Blue Jogger

Originally posted by rayoman

Do you allow warriors to take VPPs or MPs to simulate Martial Manuevers or fantastic fighting abilities?

In a way, they already do. I've seen an Half-Orge with exceptional strength (30) and its fantastic fighting ability of slaying a minor demon that the magic characters (a mage and a cleric) were helpless against. The spells were low level (20 active) and the Half-Orge had his amazing 2D6 Great Sword (4D6 w/STR or 60 active). That plus his combat levels (which went into OCV) and his massively heavy armor (which is why he didn't worry about DCV) made him unstoppable.

Especially with FREd, a fighter can have many fantastic fighting abilities such as Two-Hand Weapon Fighting. That with bonuses to Sweep and you can wade into a crowd with fantastic ability.

There's also different manuevers for Elfs with Autofire.

But there's nothing wrong with the classic magical sword done with a Multipower.

Edit: Most Fantasy Hero games I've seen, all players had some magic or fantastic ability.

The reason that it was Flight instead of Running was an old rule in Champions.

In old Champions, Running didn't have a non-combat movement, Flight automatically did. I quote from the 1981 Champions (page 62):

The following formula determines a character's maximum noncombat Flight speed.

 

Max Flight = (Pts. in Flight/5) x Flight inches/phase

This was changed in the Big Blue Book.

A few things to remember about a believable future.

Problems are solved, new problems develop.

If people don't need money, people will still crave power or adventure or a new vice or just plain danger. People may not need jobs, but they need to do something. Even if it's roleplaying.

Although computers would probably be implantable by then, you might still want computers to have terminals (although voice activated) and be as annoying as their 20th century counterpart. Why? Because, it's different, yet familar. If computer problems don't exist in 27th century, it won't be believable. However, the things you can do with a 27th century computer should be impressive since everything is connected and probably on-line (even if it shouldn't).

Medicine will be different. Things that were incurable now are waved away with a simple shot. You will still need to be looked at by a doctor who will scan you, look at the numbers and tell you to come back in about a year. Even though it's a 1/100000 chance that you will develop anything worth worrying about. (Unless you are a PC playing with experimental stuff)

If replicators exist, make sure you know what limits them. Else everyday will be Christmas with an electronic Santa building everything for the PCs. You can be rude and give them an amazing replicator bill at the end of the month. "Replications aren't free."

OR make sure that anything of value can't be replicated. Especially computers, replicators, certain starship parts. Stuff that can't be replicated (for any reason) will be valuable.

Remember next time, when you have to beat him to a pulp manually (because he changed the frequency, etc). Use a powerful, broadband, miltary-strength radio jammer.

"Cool. He didn't blow up. Let's yank out his brains and use him as the headquarter's new maid."

Don't worry, those Swiss Army Knifes are still great.

10 Multipower (15 Active)- OIF

1 - +5 STR - Corkscrew / Screwdriver / Bottleopener

1 - 1/2 D6K - Scissors

1 - +1/2 D6K (1D6K w/STR) - Knife

1 - +3 Lockpicking - Metal Toothpick

1 - Detect Short Distance - Fold up ruler

1 - Image, Only to make light - Flashlight

And because it's Champions...

1 - HRRH - Mini 2-way TV

1 - Eidetic Memory - Mini Camcorder w/ Display

1 - Image, Only makes red dot - Laser Pointer

1 - 1D6K - Laser

1 - 2" Stretching - Fold up Quarterstaff (Extra Time - 1 Turn)

I like VPP (or something simular) for minor magics.

It is a good way for showing how strange (or human) a wizard can be.

Invisible Tool +10 STR, Mage mimics using a simple tool

Clothing of the Nobility Minor Transform clothes into better clothes, spell lasts until midnight

My Animal Friends Will Help Minor Transform or Change Environment with special effect of helpful forest creatures

Wizard Smash! +10 STR, Only to pick up and throw/wield heavy objects

Choice of Color Cosmetic Transform

Best Guess Deduction INT+3, (GM rolls activation roll before answering)

Quick Sketch PS: Artist DEX+3, Only to quickly sketch what the wizard is currently seeing.

