incrdbil

I'm enjoying these sourcebooks, but I see I'm doing a near universal modifications. Doesn't mean I dislike the product, I am gettign great use out of it, I was just wonderign how many people are doing the same. I'm looking at these so called agents with standard blasters that do 10d6 autofire and the like, or heavy weapons teams that do 20d6, and thinking that these are way toi powerful for a standard 350 campaign--I mean, starting heroes look pretty tame compared to a well stocked UNTIL agent team. Joe Agent and hsi 4 buddies with their 10d6 autofire blasters are a terror to a hero caught DCV challenged..way too much. I find myself dropping almost every weapon 2 to 5 dice-I mean, an 8d6 blaster autofire 32 charges multiple clips as a standard weapon seems plenty for a schmuck UNTIL agent. Same for Viper. Anyone else deflating the firepower for these agencies?

Re: What have you done with the Asesinos? I tried to use them in a serious role once.,.but as my group was just so highly amused by them, laughing them, and mopping the floor with them in a rather speectacualr fashion, they degenerated into a sort of gag team--the really mean to be Big Time Villains, if it wasn't only for the fact that the heroes constant ridicule and trouncing them made them laughingstocks. Tombstone kid became Tombstone Pizza Face..and the things they did to Spider Monkey .. :Bam--Martial Artist strike to SPider Monkey Group "Look who's spanking the Monkey....." Stalker was always called Stroker..and they preetended he was just a goth kid who was just really, really horny all the time. El Muerto Obsuro became El Pequeno.... tthey always tried called shots against the Mosquito--iting that in nature, a mosquitos reproductive organ took up 20% of its body weight...I didnt really change the damage, but I figured it had to be daunting knowing the opposition was always shooting at your naughty bits. sometimes you just have to go where the events take you....and they just refused to take them seriously.

Re: Eurostar is friggin' fast! I'm thinking of reviving Bora and Pantera with 'sequel' villains for similar roles, the current incarnation of Eurostar just seems to weak. Fiacho, Scorpia, and Fuermacher are relatively easy to take down, and their offense potential isn't spectacular. With just about 20 XP under their belt, my PC's team would probably mop the floor with them..with Mentalla being the only problem since they no longer have a team mentalist.

Re: redwhiteblue redwhiteblue "oh crap: was I speeding?!?" We need setting info. Is this a humorous campaign? Reno 911 with superheroes? Is this a vigilante game, with cops hostile to supers and looking to mess them over? did the hero go on to do some good, or was prevented from doing so? Did stopping for the police conform to his disadvantages (law abiding or something) or did he wind up bveing late to save some innocents? Normally, traffic tickets are not a staple of superheroic problems. Heck, I doubt he had insurance, registration, or a tag on his vehicle.

Re: Is TK too expensive? If you go BOECV--then the target defends with ECV..something I'd rather not give away for free. Another question: if you buy a power BOECV, whatever it is--is it legitimate to nail a target located by mindscan withthe BOECV power? Yeesh. Talk about the assassin who never leaves home.

Re: Brick v. Powered Armor Hypothetical now if they only triggered the grenande launcher to fire after doing that...

Re: Entangle Abuse There is a reason I specifically refuse Passing Strike to certain characters. Superspeeder who, at max velelcity and other mods gets average to max DC limits, probably ok. Maxed out campaign STR limit Brick with flight? Uh-Uh. Buy some levels with move by/though, pal.

Re: Person of Steel, Significant Other of Tissue paper If the Kryptonite Hershy squirts don't shatter plumbing and create sonic booms, Supes is good to go. I dion't recall Clark Kent ever accidentally shattering urinals, and that particular function isn't all that controllable once it starts.

Re: Entangle Abuse I'ld agrewee with the analysis that he has to create a barrier and hide behind it--the entangle, as defined, otherwise just collapses (just as if someone had teleported out of it). The moment he leaves the entagle to do a passing strike, rule the effect fades away. If its created as a barrier, thats easy to get around. Maybe just retroactively take away his passing strike. As he's using it in a way you did not forsee and would not approve of if you had been aware of it. HERO character design isn't about being allowed to keep any abusive construct you can slip by the GM by hiding or misrepresenting what you intend to do with the character. By confining his rather large body withing the defined area of the entagle, he's not helping his DCV. Reduce as you see fit. NND attacks should fix him, as the entange wont stop them--maybe even getting a suprise bonus to OCV. Another option: tell him his actions are unheroic, and XP will be penalized. also refuse to allow him to raise his natural defenses due to the 'free' 9 points he has access too. Villains developing traps to take advantage of this (a vs PD only force wall he cant get out of that keeps him nice and helpless inside while his teammates are beaten soundly, innocents harmed, and Mr Turtle just has to watch from hsi shell. Or have an eber pound him through the PD only force all.

