CorPse

Re: What rule don't people know?

That you can be both stunned and knocked out with the same blow - and have to recover from being stunned first.

Hmm... Are you sure about this one? I seem to remember somebody asking Steve this in a post, and he replied that when you're knocked out that trumps being stunned... you just recover normally after that based on how unconscious you are.

Anybody else?

Re: What rule don't people know?

I could be misremembering' date=' or I could be remembering a house rule. That's the problem with getting old...[/quote']

 

Don't worry there's a cure for Transeditional Dementia...

 

Just read one page of the FREd every day...

 

And then, about a year and half later...

 

Start over...

 

Repeat as often as necessary.

Re: What rule don't people know?

It works like this (the same in both 4th ed. and 5th ed.):

 

You are hit with a Killing Attack.

 

Do you have any of the appropriate Resistant Defense?

 

If yes, then...

1. Subtract your Resistant Defense from the BODY of the Killing Attack.
   
2. Subtract your total Defense from the STUN of the Killing Attack.

If no, then you take all the BODY and STUN from the Killing Attack.

Yes, the Rhinobunny has it.

Re: Shoot 'em Up

On a side note, it's almost like someone said to Clive Owen, "You want to make them pay for not giving you James Bond...?"

(That having been said, I thought Daniel Craig was a solid 007.)

Re: Shoot 'em Up

I'm in the minority. I'd like to see it for the chance to see Paul Giamatti as an action star.

I was all about that myself, but I found PG a little disappointing in this. Can't decide if he was too over the top or not over the top enough.

Clive Owen is sort of a wonderful straight-man, though. Never winks at the camera... he manages to approach this over the top beast of a film like it's some film noir. Very enjoyable.

Re: What rule don't people know?

based on a game at ConQuest - stun multiple (from hit location) is applied before defenses' date=' not after.[/quote']

 

Hmmm... isn't it different depending on whether it's killing or normal damage? I'll admit to fuzzing out on this one. (I don't usually play in games that use hit locations.)

Re: What rule don't people know?

Good one. I've been playing since '83, or was it '84?, and I don't remember that one at all. Has a logic to it, though.

 

For some reason this reminds me of the Haymaker makeover between, 4th & 5th ed....

Speaking of Haymakers, even if I do quote myself, I end up having the "You Can Haymaker, THAT?" conversation with someone about every three months.

Re: What rule don't people know?

I'm the only one that I ever game with that converts skill levels into extra damage.

Yeah... I think a lot of people are unaware of the adding damage rules... some of them are a little fuzzy to me. I have to remind myself, even with the rule you mention, about what you get on a Killing Attack vs. a Normal Attack, etc.

Re: What rule don't people know?

Well' date=' if you count rules that people handle "wrongly" because rules have changed from edition to edition, and they still use an old version of the rule, then I'd say the one I see most frequently is assigning a -1 OCV to an attacker if they made a Half-Move before attacking. That hasn't been an official rule in almost 20 years, but there are still a lot of people who use it, with many (most?) of those seemingly unaware that the official rule changed...[/quote']

 

Good one. I've been playing since '83, or was it '84?, and I don't remember that one at all. Has a logic to it, though.

 

For some reason this reminds me of the Haymaker makeover between, 4th & 5th ed....

Is there a rule or system feature that, in your experience, people seem the most ill-informed about?

I've played in a fair number of convention games, and while I avoid challenging a GM or another player about a rule, there are times when I think, "Man, that just ain't in the book."

As an example, I recently played in a game where the GM had gotten the idea that a character had to lock in a multipower slot on his Dex whenever he had an active phase. (It might not sound like much, but it can seriously hose you up if you're trying to delay.)

And there are certainly rules that I discover that I've been wrong about. For example, last year I tumbled to the fact that penalties that halve your DCV aren't cumulative. (ie if you're stunned and prone you're just at 1/2 DCV)

So, anyway, is there anything you find yourself explaining to other people every time you turn around?

Just curious

Re: Is this too dark for DC?

And that's coming from the guy who runs Punk style games pretty much non-stop.

Hmmm... now I'm curious

Punk style as in cyberpunk or guys with shaved heads and such.

I don't want to get too off thread, but, like I said, I'm curious.

Re: Favorite Anti-Brick tricks?

I'm a big fan of my character's white noise arrow' date=' basicaly a nice little AVLD vs Flash Defense Hearing[/quote']

 

Good one... haymaker that bad boy...

 

I think in 4th Ed Primus agents used to have Batons that did a 4d6 Stun Drain with a huge return delay. Enough of those guys and you could really hurt a Brick. (Just make sure they have health insurance!)

Re: Favorite Anti-Brick tricks?

Two words:

Mental Paralysis.

Your average brick will chew on that for a long time...

...a long time where, with any luck, you're pulling haymakers from a safe distance.

Re: Favorite Anti-Brick tricks?

