Kristopher

Poor us, we can't be affected by telekinesis.

So let's say I have a character that's a demon (long story) but can assume a form that outwardly appears to be his former human shape. The only things he loses in his "human" form are his claws (Armor Piercing for STR) and wings (Flight). His stats, other powers (armor, full life support, regen, senses, etc), and so on, stay the same. His real form is now his demonic form, all dracononian and scarey looking. Is the best power to use for this Shapeshift (one form)?

I'm going to have to leave work early and stop by the liquor store after the Paladium flashback you just induced.

With me, it's not that I don't like change. I specifically don't like rule changes in supplements. It's a gaming pet-peeve. If I buy the basic book, that should be enough to run the game. Rules additions, extra powers, extra abilities, I can deal with, and sometimes I even like them. But actual *changes* to the rules, no way. Specific to this case, I don't like the fact that rules changes requiring the expenditure of more points for the same effect are being tacked on in supplements. If they also end up in the FAQ or another freely and readily available form, I can deal with them. Personally, I consider the FAQ a -- maybe THE -- valid place for those kinds of changes.

Demi-Brick? That works. (The GM from the campaign that character was in refered to the range of characters that fall in the grey area between Bricks and Martial Artists as "Hand to Hand" characters.) PS: I forgot to mention the 5 SPD.

It seems that most of the people who have commented in this thread have agreed that expansions on the rules and powers are good, but that rules changes that restrict and/or increase the cost of a power that are printed in supplements are detrimental to the HERO system.

Would a character with the following physical stats be considered a brick? 40 STR 25 DEX 30 CON 12 BODY 60 END 50 STUN 15 REC 25 (15r) PD 25 (15r) ED Armor Piercing x1 for STR 15" Flight 2 Levels of Regeneration Full Life Support (50 points worth)

This really sounds a lot more like Telepathy with lots of modifers, than a skill. I don't think the cost or nature of a skill really reflects what the ability does.

But that's GURPS, which, to be frank, stinks.

Um, not to burst your bubble, but your whole post is pretty much a giant appeal to authority.

"I'm sorry, but that character isn't written up correctly. You obviously didn't read the sidebar in Obscure Supplement #1092, in which..." Unless they're published in the FAQ, I don't consider _changes_ to the rules are printed in FRED to be official. Additions to the rules, fine. More rules, fine. But _changes_ to the base rules? No way. As for Stormfront...so what? I've never heard of Stormfront, I have no idea where Stormfront is in print, and IMO it's rather silly to go back and claim that a rule was implied by some character's write-up.

Now you're just confused.

As I've already said, that was meant in a strictly in-game, mechanical sense. All I care about is whether 3d6 RKA sufficiently translates the real-world lethality of a .50BMG into game-mechanics lethality.

What we don't know is if the PCs had a chance to diffuse the ambush situation before their loved-ones got killed.

Which isn't a contradiction at all. Mechanically, that's entirely true.

The answer is, "neither." The idea that a .50BMG is only 3 times as powerful as a 9mm is laughable. The idea that there is a simple, direct, and strict power to damage relationship of any kind in HERO is laughable.

The kinetic energy DOES NOT CHANGE. Increase the mass the instant of impact, and you decrease the velocity at the instant of impact. Yes, the downward acceleration is the same. That's WHY the character travels a shorter distance if his velocity is reduced. If it takes the character 3 seconds to hit the ground regardless of how far he travels forward, then cutting his velocity in half reduces the distance he travels before he hits the ground by half. Velocity = distance/time. Less velocity means less distance over the same time. Same energy, more mass, less velocity, less distance. Simple physics.

Irrelevent.

So they are in FRED. Excellent. A GM of mine used to have them as a house rule, but I missed them reading through the new book. Thanks.

You're missing the point. Real life damage and lethality are far more complicated than damage, def, and BODY. So much more complicated, in fact, that you're not going to get the kind of clean and simple corelation between KE and dice of damage.

Absolutely. You'll get no disagreement from me on the basic concept there. I've been in those fights playing the character who couldn't do much direct damage, and still did more to control the fight than any other PC. But...smaller groups, different atmosphere, etc, change the equation.

Ugh. Not good. Anyway, as I pointed out earlier, each doubling of the mass decreases the velocity significantly. If you Grow or DI much, you fall to the ground before you ever get to the target, because even a projectile accelerates downward at 9.8m/s^2 at least around here.

Actually, I'm not going to do either one. I'm not concerned with any kind of between real-world kinetic energy and HERO Damage Classes. There may be a coincidental relationship, but I honestly don't care and don't think it's at all important. The only thing that's important is approximating the real-world lethality of an attack or weapon, and the real-world lethality isn't a simple matter of kinetic energy. KE is a **factor**, but it's not the only factor by any stretch. KE is only part of what determines the degree of damage done to, well, a chunk of rock. Angle matters, material composition matters, shape and structure matter, etc, etc, etc.

Wow, much greater SPD range as well, which does help offset the other ranges being greater (more chances to do damage, more chances to take RECs).

Thank you, again, D-Man. Sincerely. That's a better answer than I was going to provide.