Under evil tricks can one play.

"The Head of Vecna"

http://www.threatofghouls.com/vecna.htm

Well, Normal Mass is a -1.

Since 1 PD, 1ED Armor costs 3 points. It would cost 1.5 points to negate the mass. So it costs 12 points to negate the normal mass of 8 DEF Plate Armor.

Half Mass is a -1/2 (gee, costs half as much). So for 6 points to make it weigh only half as much.

A lot of this is dependent on the campaign.

In a campaign where Elven Chain is as light and flexible as silk, yet strong as steel or where magic rings and bracelets gives bonuses not unlike having armor. Having 4 to 6 points to negate armor penalities is probably not unreasonable, reguardless of how it is bought. (mine was a simple "make armor weightless" just to be different). Basically, encumbrance is a minor annoyance.

In a campaign where such items are exceptionally rare, then having the ability to negate heavy armor penalities is an amazing ability. It means you can wear large amounts of armor without getting tired, this gives a tactical advantage to the EM characters. Other weaker characters aren't even going to try to wear heavy armor unless they are expecting combat. This is not neccessary bad, if you want people to wear armor who aren't weight lifters. EM should be used by young fighters who rarely tired (ah, youth) or experienced warriors who have learned to save energy for battle.

For comparison, a 20 STR person can carry 40 kilos (10%) with no penality. This is 8 DEF (Full Plate), Full Coverage. But, he isn't going to be carrying anything else. With EM: Armour, he could decide to have 10 DEF, Full Coverage armor which weighs 80 kilos and carry 40 kilos of gear, all day if he needed to, as if he had a 28 STR. A seasoned warrior with 15 STR (without EM) has to lighten the armor to DEF 6 (chain) or spend lots of coin to get a plate made out of a lighter material but still DEF 8 (if he can). And either way, he's not carrying an kilo more of gear, it's on the horse.

I hope this help.

Edit: I didn't talk about the 30 STR half orges, but I think it goes without saying.

Well....

10" Superleap 10 pts.

+10" Superleap (-1/2 Limit: Must successfully land with first leap)

+10" Superleap (-3/4 Limit: Must successfully land with first and second leap)

Total: 10+7+6 = 23 points

Compared to

10" Superleap Autofire (3-shot) (Remember it's an extra +1)

Total: 22 points

So, the math works out.

Re: I don't think my idea was fully understood

Originally posted by Michael Hopcroft

The characters in a series like Slayers are built on an even higher point level (I can't see how to build Lina Inverse for under 700 points

I could probably build Lina in 300+150, the hard one would be squeezing in Dragon Slave, but not with Megascale, that shouldn't be too hard. Toast city but leave most of the people alive (but wishing they weren't)? That's 4D6 Kill, Area Effect Radius, City-wide Megascale. (135 Active) Granted, that was just the side-effect of the spell, the main part was probably 7D6+1 Kill, Area Effect Explosive (137 Active)

Excuse me, I was drooling on my keyboard.

I could probably do it without using a Power Framework, but I would opt for a Multipower. I'd have to watch the series again, she seemed to have some amount of detection powers and some sort of defense.

Hmm, for 5 points, you could do it this way.

10 STR at 0 END (15 active points)

(-2 Limitation: Only to negate up to 100 kilos of armor weight, does not add to native strength, no figured characteristics, etc...)

5 Real Points

But that's assuming that most of the encumberance penalties comes from things being heavy.

By the way, 4 points of environmental movement negates up to 3 penalities, a truely bogged down warrior could still have -2 penality. Which to me, seems to have the right feel (if going by this route) since you shouldn't negate all the penalities by skill alone. Also, I don't think this would negate the additional END/Turn loss. So even if you negate the DCV penalities, it's still tiring to wear that much armor.

Just some thoughts

You can buy Physical Limitations to simulate this.

