Armitage

6E1 370 says "If a power with Continuing Charges is bought through a Multipower or VPP, and the character switches to another slot after using a Continuing Charge, the Continuing Charge does not immediately turn off." However, that page and 6E1 401 (Frameworks with Charges) both say to "examine...carefully to ensure they don't unbalance the game" and "monitor this sort of power contruct to prevent abusiveness". Remember: How many Champions players does it take to change a lightbulb? That's a GM call.

The Line Gun in the Hero System Equipment Guide has a Winch slot built as: Telekinesis (10 STR) (15 Active Points); OAF (-1), Only To Pull Objects Towards User (-1/2), Affects Whole Object (-1/4), Limited Range (30m; -1/4). Total cost: 5 points.

The item I was looking at was the Ring of the Pomarj, from the 1e AD&D Greyhawk Adventures hardcover, which is actually more powerful than I described, but more directly based on the personal power of the wearer. The number of Tasks would be less than I calculated. I used 12th level to determine the number of orcs and length of service, but forgot to halve it for the number of weeks.

Suppose you have a magic item that allows you to summon an army of orcs. Once per year you can activate the device. Over the next week, 1000 orcs gather from the surrounding area (they have to inhabit the area). They remain in your service for up to three months. They can only be gathered for one specific purpose, and disband if you deviate from it, or if you mistreat them too badly. Normally, this might be designed as a Summon, but since each Phase of combat is treated as a Task, a three month military campaign would require an exorbitant number of Extra Tasks; if they only spend 5% of their time in actual combat, that's about 97,000 Tasks. Slavishly Loyal can't be used, since they're not. Would it be unbalancing to use Followers with a Continuing Charge? Ring of Orc Summoning: Followers (1000 55-point Orcs) (61 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Week, Only to Activate, -2 1/4), 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Season which Recovers every 1 Year (-1), Only To Complete One Specific Objective (-1/2), Followers Must Inhabit Locale (-1/2), IIF (Magic Ring; -1/4). Total cost: 11 points. vs Ring of Orc Summoning: Summon 1,000 55-point Orcs, Friendly (x25,000 as many tasks; +4) (305 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Week, -4 1/2), 1 Charge which Recovers every 1 Year (-4), Summoned Being Must Inhabit Locale (-1/2), Only To Complete One Specific Objective (-1/2), IIF (Magic Ring; -1/4). Total cost: 28 points (assumes an EGO high enough for a base 4 Tasks)

You could also use the optional rule in Fantasy Hero and the Hero System Equipment Guide that armor provides reduced protection against energy attacks, rather than equal PD/ED. e.g. boiled leather armor provides 3 rPD but only 1 or 2 rED, depending on how you round it. It would also fit with D&D having Armor bonuses and Damage Reduction separate from Energy Resistance.

I think machines are different enough from living minds to justify them being kept separate. Personally, I would make mental powers that work against machines a -0 modifier, if they only work against machines. If normal Telepathy, Mind Control, etc. doesn't work on machines and the modified version only works on machines, I'd call it a wash. I recall someone here telling a story about a PC who was completely immune to a villain's mental powers because he was an elf, and the villain's powers only worked against the Human class of minds. I feel that was taking it too far.

6E2 38 states that any bonuses or penalties to the Range Modifier don't apply within 8 meters, since there's no Range Modifier to increase or decrease at that point.

I had another thought on this. If Long-Term Endurance is in effect, then Increased Endurance Cost, Only In Certain Circumstances might work. Specifically, x2 Endurance Cost, Only if a power is used more than once in a Turn. Building and unleashing the same "pattern of mystical force" multiple times in rapid succession is a greater strain than doing it once and allowing those specific "mystic channels" time to recover. e.g. A wizard has END 30, REC 5, and SPD 3. He has a 70 Active Point Fireball spell prepared (Killing Attack - Ranged 2 1/2d6, Increased Maximum Range (800m; +1/4), Area Of Effect (8m Radius; +1/2)). Phase 4: Fireball. -7 END, 23 remaining. Phase 8: Fireball. -14 END, 9 remaining. Phase 12: Fireball. -14 END, -5 remaining. Wizard takes 3d6 STUN. He's burned 34 END in one Turn, and 34/5 = 6.8 so, rounding to 7, he uses 32 Long-Term Endurance, locking him at -2 END. He's dead on his feet and taking STUN from any exertion until he has time to rest. This could be partially averted by allocating the Pool to the same spell multiple times. If the spell costs 21 Real Points, then using 42 Pool points will allow him to use the spell twice in a Turn without costing double END. I'm not sure that this Limitation should apply to spontaneous casters, since their whole schtick is being able to cast the same handful of spells over and over, sacrificing versatility for firepower. It could also tie into a post I made some time ago about a Talent designed as +x REC, Only To Calculate LTE From Spells (-2). Obviously, it would need a house rule on how much extra REC a character can buy, based on the maximum Active Points of their spells.

