Gemphyre

Here is an idea. Everyone is talking about material components. How about a spiritual or metaphysical one? Perhaps the willing cooperation of someone of an exceptionally pure spirit. Note: this spiritual person does not necessarily have to be "good". It could even call for the cooperation (or willing sacrifice) of several people of "pure spirit", or some other metaphysical quality. Also, you could draw inspiration from the eastern or western alchemical elements. Western is Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Eastern is usually Water, Air, Metal, Wood, and Fire. Things like for water, you need source of pure deuterium or Tritium (Heavy water). Wood could be a branch from the world's oldest living tree. Metal would be some amount of meteoric metal. Fire could be from a specific active volcano, or plasma. Air could be pure oxygen. What's more, since most of the terms and names used are modern, that means that the person writing the formula would be trying to describe or name the item in terms that he or she knew at the time. And some of them could be changing all the time in location, like a branch from the world's oldest tree.

Re: Martial Arts, Strength, and Weapons in Champions 5E

Re: Martial Arts, Strength, and Weapons in Champions 5E This is a Superheroic Campaign, and the Staff does have some other non-standard abilities built into it. It is paid for by points. So, assuming that I understand you correctly, then the STR damage (3DC) adds to both MA damage (7DC) and the and the Staff damage (4DC). Which means I did have it wrong. Thanks.

I am having a discussion about the rules with respect to Adding Damage to weapons used in Martial Arts Maneuvers. This is using 5th Edition rules. In this case, the character has 15 STR, Martial Strike +2DC, +5 DC in MA, and a 4D6 Staff. The Martial Arts does have the Weapon Element: Staff. From my understanding of the rules, a Martial Strike with the staff would have a total damage of 11D6. Am I missing something or not? Gemphyre

Re: Opinions Desired: Mind Control(Freeze) vs. Mental Paralysis (Entangle w/ BOECV) About the "cannot teleport out of" Advantage, I do know about it. I just wanted to keep the points as close to the same as I could. Besides, the power was in a Multipower that had a 50 pt. level, which was just raised. "Cannot be Teleport Out Of" pushes the Active Point cost above the 50 pt. level.

I am working on an Egoist, and I am trying to figure out which version of a Mental Entangle is overall better. The main choices are between a single command Mind Control and an Entangle with BOECV and related Advantages and Disads. Below are the Builds, in 5th Edition rules, and this is a "standard" superhero campaign. Muscle Lock: Mind Control 8d6 (Human Class of Minds); Telepathic (+1/4) (50 Active Pts); Set Effect : "FREEZE" (-1/2) Real Cost: 40 pts Mental Paralysis: Entangle 2D6, 2 DEF; Takes No Damage from Physical Attacks (+1/4); Works Against EGO, Not STR (+1/4); BOECV (Mental Defense applies)(+1) (50 Active Pts.); Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4) Real Cost: 40 pts. I can see advantages and disadvantages to both builds. The Muscle Lock has the disadvantage of being an "All or Nothing" attack, but it also has the potential of holding an opponent for a longer period of time. It also cannot be teleported out of. The Mental Paralysis, however, will slow all but the strongest Mentalists down for at least one phase, and hold most opponents for at least 2 or 3 of their phases, unless they get very luck on their rolls. It can also be strengthened through multiple applications of the power, up to twice as strong. As the definition stands now, it can be teleported out of, to the best of my understanding of the rules. I am looking for opinions about which you think is a better build overall, and why. Point wise, they are equivalent, but that does not always equate with effectiveness. Thank you in advance.

Re: Character Concept: Redirecting and amplifying teammate's attacks The rules do allow for multiple power attacks, however. The entry for this is in early in the Entering Combat section. (p234 of the original FRED) And it is the TARGET of the Aid that cannot be given powers that he does not already have. Which means that you can Aid someone else's EB. What's more, Missile Reflection states that you make an attack roll against the target of the reflected attack, which means that for this one attack, you effective do have that power. A Triggered Aid may be a better way to go on the Reflected attack, since the Aid will not change the actual SFX, Advantages, or Disadvantages. (xd6 Aid: Trigger (by successful Attack Reflection)(+1/4) Increases the Active points of the reflected attack.)

