It's the Little Things....

[Lucius]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

I once wrote up an FBI agent with Life Support vs. Bad Coffee at one character point.

 

Crossposted

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghost-angel

Hero System can model anything... however, it makes a terrible cup of coffee.

 

 

A terrible cup of coffee: Succor 0 1/2d6, END, STUN simultaneously (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (6 Active Points); OAF (Supplies and equipment (coffee, coffeepot, water, etc.); -1), Extra Time (5 Minutes, Only to Activate, Unless it's instant, but that tastes even worse....; -1), Gradual Effect (1 Minute after drinking coffee; -1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Tastes awful, everyone hates it.; -1/2), 6 Recoverable Charges (Can only brew 6 cups at a time.; -1/4) Real Cost: 1

 

And probably can make a terrible cup of coffee in many many ways.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Terrible Cup of Coffee by Palindromedary Enterprises, Patent Pending

[Zeropoint]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

So he could drink anything, as long as it pretended to be coffee?

 

The intent was that he could drink, bad, 48-hour stakeout coffee or whatever and be fine with it. Anything black and caffeinated.

[mattingly]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

I'd go for Life Support versus sleeping with a shortened time span for the bad coffee...

[Sean Waters]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

By the rules as written you should be able to stop your fall given enough time with the gliding power activated (IIRC You would be able to slow your decent by 1/2" per phase' date=' until you got to 1")[/quote']

 

Don't you have to fall at least 1" with gliding, so even if you were using your gliding just to rise, you'd still be going down at an additional 1/2 " per phase.

 

You could do it with flight, but again, I'd probably require more.

 

First person to suggest "Gliding, +'ignores gravity' modifier" gets shot.

[Sean Waters]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

Bad coffee needs the following modifiers:

 

Side Effect (Caught short)

 

RSR: Need to make an EGO roll to start drinking it, then an EGO roll to stop drinking it.

[Bodkins Odds]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

This one is a staple of one of my best characters, Mr. Nobody. I have it in real life, but mine also does some other weird stuff that would best be modeled as disa- no wait, complications.

 

Chaos Field: Luck 3d6, 15 active points; Side Effect(Unluck 3d6) -1/4, 12 real points.

 

It is a bit dangerous, however, since it only kicks in when I'm not doing so well, and a good GM will make the luck rolls secretly, notice that the Unluck is a side effect of Luck*, and make it look like something good until the last possible moment. Unless it's in combat, in which case something bad happens immediately.

 

Example: The DM informs you of a good lead on a villian you've been failing miserably at finding. So you follow it to some mook's house, search the place and find the mook's still warm body then as soon as it's sunk in that you've just left a lot of forensic evidence tying you to the scene of the crime the cops show up, apparently they got this anonymous tip…

 

*Obviously this only matters if the Luck roll had no sixes.

 

PS. In case your wondering, Mr. Nobody is wanted by the police for similar reasons.

[JmOz]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

Don't you have to fall at least 1" with gliding, so even if you were using your gliding just to rise, you'd still be going down at an additional 1/2 " per phase.

 

You could do it with flight, but again, I'd probably require more.

 

First person to suggest "Gliding, +'ignores gravity' modifier" gets shot.

 

AS I UNDERSTAND IT

 

you are falling 10" a phase

 

You use your 2" gliding power to stop yourself

 

2/2=1"

 

Next phase you are falling at 9" (above minimum of 1")

 

Your next phase you can slow your decent by another inch

 

UNTIL which time that you get below falling at one inch per phase, then you are at the max of what the power can do.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

AS I UNDERSTAND IT

 

you are falling 10" a phase

 

You use your 2" gliding power to stop yourself

 

2/2=1"

 

Next phase you are falling at 9" (above minimum of 1")

 

Your next phase you can slow your decent by another inch

 

UNTIL which time that you get below falling at one inch per phase, then you are at the max of what the power can do.

 

But isn't Gliding all about converting the downward velocity imposed by gravity into horizontal, rather than vertical, movement? After all, Gliding normally does not allow gaining of altitude "at all", despite the fact that gaining altitude slowly is "normally easy" by the book.

 

Looking at the Giding rules, you must lose 1" altitude to gain 1" forward velocity - this is the only way to accelerate. How many of us follow that rule, I wonder! And you must lose 1" altitude per phase to maintain forward velocity.

 

Nothing says that a falling character continues to fall once his Gliding is activated, nor that a character takes damage on landing from a glide. But nothing says that gliding can slow or halt a fall either, nor that it prevents damage on landing.