A fantasy priest character has a variable Power Pool representing his ability to channel his deity's power. Divine Magic: Variable Power Pool, 30 base + 60 control cost, (60 Active Points); all slots Requires A Roll (Faith Power Skill roll; -1/2), Only When Serving The God's Purposes (-1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4). Total cost: 43 points. It's a standard VPP; changing powers requires a Full Phase and a Skill Roll, in addition to the Skill Roll needed to actually cast the spells. The character also has an ability based on 3.5 D&D's spontaneous healing. He can dump powers from the VPP and replace them with Simplified Healing as a 0-Phase Action with no Skill Roll. Essentially, it's Cosmic (+2) as a Naked Advantage, with the Limitation One Type Of Power-Simplified Healing (-1 1/2) applied to the Advantage. The rules say "Generally, a character cannot purchase a naked Power Advantage or Adder that adds to any slot in a Power Framework", but since this applies to the Framework itself, it could be legal, in theory. Would this be a Single-Power Naked Advantage, costing 11 Real points (+2 adds 27 Real Points to the Pool, -1 1/2 Limitation), or a Group Naked Advantage, costing 24 Real Points (+2 applied to 30 Active Points, -1 1/2 Limitation). Technically, the Framework is a "single power", but it's not a power in the conventional sense.

I've toyed with the idea of using Damage Negation to distinguish between flexible and rigid armor, kind of like the Light Armor and Heavy Armor in Godlike and Wild Talents. Resistant Protection is flexible armor like Kevlar, chain mail, super-tough skin, or a superhero's bulletproof Spandex costume. It resists penetration, but still deforms and transfers kinetic energy to the wearer. i.e. You don't take BODY, but probably still take STUN. Damage Negation is rigid armor like battlesuits, plate armor, or skin covered with metal or slabs of stone. If an attack isn't powerful enough to penetrate, it bounces off with no effect. If it can get through, the excess tears into your vulnerable flesh underneath.

In Champions Powers, personal ice slides are built as a Multipower with Running and Gliding, both with Physical Manifestation. The ability to create ice slides to carry people to the ground was built as Flight, Area Effect-Line, Usable As Attack, Physical Manifestation, but that was a Defense power specifically intended to catch falling people or otherwise allow people to safely travel from a height straight to the ground. It was built with Only To Slide People To The Ground (-¼).

Given that one of the things he wants to do but hasn't been able to is stop his aging, a wish for immortality or eternal youth would probably be in there somewhere. Once he has an unlimited amount of time, he might not even use the lamp any more. "I have no need of such trinkets. I shall conquer the world with my own might and intellect."

They may have been adapting or reproducing the tables from the 4E version of Fantasy Hero. It had conversion material for GURPS, Rolemaster, and AD&D.

It can be found with the Wayback Machine web archive. http://web.archive.org/web/200402032...ff/csheets.htm Someone on another forum said that the file was corrupted, but I just downloaded and opened it with no problems.

I'm a little late, but the 4e Hero Bestiary had an orangutan. 23 STR.

It was also mentioned in the 4e Champions Universe book that the Vandaleur twins had begun working extensively with Eurostar, although they hadn't officially joined the team.

In Volume 3: Buzzsaw pays 38 points for a saw launcher and 5 points for second one; Double Dealer pays 11 points for a sword multipower and 5 points for another one; Mantara pays 60 points for a water cannon multipower and 5 points for a second one; and Stiletto pays 10 points for a fighting knife and 15 points for five more of them.

Not me. I remember reading a 3.5 adventure, Red Hand of Doom maybe, in which the commander of the army defending a town under siege from an army of goblinoids gets shot with a poisoned arrow. He can't be cured because all of the clerics in town have used up their spells healing the rest of the army. I thought "How would that work in a system in which spells don't have Charges?" I realized that a viable alternative might be for all of the clerics to be unconscious or nearly so because they've exhausted themselves working around the clock healing people.