Re: Character Concept: Redirecting and amplifying teammate's attacks Definitely the same basic idea. I forgot to note that the GM approval is assumed here as long as it is not too outrageous. Certainly, that could work. The amplification is certainly scalable with more experience. PS: I am also a Girl Genius/Phil Foglio fan

Re: Character Concept: Redirecting and amplifying teammate's attacks I had forgotten about the Aid possibility. GM approval is assumed in this case. For something like this, but limitations to reflect that it is Instant rather than having a fade rate, a skill roll to "catch" the shot power, and the amplified power coming from him to the attacker rather than from the originator.

To start off with, I only have 5th edition rules. Budget problems and gamer poor area. Please limit your suggestions to that edition. Here is the concept of a character that I had yesterday. The guy(gal) is basically a living particle accelerator/rail gun. For his personal attacks, a multipower where he magnetically accelerates steel balls, spikes, grenades, and other objects to high speed. This is very straight forward, and not a problem. He also has the ability to Missile Deflect/Redirect many ranged attacks, and can choose the target. Also straight forward, and detailed in the rules. (for now, please ignore the probable limitations of the power due to energy type or object type.) The "unique" idea that I had was that the character was also able to take a TEAMMATE'S or opponent's ranged attack, catch it, "accelerate" it as he does with his own attacks, and then send it to the enemy. Things that are certainly needed. The action needs to be a Coordinated Attack. He has to be ready for it, and the teammate needs to know to fire at this friend. VPP (30 pt. pool as working amount) - limitations: only to increase the power and range of another's attack (i.e. the active points). Retains all the advantages and limitations of the original attack. Cannot be used on own attacks. Can only work once per phase max. (-0) Disad total: -1/2 (?). I have not worked out the numbers. An additional possibility is that this could also be used on opponents' attacks through the Missile Reflection power mentioned above. Catch his attack, pump it up, and send it back to him or his teammate. (successful reflect roll, apply VPP, then attack roll.) Ignoring the multipower, Any suggestions on how to build this power set? Below are the obvious components: Missile Deflection/Reflection: All Ranged Attacks, can choose target of Reflection: 50 pts. (base level for now.) Variable Power Pool: 30 pts. Control cost: 15 / (1 + 1/2) = 10 Only to increase the active points of other people's attacks, does not change the advantages or limitations. -1/2 Skill: Coordinated Attack (base level for now) Opinions and suggestions are welcome. I am sure that I missed some needed items.

I am working on a military super squad, and I have a question about how to build something. This is for the Air Force rep, a mutant high speed flyer (among other powers). In his high speed flight (megascaled), I want him to be able to take on other fighters in a dog fight. What I am trying to model is that he is harder to spot and to lock on to than a regular fighter because he is a human being. He does not have the size, the metal exterior, or the 1500F+ exhaust that are usually used as a basis to design most aircraft and anti-aircraft sensors. Basically, it would a negative perception roll for most standard instruments intended to lock onto other aircraft, mostly based on IR and Radar. It would NOT affect things like missile sensors that are intended to lock on to radio SOURCES, assuming he is acting as one (communicator), or fictional sensors which lock onto mutant signatures (logically possible in a world where mutants exist, and a lot of them fly). Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Re: Military Super Squad How do you figure? There are a number of villains in the various books which have a 30 PRE or higher, and that AVERAGE of 6d6 would only be around PRE or EGO +10 for most villains and troops. Why should only villains have high Presence? Besides, who is to say that the circumstances which gave him his high strength and physical toughness did not also give him the enhanced Presence? Gemphyre

