Farkling

I think someone who autofire punches (or sweeps me more than once) should take multiple damage from my HtH damage shield. I also have been testing DS as a straight +1 advantage and nobody thinks it unbalanced yet.

I am afraid that the "anything and everything" line SCREAMS Variable Powers pool. do I have this right? Example:: 4 prebuilt configurations (Stealth, Combat, Travel, Power) Switching between these configurations in combat is a one phase action to reconfigure the armor... Switching from Stealth mode to Combat mode is a single phase action involving a few button presses. I would probably use the VPP approach instead of the stacked Multipowers. The control cost could be limited with (-1/4 Configurations rebuilt in laboratory) (-1/4 powers change between 5 preset configurations) A stricter GM will only allow ONE -1/4 on the VPP...arguing that the -1/2 should limit it further (going by the "days" example) Don't forget to put OIF on the control cost also if everything in there requires a focus of some kind. And maybe include "no Mental Powers", but that would disallow a Mind Control defined as "subsonic screamers to scatter the crowd" also. that's my .02

The necessity for a SPD rating over 12 iz a sign of powers inflation and/or reasoning from powers instead of special effects. The same thing which causes the large discrepancies in the net book of heroes. Multpile Attacks are handled quit well with Rapid Fire, AutoFire, and for crowds, Area Effects. The ability to multiply dodge in a phase is simulated by raw DEX, Dodge, Defensive Skill Levels, Martial Block. More extreme cases can be simulated with Missile Deflection, Desolidification, and limited Force Fields. Disassembling an engine in a few seconds is a Transform attack. (Cumulative, AE, Major Transform all as GM requires) A SPD 12 character with a high DEX and Rapid Fire effects should be terrifying, unles your PC's all have Speeds of 8 or better, However, if your bricks are running around with SPDs of 8, you have an inflation problem happening. Say you build Nick Fury (SPD 4 NCM or SPD 5), and then he becomes the benchmark the heroes are built against. If Nick was built with SPD 7, then your world is already suffering from inflation, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer will have a SPD 7, in spite of only being marginalloy superhuman. In my experience, one of the biggest problems in HERO is the lack of characters who actually DO abort phases. The amount of new HERO players I have met that KNOW a succesful Block let's them act first on the next phase is mimimal. Most of the players I run across seem to suffer from D20 "stand here and slug it out" I still believe that a well built villain will hold his own just fine against PC's without resorting to such obvious ploys as "of course he can, he has a SPD of 15" - where's the design and drama in that? It is no more dramatic than the villain with a 30d6 EB in a 15d6 game. Just my .02

That's what "Aid, costs END" would do....isn't it? Succor Recovery...let's skip the middle man. You want him to quickly be able to restore STUN and END to comabt levels? How about 4d6 Aid to STUN and END, concentrate - 0 DCV throughout, costs END, fades 5 pt / minute (or per five minutes, or whatever)...then after combat his natural REC should keep him awake while the Aided points fade away... You might even be able to set it up with a Trigger so it engages when he drops to a certain negative STUN total.

You know...it says in the FAQ that the rule is for martial manuevers that are fundamentally the same...ie two seperate Strike manuevers. At least I think so. I have too many expenses and debts to purchase the UMA yet.

Let me get this straight...I cannot use a Multiple Power Attack from my Elemental Control, but I CAN Rapid Fire two seperate powers from my Elemental Control? I'll have to look that up in my book, and then I think I am going to be forced to ask Steve for a clarification. Wait...I'll check the FAQ Hmph. Now I'm more confused. i guess if an EC is considered "one power" you CAN use Rapid Fire with seperate attacks, but Steve says right here "the Framework is an EC with two or more Attack Powers." Doesn't this contradict FREd....did I miss something?

Heh. I vaguely remember Nightcrawler juggling Sebastion for a few phases until Shaw had gained enough DEX/SPD to grab and throw him. Shaw was not amused. Hmm....I still think the Armor Damage Reduction approach is much better...it is much harder to overload than the Absorbtion setup. Absorb doesn't adjust until AFTER the damage is applied. Is not STUN a defensive power? Your fellow could concievably be knocked unconscious and have his powers shut down, and THEN the added Stun wakes him back up.

My best friend is classified as disabled and suffers form heart failure. She's 30 and has the heart of a 75 year old. She's on a suite of meds. They are not narcotics, and the "important" doses are twice a day. They do require prescriptions. One of them is fairly rare. She suffers from fatigue always. Once her stamina is gone, it is GONE, I'd say her REC is 1 or less. She can't walk more than a thousand feet. (No END). When she gets tired she will fall asleep in midsentence. The meds make it hard for her to sleep more than a few hours at a time, and frequently she doesn't really feel "rested and recharged", she's just ready to go on. On the other hand, she lives with the possibility of death (from heart failure) daily. Very little scares or disturbs her, other than losing the roof over her head or her SSI. She won't have a heart attack form her disease, her heart will just quit one day... There's more information than you probably wanted.