Changing a VPP out of combat doesn't require a Skill roll; it just takes between 1 Turn and 1 Minute. It's only changing it in combat that requires a roll. The Advanced Player's Guide II and 6E Fantasy Hero both have a Delayed Use Limitation. For - 1/4 a power can't be used in consecutive Phases. Each step down the Time Chart is an additional -1/4.

The 5-point Doubling Rule for foci and other equipment is 6E2 181 and Champions Complete 161

To be honest, it's intended as a Heroic-level semi-3.5 D&D adaptation. The spells available for the Pool can be increased by finding them and spending time and money to put them in the spellbook. Multipowers are for Sorcerers who have fixed spells (the slots that they've bought) but can change powers as a 0-Phase action with no Skill roll. It's an attempt to recreate the greater flexibility vs. easier availability without doing a straight conversion. (I'm familiar with Killer Shrike's page; I have it bookmarked.)

Suppose that a wizard character has his spell-casting abilities represented by a standard Variable Power Pool that can be changed in combat with a Full Phase action and a Power Skill roll at -1 per 10 Active Points. The Pool is limited to the specific pre-generated spells that he has in his spellbook. The Skill roll represents him recalling the formulas in the book and properly setting up the necessary pattern of magical energy in his mind, to be released when the spell is cast. However, once a power in the Pool is used, it can't be used again until it's cleared from the Pool and recreated with another Full Phase action and Skill roll. Would Lockout be an appropriate Limitation for this? It's normally used for a power that prevents the use of other powers while it's in effect, but it seems the best fit. For example, a wizard with a 70 point VPP spends a Full Phase and makes a Power Skill roll at -7 to set up a Fireball spell. Fireball: Killing Attack - Ranged 2 1/2d6, Increased Maximum Range (800m; +1/4), Area Of Effect (8m Radius; +1/2) (70 Active Points); OAF Expendable (Difficult to obtain new Focus; Ball of sulfur and bat guano; -1 1/4), Lockout (-1/2), Requires A Roll (Power Skill roll; -1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4). Total cost: 17 points. Once he casts the Fireball, he can't cast it again until he spends another Full Phase and makes another Skill roll at -7. Of course, he could also allocate 34 points of his Pool and be able to use Fireball twice before needing to reset. The idea is to avoid a wizard just casting the same spell Phase after Phase after Phase, without resorting to Vancian fire-and-forget. It also enhances the value of things like scrolls and wands, since they would allow a spell to be used multiple times without requiring a Pool reset.

Looking through the various Star Hero books, I can't find an indicator of when the technology to build space elevators becomes available. According to Alien Wars, at the time of the Xenovore Wars Humanity was ATRI 9 on the Senate Worlds and ATRI 8 on the Colony Worlds. It also states that orbital elevators are "cheap and easy to use" and "popular on many worlds", but it doesn't indicate if that only applies to Senate Worlds or to all Human worlds. So...ATRI 8 or ATRI 9 for space elevators? Given the advanced material technology that would be needed, I'm leaning toward 9.

It would be less than government sanction, to still take advantage of Burdeau v. McDowell (1921). i.e. evidence obtained by private citizens is admissible in court, even if it was obtained in a way that would make it inadmissible if a sanctioned law enforcement officer did it.

Aaron Williams' new comic Use Sword On Monster features a magically enhanced human who has been issued a "Hack-N-Slash License" by the Department of Homeland Supernatural Security, authorizing him to use his abilities to protect civilians from supernatural threats. In an early comic he receives a text from the DHSS alerting him to a nearby crisis, but it's not yet clear if he's an actual government agent, or the superhuman equivalent of a volunteer firefighter. In any case, it got me thinking about a level of superhero authorization somewhere between government sanction and guy-in-tights; sort of the superhero equivalent of a Private Investigator's License. However, looking at the PI Package Deal in Dark Champions and the Private Investigator entry on Wikipedia, neither really indicate any particular advantage to having a license. Is it just a way to say "I'm a certified professional, not a random person", like a License to Practice Medicine? Would the authorities be more likely to cooperate with you? Be less likely to kick you out of a crime scene if you can justify your presence? More likely to share information if it doesn't endanger a case?