Powering a power with stun?

[Tasha]

You are of course entitled to that view. They are still part of the published rule set.

 

- E

From Pg 4 of the APG 

"All of the new rules in the APG are optional. The GM’s not required to use them if he doesn’t want to, and should consider them carefully before allowing them in play. They may be just the thing for creating certain types of characters and creatures for your campaign... or they may cause serious game balance problems based on your style of play. Players should check with their GMs before using any APG rules to build characters"

 

Emphasis is mine. 

 

Christopher is totally correct in his views of the APG. Which is why I don't quote it when talking about rules. It's an optional product full of optional rules that may not be balanced.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Right the Advanced Player's Guides aren't official rules they are suggested optional ideas. Some of them are great, some of them are way off base and need serious work.

[eepjr24]

I too can quote from the book:

The HERO System Advanced Player’s Guide is for just such games — ones where the GM and players want a more detailed rule for some specific aspect of play,where the gaming group enjoys trying out variant and optional rules, or where the GM wants to take a different approach to some part of the HERO System to suit the game he has in mind.

They are official rules, just variant and optional, like many in 6e1 and 6e2. If you don't believe me, go to the rules forum and ask. Steve references them there as official rules as well.

 

- E

[Netzilla]

Whether or not the rules are official (and I agree that they are official) is a separate issue from whether or not they are balanced.  For the purposes of this thread, I think that balance is the more important issue.  The APG, itself, admits that its rules may not be well balanced.  As a result, they don't make compelling examples for how to construct well-balanced house rules or custom advantages & limitations.

[zslane]

I feel that every house rule and custom power/whatever must be tested in the context of a particular campaign, with a particular group and their particular playing style, and across a wide variety of gaming situations. An item from the APG that doesn't work for one group might be perfect for another. You just don't know until you try it in your own game.

[Hugh Neilson]

To "official" status, I recall Steve suggesting that any serious Hero group would have a copy of the APG. I interpret the opening comments as "these are all Stop Sign abilities so consider their impact on your game carefully".