RockSunner

Re: Confused by blowthrough example How does this compare with the other approach to an attack through a wall, using the rules for damaging objects? I would have expected that way to subtract a total of four body from the total attack. So the blowthrough rules make attacks through a wall much less effective and therefore much less likely for the player to try. In fact, if even a paper-thin wall takes half my attack dice off the top, as a player I would make a rule for myself to never try to shoot through a wall.

On page 192 of DC there is an example of blowthrough. "Firefight's attack roll succeeds. His handgun does RKA 2d6 damage. The GM rules the door has 2 DEF, 2 BODY. Firefight rolls RKA 1d6 and gets 4 BODY -- just enough for blowthrough! Firefight's target takes the full 4 BODY damage..." This makes no sense at all. What happened to the other 1d6? Why wasn't it rolled? I would have expected RKA 2d6 to be rolled, divided by two and compared to 4. Then if it got blowthrough, the damage would be the sum of both dice. I don't see an errata page for Dark Champions, so I wonder if the book is really correct.

Re: Placed shots effective? That's officially a Penalty Skill Level in 5ER and 6E, and it's super-cheap. (1.5 (5ER) or 1 (6E) for a single attack, 2 for a tight group, and 3 for all attacks).

Re: Placed shots effective? Head shots are predictable but strange. With 1d6+3 we have 1/3 Head 1/6 Hands 1/3 Arms 1/6 Shoulders Why are hands so likely to be hit with this shot? And no chance for the rest of the body, like the chest?

I am in a game using special hit locations for the STUN and BODY multiples of killing attacks. I wanted to check the effectiveness of the called shot groups, and found the following: Here are the expected values for a KA, before applying any "to hit" penalties (as if one had bought +4 skill levels to offset placed shot penalties. Uncalled shot : STUNx = 2.866, BODYx = 0.991 Head shot: : STUNx = 3.000, BODYx = 1.083, -4 OCV High shot : STUNx = 2.889, BODYx = 0.986, -2 OCV Body shot : STUNx = 2.889, BODYx = 0.986, -1 OCV Low shot : STUNx = 2.500, BODYx = 0.931, -2 OCV Leg shot : STUNx = 2.000, BODYx = 0.833, -4 OCV Only the Head shot gives any significant benefit. High shots and body shots give exactly the same expected values (with a BODYx slightly lower than an uncalled shot), and high shots cost an extra -1 OCV for no extra benefit. Low shots and leg shots are for suckers. It looks to me like all placed shots but head shots should be avoided, and then used only if you have the +4 skill to offset the placed shot penalties, or if the target is surprised out of combat and the penalties are cut in half (there are certain other cases, too) and you have +2 skill to offset placed shot penalties. Almost no matter where you are on the to-hit table, taking a penalty reduces the expected value of a called Head shot to below a simple uncalled shot. So just don't do it if there's any penalty at all. (The above is from a strictly mathematical point of view and disregards disabling, psychological effect on the enemy and companions, shooting to hit partially concealed targets or bypass armor, etc.).

Suppose a person with Mental Awareness observes a person who is the receiver of a Mink Link, but the sender is not immediately in view. Can the observer tell from which direction the Link is coming from, and possibly triangulate the location of the sender as the receiver moves around? Is there a standard advantage or adder to Mental Awareness that would make this possible? Thanks.

Who needs DEX? DEX in 6E to be an over-rated, overpriced stat. I think in the future I will build characters with as little DEX as I can get away with. Since SPD and CV is now independent of DEX, it doesn't matter as much any more. Want to act first? It's cheaper to buy Lightning Reflexes for all actions for one point, instead of +1 DEX for two. (Or use the option to split DEX into a 1-point Initiative and a 1-point Agility value, and only put points into the Initiative -- that's the same as Lightning Reflexes, though with the latter you can get a cost break if you only want to act first in doing a limited set of actions). Dex-based skill rolls? It takes a +5 to DEX (10 points) to get a +1 to a DEX-based roll. You can get a +1 to all agility skills for 6 points, or a +1 to all attacks for 10 points. It might be fun to build a martial artist with a high speed, high CV, and a 10 DEX.