Re: Military Super Squad Answers to questions, with caveat that I have not finished building the character, so everything is subject to change: 1. Officer probably, although a junior grade (O2, O3 max) 2. Rate - undecided, but UD(Seal) is likely. This would also provide the weapons training in any case. 3. Powers have different origins. I am thinking of tying the Marine and Army origins together, and the rest being separate. The Navy may be the product of a Super Soldier project, and they are seeing if he suffers from long term after effects before planning anything else. (Can't have a company/battalion of Supersoldiers go berserk now, can we?) There could be some others that have also undergone the treatments with different results, and thus are in different units. This has not yet been fleshed out completely. 3.a. I am considering making the Air Force person a mutant, and a natural hot shot pilot. For this, since it would be relevant to his "work", add reduced Perception vs. standard aircraft /anti-aircraft sensors (IR, Radar) and weapons(same). The logic behind this is that the sensors and weapons are meant to spot, lock on, and kill aircraft. He does not metal body, the surface area or cross-section, or the high heat signature of an normal aircraft. Gemphyre

Re: Military Super Squad You are correct. That is all the at it was meant to be. A glitch in HD3? Gemphyre

Re: Military Super Squad Yes, please comment on the builds. I have since reduced his base PRE to 30 for other reasons. His max is only 50 (not counting circumstance bonuses). And the +20 PRE would not apply to Dr. Destroyer in any case. I seriously doubt that he has the conditioned reflex to obey that sort of voice that one gets when going through boot camp for any service. In any case, I have added a note to the PRE explaining this more fully. Gemphyre

Re: Military Super Squad Good point on Jarhead. I have changed his name to Devil Dog. As far as calling the Navy character "Seal", I am open to better ideas. The character is still in work. He is fully amphibious, flight, and is the infiltration and demolition expert, plus some other skills (need someone with combat driving ). Actually, he probably did go through BUDS. Gemphyre

Re: Military Super Squad US Sailors generally don't need to fight with hand to hand weapons. We use Ship to Ship weapons. Hand held weapons don't have much effect on other ships. Da** STRAIGHT! We send them into the bullets and enemies, and we stay back in AC comfort of the ship. I do not want them to be mirror images of each other. That is why I am concentrating more on the logical minimums that each service would logically have. Also, there is no reason to think that they went through Special Forces training. While it makes sense that they would have had special training, it is more likely that it would be tailored more for their particular powers. It makes sense that the Marine and the Ao1 to have some Martial Arts since they are both are HtH combatants, and possibly Seal. However, there is no real reason why Ace should have HtH skills. The Commander might not either. If a Air Force pilot gets into HtH combat, that means that he has lost his plane behind enemy lines, and he is in deep, deep trouble.

Re: Military Super Squad The weapon familiarities would not necessarily be true for Navy and Air Force. I certainly did not get any training in either during Navy Basic Training. For this team, you are correct about Teamwork. Perhaps FAM for military personnel in general from boot camp. You are correct about the Military Etiquette. Forgot about that one, and it is pretty much the same across all services. The KS should be service specific however. Another would be at least a 2 pts level of PS: [service Branch]

