Kristopher

I'd rather rely on the GM's discretion for these issues. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with placing all that in an EC, since a character with all that relies on it as much as a a character with END-based powers relies on his END-based powers. Of course, if you start out with the belief that characteristics are under-priced, then it might not seem fair to have them in frameworks. But I don't, so I don't.

In the case of HERO, it's not being used as a clarifier for already-printed rules. It's being used to publish previously unwritten rules. There's NOTHING in the printed rules to indicate that the remaining fractional SPD can't be sold back. Read page 24 and 25, and page 92 (IIRC). Not only is there nothing at all printed about this, the Powers entry for Characteristics SPECIFICALLY uses selling back the remaining fractional SPD as an EXAMPLE. If something is used as an example in the written rules, you can hardly claim that it was always forbidden and that everyone just misunderstood.

As opposed to the attack powers? If the point costs of offensive and defensive powers really are balanced, then it shouldn't matter what is put in a framework.

A) Not everyone has access to the Internet. The FAQ being online doesn't do them any good. This is the 5th edition of the game, a game which has been around for over a decade. If it isn't in print at this point, after all that time and four previous tries, forget it.

I'm not seeing anything about that in FRED. From page 24: Each additional point of SPD costs 10 Character Points. - and - Each 1/10 of a SPD point costs 1 Character Point. There's nothing printed there that even implies that SPD can only be sold back in 10 Character Point chunks. The FAQ? What page of FRED does that begin on? {flipping through FRED} There are some blank pages in the back of my copy of FRED. Did I get a messed up copy? Can I exchange my copy for a copy that has this FAQ thing actually printed? Who do I contact?

Pages 24 and 25 of FRED don't say anything to justify the stance you're taking. Oh, and page 92 of FRED makes a direct reference to selling back SPD: "For example, if the character's DEX was purchased with a -1 Limitation, then any points gained by selling back the character's SPD would be subject to the same limitation..."

Having seen the results of both game-to-game conversion and raw creation within the HERO system, I'd have to say that the latter is a far better approach, and isn't nearly as likely to result in skewed write-ups.

Now THAT would be helpful. (The link to Master List of Limitations at Global Guardians appears to be dead currently. In fact, many of the links appear to be dead.)

What kind of limit would you place on the control cost for "only to duplicate powers from those whose genetic material she has been consumed." (I think I'm beginning to remember a minor Marvel villain who did this.)

I'm feeling lazy. What page of USPD is that on?

(Maybe this has been covered before, but...) First, I'm not sure that absorbtion is the right term, since 1) it's already the name of a specific power, and 2) it implies that the target character losses what the absorbing character gains, which isn't the case. Anyway, the NPC in question adds powers to her repetoir by consuming the genetic material of another mutant. Typically this would be done by drinking a bit of their blood. The problem is, there's no easy way to do this in HERO without giving the NPC gobs of XP every time she gets a chance to snag another power. I suppose there's the massive VPP, but that really doesn't have the feel. Any thoughts? Thanks.

AAAAAAAAARRGH!!!! Stat bloat!!!! I've never seen any reason to place any of those characters or any other at 50 INT. (I guess I can skip the Champions Genre Book of that's the kind of silly advice it's giving.)

I'd give Batman I boosted PER, above what his raw INT would give him. Anyway, as to Danger Sense, I've read the section in the book. IN MY OPINION (that was the "IMO" part), Danger Sense should be reserved for those with some kind of non-normal ability to sense danger, and generally not used to simulate the perceptive or the paranoid.

IMO, Danger Sense is extrasensory, not a matter of training or planning.

{regarding Batman and Danger Sense} I interpret that as a high PER. There's nothing to indicate that Batman has extrasensory powers.

I think part of the problem is that a lot of the long-time comic-book characters end up with a lot of extraneous crap slapped on them when they're written up in HERO, or other systems. Batman, for example, doesn't have Danger Sense, at least not that I've ever seen. He has a high PER, but he does get blindsided or ambushed from time to time. Spider Man has Danger Sense.

