Hugh Neilson

Re: Fade Rate OR Recovery In Fantasy, you can buy healing spells which will speed the fade rate. Even in fantasy, I find a recovery of 5 or less is rare, at best, so you are weakening adjustmnet powers if you change the fade rate to REC. As well, buying extra REC in a fantasy setting is already a pretty effective choice, especially if you're using long term END rules and encumbrance (which most fantasy does, in my experience). This just makes it more of a "must have", especially if Adjustment spells are common. hmmm...REC drain w/ long term Fade to frustrate PC's who use END rapidly by crushing them with LTE. On the other hand, if you also apply it to Aid, I suppose there's a real tradeoff in REC. You will, of course, be answering the question "how much of an advantage for my REC not to impact my Aid fade rate". And someone already mentioned the potential in a REC drain arising from this.

Re: Autofire for OCV bonuses

Re: Help w/a power

Re: Moving Advantages/Limitations to Adders/Subtractors There's no need to be using the "F" Word!

Re: Open or hidden dice

Re: Help w/a power

Re: Moving Advantages/Limitations to Adders/Subtractors I believe the writers of Mutants and Masterminds did./ Don't their modifiers al add or deduct a point from the per level cost of any given power?

Re: Fade Rate OR Recovery As for the concept, I'd say adjustment powers were more than adequately hosed in 5e without adding a faster recovery rate on. And this pretty muich grants everyone a faster recovery rate - when is the last time you saw a Super with stats under 8 STR and 18 CON (6 REC)? This is exacerbated if they can take recoveries to regain their lost stats. The Brick is down 20 STR? Big deal - I'll take one recovery. Martial Artist down 7 DEX? I'll take 2 REC's - more speed so same basic effect. And why would anyone pay +1/4 to make the fade rate 5/turn instead? Better to pay +1/4 to step the fade rate one up the chart - you can have your REC per minute. That should provide adequate time to take you down before you get that first recovery, so why should I pay the same amount to allow you 5 points back every turn? I agree with the poster who asked why not just use an NND instead. For 60 points, I can have a 6d6 NND (power defense), rather than a 4d6 ranged STUN drain. Or shell out another 2 points and get a 5d6 AVLD (power defense). The STUN drain's only advantage is circumventing REC, and even that fails you if the target is at -22 STUN when PS 12 rolls around.

Re: Fade Rate OR Recovery

Re: Help w/a power 3d6 Transfer = 45 points and 4 END. Once 18 points have ben transferred, the power has no effect. 3d6 Drain + 3d6 Aid, linked (-1/2), Self Only (-1/2), limited to points drained (say between -0 and -1/2; depends how common power defense is) = 42 to 45 points and 3 END, and the Drain works even if your AID is maxed out. Which power would you rather pay 45 points for? Now let's make it Area Effect. 2d6 Transfer, ranged (+1/2), 12" radius (+1 1/2) = 90 points and 9 END. The 2d6 roll is divided up between everyone in the area. Once 12 points have ben transferred, the power has no effect. 2d6 Drain, ranged (+1/2), 16" radius (+2) = 75 points and 7 END + 2d6 Aid, linked (-1/2), Self Only (-1/2), limited to points drained (say between -0 and -1/2; depends how common power defense is) = 8 to 10 The 2d6 roll applies to everyone in the area and continues to apply even after the maximum 12 points have been "transferred" So the present system would have me pay 5 to 7 points for a power that costs 2 more END, has a smaller radius, divides its damage among everyone in the radius and stops working entirely after I get my 12 extra points. Gee, that seems equitable! Why don't I use those points I saved to make my Drain Selective Area so I can fire it off at no risk of injuring my teammates in the area? That makes my Drain 80 points and 80 END, so I'm somewhere between even and 2 points up. Frankly, I don't believe Transfer was unbalanced before, so I'd say 5th Ed hammered it pretty good. It was a ripoff in 4e as well, when that Aid only cost 5 points per die, but at least it was closer. Considering a 2d6 Transfer costs 30, and 3 END, and a 2d6 Drain with a 2d6 Self Only Linked Aid would cost the same points and 2 END, it seems like heavy overkill to also penalize the Transfer by making it useless as a Drain when the max points have been transferred. PS: Guess what one of the changes I hate most in 5e is? We've long since hourse ruled away the unfairness to Transfer. It works just like a drain, except you also add the roll on the die (unless the target has power defense) to the user of the power.

Re: New Boss Multiform?

Re: Open or hidden dice Hidden. I'm sitting behind a screen anyway. Why would the characters know whether that EB was 10d6 with a good roll, 12d6 with an average roll or 15d6 with a poor roll? I run villains who generally judge the power of their opposition by how hard they hit, so they don't get to know that was a poor roll and that guy will likely hit a lot harder next time.