Re: Military Super Squad : Jarhead [b]Jarhead - [/b] [b][u]VAL[/u] [u]CHA[/u] [u]Cost[/u] [u]Total[/u] [u]Roll[/u] [u]Notes[/u][/b] 45 STR 35 45 18- HTH Damage 9d6 END [4] 23 DEX 39 23 14- OCV 8 DCV 8 30 CON 40 30 15- 13 BODY 6 13 12- 10 INT 0 10 11- PER Roll 11- 10 EGO 0 10 11- ECV: 3 50 PRE 20 50 19- PRE Attack: 10d6 12 COM 1 12 11- 25 PD 16 25 25 PD (20 rPD) 25 ED 19 25 25 ED (20 rED) 5 SPD 17 5 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 15 REC 0 15 60 END 0 60 55 STUN 4 55 7 RUN 2 7" END [1] 5 SWIM 3 5" END [1] 9 LEAP 0 9" 9" forward, 4 1/2" upward [b]CHA Cost: 202[/b] [b][u]Cost[/u] [u]POWERS[/u][/b] 7 [b][i]D.I. Voice and Prescence[/i][/b]: +20 PRE (20 Active Points); Limited Power: Only vs. Military, Ex-Military, and Quasi-Military Personnel (-1), Limited Power: only for Attacks (-1) - END= 25 Damage Resistance (20 PD/20 ED), Hardened (+1/4) (25 Active Points) - END=0 [b]POWERS Cost: 32[/b] [b][u]Cost[/u] [u]MARTIAL ARTS[/u][/b] MA: Dirty Infighting 4 1) Block/Chin Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort 4 2) Disarm: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, Disarm; 55 STR to Disarm 4 3) Eye Gouge: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Flash 11d6, Sight Group Flash 5 4) Hoist 'n Heave: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, -2 DCV, 55 STR , Grab Two Limbs, +20 STR to Throw 4 5) Kidney Blow: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +0 DCV, HKA 1d6 +1 4 6) Low Blow: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, 2d6 NND 4 7) Punch/Backhand: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 11d6 Strike 5 8) Roundhouse/Two Fisted Smash: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, 13d6 Strike 3 9) Throw: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +1 DCV, 9d6 +v/5, Target Falls 3 10) Tackle: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, -1 DCV, 9d6 +v/5 Strike; You Fall, Target Falls; FMove 3 11) Weapon Element: Blades, Clubs, Fist-Loads [b]MARTIAL ARTS Cost: 43[/b] [b][u]Cost[/u] [u]SKILLS[/u][/b] 6 Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Tropical, Desert) 11- 2 Navigation (Land) 11- 3 Persuasion 19- 3 Interrogation 19- 3 Tactics 11- 3 Teamwork 14- 9 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Emplaced Weapons, Small Arms, Flamethrowers, General Purpose/Heavy Machine Guns, Grenade Launchers 3 TF: Tracked Military Vehicles, Two-Wheeled Motorized Ground Vehicles, Wheeled Military Vehicles 3 PS: Marine 19- 2 KS: Marine History and Customs 11- 2 KS: Military World 11- [b]SKILLS Cost: 39[/b] [b][u]Cost[/u] [u]PERKS[/u][/b] 1 Fringe Benefit: Passport 5 Fringe Benefit: Top Secret Clearance: Security Clearance 2 Fringe Benefit: Sergeant [b]PERKS Cost: 8[/b] [b][u]Cost[/u] [u]TALENTS[/u][/b] 11 Inspire 15 Combat Sense 11- [b]TALENTS Cost: 26[/b] [b][u]Value[/u] [u]DISADVANTAGES[/u][/b] 5 Distinctive Features: Several Tattoos, mostly related to Marines and America (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses) 5 Distinctive Features: Military Uniform: (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses) 20 Social Limitation: Subject to Orders (Very Frequently; Major) 15 Social Limitation: Member of a secret, military supersquad (Frequently; Major) 20 Psychological Limitation: Patriot (Common; Total) 20 Psychological Limitation: Archtypical Marine (Very Common; Strong) 20 Psychological Limitation: Sense of Duty to USA and Squad (NO MAN LEFT BEHIND. EVER! SEMPER FI!) (Very Common; Strong) 25 Hunted: Military Chain of Command, Pentagon, Commander 14- (Mo Pow; NCI; PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find; Watching) [Notes: All the Watchers in this Hunted are effectively the same group, just different branches and sets of eyes.] 20 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN Chemical Attacks (Common) [b]DISADVANTAGES Points: 150[/b] Base Pts: 200 Exp Required: 0 Total Exp Available: 0 Exp Unspent: 0 Total Character Cost: 350