 

p 367 tells us the character can gain 1d6" altitude per phase (halved because he is gaining altitude) normally. Presumably, if I roll 1-2, I stay level (I gained an inch and used it to maintain forward velocity), and gein 1 or 2 inches net if I roll better. I wonder what happens if I toss in the adder/advantage for no halving of vertical gains (maybe on only 1" or so if it's an advantage rather than an adder...).

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

But isn't Gliding all about converting the downward velocity imposed by gravity into horizontal' date=' rather than vertical, movement? After all, Gliding normally does not allow gaining of altitude "at all", despite the fact that gaining altitude slowly is "normally easy" by the book.[/quote']

 

Actually, gaining altitude is, "under the GM's control." It seems reasonable to allow a character (in combat) to maintain altitude at the cost of 2m of movement, and to gain 1m of altitude for every further reduction of 2m.

 

Looking at the Giding rules, you must lose 1" altitude to gain 1" forward velocity - this is the only way to accelerate. How many of us follow that rule, I wonder! And you must lose 1" altitude per phase to maintain forward velocity.

There should probably be an Adder for Improved Glide Ratio (sailplanes get as high as 70:1).

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

Actually' date=' gaining altitude is, "under the GM's control." It seems reasonable to allow a character (in combat) to maintain altitude at the cost of 2m of movement, and to gain 1m of altitude for every further reduction of 2m.[/quote']

 

Other than the loss of the first 2m movement, how does this differ from Flight? A fellow with 20" Gliding gains 9" altitude by sacrificing all forward movement, and Flight allows him to gain 10" instead - not much difference.

[Vulcan]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

LS: Only sleeps 8 hours per week.

 

It's a wonderful thing, allowing a superhero to have a normal life on the side.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

Other than the loss of the first 2m movement' date=' how does this differ from Flight? A fellow with 20" Gliding gains 9" altitude by sacrificing all forward movement, and Flight allows him to gain 10" instead - not much difference.[/quote']

Common and Dramatic Sense. You generally can't glide straight up, at least for an extended period of time. As a GM I would probably require at least some forward movement to justify upward movement with gliding.

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

Other than the loss of the first 2m movement' date=' how does this differ from Flight? A fellow with 20" Gliding gains 9" altitude by sacrificing all forward movement, and Flight allows him to gain 10" instead - not much difference.[/quote']

 

At the start of the next Phase, the character with Flight still has their full movement. The character with Gliding has zero velocity and needs to descend.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

That makes even more sense Guess I should have checked the book before just answering off the top of my head, I knew there had to be something about it.

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

That makes even more sense Guess I should have checked the book before just answering off the top of my head' date=' I knew there had to be something about it.[/quote']

 

Actually, this is just my interpretation (and extension) of the rules (6E1 228).

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

At the start of the next Phase' date=' the character with Flight still has their full movement. The character with Gliding has zero velocity and needs to descend.[/quote']

 

He has 20" velocity - it's just diredcted upwards, so he needs to turn to direct some of it to horizontal movement.

 

The problem I see with Gliding is that it's not an accurate simulation. The requirement to lose altitude equal to acceleration isn't consistent with, say, a hang glider or a bird gliding. I've also never seen a game where accelerating to 20" of Gliding has required the character to drop 40 meters in altitude, so I suspect this rule is not typically applied. I only became aware of it yesterday because I read the poer description in 5er.

 

The ability to gain 1d6" altitude each phase is likely reasonable, but it doesn't seem to vary with velocity, or change the character's velocity. It also contradicts the comment that gaining altitude slowly is generally easy, as this allows an average gain of 2 meters per phase, which seems pretty quick.

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

He has 20" velocity - it's just diredcted upwards, so he needs to turn to direct some of it to horizontal movement.

 

The gliding character has traded his forward motion (kinetic energy) for altitude (potential energy). To resume forward motion, he either needs to expend energy (switch from Gliding to Flight), or descend.

 

The problem I see with Gliding is that it's not an accurate simulation. The requirement to lose altitude equal to acceleration isn't consistent with, say, a hang glider or a bird gliding.

I agree that the default 2:1 glide ratio is abysmal. (The Shuttle, which has been described as a, "flying brick," has a 4:1 ratio.) I'd allow a doubling of that ratio as a 5-point adder.

[Lucius]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

Trying to get back on topic:

 

Here's a "Cinematic Resurrection" power I first posted two years ago.

 

This is a thread for cheap powers, and life is cheap. When bought in bulk like this.

 

They say life is cheap, and they're right. Here's a way to get 8 extra lives for 1 pt each.

 

Cheat the Reaper, AKA Nine Lives

Heal 2d6 BOD, + Resurrection Adder (Active Pts: 40)

Resurrection only (-1/2) Self Only (-1/2) 8 Charges, never recover (-2 1/2) Player must provide some plausible explanation for why character is "not really dead."