Re: How to: Pointing Out The Flaw the FW is a possibility--just after a long ago experience with FW usable by others in a group, I've been terribly gun shy about ever allowing it again. but if designated only usable against structures, vehicles, and the like, it would be less abusable.

Re: How to: Pointing Out The Flaw An Area affect Aid, perhaps requiring extra time, maybe even a cordination/tactics/teamwork roll, the aid has a limitation for only being versus the one targeted structure, after which it goes away, and only usable on those that can understand the one giving the instructions.

Re: Villains and their Secret ID, post-trial The Eraser is nice in that he's a great background guy for a supers game, or a viable villain with lackeys for a Dark Champions game. "This guy has helped all sorts of killers be able to hit the streets again but not any more" ::click:: Even better, the Eraser can do specific makeovers--now Captain Goodness looks, sounds, and has the features of Dr. Heinous. E. Vile.

Re: Villains and their Secret ID, post-trial Depends: can you get his name through a FOIA request? Being arrested, and having your nbame made part of a court record means your identity is part of a public record. Barring classification, destruction of all records and memory alteration, your name is public. Revealed vilains would be big news, and the name goes on TV, hits the internet. Your vital stats enter the NCIC database. Goodby secret identity, because when it matters, and someone is looking for you, iot takes no extraordinary action to find you; a simple records search. It might not quite be a public identity, but people you on't want to know about you can find out who you are with little effort. Whatever that is, it's not a secret identity. Now, if you undergo plastic surgery, make a new fake id, and such..maybe you have a 'new' secret ID. Unbderground plastic surgery/fingerprint editing clinics must be a booming villain buisness, thusmaking mandatory DNA identification of convicted metahumans a logical step for law enforcement.

Re: Don't be a hater! Oh well, sometimes you just have to sit back and watch the train wreck. ::watches::

Re: Don't be a hater! I'd rather be Yogurt from Spaceballs.

Re: Don't be a hater! True. I'm glad your recognizing your hindrances in this matter so you can come up with a suitable personal resolution to them.

Re: Don't be a hater! Loyalty to a friend is a good thing, usually. Blind loyalty can be a problem. I don't know, but that's accusing someone of being a copycat, or basically plagiarism. Trying to say he may not have used those excact words is pointless when his accusation above stands pretty plainly. you think thgis isn't a serious You innocently dismiss that as 'establishing a pattern. To about everyone else, it reads as "they copy ideas from others wily nilly". Many others. Just two or theee from hsi group alone. Not being able to back any of it up and his revealed past really doesn't do much for credibility either, but thats incidental to the point. His accusations were serious, the type you don't make against a company on its public forums without having hard evidence. If you think any writer won't be insulted, offended, or feel legally threatened by that, I'm not sure any discussion is going tyo satsify you. Yourt friend made damaging, reputation affecting accusations in public. He had nothing of merit to base it on. Add in hidden identity and past misconduct/axe to grind, you have an indefensible position that is so spurious, so embarassingly petty and fabricated that it's damaging and embarassing by association with it. Replace this incident with the same postings but someone elses name, and tell me you wouldn't approach it differently. Maybe he';s your friend, but your friend blew it. Admitting so, or simply standing silent in the face of his debacle isn't betraying your friend. Pissing inthe wind on his behalf isn't going to really help you either, and isn't a requirement of friendship.

Re: Too much tweaking? Too powerful?

Re: Too much tweaking? Too powerful? I skipped over the skill pool. Wait till he tries to rationalize find weakness in that pool, or combat skill levels. Just buy skills. I note the lack of Martial Arts damage classes. Any reason he's not got any? Too many hunteds for you to bother with, honestly. Past Acquaintences? I see someones dodging vulnerabilities. Eliminate the Foxbat, unnbamed hunted--2-3 hunteds is a maxium for a character for you to deal with. He heals, he is immortal. Not a disadvantage. 20 Hunted: Catholic Church 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish) I assume you have a team of higher pointed "Church Police"? If not, no, the Church isn't more powerful. Don't confuse NCI with the power status. I'd check the power ratins closely on the other hunteds. more points does not mean more powerful. 15 Psychological Limitation: Avoids Publicity (Very Common, Moderate) and this is limiting how? He has to make an ego roll to avoid fighting in public? He won't attack a high profile target? Will this really hinder him in your campaign? As a suggestion: istead of the three characters per person, start with one. hat development is important, plus its a lot easier to develop a feel for what is working, oir adequate challenge levels for a group with a stable membership.