Yep. Though that argument usually doesn't fly with anyone who has ever played a system with an "Invulnerble" power. Invulnerability in the comix was always..."haven't found something that hurts YET"

My point was that if the player can't come up with a special effect, then he can't buy the power. "People do what I say because I have a 60 PRE" is NOT a special effect. "People do what I say because of my forceful personality" is a special effect...but describes Mind Control...not an Entangle. Which is broken by EGO rolls over time...hmmm...perhaps allowing a different modifier on Mind Control.

I'm with Fireg0lem Say, 30 PD, and maybe +20 PD Stun Only 75% Resistant Physical Damage Reduction - STUN only Nothing ever dazed Shaw except energy attacks. The only time I remember him getting knocked unconscious by physical attacks, was from a terminal velocity imapct while he was suffering from a SEVERELY increased mass...I figure he hit for at least 40-50d6.

MY viewpoint is this:: Only if it is a small Entangle. I think ONE of my characters has a 33 INT. The rest are 10-23. EGO base would be worse. PRE would be pretty inflictive to them also. IF using canon Champs Universe, this would lash up most villains immediately, as they do not have overlyimpressive INT scores. Point out also that attacks will still hit an Entangle based on other CHAracteristics, and perhaps he seeks another power. My question is this... What is the special effect description for this attack? It really sounds like a cheesy effect with just the power query...and I am curious to know what precisely he has in mind? Charge him the "Based on ECV" or "AVLD" power advantage...that should hold the dice down.

I wasn't going to respond to your thread when I saw SPAWN lumped in with real comics characters, but at no point did you preach on the wondrous and beautifully designed character of Cable...so I am feeling a little more interested. Here's an origin story...written now as I am inspired. "Lost in the depths of antiquity, few people know the true history of insert cool hero name here. cool hero rose as a youth in the combat of World War I. He was part of a voluntary and desperate biochemical research project in Europe prior to America's involvement in the war. The experiments granted him Superhuman Strength and Invulnerability. A single tank meant nothing to him. He had very little time to distinguish himself in combat, as the Americans became involved in the war as he was adjusting to his new life. He and his little known temamates, the Scarlet Harrier and Professor Chaladan explored many an Aztec Jungle and African Desert prior to Hitler and World War 2... He and his fellows became involved in the desert, as Rommel slowly conolidated his hold on the country. The heroes were of little use against masses of troops, armor, and fascist control. Professor Chaladan was gravely wounded in the battles, and his advanced age conspired to destroy him. The Harrier and our hero journeyed to Germany, with the intent of damaging the infrastructure that supported Hitler's regime. The granddaughter of Professor Chaladan joined them in France when they contacted the Resistance and told them of Hitler's rocketry experiments and the secret SS plans her grandfather had uncovered involving attacking and observing from SPACE. The trio stole one of the experimental rockets and attacked the primitive space platform (literally a platform) in geosynchronous orbit over Germany. Our hero fell to a sinister Nazi SS weapon, and with his lack of heartbeat and breathing, his teammates presumed him dead. Worried about strange Nazi magics, and experiments of death, a heroes funeral was arranged. Judith Chaladan fired the body of our hero into the sun as the space platform was collapsing about them. The Harrier was able to get them back to Earth, and survive re-entry, but he and Judith landed heavily in a remote area of the Andes mountains. They were never seen again, and their story of World War II remains untold to this day. Our hero survived his near impact with the Sun, and drifted back to Earth eventually. his close encounter with the solar orb had changed him...increased his powers. He listened to radio and television broadcasts duing his long coma, first back into the past, and then on into the present as he returned to the solar system. He has no idea what happened ot him out in space. When he awoke he was in low Earth orbit, very warm, and out of control. The size of his meteoric trail caused him to be ignored by most astronemers as he came down. He now walks in a world both strange and familiar... with eyes unknown watching from space." **Notes:: Some of the powers you want could simulated with an attack sized Variable Power Pool, cutting down on the overall costs. I would (I hope Hugh doesn't see this) recommend getting his "always in use powers" in a Framework, and relying on the VPP for the attack suite instead of a multipower. Instead of MPA's you can build customized attacks, or a suite of limited attacks that can BE MPA's. If you refrain from limiting the power pool, then he can morph it to obscure powers as necessary...for temporary use, then switch back to his attack suites. The "always available" powers then take on an aspect of "subconscious constantly running powers" like the protective field of the Green Lantern that acts to preserve his life.