(-1/2) (Real Cost: 8)

 

This gives a character a total of 9 lives (first one's free, remember) as long as the player - perhaps with help from other players, including the one running the game - can come up with some suitable in-game reason for the character to not really be dead, or to come back. Things like "Okay, the character's dead, but his identical twin comes to town to avenge him!" are cheap and cliched, so if allowed at all they should probably only be used once (after all, how many twins can one person have?) "I wasn't brain-dead yet, and the paramedics revived me" works too, maybe more than once, but the more often a rationale is used, the less plausible it will sound. By the time you come to that last revival, it should be getting very hard to find an excuse for living you haven't used....

 

If the character has some ready-made and reusable rationale, such as being a genetic engineer who could easily have up to 8 clones on hand, the requirement to come up with a plausible explanation is less onerous and worth only -1/4 or NO limitation value at all.

 

Although the charges never recover, you could buy the whole power again; but if you're dying that regularly, maybe you should consider a different character, or else playing with people who aren't out to get you. Besides, can you really come up with THAT many "return from the dead" scenarios?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thinks Lucius is underestimating the imagination of Hero players. They probably can come up with 17 ways to Cheat the Reaper.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

He has 20" velocity - it's just diredcted upwards, so he needs to turn to direct some of it to horizontal movement.

 

The problem I see with Gliding is that it's not an accurate simulation. The requirement to lose altitude equal to acceleration isn't consistent with, say, a hang glider or a bird gliding. I've also never seen a game where accelerating to 20" of Gliding has required the character to drop 40 meters in altitude, so I suspect this rule is not typically applied. I only became aware of it yesterday because I read the poer description in 5er.

 

The ability to gain 1d6" altitude each phase is likely reasonable, but it doesn't seem to vary with velocity, or change the character's velocity. It also contradicts the comment that gaining altitude slowly is generally easy, as this allows an average gain of 2 meters per phase, which seems pretty quick.

I don't have my book on me, but 20" of a Movement Power doesn't equal 20" of Velocity, does it? You get Velocity by moving. If you have no Velocity to exchange (you aren't already moving) then you can't just Glide straight up from a standing position, right? Or am I just way off base here?

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

I don't have my book on me' date=' but 20" of a Movement Power doesn't equal 20" of Velocity, does it? You get Velocity by moving. If you have no Velocity to exchange (you aren't already moving) then you can't just Glide straight up from a standing position, right? Or am I just way off base here?[/quote']

 

Most movement powers allow 5" acceleration per 1" moved. Gliding, however, requires loss of 1" altitude to accelerate 1". That means a fellow with, say, 6" Leaping and 20" Gliding would make a Full Move to Jump 3" up, lose 1" altitude to glide at all, lose 1"more to accelerate to a 1" Gliding velocity and then need to use updrafts to gain altitude (0 - 2" per phase after the 1" drop to keep moving), losing that altitude to slowly accelerate to full speed.

 

Using Gliding by the book would require a huge startup time to get to full velocity unless you could jump off a high point to lose a lot of altitude fast for acceleration purposes. Once you land, forget using it again in this combat!

[bigbywolfe]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

Well, doesn't that just negate what you said in the post I responded to?

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

This is a little power that is mostly useful for Heroic level campaigns when Encumbrance rules are used, especially for players who like to horde equipment:

 

Featherweight Charm: 5 STR TK, 0 END, Invisible, No range, Only to negate Encumbrance (-2). Active: 14, Real: 4

 

5 STR doesn't seem like much, but when you consider the kg that it can lift independently of the character, you can see what a benefit it can be Encumbrance-wise by keeping DEX rolls and DCV at normal without having to buy extra levels. I had a character in a Sci-Fi campaign with a similar effect, built as a Magnetic Buoy.

[torchwolf]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

Faerie Heritage power: Glamour [instant Change, +10 COM (Linked)].

Back under 4th Ed, a long-running campaign had me incorporate this, inspired by the idea (from Sandman I think) that Elves etc. were not really that pretty - it was just a little magic trick.

Under 6E, I could do it just with Shape Shift vs Sight and the Instant Change adder. That's cool.

[Lucius]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

4 Tough: Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED) (6 Active Points); Conditional Power Does not stack: not while wearing armor of DEF 4 or greater (-1/2)

 

I've often used Combat Luck or similar constructs, limited to not stack with other defenses.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Palindromedary Enterprises

[Lucius]

Re: It's the Little Things....

 

Limited skills can be fun.

 

1 ) Conversation 12- (3 Active Points); Limited Power Only with similarly well educated people. (Everyone else gets lost.; -1)

 

Lucius Alexander

 

and an unlimited palindromedary