Simon

It’s done that way in HD because that is how the rules of the system work - Frameworks have a base cost, an Active Cost, and a Real Cost just like everything else.

More or less what unclevlad said...but with a bit more emphasis on the number of dialogs that would need to be changed...along with specific checks/flags for whether or not you're building an ability for a VPP (at least, currently). And if HD were to be modified to do all of that, it would likely annoy more people than it would please as they would now have to change their expectations of what the Real Cost value represents in the edit dialog when they're working on a Power that will be placed inside of a VPP. So, in answer to the original question: no.

So HD should calculate Active Points for VPPs in a manner different from the rest of the HERO System abilities in order to better accommodate your interpretation of campaign AP limits (which, as mentioned, are not part of HERO System rules)? They shouldn't be based on the cost of the ability in question before Limitations are applied?

Moving this to the discussion forum as the Rules Questions answer is simply that HD is correct in how the Active Points of a VPP are calculated. In terms of design philosophy or actually answering your question, it's more of a discussion. To start, a VPP allows for massively increased flexibility for the character, so having the same AP cap on the actual slots in the VPP as the other players have on their non-VPP Powers would make the VPP character overpowered in comparison. Having the VPP itself (pool + control) face the same AP limit as other characters _and_ the individual slots having the same AP limit keeps the character roughly in-line with the power limits of the campaign...at least as much as AP limits allow.

HD's calculation is correct as you're only applying OAF to the Reserve itself (and not the REC). Modifiers are applied to the Reserve and the REC independently. Apply OAF to both the Reserve and the REC and HD will show it at 15 points.

Within HD's export format functionality you'd mainly be looking at START, STOP, and STEP containers to break things up, but that can get tricky when you don't know the number of items you'll be dealing with going in.

1. You have HD set to remember the size and position of dialogs (the default preference setting) 2. You have positioned the Skill dialog off of the current screen (likely on a different system/setup) Delete the appPrefs.xml file and start HD again.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

Standard Senses are constructed like any other - the table referenced simply provides a quick reference for characters that wish to sell off their base senses. For a computer, start with Detect and add in the appropriate Sense Adders and Modifiers to represent the system you’re emulating.

Depends on the specifics of the effect -- if you launch it at a target within LoS, then it's just Delayed Effect...it'll follow and track after the intended target until it catches up to them and does the damage that you sucessfully targetted and rolled initially. If you can target it on someone that you cannot see (e.g. someone 3 miles away inside of an armored bunker), you need to bundle in the means to perceive, target, and damage the victim along with the Delayed Effect.

hdc - character file hdp - prefab hdt - rules template hde - export format hdz - [deprecated] combined character and rules template (with added prefabs at one point)

If you're talking about a random moment where an otherwise silly little side effect of a character's Invisibility (the ability to turn it off for only a portion of their body) just happens to make sense and fit into the story, then great -- that's the whole point of fully defining your abilities, their effects, and the character's control over it. It's a GM decision whether it benefits at any given time, largely based on whether or not it advances the story in a positive manner. The player should have zero expectations of it having any impact in general unless they define the effect and build it appropriately. A different way of saying/looking at it: If you want it to just be background and something that the GM can use as they see fit to advance story or push a narrative, then just have it be part of the character's Invisibility Power. If you want it to be something that the player can use as they see fit as part of their contribution to the story/campaign, then you need to define the effect and build it appropriately. No different from a player with a super-strong character thinking that they should be able to smash the ground hard enough to create a shockwave that ripples outwards and knocks people off of their feet -- if you've bought it, great! Have at it. If you haven't purchased that ability, it's something that the GM may allow on a discrete basis based solely on their interpretation of the current situation/story...or say that it won't work, but is definitely something that the player should look into purchasing for the character going forward.

Hence my initial statement about the ability having no impact on the story/campaign -- if it's just a silly thing to do for flavor with an ability (e.g. "Ooooh....I'm a spooky middle finger floating in the air...") that you're not actually going to benefit from, sure just call it part of the character's Invisibility Power -- no need to purchase it. Are you technically easier to hit in a fight than if you were fully invisible? Sure...but it may not be worth figuring that out if you're not going to actually do anything or gain any benefit from that "ability", so just go with Invisibility and say that sure...you can turn parts visible if you choose. But if you want it to have an effect, then the system really does work best when you model from that effect. I've given plenty of examples that have the effect of all but part of a character's body being essentially invisible, which are best modeled from Powers/abilities other than Invisibility. Maybe the character also has Invisibility, if they want that effect as well....but if they want the effect of the cloak dance...or invisible skin...or invisible arms, they need abilities other than Invisibility.

