1)

Continuous (+1)

Gate (book says -1/2, but I say -0 to allow it to be a one-way, can't-see-it-from-the-other-side thing)

 

This would be 280 points just for the basic power. Woof! I chose NCM x 32 because that would run this power basically to the edge where a second Megascale power would pick up. Not sure how much extra mass is really needed but a substantial amount of stuff has to be able to go through there or else it's not going to feel like a wormhole.

 

However, his specifically mentioning 10m = 1 second gave me another idea:

 

Teleportation Version 2

5" (10pts)

Extra Mass 1600kg (+20, 30 base points)

Area of Effect: 1 hex (+1/2)

Usable on Others (+1)

Continuous (+1)

Gate (-0)

 

Still 105 (!) active points. But probably can be gotten down with some limitations but that is still to be hashed out. Let's give the player what he wants before telling him he can't pay for it yet.

 

Add on top of that:

Teleportation Version 2.5

+5" (10pts)

Extra Mass 1600kg (+20, 30 base points)

Area of Effect: 1 hex (+1/2)

Usable on Others (+1)

Continuous (+1)

Gate (-0)

Extra Time Full Phase (-1/2)

 

Another 90 pts.

 

Would it be legal to add a x128 NCM (30pts) to the first part of that with the limitation extra time full turn just when using noncombat movement? (so adding the NCM is just 13 points?

 

Now he obviously wants to go very far as well. So...

 

Teleportation Megascale

10" (20pts)

Extra Weight 1600kg (+20pts, 40 base points total)

Megascale 1"=1000km (+1 so he can go anywhere on the planet, basically)

Scaleable to 1"=1km (+1/4)

2x END cost (-1/2)

Extra time full turn (-1 1/4)

 

33 points here.

 

Then there's the whole "he can see what goes through even if he's not looking at the wormhole."

 

Clairsentience Part 1: Seeing the wormhole

Sight Group (20 points)

8x range (+15pts, should be enough, how far is he going to go while burning END keeping one of these things open? 35 base pts)

0 END (+1/2)

Linked to Teleportation (-1/2)

See wormhole entrance only (-1/2)

 

26 points. That seems a bit... high.

 

And then his whole spying idea...

 

Clairsentience Part 2: Spying

I'll take this almost straight out of the USPD:

Multipower, 45 point reserve (visible power effect with the wormhole, -1/4, 36 real point cost)

3u 1) Local 16x range

3u 2) Distant Megascale 1"=1000km, scalable to 1"=1km)

 

42 points for this.

 

As for how he gets to select his destinations, I'm not sure how to handle that. He needs to know what it looks like, but not necessarily where it is.

 

And I'll leave the dimension travel thing for now, that's pretty straightforward I think. (and will likely get left off if I have my way, ha ha ha)

 

So, please, tell me how inefficient this is and how else I could take his description and squeeze more game system details out of it.

[Vestnik]

Re: Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

 

I thought that Gates don't require the Usable on Others advantage?

[Silbeg]

Re: Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

 

Interesting idea... of course, one that doesn't necessarily fit well into the game mechanics. I mean the teleportation gate and all does, but the sliding scale isn's as clean.

 

FYI - Usable By Others is a +1/4, but I prefer Usable As Attack, which allows anyone to go through (no increased max mass needed, as far as I know). I assume that is the Advantage you were using, just making sure.

 

I would then do a "sliding scale" sort of lim set.

 

30 Teleportation 9", Area Of Effect (One Hex; +1/2), Invisible Power Effects, SFX Only (Fully Invisible; +1/2), Usable As Attack (+1), Continuous (+1), MegaScale (1" = 10,000 km; +1 1/4), Can Be Scaled Down 1" = 1km (+1/4) (99 Active Points); Extra Time (5 Minutes, Only to Activate, -1), Increased Endurance Cost (x4 END; Only In Certain Circumstances Common; see notes; -3/4), Gate (-1/2) 10

Notes: Increasing Costs based on megascale level:

Scale: Times END Extra Time

1km: X1 END Full Phase (base)

10km X2 END 1 Turn

100km X3 END 1 Minute

1000km X4 END 5 Minutes

10000km X5 END 20 Minutes

 

Additional Notes:

The Lim costs are somewhat arbitrary... basically averages of the Extra Time and Increased END...