Latent Telepaths After perusing your site and chatting with MY B5 expert... I recommend the latent telepath purchase a PSI rating, Detect surface thoughts (with the additional limitation of "vauge and unclear" possibly) And perhaps ONE of the standard psych powers with the (-2 no conscious control) limitation. that should keep the point costs down. A critique on PSI construction:: You recommend charging 6 points for what is essentially a disadvantage. Telepathy already offers the full function of your "flash" detect (-1 lack of control). Why not assign Telepaths a Disad of "Prone to picking up surface thoughts", after all, base level telepathy effects will bestow surface thoughts. We modelled that as a Physical limit in the cyberpunk/Supers game I run. Works fine, and the player didn't have to pay for something that is simply a charge to allow other powers. Charging for the PSI perk is acceptable to me, since the player is purchasing the "potential" for his Multipower...but again, the PSI perk really isn't anything but a surcharge on the Telepathy Framework. The same thing can be covered with a Distinctive Feature (Telepath). Then any Telepath can determine a vague PSI rating, and the PSI-Corps can have the entirely appropriate "Detect Telepath, Range, Discriminatory, Analyze" in THEIR package...for determining the PSI rating of a specific Telepath. PSI rating becomes an abstract, and only relevant to the PSI Corps Government Classification System.

They're teens. The plot needs to get them away form their parents, but not by sneaking out (unless the fate of the kingdom is in the balance. Try setting characters up from orphanages and the streets also...then the "evading parental restrictions" becomes a moot point. Instead they have a permissive or restrictive "orphange director" to elude. Puzzles/Riddles/Problem Solving needs to be present in the game, so does some gratuitous violence. They are teens. Dungeon crawls with room for lateral thinking are good. (We could tear down the wall and go that way, we can swim/climb/teleport up there, etc.) Have their favorite person get locked up on trumped up charges (the Hagrid effect). Give one or two of the players a handout about the actual crime and what they witnessed. Let them search for clues/solve the mystery. Something along the lines of the latest Harry Potter story... Or send them to find one of the character's older sibling, an infamous adventurer that must return to the kingdom and perform a specific task. "You have been chosen to go in search of Galstan Goodworth, and to try and convince him to return the ancient Key of the Sky. The Key is vital to saving the kingdom from the invading army, and you are the only people we that can be spared to accompany Susie Goodworth. He surely cannot refuse his sister. Tina Farmer is in charge of your little group, and must be certain that Susie survives to confront Galstan." Institute a time limit for the invasion. Kill NPC Tina Farmer at a point that they cannot go back. See what they do.

MMmmmmm.....Hawk and Fisher Brust's Jhereg series. Juliet McKenna Tales of Einarinn 1. The Thief's Gamble (1999) 2. The Swordsman's Oath (1999) 3. The Gambler's Fortune (2000) 4. The Warrior's Bond (2001) 5. The Assassin's Edge (2002) Nice magic system and societal structure for magic. For a more swahbuckling story, try Brust's Phoenix Guards...they ape Dumas quite well and stand alone from Jhereg, taking place before the Cataclysm and during the Interrugum.

It's not so much removing a disad as ramping up their defenses... 50% Damage Reduction, Physical, Usable by X Others, only versuss Silver, 1 Continuing Charge of six hours - SFX :: Change of Moon Phase. You could even link this to the amzingly cheap Change Environment....

Okay...if the Multipower contains Ultra Slots with Autofire, each Ultra Slot can Autofire MPower (60) u (2d6 RKA, Explosion, Autofire) u (3d6 Entangle, Explosion, Autofire) u (6d6 Flash, Explosion, Autofire) By the book, he can only afford to have one slot active. So he can only Autofire from the specific slot. 60 Mpower (30) (Explosion, Autofire) u (2d6 RKA) u (3d6 Entangle) u (6d6 Flash) Technically, this multipower functions in the same manner. Again, only one slot can be active. I do not believe Autofire allows for "multiple reserve allocations" Now, let us consider the FAQ... THe FAQ says..."it's your game, do what you want" Your player wants to trade his Autofire for a one shot of each power. That's a Multiple Power Attack that he cannot pony up the points for. If your players are kosher with that, then fine. At the LEAST I would require him to pony up for variable slots. By the book, if he runs each slot at 1/3rd power, he cannot voluntarily suppress the Autofire advantage for more damage. So, there are three options. 1) Additional multipower slot 2) Increased Reserve to use all three slots at once 3) Limited Reserve points that lock out the Autofire advantage (iffy by the FAQ) 1) Let's see 2d6 RKA + 3d6 Entangle + 6d6 Flash = 90 points. SIngle Target. Kind of big for the 60 point multipower supposed. 1d6+1 RKA + 2d6 Entangle + 4d6 Flash = 60 points. Single Target. Going off all together interfere's with the grenade deployment.... 2) Buy reserve to enough points to activate all slots. Blah. That's big and expensive. 3) Reserve (+120) - locks out Explosion and Autofire advantages (-1/2), Concentrate 1/2 DCV Throughout (-1/2), Only for MPA. Then he can MPA with all three grenades. Questionable HERO from the creator, but it seems to guage the price of what he wants. 4) Hmmm. Buy the combos outside of the Multipower to exceed the Multipower limit. MPA Attack combos 2d6 RKA+3d6 Entangle+6d6 Flash, Explosion (30*1.5/2) + (30*1.5/2.5) + (30*1.5/2.5) Locks out Multipower (-1/2) Concentrate 1/2 DCV throughout (-1/2) 22 + 18 + 18 = 58. Option 3 weighs in at 60 pts. Must be comparable to what he wants then. **As GM you could invoke it this way:: He pays for Autofire on the Multipower Reserve (in addition to Autofire on the SLOTS) Convert the Ultra slots to Variable Slots. As a house rule, since all the slots have the same level of Autofire, he can choose one shot from each and use them as an MPA. I imagine that is comparably priced also. 30 pts to add Autofire to a 60 pt reserve, and at least 18 points to convert three ultras to three variables. Your player should be charged heavily. The multipower framework is used to cheaply get variable attacks. Now your player essentially desires the full funcional Multiple Power Attacks of the a PC that PAID FULL PRICE for his multiple powers.