Physical Limitation: Poor field of vision inside vehicle -15 pts.

As you described it, it's about a 15 point disadvantage.

Originally posted by OddHat

Going further with Blue Jogger's "other ways to do it" theme, a PS:Psychologist-10 and/or a Persuasion-10 roll might work. In Real Life the phenomena of "recovering" false memories is well documented.

"Captain Justice, I truely believe you thought that you were serving the public when you assalted those men. For that reason, in addition to the standard fine and time served, I am sentencing you to five weeks of therapy with Bob. I believe he can help you curb your delusions of grandeur and need to dole out justice in such anti-social fashion."

"But, but. I am CAPTAIN JUSTICE!"

"Really, Captain, it is for your own good."

Just for a weird way of looking at the problem.

If we think of memory as a Sense. (Bit of a stretch, but work with me)

We could buy Images to the Memory Sense. Distance memories get minuses for time. This power should NOT be Area Effect. Memory Sense should be consider Targeting (since most people rely on personal memory).

When a person tries to remember, she makes an INT check with the minuses applied. If she fails, she fails to notice that her memory is different or fuzzy or strange and instead "remembers" the image. If she succeeds, she, at the very least, gets a free "Hmm... That's strange" or "I think someone has been playing tricks with my mind" (if it logical for her to reach that conclusion).

After the image goes away, the person can remember the old memory with an INT with minuses for time. However, an NPC might choose the new memory if it fits the facts better or does not contradict anything that she doesn't already know. Bonuses or minuses may be applied by someone else using Persuasion.

Here's an idea for PER bonus based on memories

+0 Simple memory fact change ("Where did I put those keys?")

+2 Simple memories involving up to minute

+4 Complex memories involving up to half-hour

+6 Multiple memories

This power should not be used as a cheap Mind Control, but represents the ability to temporarily cloud minds long enough the another skill or power can affect a more lasting change. This also does not change a person's inner beliefs or convictions (again this is Mind Control), should be used as a form of superpower form of persuasion.

JabberJaw

25 STR 15

18 DEX 24

18 CON 16

15 BODY 10

10 INT 0

10 EGO 0

10 PRE 0

10 COM 0

5 PD 0

4 ED 0

3 SPD 2

9 REC 0

36 END 0

24 STUN 0

-----------68 pts

Skills

(5) PS: Musician 14-

(7) Concealment (INT+2) 13-

(7) Contortionist (DEX+2) 15-

(5) Criminology (INT+1) 12-

(3) Disguise (INT) 11-

Powers

(5) LS: Breathe Air

(7) ShapeShift (Squished into a small container)

Touch Group, 0 END Persistent, Requires Contortionist Roll (-1/2)

(10) 10" Swimming

(6) +3" Running

(3) Ultrasonic Hearing

----

58

58+68=126

Disadvantages

(10) Social Limitation - 12 foot tall Shark (11-, minor)

(10) Physical Limitation - 12 foot tall Shark

(15) Psychological Limitation - Coward (Common, Strong)

(25) Enraged when other band members need help (Very, 14-, 14-)

Re: Re: Five-Teams

Originally posted by OddHat

Entire Viper Nests have been destroyed by passing groups of nosey kids (sometimes with the aid of a large cowardly dog or shark). Six year old school yard bullies steal Viper's entire research and development budget every day at recess.

 

So not very effective.

LOL!

"And Viper would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for those meddling kids!"

Picturing the Scooby gang dressed up as a superhero team.

Freddy as the flying brick.

Daphine as the energy projector witch.

Velma as the scientist/gadgeteer.

Shaggy and Scooby as the martial artists with running.

Oh, oops, we need to bump up the baseball bat power up one more Megascale level (100,000 km not 10,000 km) which on 8 STR would be about 2 more active points, which would be 1 more real point.

Same with "target seeking" baseball, 2 more active points, 1 more real point.

I just need a ballpark figure.

Originally posted by tesuji

One thing to remember, this is a game where accessibility is NOT just a physical property. Sometimes things are inaccessible because "it just never seems to happen."

