Christougher

Plugging a friendly local convention. Lonestargameexpo.com Game Submission and Vendor Registration starts tomorrow! Lone Star Game Expo V is back. October 8-10, 2021 at the Grapevine Convention Center LSGE will be back for in-person gaming goodness, with all your favorite board games, miniatures, and RPGs. I'm trying out ideas of HERO game(s) to run. Chris.

😆 Darn you! I was gonna post that! I wrote up my own, rather similar version. 🤣

I know you already know this. It's because at the end of the day it's still a 60 point blast. The limitations making it harder to get there only affect the Real Cost, not the Active Cost. Otherwise I'd do this with a 12d6 blast that powered up to something absurd to shave points as far as possible, and just use it as a vanilla 12d6 blast.

Not a bad idea overall, maybe name it Power Up (Required). I see a lot of overlap between a Constant and/or Cumulative advantage, along with the Extra Time limitation, and just plain Special Effects of not using it at full power. When I first saw it, I thought of one of my ideas not posted, a tweak to Reduced by Range called Increased by Range. Power starts at 0 AP/0d6 for the first 4"(or whatever 6E's first RMod is) and goes UP by 10 AP/2d6 per RMod up to the power's purchased cap. Used for those "more powerful the farther it goes" effects, though probably added/linked to a minimum range effect (Blast 6d6 + Blast 6d6 Increased by Range). Priced at an additional -1/4 over Reduced by Range, as the higher damage is less likely to hit. Chris.

Not to say it's a bad idea, but isn't this just a variant of Piercing? Or using Penetrating to reduce the defense?

Capped Effect: This limitation limits the maximum impact from a power, relative to the target's abilities. For a -1/2 limitation, the power's effects apply normally until they reach half the target's ability, then has no additional effect. Repeated uses of the power do not change the basis for the Capped Effect - it is half of maximum, not half of half. (Ex: Speed Limit uses Drain Running 4d6 Capped Effect Half(-1/2) against Anthem (who has 8" Running) for 16 points of effect. Instead of reducing him to 0" of Running, the Capped Effect can only reduce him to 4" of running.) Different levels of Capped Effect can also be taken. For a (-1/4) limitation the Capped Effect is one quarter of maximum. For a (-1) limitation the Capped Effect is three quarters of maximum. Leaky: This -1/4 limitation only applies to defensive powers. It treats all attacks against it as if they had the Penetrating advantage: The BODY rolled on the attack dice gets through the defense, so the character takes that much effect, plus anything higher than the level of the defense. If the attack is already Penetrating, the amount penetrated increases by +1 for every die rolled.

Not being defenses only was in fact one of the reasons for expanding it. Can't recall how to multi quote at the moment. The fiction is full of such difficult to heal wounds, but the presence of Aid/Healing/Regen powers versus this advantage needs to be explored.

I suppose expanded versions are allowed as well? New options on an old standby, Ablative. Ablative: This limitation covers powers that lose effectiveness, either over time or with repeated damage or use. The possible effects of Ablation are decreased Activation or Reduction of effect. Ablation over Time is a -1/2 limitation if the power ablates every turn, doubled to a -1 limitation if it ablates every phase. Ablative from Damage is a -1/4 limitation if BODY damage causes ablation, increased to -1 if STUN damage causes ablation. Ablation with Use is a -1/2 limitation if every successful use causes ablation, or from every unsuccessful use. This is doubled to a -1 disadvantage if every use (successful or not) causes ablation. Ablation by Activation causes the power to acquire a decreasing activation roll with every ablation; if the power Burns Out and cannot be used again until repaired it is an additional -1/2 limitation. Ablation by Reduction causes the power to lose 1 Damage Class or 5 Active Points with every ablation; each additional loss of power increases the value of Ablative by an additional -1/2 Ablative powers may recover by one step per turn, but this halves the value of the Ablation limitation. Value Ablation -1/2 over Time (Turn) -1 over Time (Phase) -1/4 by BODY Damage -1 by STUN Damage -1/2 successful Use or unsuccessful use -1 every Use - by Activation Roll -1/2 Burnout -1/2 Additional reduction -1 DC/5 AP x1/2 Ablation recovers per Turn

If you're willing to run numbers, how would it work out at 5 AP/2d6 of Dispel?

That's not a knife. THIS is a knife.

Dude, after everything you've posted, you have NO right to this emoji.

All the MCU movies in their VCR dust covers?

Like he said...

Two, actually. Here's your change. *slice*

This one was solved previously. The Stormtrooper misses, but the redshirt dies anyways.

Cookies, chips, nachos, a pizza...

I'm on the fence about Hard Light. What I most want to see in it is the creation of mundane objects, like a chair. No spoilers please, but is that covered, and how - application of an existing power or a new power?

There is a great deal of difference between a 300 point character with 100 experience and a 400 point character.

If a character has Duplication and/or Summon (expendable duplicates) in a Multipower, what happens to the additional bodies if the Multipower slot changes to something else? I checked the rules for Multipower, Summon and Duplication and didn't see a concrete answer. The Duplication and Summon notes on Adjustment Powers seemed to indicate they would vanish, but an Entangle doesn't vanish if its Multipower slot is switched. If there are specific rules covering this, please let me know where. Chris.

If it's the system I'm thinking of, Yes. Played a convention game where the PCs were Victorian age expies of the Justice League. Massively entertaining game. I did like that the rules for breaking a structure were the same rules for hurting a character. However, to address the original question of balance: I have NO idea. It was probably my first exposure to the system, and I didn't have the rulebook to puzzle that out, or need it to play. Chris.

I'm pretty sure that aggression is perfectly natural.

Recently there was another discussion on Mental Powers, and while this topic touches on that, it's not the same. Mental powers work until a breakout roll succeeds. Adjustment powers fade over time. Damage heals with Recovery (or Regeneration). Entangles are escaped with applied STR. Transforms can end when a condition is met. Constant powers stop when END isn't paid. That's six ways to end the effectiveness of an opposing power, each with its own use and circumstances. Why are they different mechanics - why not use the same one everywhere? Not to say that any one of these are better than the rest. Why not give every effect more ways to shut it down? What options would this open up? If this could be abused, how would you prevent that? Chris.

Were you the dum-dum or the buddy?

I've had similar issues, and some of the conversation hit on my points of concern, but nobody else reached the conclusion I had. Discussion mentioned a Blast that can inflict a few points of Stun, render the target Stunned or completely Knocked Out. So why can't mental powers be graded on a similar scale instead of EGO, EGO +10, EGO +20, etc. which generates its own set of discussion. I'm more partial to EGO levels of effect, describing them like this: Can't exceed Mental Defense + EGO? Plink, no effect at all. Exceed Mental Defense + EGO, you leak a minor effect through - something they wouldn't mind doing anyways. Exceed Mental Defense + EGO by their EGO, you get a serious effect (the equivalent of Stunning them) - something they are opposed to doing. Exceed Mental Defense + EGO by double EGO, you get the major effect (the equivalent of a KO) - the things they are violently opposed to, or will die before doing.

We're Starfleet officers. Weird is part of the job description.