Legsweep him' date=' then go for a Pushed max-damage strike while he's at 1/2 DCV and OCV. Better yet, get the rest of the team to go for a coordinated attack to put him down for good.[/quote']

 

Not a bad setup, but it's good to try to wait him out if you can... hold and let him go first unless you're going to lose a phase. That way he can't block, etc.

 

And, is prone 1/2 DCV & OCV? I just thought it was 1/2 DCV?

Re: Is this too dark for DC?

Indeed. This is exactly the kind of thing that led to events like the French Revolution and the Russian Civil War: wealthy and important nobles doing whatever they wanted to peasants and serfs; and their victims getting fed up with it and revolting. Societies like that would be (and are) inherently unstable because the majority has no stake in the system.

 

OTOH, it might be interesting to play characters who are working to overthrow this corrupt system. Play the founding fathers rather than King George III or Louis XVI.

Yeah, I like the idea of a vigilante resistance.

And as for unstable societies... you don't even have to look into the past for such systems. Leaf through some back issues of The Economist and you'll find enough dysfunctional states for a dozen DC campaigns.

Re: Is this too dark for DC?

I think it all comes down to what you and your group wants to do.

Everybody's taste is different, and if you want to explore this terrain, go for it.

For my money, a lot of supers-based games are infantile and I'd rather see somebody do something a little daring and interesting.

I briefly ran a DC game in LA that starred an EMT with a drug problem, a prostitute, and a local knee-breaker. It got a little ugly at times, but the players enjoyed it and explored some strange, and sometimes really interesting, dynamics.

So whatever happens... good for you for thinking about throwing something else into the mix.

Hello Steve,

I played a game this weekend with a GM who interprets the information below to mean that a character must always choose his Multipower slots on his Speed when his Dex comes up. (The only exception is when he aborts.)

I was pretty stunned since I've been playing for a long time and I'd never heard this.

So, my question is when may a character distribute/choose a multipower slot?

5ER pg. 321-322

DISTRIBUTING MULTIPOWER POINTS

A character can change the way his Multipower reserve points are distributed or allocated as a Zero Phase Action. However, unless the GM permits otherwise, he may not distribute or allocate reserve points more than once in a Phase. For example, he could not allocate reserve points to a Teleportation slot at the beginning of his Phase, make a Half Move with Teleportation, then reallocate points to his Energy Blast slot and attack with the Energy Blast — having allocated his reserve points once already at the beginning of his Phase, he cannot change that allocation until his next Phase (or unless he Aborts to do so in a later Segment).

Between Phases a character can only allocate reserve points by Aborting his next Phase (see page 361). Of course, he can only do this if it would constitute a defensive action.

Re: Is "Hollywood-style" decompression accurate?

Also, to save future time and effort, if anyone is thinking of asking "Is 'Hollywood-style' (fill in the blank) accurate?" here's the answer...

 

NO.

Hey, even a stopped clock is right... blah, blah, blah...

Re: Can you choose not to Regenerate?

I believe his position was "See page XX of 5ER for an example build of Regeneration using Healing" or something like that.

 

Mr. Long doesn't like discussing design philosophy, and all he can really say about the example build is that it's an example and you can build Regeneration anyway you like.

I see. Thank you.

Re: Can you choose not to Regenerate?

The character could have a secret ID or espionage skills. Getting injured in one of those situations and then immediately healing could blow the cover.

Interestingly... this is just the sort of character that started the discussion.

Re: Can you choose not to Regenerate?

Man, pretty sadistic... but a point well made, Cancer.

Re: Can you choose not to Regenerate?

The build allows you to turn it off, but the official build for regeneration requires that you include 'self only'.

 

Mind you I'm not a fan of the official build, and not just for that reason - I'm still maintaining that 'Persistent' does not do what everyone seems to think that it does, and the power requires 'Continuous' as well. I appreciate that I am a one man band on this.

I scrolled up to make sure, and Self Only (-1/2) is included above.

Have you ever had the Persistent/Continuous debate with Mr. Steve? Curious to know the position he took on this...

Re: Can you choose not to Regenerate?

Even so' date=' I'd be reluctant to allow Always On as more than a -0 Limitation for Regeneration. At least not without a better idea of how the power will be less effective without being able to turn it off.[/quote']

 

Good point...

 

I guess you could make the case that someone could Mind Control you to turn it off... but something like that would be worth maybe (-1/4).

Re: Can you choose not to Regenerate?

Thanks... you gave me a nice little chuckle...

I'll admit it. I am feeling lazy... or is it tired?

Anyway, I could probably dig in the book to find this, I reckon, but I'm guessing "somebody already knows."

Okay so here's the power... straight-up 5th ed Healing/Regeneration:

Regeneration 3 BODY, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (60 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 1 Turn (Post-Segment 12) (-1 1/4), Self Only (-1/2)

So, if I have this power, can I choose not to regenerate when Post-Segment 12 rolls along? If not, is there a way to build Regeneration so you can control it when you are conscious? (Obviously, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it when he's unconscious.)

I've got a player that wants to hide this ability sometimes.