I believe Rapid Fire is intended for the SAME power use, not a clever way to get around Elemental Control Multiple Attack restrictions.

I can think of a lot more interesting effects for the 120 AP it takes to buy that 15 SPD you're talking about. OF course, I have an origianl print of MacDonald's Girl,Gold Watch, and Everything. Area Effect Transforms. Desolid/Invisibility. TK affects Physical World. Indirect RKA (applying velocity to time stopped objects) EB - Knockback Only (applying velocity to stopped characters) Flight, Usablea gainst others.... Teleport, Safe Blind, Only to areas he could concievably move to during time stop. Teleport, usable against others (x4 mass) - moving objects/characters around during time stop. (A bunch of objects would be Area Transform) I'll see if I can come up with anything else.

For increased lethality in HERO, lower the value of resistant armor, and require realistic limits for specific weapons types. And invoke Standard Effect at 4 BODY per D6 KA.

Computer Programming, Cryptography, and/or Internet Protocol should allow the use of Telepathy as a hacking tool. After all, Telepathy is supposed to transcend language, so with programming rolls you would look like "an authorized user" and couldn't be tracked. Mental Illusions would add "from port so n so" whether you were there or not. Mind Control is for "stop asking these stupid questions, and tell me what I want to know. I am authorized." - No Programming necessary. Hacking the electronics of a television or VCR typically involves cracking open the case and rewiring the board UNLESS you have the correct transmission wave. As a power stunt to one of the above powers, I'd allow it. To expand it to cars and microwaves and appliances and farm/lawn/construction equipment I would request a power with TK or Summon base. Why Summon? The T3 effects did not require concentration...they were "fire and forget" effects. Only Summon really does fire and forget. Personal Preference. YMMV.

huh. That was easy information when I was in England, but now I haven't a clue. Have you tried browsing Cambridge's website to ask a local professor or student?

All in fun placing tongue in cheek Look here killjoy... I cut my teeth on science fiction. I read comic books. I know theoretical machine evolution trees pretty thoroughly. The Turing Effect covers the premise of AI very thoroughly from a unique standpoint. Adam Link, Cyborg, Neuromancer, Realtime Interrupt, and Chalker's Wonderland gambit give a beautiful perspective on computers, communications, and simulations. Oh, and the Borg are a bunch of pikers, Fred Saberhagan should've sued the Star Trek consortium. Blah! removing tongue from cheek I'm more inclinde to let radio or IR transmit manipulate them than Telepathy versus machines. Theres no MIND in there. A desktop computer is probably equivalent to a 3-10 year old, and does EXACTLY what I tell it to at light speed. Communicating with the baby computers in the electronics doesn't work for me, so I prefer a TK model. Personal preference as a GM. I'd probably build a universal remote control using TK also, it's quick, easy, and communicates to newbies well. Seeing the electronics - Seeing a baby Talking to electronics - Talking to the baby Issuing orders to electronics - Issuing orders to the baby. Though come to think of it, I have a stupid VCR that cannot be programmed without a remote. I guess I'll havde to reconsider this.

Multiform (King Bat) King Bat has vampyre durability and flight and one other power. Either a constant Darkness (or Images) linked AE RKA, no range, centered on PC, OR Summon Loyal Annoyed Bat Swarm (2048 50 pt Bats) "Follow me, attack my foes" Do the math and see what you like. That Summon is 78 points or so. Both are expensive. The summon allows for some bats to "wander off" on their own private vendettas. It also allows for "Well Watson, as you can plainly see, these are South American Vampire Bats. Certainly not native to our fair shores. I deduce that they were conjured to this location by some mystical force beyond your comprehension."