Ice9

I like the earth/stone idea. Possible direct attack powers: * Earthen Fist - Blast, Indirect (from below), possibly Double Knockback * Stone Shards - RKA * Sand/Dust Storm - Flash * Magma Eruption - RKA, Damage Over Time or Uncontrolled * Sudden Pit - Blast + Tunneling UaA * Area effect versions of all the above Possible Control-Type Powers: Way too many to even count - myriad forms of Entangle, Barrier, Control Environment, Darkness (sand/dust cloud), TK, even Images (make figures out of dirt, fool people using radar/spatial awareness to see through dust storms). Movement: Tunneling Moving "wave" of earth for increased Running, possibly with "doesn't have to be standing / move legs" advantage. Also possibly shareable. Possible Defense: Shield of orbiting stone shards: ResDef, Protects Carried, RAR Barrier + See Through Earth/Stone + Indirect Tunneling + See Through Earth/Stone + Indirect; Ultra effective in the right conditions Barrier with Trigger Just be nimble as hell, confusing people who think "stone = slow"; Combat Luck, Flying Dodge, etc.

Re: A power to swap places with someone.

Re: A power to swap places with someone. Actually, since you can use UaA powers on yourself, what about: Switch Places: Teleport 30m, Usable as Attack, Limited Range, Only to Trade Places Rapid Attack, Only for Switch Places +2 CSLs with Switch Places Then when using it, you just do a Multiple Attack on both yourself and the intended target. Not much of a price difference at the current strength, but useful if you want to make the range longer.

Re: "Must cross intervening space" It doesn't include having to get there normally. For instance, it could represent turning into a beam of light. The thing that was being fudged in the Dark Champions power is the requirement to be able to move there even semi-normally.

Re: Most PCs... I'd agree that VPPs should definitely have a reasonably limited "portfolio", as opposed to something ultra-broad (at least in most cases). Often a lot of that is in how well the special effect is defined. For example: Shapeshifting Powers: Potentially ultra-board. Shapeshifting with conservation of mass, can only get realistically tough/strong/fast, and doesn't grant mystic powers like a basilisk stare: Reasonable, even fairly limited. Necromancy: Usually pretty limited Necromancy that includes summoning ghosts with expert skills/knowledge for any subject, and forming any object out of shadow: Pretty damn broad

Re: Most PCs... I find it interesting that the argument against Multipowers is that it favors certain concepts - when removing them favors particular concepts to a much larger degree. In a world without Multipowers: Elemental Man: Skin of Stone, Wings of Air, Nimbus of Fire, Water Blast. Result: Works great Elemental Man: Hail of Stone, Hurricane Breath, Sword of Fire, Water Blast. Result: Cruddy Unless, of course, you let the latter combine all his attacks into one giant Combined Attack, which vaporizes anything set up for a more typical level of offense. Even with no limits, you have a similar issue - the concept that can combine all its powers together beats the one that can't.

Re: Most PCs...

Re: Discussion: 'Dive for Cover' and Non-Area Attacks DfC is independent of the opponent's chance to hit. If your opponent hits you on a 17-, DfC becomes a lot better, comparatively. Also, in some situations, you can DfC to safety (through a door that closes behind you, onto a transporter, into the range of an ally's defensive powers), which can make the negative effects moot - or at least worth it. With Teleport (and SBT) this becomes a lot more common. But when facing multiple roughly-even foes, it's not usually the best choice.

Re: Most PCs... I feel like even most "single-power" characters in comics have - in HERO terms - more than one way to use their power, which a Multipower is a good way to model. Sure, the Power skill can handle it to an extent, but a lot of the time you've got more than one commonly used version, which makes building it explicitly a better idea, IMO. For example - super-speed, eye beams, ___-kinesis, and many morphic powers all fall into this category.

Re: Base Power, Disadvantage or just sfx For the darkness - no cost, that's just the absence of lighting. Buying the power would only be necessary if it was actually impossible to bring lighting down there. For the atmosphere - I like LS: Alternate Atmosphere. Shouldn't be many points, but seems reasonable. Upgrading this to LS: Self-Contained Breathing would make the base airtight and prevent leaks, which may be a good idea. For being underground and hard to access, the existing cost modifier works fine there. The circumstances do give the character an advantage, but that advantage has already been paid for - by buying the appropriate powers on the character. Also, it's not a pure advantage for the base, as it prevents certain uses (keeping people you want to protect there, for example).

Re: Minimalist HERO? It depends a lot on what the objectives are: * Easier for new players? * Easier to GM? * Faster to make character? * Faster gameplay? * Smaller rulebook? Those all have possible solutions, that only partially overlap.

Re: Outside the Box powers I think he's saying that the victims are just part of the SFX - only existing for the purpose of this ability - so presumably you couldn't use this on a specific enemy that already exists. Similar to if you had a "Summon random citizens to help you" power, you couldn't just decide it was summoning your arch-nemesis.

Re: 5e Rules question Forcewall and damage shield

Re: Attacks of Opportunity (d20) in Hero Matches my experience - if you have something that can stop people moving, you can intercept with it, but for a normal attack there's little actual difference from readying an action (for that purpose). In practice, it seems like in HERO, positional tactics are very much secondary to timing tactics - not inherently a bad thing, but if you want formations to matter you may want to make some adjustments.

Re: Remote Control Yeah, if they're like SR drones, you can just give them orders and let the AI do the specific fighting/moving, or you can control them manually. The advantage to direct control is that it makes them more effective (assuming you have good piloting skills). I think either Follower or Summon would work for this, with Mind Link (Radio group) used to issue commands. Jamming would be Darkness or Change Environment to that group, hacking would be Mind Control, and the requirement to be connected would just be the drone AI having a low INT, so they can't do much on their own initiative. That looks like a good Mind Control list, although I might switch the first two entries - gaining access to their communications seems like a prerequisite for controlling their motion.