Two things here: 1. There seems to be a general conceipt that because something is legal within the rules, it must be allowed within a game. The GM can and should limit or prohibit abilities and entire character concepts that don't fit within their campaign. If the GM's concern is that a Power is too unbalancing or too effective for its cost, they can work with the player to better fit it into their concept of the campaign/story. 2. I suspect that there is a massive misunderstanding of how the stated Power would function within a game. The character could walk through a steel door, yes, and a metal knife would pass right through them...but they could not punch Tony Stark while he was wearing the Iron Man suit. No different from someone with Teleport trying to teleport a character out of their armor. Related to the above, I think that the Power needs a lot more definition -- what defines "metal"? Are we talking ferro-magnetic, all ferrous metals, all metals in general? What about metal coating (Wolverine's claws -- adamantium over bone)? What about metal particles in suspension (e.g. steel reinforced carbon fiber)? Start by fully defining how the Power functions and a lot of natural/inherent limitations present themselves, allowing for a better/more accurate construction and something that is more fun to play (no surprises when the character is cut by a surgical steel blade if the Power only affects ferro-magnetic materials).

I think you and steriaca are talking past each other. Yes, Invisibility and Duplication are Powers. But invisibility and duplication (note the lack of capitals) can also be SFX. It is up to the player to define what they're after well enough to know the difference between the two. Someone who is invisible except for their head is not Invisible -- they can still be seen, located, etc. They gain some advantages (harder to hit, bonuses to hitting others, etc.) but not necessarily to the extent of someone with the Invisibility Power. Take it to a different extreme -- think Chrysalis from early Wild Cards books. Her skin was transparent (i.e. invisible)...as was various muscle and tissue to differing extents. Did she have the Invisibility Power? Heck no. She gained exactly none of the advantages of that Power. Did she have Striking Appearance? Absolutely. Model from effect.

You'd only need Affects Physical World if the character could affect metal (while not being affected by it)...e.g. wearing armor if he chose. Without that ability, it's just a Limited form of Desolid...though likely with Invisible Power Effects tacked on.

Careful...

For readers of Dalglish's Shadowdance series, you could model the cloak dance as a similar SFX -- only the character's head is truly "seen" with everything else being hidden and actively misled within the swirling cloaks. That's still not Invisibility -- it's a combat bonus (or group of bonuses) which may be similar to those derived from Invisibility, but not entirely. The character will show up on any video surveillance, if anything is easier to see/pick out in a crowd, and can be targeted by all normal targeting senses, but they are much harder to hit due to the way they move...and may gain OCV bonuses based on attacking from surprising angles. Best way to model that? Martial Maneuvers.

Exactly. Reason from effect. It's not Invisibility, since the entire point is that the character (or a portion therein) can be seen...so determine the effect that you're after and go from there. If it's the appearance (a seemingly disembodied appendage wandering around) with no real combat effect other than potential PRE bonuses for clever use of said appearance, then Shave Shift vs Sight Group (only) with PRE bonuses applied based on specific circumstance and action. If it's a general bonus to PRE regardless of action or surrounding circumstance, then purchase PRE.

As I think about this, it's not appropriate for the Rules Question forum, so I'm moving it. Fundamentally, you're talking about changing/adding to the rules...which is perfectly fine. How you make the change/addition is entirely based on how the ability will function in your campaign. If it doesn't provide the character with any advantages (i.e. the GM says that you _can_ do it, but it's not going to matter or affect the story in any way), then it shouldn't cost any points. If the character will gain some advantage from the ability to have only part of his body visible then it should be built from the effect that the ability will have -- Shape Shift for Sight Group is the clearest example of the effect, but that's really dependent on the game/GM.

Not really - 6E supplements have not been included by request of DOJ (except for where discrete abilities are considered part of canon). Your best bet would be to contact Jason and talk about putting together a character pack for any supplements that you'd care to see.

If the GM decides that said ability will have no impact on the story/campaign: 0 points. Otherwise: Shape Shift, Sight Group only. 8-13 points depending on the definition of the Power.

There have been plenty of updates, but no need to re-purchase -- just go to the "Manage Purchases" page in the top navbar (beneath "Store") and click on HERO Designer in your purchases list -- the latest update is always linked at the bottom of that page.

Sounds like you've moved an installation from another machine (or are otherwise running it under a changed monitor/graphics setup) -- the edit dialogs are modal...if they display off screen you'll get that beeping/lockup behavior as it waits for the dialog to be dismissed before letting focus return to the main window. Delete the appPrefs.xml file from the directory that you run HD from and then start HD -- that will reset all positions and sizes and you should be good to go.