Revised calculations My calculations for CON were not correct. The loss of 10.5 points for +10 points of CON is nearly offset by the new reduced cost. It's really only a loss of .5 points per +10 CON. The DEX and CV purchases make up most of the loss, not the CON. You lose about 3 points per DEX purchased when converting.

Re: Character for review: Last Hero In theory, a Unified Power group is cheaper than an EC. Consider the hypothetical "perfect" EC, with a base cost of A and three powers without limitations with active points of A/2 apiece. That costs 2.5A. Now do the same three powers as a Unified power group. We have 3A/1.25 = 2.4A < 2.5A. As the number of powers in the EC increases, the situation gets worse: 4 powers: 3.2A > 3A 5 powers: 4A > 3.5A This may be canceled out by the reduced need to make everything fit under a cap. So far, the EC's I have converted have been cheaper.

The Brick is now a dinosaur You are right. Adding 50 points to the character's base is no compensation at all for the loss of brick effectiveness. A brick pays 50 points to stay in the same place. An MP-based Energy Projector gets an extra 50 points to do something new and wonderful with. Guess who loses the evolutionary race? The Brick is now the dinosaur of the 6th edition Hero rules.

6E is the death of the Brick My calculations support you. In the old system, +10 STR bought +2 REC, +5 STUN, +2 PD. +10 CON bought +2 ED, +2 REC, +5 STUN, +20 END. The net value of +10 STR (cost 10) was 21. The net value of +10 CON (cost 20) was 41. Under the new system, with the new cost for the lost adds, you lose -6.5 points per 10 STR, -10.5 points per 10 CON. Converting your character with +40 STR and +20 CON incurs a loss of 47 points.

I would like to convert a character who had a mental transform from 5e to 6e without losing too much. It appears to be much more costly to build some PSI powers in 6E, to the point where pre-built powers like Mind Blast are a privileged special effect. For example, 1D6 of Mind Blast is 10 per D6, and an ordinary (say +0 Stun-only) Blast is 5 per D6, suggesting that the advantage for turning an ordinary attack to a psionic attack should be +1. My old mental transform was BOECV, Mental defense applies (+1). Line-of-sight came with the deal. I also used Works against EGO, not BODY for +1/4. Now, all psi advantages must be purchased separately: +1/4 for OMCV vs DMCV +1/2 for Line of Sight +1/2 for Invisible power effects (obvious to Mental, invisible to sight) +0 for AVAD (from Power Defense to MD) If I were building my own Mind Blast from a Blast, I would have to pay +1 for an AVAD from ED to Mental Defense, for a whopping +2 1/4. Is there a better way to build my transform power to avoid the cost increase? Thanks.

If a character has ranged martial arts maneuvers like Offensive Shot (+4 DC) or +4 damage classes with ranged attacks, are they entitled to add: 1) +4D6 to each of three normal-damage autofire attacks? 2) +4D6 to an NND EB shot? (I say +2D6). 3) +4D6 to a sight and hearing group Flash shot? 4) +2D6 BODY and 2 DEF to an Entangle shot (with the +1/4 advantage that the entangle and target both take damage)? (These are all slots in a multipower from a single multi-ammo weapon, if that matters). Thanks for your help!

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central I would like to submit a possible backup character for Silverstone, since I know you have your full six now. This is a multiform. Janet Skye/Hypercube, a scientist plus a 4th-dimensional creature wrapped around her as a "powered costume." In this form she is a stretching, growing, shrinking shape-changer and teleporter. I think she would work best with Silverstone because of the research lab connection there.

I'm trying to define a hero with a 4th-dimensional attack that bypasses most defenses. Here's what I came up with: 4-D Poke Inside: NND (+1) not vs. power defense or density or x-dimensional, does body (+1) for up to 30 STR, OIHID (-1/4) The cost is 32 = (20*3 - 20)/(1.25). The END cost is 9. This seems a bit too cost-effective, so I may be doing something wrong. Also, can a naked advantage on STR go in a framework. I notice that Dreadnaught in VV&V has one in his Brick Tricks framework.