The Invisible Power Effects are to hide the other end of the gate from observers... it is still there, since it is a gate.

 

Scaling was chose to neatly overlap (1-9km, 10-90km, etc).

 

I am not even looking at the clairsentience involved at this point.

[JimLotFP]

Re: Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

 

FYI - Usable By Others is a +1/4' date=' but I prefer Usable As Attack, which allows anyone to go through (no increased max mass needed, as far as I know). I assume that is the Advantage you were using, just making sure.[/quote']

 

Well Usable as an Attack is listed as an option under UOO, and UAA is necessary since it should be possible to force people through the wormhole... right? But then here in the fine print it says that UAA powers are only usable as attacks.

 

So should this instead be Usable Simultaneously? (which is as expensive than UAA if we assume that 8 people can use it... and according to the rules they all have to pay the END cost for using it? egads)... or are we looking at some dad-blamed linked setup where a UAA and US have to be written up separately?

 

*boggles*

 

(I know that as GM I can make convenient rulings but I want to see what a "correct" build would look like first)

[Silbeg]

Re: Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

 

Well Usable as an Attack is listed as an option under UOO, and UAA is necessary since it should be possible to force people through the wormhole... right? But then here in the fine print it says that UAA powers are only usable as attacks.

 

So should this instead be Usable Simultaneously? (which is as expensive than UAA if we assume that 8 people can use it... and according to the rules they all have to pay the END cost for using it? egads)... or are we looking at some dad-blamed linked setup where a UAA and US have to be written up separately?

 

I think that in this case, yes, it would be an attack (a 1-hex AE attack, at that). Now, as GM, you could require the creator of the gate to "target" the hex, and then scatter if he misses. However, since this is an attack with no range, he'll be attacking DCV 0, so I would say a healthy dose of handwavium will allow him to successfully hit.

 

I have seen a couple of examples using UAA, and I prefer it that way, personally.

[JimLotFP]

Re: Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

 

I think that in this case' date=' yes, it would be an attack (a 1-hex AE attack, at that). Now, as GM, you could require the creator of the gate to "target" the hex, and then scatter if he misses. However, since this is an attack with no range, he'll be attacking DCV 0, so I would say a healthy dose of handwavium will allow him to successfully hit.[/quote']

 

Hmmm, but would UAA be necessary if the wormhole can't be created as an attack, but the unwilling traveler must be physically picked up and carried/thrown through the portal?

[Sean Waters]

Re: Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

 

For the sliding scale of tiredness I'd buy 0 END with a limitation on the 0 END advantage that, over time, END costs start and increase linearly: not worth much as I imagine most wormholes will be short duration.

 

Also I'd customise the extra time thing a bit: to be honest the really long ones are going to be non combat anyway, so just buy the non-combat multiples with extra time limtiations.

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

 

plus a killing attack, he can open a 1 way wormhole to the sun, and let plasma in

[Silbeg]

Re: Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

 

Hmmm' date=' but would UAA be necessary if the wormhole can't be created as an attack, but the unwilling traveler must be physically picked up and carried/thrown through the portal?[/quote']

 

Actually, UBO would mean that an unwilling traveller wouldn't go through, I would think.

 

The point to UAA is that with an AE Continuous attack, anyone entering the area of effect will be affected (automatically). So, anyone who enters the gate's hex will get teleported to the other side. Also, since it is an attack, the weight is defined for each target. Finally, there is no maximum number of people that can go through the gate. All this makes more sense to me than arbitrary limits.

[TaxiMan]

Re: Power build help... player wants a player that can make "wormholes"...

 

Re: portal to the sun - you might want to make clear with the player what he intends to do with this power. It's described well, but it's not exactly suitable for "reason from effects". At least tell him he isn't going to be able to open a gate underneath someone and drop them at the bottom of the ocean.

 

Depending upon how he intends to use it, this power might be Gate, Clairsentience, RKA, TK, etc.