Re: Don't be a hater! Eh, it's the Internet. Opinions and the vehemance in expressing them get magified several times just due to the removal of most social inhibitions and the inevitable complications of online chesthumping and ego stroking; then you have the absolute drama that fanboys and bitterboys alike crave. I don't know why gaming companies bother anymore to attain feedback from their netforums; the extremes of opinions presented are usually so out of whack with the average market that its hard to get a accurate, useful analysis out of it.

Re: Too much tweaking? Too powerful? run it through a points calulation. How many Manuevers does he have, and what has he really paid for them? The only trade off is that he cant do a multiple power style MA attack--and for the massive points savings, thats not much of a loss. If he knows that many moves, he should pay for every one.

Re: Too much tweaking? Too powerful? Multipower martial arts? As in various moves in a MP? Umm, all i can say is.."No". Let me strengthen that to a "Oh Helllllllll No." Red Flag. Danger Danger. Never in a million years. The ghosts of GM spirit' dead and crushed by munchkins scream "Beware" from beyond the grave! This is, IMHO, a deal breaker. Passes the Real item test, barely. Fails Real World Item test x4 Noncombat? again, fails real world item test without limits like Bulky, hiuge delay time before reuse, charges... passes real item test. Depends on yuor definition of smelling salts or stimulants. too much nerfing to get cheap skill levels--the multipower nature is no effective limmit on these exclusive skills. make him buy these straight out. Oh, just let him have a flashlight. Fairly typical. harmless. If this attack exceeds your DC limits, then no. If this attack is all that lets him reach the average DC level, then he's very easily disarmed and limited in causing starightforward damage. I think those staff style weapons are more usable as an inch or so of streching for the suprise attacks, a little leaping

Re: Is seduction all wrong? Hmm, I don't know. ::wave of hand signalling use of Sith 'Mind tricks'. "This is the mechanical assistance you've been looking for." I mean, hey, the cybernetics field isn't too shabby in Star Wars.

Re: So, how am I supposed to defelect an AE attack? If the AE attack is of a type that can be deflected, it would have "Can be missile defelcted" as a limitation, presumably. that covers grenades. Giant cones of energy just coming from the source..that doesn't sound like something missiel deflection would apply to. and technically, with AE Missile Defelction, doesn't that just mean you could simultaneously try to deflect all attacks in the radius being made at that time that can be missiel deflected? And perhaps you would not suffer the -2 per cumulative attempt that phase for atatcks originating in that area unde that interpretation.

Re: Consequences ... In a Golden age game, I'd say hardly any immediate ones. The police really aren't goign to be that concerned. Golden age Supers got information through a heck of a lot less pleasant methods. So legally, there should be next to nothing. In terms of game play, well, when a player busy telepathy, it's not unexpected for them to interrogte NPC's at times. They guy was a general, a very tempting target. With no laws on the books, it's not illegal, and it can't be proven to have happened. The cops really won't care what the bad guy whines about. Though revealing the method obtained may not make it usable for court, Golden Age heroes shouldn't be worrying about courts, evidence submission, or stuff like that. They beat up the bad guys, find out their evil pland, and stop them. Legal proceedings aren't the habitat of Golden age heroes. Now, if the general gets back in touch with the organization, they very well may make use of this information. Some form of mental gadgets to protect the eladership, going to a cell based structure to minimize damage. Setting up the PC by lying deliberately to an agent giving that agent disinformation they think is real, letting the mystic PC capture and interrogate that agent, and then fall into an ambush/Deathtrap. I'd just talk out of game to the PC..and ask them why they did it and why they thought it was appropriate for the genre. Maybe if you aren't comfortable with telepathy he should exchange it for something else, or slap a limit on it that it can't get past surface thoughts. Interrogating bad guys is, from all appearances to many PC's the main use of telepathy if the PC already has mind link.