I had an idea recently for an NPC teams of supers. Let's face it. America and every other decent sized country would have at least one team of supers for "special missions". Their existence would be denied, of course, and nobody would believe the denials. This is a stab at such a 5 man team. As a background note, while they all have their own military rank, except for the commander (obviously), there is little obvious rank structure within the squad. Every member must have the following Perks and Disads: Perks: Access - Top Secret Clearance Fringe Benefit - Military Rank Fringe Benefit - Passport Disads: 5 pts: Distinctive Features: Military Uniform: (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses) 20 pts: Social Limitation: Subject to Orders (Very Frequently; Major) 15 pts: Social Limitation: Member of a secret, military supersquad (Frequently; Major) 25 pts: Hunted: Military Chain of Command, Pentagon, Commander 14- (Mo Pow; NCI; PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find; Watching) The team itself is still in work, but here is what the basic powers and names are: Jarhead (Marine) : Mid level Brick, Martial Arts, high PD/ED, Hardened, Resistant, High Pre. Army of One (Army): Brick, Duplication, Weapons, High Defs Seal (Navy): Amphibious adaptations, flight, infiltration, demolitions Ace (Air Force): Hotshot pilot, high speed flight, FF at high speed, No Turn Mode, some weapons, prefers move thrus and bys. The Commander: Presence, Mentalist specializing in MC The reason that Jarhead has Martial Arts is that it is a part of Basic Training for all Marines. He just made sure that he got good at it. (Note: I work with Marines every day.) What I am trying to figure out is if he would have the Dirty Infighting style or the Commando style. I could see arguments for both. Also, I figure that variations of Fastball specials and coordinated attacks would be common, especially with Ao1 and Jarhead as the fastballs. I will post them (sans histories) as I complete them. Gemphyre

Re: What does a Time Elemental do?

Re: Need help with a name If the sidekick is oriental, or perhaps likes anime, how about the Japanese word for "fox", which is "kitsune"? Other languages can provide other suggestions as well. Gemphyre

This question makes more sense than you might think. I have 5th Ed. rules, and I have not had a chance or the money to get 6th yet, so please keep your answers to 5th Ed. There is a character in my campaign who is an "champion" of Artemis. She has some points available, and thinking of upping some powers and skills. My question is, what is the relationship between the Tracking Skill, and the Tracking Enhanced Sense Adder. They both allow one to follow identified prey on successful perception rolls. And I imagine that most people have seen enough XMen to have seen instances where Wolverine tracks people by scent. Would the Tracking Enhanced Sense complement the Tracking Skill? Would you be required to make the sense roll to have a chance at the skill roll or not? What if you get the sense roll and miss the skill roll? Or miss the sense roll and make the skill roll? How would these answers change if the Tracking Sense was something that a normal person could not detect, like magic, or mental powers (Mental Awareness w/ Tracking), or a mutant? Thank you for your answers. Gemphyre

The thread on classic superheroes/villains tropes finally caused a conversation I had with a comic book artist/writer from about 20 years ago to bubble up. I forget who the writer was, but he was working for Dark Horse Comics, and working on the book "Gold Diggers", IIRC. This conversation took place at a SF con. Basically, we were talking about his story line when I made the observation that it seemed that for pretty much every female hero with her own book, the main antagonist/archenemy is always male, and usually attractive. Since there was a major female villain already in the storyline, I suggested that he either have her only appear to be a minion and actually be the "power behind the throne", or that she take over the organization and remain the heroines' primary antagonist. I do realize why this female/male dichotomy usually exists. It is supposed to create some sort of sexual tension and innuendo similar to what exists between Batman and Catwoman, and it is playing to the main audience of teen and young adult males. At the time, I was simply suggesting a way to make his book a bit different. Gemphyre

Re: Transform: Class of mind Not really. No. No. No. These answers are based on my concept of the power. Gemphyre