I'm totally new to the HERO System. I just got the 6th Ed Basic Rulebook this week, and it's a lot to absorb. But right now, I've got some questions, mostly relating to how to build certain ideas my group has had.
Number one is a spell called Sphere Of Silence. I looked at darkness, and figured that affecting the Hearing Group instead of the Sight Group might work. But how I imagine it, there's a major problem with this plan. One of the favorite uses of this spell is giving a conversation an added level of privacy, but Darkness on the Hearing Group mutes all sound inside, instead of allowing a conversation to take place inside, inaudible to everyone else.
So, I looked at Barrier, and sure enough, there's an option to make it opaque to a sense group. Choosing the Hearing Sense Group covers that aspect, but it's really not much of a Barrier. It stops sound, including Sonic Attacks, but arrows, lightning bolts, lasers, and even people can pass through it freely, either direction. So, I guess I'm looking at a limitation. Maybe -1? Or 1 and a half? Would that be about right?
The other fun use for the spell is blocking outside noise, allowing for better concentration when casting long complicated spells. Would this be Aid, with an Area Effect advantage? And to make both the Aid and Barrier effects last long enough for that, she'd need to buy some advantages for both. Right? To make them Persistent?
The Second power is a spell to make herself more persuasive. I've thought about simple boosting her Presence, but that targets her, so how resistant to magic her target is never really comes into play. Could she instead use Drain to reduce one of their stats so she could more easily persuade them? Which stat would that be? What should the defense be? EGO? DMCV?
Finally, let's say for example, I want to build a character whose ring has a mind of its own, literally. And it speaks to him Mentally. Mind Link would be good, except that it only works on a willing target, which the wearer won't always be. So, there's another good option called Telepathy. I don't want it to have to spend into Telepathy all the time, so Reduced Endurance Cost is good. But it makes me wonder how exactly Telepathy works normally, as well as with the Constant or Persistent advantages. From what I can tell, it doesn't have much need for Persistent, but I'd like to be sure.