Re: Want your ideas for a Villain If it's only 1 hex, then Our Heroes' defenses are still on against ranged attacks and their powers still work if they're more than a hex away (meanting our villain still gets smacked with ranged attacks, doesn't he?) On the other hand, Suppress implies the powers won't work at all. What about: Suppress Superpowers 20d6 [standard Effect: 60], all Innate Superpowers at the same time (+2), Area Of Effect (One Hex; +1/2), Megascale (+1/4; 1km radius), Personal Immunity (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2), Inherent (+1/4), Invisible Power Effects (+3/4*) (420 Active Points); Always On (-1/2), No Range (-1/2), Only to the extent powers would affect him (-1/2 **). Total cost: 168 points. * So it's detectable only by some obscure sense, based on his SFX. ** So the characters' powers still work, just not against him. You can still, for example, fly away or attack his allies with your EB. It just won't affect him personally. Arguably not a -1/2. At -0, the power costs 210 points. I'm with sleepy on this - he's a major villain so don't worry about his point cost. If you wanted, you could build him within 350 (140 left over after hius major power), but he's definitely a one trick pony then. BTW, seems to me the easy way to beat this guy is use your powers to drop a wall on him, or toss a car at him. Anything indirect should work, right? This guy is liable to wind up dead, of course. "He's taken a direct hit from MuscleMan, and soaked up two of RadiationGirl's most powerful blasts. I can't afford to hold back - I'll fire my MegaStrike Arrow at him!" "Say again? He did what?"

Re: Help w/a power

Re: Help w/a power Not according to the FAQ: Q: If a character has an Area Of Effect Transfer, does he apply the effect to all targets within the area and get all the points? A: No. He rolls the effect on his Transfer dice and determines the amount. He then divides that as equally as possible between all the affected persons. Catch one person and average 14 END. Catch 5 people and average 14 END. As well, once you get 24 END (and your target is down 12 STUN), the power does nothing, as Transfer doesn't act as a Drain when you've received the maximum points. [i don't agree with that rule, but it is the present rule.] Since it's not expensive enough maybe you can add some points to the maximum transferred.

Re: The Duplication Paradox FWIW, I'm on the same page. Then again, I'm not sure why Duplication can't just be folded into the Summon rules anyway. Maybe in 6e...

Re: Simulated D20 Evards Black Tentacles I've got to side with the "summon automotons" route. That's basically what they are. Mindless tentacles which grab and squeeze whatever they can find until disrupted or the spell ends. Note that the original D&D spell calls for them to wrap around columns as likely as the character standing next to it. More powerful version? Summons more tentacles.

Re: Silliest Disadvantage Ever Yes to both. Easily concealed, and likelyu not a major reaction, but definitely distinctive.

Re: VPPs and Limitations Originally Posted by Killer Shrike You can choose to allow it if you like, but you are going against the rules recommendation that few if any limits be taken in an unrestricted VPP when you do so. Well and good if you want to, but you are basically giving free points to the user of such a VPP by letting them take Lims that are not actually limiting. You're both assessing the same thing. I don't think KS is arguing Incant and Gestures are never limiting. He's arguing they are not limiting when you can change the pool without a roll, instantaneously. Character needs a skill roll and change takes a full phase. He's entangled, so he has to ditch the gestures. He'll lose 1 phase at least. Limiting. Character takes 0 phase and no skill roll. He's entangled. He shifts some points to a Teleport with no gestures or incantations, ports out and gestures and incants to fire his EB. Or he just swaps out Gestures and Incantations for some other -1/2 total limitation. Not limiting.

Re: Megascale Combat That's what motivated me to ask for an official ruling. And so the wheel comes full circle...

Re: Megascale Combat

Re: Silliest Disadvantage Ever 2x Stun and Body from solar powered cold weapons weilded by green and purple froglike martians 2x Stun and Body from octogenarian Norwegian architects weilding hammers. [Hey, once it's rare, it's rare] The "suites" are always interesting. As an example (sub in any distinctive feature you wish): Unusual Looks (which they were then): Big Nose Hunted: People who hate people with big noses Hates people who hate people with big noses Hunts people who hate people with big noses Berserk when fighting people who hate people with big noses And so on...

Re: EC balance fix I'm still in the camp that believes this is not a problem and doesn't need a fix. But to me, the easy fix would be a simple house rule that, in addition to EC's automatically being "drain one drain all", the character's power defense can never apply to anything draining his EC - an automatic -0 limitation. FlameGuy 1 saved a bunch of points with his EC, and his power defense only protects powers outside the EC. FlameGuy 2 spent more points, has no EC and his power defense is full coverage. You want your power defense to cover your EC? Buy off the EC and pay the freight like FlameGuy 2 did.

Re: Megascale Combat

Re: Cheese Check