 

If your powered armor doesn't get broken or taken and you never seem to be without it... its not a focus at all.

 

its perfectly legit within the system to define an item as lacking some or even all of the focus possibilities **EVEN IF IN A PHYSICAL SENSE THEY WOULD APPLY** for the dramatic concept of "it never happens."

I'll agree with that. I had a Green Lantern character and he didn't have any focus limitations on his Power Ring, purely to make losing of it a "it never happens" special effect. You'd think by now, someone would just steal the darn thing. "In the Brightest Days, in the Darkest Nights. Let no... HEY! Where's my ring?"

Of course, it was strange to play a Green Lantern after watching Lord of the Rings... "To bear a Ring of Power, is to be alone."

Oops, forgot my "lucky" baseball.

(Modifies baseball bat power)

+1/2 One Hex "Accurate", Megascale Area 10,000 km per hex (+1 1/4), IAF - "Target seeking" Baseball (17 Real Points)

This may lead into abusive accurate attacks uses megascale weapons.

Personally, I think the throwing table is linear instead of logrithmic because a game map only goes so far. But now there's Megascale.

15d6 Mind Control, Area Effect Radius, No Range (-1/2), Only to convince people that Megascale STR is a good idea (-1), Incantations throughout (-1/2) ("Megascale! Megascale!"), Linked to OddHat's chant (-1/2). (43 Real Points)

Megascale on up to 8 STR (+1 1/4 - 10,000 km per hex) OAF - Lucky Baseball Bat which knocks baseballs into orbit (9 Real Points)

vs.

+70 STR, 0 END on added STR (+1/2), Only to throw baseballs into orbit using a logrithmic throwing chart (-1) OAF - Lucky Baseball Bat (35 Real Points)

I much rather try to aim and hit something that is only 7 hexes away than 65,000 hexes away, especially if I can't see it.

It would also depend on the focus. Some loose necklaces (or bracelets) would naturally be accessable in combat via a Grab. YOINK. I've seen these in comic books, they dangle (one size fits all) and have huge gems that scream "OBVIOUS ACCESSABLE FOCUS!"

Inaccessable necklaces and bracklets would be tight fitting and unable to get off in less than a turn. Occasionally, I have to take the leash off my dog when he can't stand still. And I can easily believe I'm taking a full turn at 0 DCV. Even these, an unusual power such as Telekinesis with Fine Manipulation could make a STR vs STR check to rip it off in less than a turn. Or maybe Slight of Hand roll if it's invisible. But if this happens too often, the player may want to make it accessable, since the villians seem to get access to it easily enough.

Some are even harder to remove, and those should have the Only in Hero ID if that.

Originally posted by Captain Obvious

For that matter, if you're using the bleeding rules, you can slow bleeding down to 1/10th normal, and take extra time on that Paramedic roll to save their life. Lots of good things can be done with this power, other than just freak out your friends....

Oooh! Simulate Death Usable Against Others! I love it!

"I'm going to put him in a death-like stance so he doesn't die on the way to the hospital."

"Have you done this before?"

"Well. Yes. On myself. Not in emergency. No. Look, I'm all for better ideas, but he's leaking like a sieve."

"Will he die?"

"Probably. Most likely. Here hold this."

"Like this?"

"Hold it quietly. I'm shutting down his organs and I should do so in the correct order. Humans have only one heart? Hmm, that'll make things easier, I hope. There, he's dead."

"Dead?!?"

"Or 1/10th alive. But I never cared much for fractions. Sort of cheapens the whole coming back to life part doesn't it?"

Yeah, but what do you do for those other 23 hours?

Advanced Simulate Death

LS: Does not need to eat (3)

LS: Does not need to breathe (10)

LS: Does not need to sleep (3)

LS: Safe in Intense Cold (2)

Life Support Limitations

Concentrate (0 DCV, throughout, partially aware) -1

Linked to Simulate Death -1/2

Total Real Cost: 7 points