I probably wouldn't allow it, but not because of the two reasons you mentioned, because I don't agree with either of those two rules.

Having built quite a few characters that rely largely on the characteristics, I'd have to say I disagree. They get expensive in a hurry if they're what you're depending on for your character's effectiveness. But, I think they're fairly balanced with the powers. STR, for example. 50 pts gets you a 12d6 attack (60 Str from the base of 10 = 50 pts). Yes, the 50 pts also gets you up to 12 PD, but it's not resistant, and hardly enough PD for a Brick or Quasi-Brick, or most other characters for that matter. Etc. DEX...9 pts gets you +1 OCV -and- DCV, and + .3 SPD. 8 pts on an Overall Combat Level gets you +1 OCV -or- DCV, but it is flexible and has some other uses, IIRC. Characteristics are also available to every character, so it's not as if we're comparing two different powers, each of which would typically be limited to two different character types.

Ah, but once you: 1) ignore the silly rule about no zero-END powers in ECs, and 2) ignore the silly rule about Adjustment powers affecting every power in the EC, then everything is fine, and the Martial Artist and the Energy Projector are both rewarded for good concept and design. It's those rules, supposedly put in to balance ECs, that make them so lopsided in favor of some character types in the first place.

The western powers try to be halfway decent about things. A scenario has been proposed that would be such a nightmare as to fundamentally change that. We're talking about a scenario that allies the western powers, China, Russia, and all their allies against 10 to 20 third-world nations. A scenario in which they can't afford to be even halfway decent. If Dr D can field 20,000 300-point troops, what makes you think that US can't field at least that many, never mind the rest of the western powers? This question isn't the same as claiming that real-life US troops would be 300-point characters. If Dr D can field city-busting orbital weapons, what makes you think that the western powers don't have a way to take those weapons out? You can't have a good story in a poorly-made setting. -- Kristopher

Who said anything about holding the territory? Given this nightmare scenario, the western powers would mainly be concerned with devestating the military and industrial infrastructure needed by Destroyerania to build and maintain his fantastic military. You can't hide heavy industry.

That's the problem with 4-color. It's like an old western movie set. Don't look behind the buildings, there's nothing there.

Ah yes, another person who thinks that once you accept one fantastic premise in creating your setting, you have to accept them all. A solid worldbuilding process actually goes something like this: once you assume the fantastic element of super-powers, from there proceed in a logical manner to develop the rest of the world. The typical comic book setting is different in dozens of ways from the real world, and most of those differences have nothing to do with -- and no bearing -- on the presence of super-powers. The people don't act like real people. The governments don't act like real governments. Never mind the inconsistencies and contradictions that build up like plaque in the setting's arteries.

Part of the original premise at the start of this thread is that Dr D's offer is to third-world nations. If Iraq didn't stand a chance against the US back in 1991, when it (Iraq) had the 4th largest army in the world and access to fairly recent Soviet weapons, what makes you think that the combined armies of a score of third-world countries armed with 40-yr-old rifles and a bag of mixed nuts would be more than flies before the cyclone? The only forces of consequence arrayed against the US in that fight would be the 20,000 troops that Dr D brought along. And don't think for a second that the western powers won't have troops every bit as well-trained and well-equiped as anything that Dr D can field. The notion that one man and his private organization can out-do modern developed states is a joke. If Dr D has 1 company of power-armored special forces, the western nations will field 20 companies against them. If Dr D can find half a dozen super-mercs for this army, the western powers will use money, patriotism, whatever, to recruit, train, and field dozens. If Dr D has the best main battle tanks in the world, the US, Britain, and Germany will have three different better-than-best models of tank that outclass it on the battlefield.

Which should be, IMO, a lot easier than taking on 1-1 Cav, 1st Armor.