Hugh Neilson

Re: What character concepts make you cringe? Ummm...he paid for a bunch of regeneration, and he's upset because he got to use it?? I'd be more ticked if I spent 70 points on Regen and never tok a pip of BOD in two years! 20% of your abilities wasted!

Re: DEX vs. CSLs

Re: Too many stats in Hero The above are great examples of why I don't like tinkering with the game system. Anything beyond the most minor change often has rasmifications that aren't considered, and tend to come back to bite one at inopportune times. To add another, if the SPeed chart goes away, how do we handle characters who cause others to move slower, or speed up their own actions. M & M has superspeeed and time manipulation powers, among others. Hero has SPD Aid and SPD Drain as examples. What does Hero have if we toast the SPD chart? Well, we need an all,new mechanic, so we didn't necessarily simplify the game we just changed it. It's probably simpler in some cases, and more complex in others.

Re: Too many stats in Hero Zornwil hits the nail on the head. Yes, bonuses to PRE skills apply iuf a chatracter has an especially persuasive argument. How often does/should an 8 INT character think of that very persuasive argument under pressure? How eloquently can an 8 PRE character present his argument? If I'm using my high player INT and PRE to offset my low Character INT and PRE, that's just bad roleplaying/metagaming. "Your argument is, of course, very cogent, and your presentation as a player was flawless. Unfortunately, Mordo the Spaz has a 5 PRE, and in receiving delivery his speech, the Princess has discovered, to her disgust. that Mordo is a spitter."

Re: Penetrating vs. Force Field I'm a bit confused by your choice of words. A foirce FIELD would not go down. A force WALL would go down. Your post uses the two terms interchangeably. If the force wall goes down, the atack can pass through and hit the target, but the Force Wall's defenses are still applied, so that attack likely won't hurt too badly. Our Hero better be ready to abort and put the wall back up, or t6he next shot will hurt severely. For your second question, unless the Force Wall has exotic defenses, exotic attacks pass right through - it's transparent. An AVLD versus Flash, or a ranged Drain or Transfer , wouldn't need much in the way of active points to do him some harm. 3d6 AVLD vs Sight Flash + 3d6 Sight Flash, Linked, is a 52.5 Active Point, 47.5 real point power. It works remarkably well if he has no flash defense. An Indirect attack (and telekinesis always is) can ignore the force wall entirely. You can also put him in situations where the Wall must come down. What if he needs to pick something up? Well, it's outside the force wall, isn't it?

Re: DEX vs. CSLs

Re: What character concepts make you cringe?

Re: Too many stats in Hero This depends on how far the matter is taken. If the result is that an eloquent player who posits intelligent arguments for his case, but has an 8 INT/8 PRE character, generally needs the same roll for success as a player who is less eloquent and doesn't tailor the case to the audience at that level, but has a character with 18 INT and 18 PRE, then the first player is being allowed to override the points he saved by role playing the character poorly. If, on the other hand, these bonuses are rare and in character (eg. the 8 PRE, but 23 INT, superscientist occasionally realizes just the right thing to say which proves his argument to the crowd, then notwithstanding he may not be very impressive, his irrefutable argument may just carry the day), then I don't see the same problem. If the bonuses for being an eloquent player are going to cancel out the penalties for a poor stat (or penalties for being an eloquent player will cancel bonuses for good stats), then it's probably better to just eliminate all these stats and play based on each character having the persuasiveness and mental acuity of his player.

Re: Power Construct & Redundant Mods? Actually, I'd use an NND - Does BOD, limited with the restruction that it aplies BOD only if the target is hit twice within some timeframe. Assume, for example, a 15d6 NND Does BOD, Standard Effect. 1st hit does 45 STUN on average (most people will be at -10 or lower, though some may struggle up to -9, and still be aware - O'Neill seems to get this a lot). Second hit does 45 STUN, 15 BOD AND means the 15 BOD from the first hit is also effective. Anyone with 15 BOD or less is dead. Add, say, 5d6 w/ no STUN and anyone within NCM is dead on the second hit.

Re: Is this technique now considered legal? Isn't that why FREd is big and only printed in hardcover?

Re: What character concepts make you cringe? Well, we're playing a game based on the comics. Why would it surprise you that the players take their inspiration from comic book characters? Is Dr. Destroyer (armored megalomaniac wants to rule the world) original? A big, strong tough guy? [sorry - no bricks allowed - we only want original characters] Is there a powered armor character out there who owes no credit to Iron Man? Put a spin on it that makes him "yours" and move on.

Re: A character for a game... Drag the process down becuase you can't find what you want. Print out a sheet with only half the info you wanted (again, because you don't put notes in right - I'm sure the SW can do it). Cut your multipower slot off in mid-page. Excel works just fine for me. I'm sure someone proficient with Hero Designer can make it do great things, but I like to customize my format, detail some things, etc. which a canned SW package makes tougher.

Re: Villainy Amok - What Would *You* Like To See Another item: The political scenario. You can't punch out the Governor to avoid mutant control legislation. WHat do you do? This could fit the whole subgenre of scenrios where you must deal with "the system" and powers aren't much help. Examples: - politics (above) - legal battles (getting sued for property damage; trying to prove the villain guilty, heroes framed for a crime) - the orphanage is being foreclosed and the orphans will be on the street - can our heroes fundraise? These can be tough to run, especially in a combat heavy game. Some tips for enhancing these beyond "OK, roll your PS: Lawyer" skill would be great.

Re: Villainy Amok - What Would *You* Like To See From another thread ("sniper syndrome). The Body switch is such a classic I can't believe it hasn't already been suggested. Some game issues to cover include players with "new rules" they are't used to, and that one player who can't have ANYONE know about his "secret" powers. QUOTE: Here's another possibility for encouraging the Sniper to get into the same game as the rest of the team: How about a villian (or an environmental side-effect), that causes the heroes to exchange bodies at the outset of the combat? Now everyone has to make do with their new skill set (GM: "You all feel a brief, but intense feeling of dizziness." Player "I fly up to the top of the building..." GM: "Your boot jets don't seem to be activating, and you feel bulkier than normal somehow..." (Hmm, perhaps he's got the body of the team brick?)) .................................................................................................... This can provide a real break for the routine, and be blast for all involved. (It does depend on a certain amount of player-to-player trust, however.) Needless to say, as GM you'd have to make sure no-one got killed under another PC's control, that would be unfair!

Re: Too many stats in Hero I agree with Zornwil. I find players who take low stats in these areas (PRE/COM in Hero, Charisma in That Other System) and then complain that "they role played the interaction well" so they should get an advantage have missed a salient point. It is not you making the speech, it is your character. Your (the player's) speech was eloquent and stirring. But your character with the 8 PRE and 6 COM just isn't capable of giving such a rising speech. If you want the ability, pay the points!

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

Re: What are the most annoying player habits! See? SEE!!! Someone erase these posts before the Munchkins see it!!!

Re: A character for a game... It al depends what you want to simulate. Note that six hexes is limited to (say) six goons surrounding you, or some group within a 6 hex area. As you say, it's a tradeoff. If it doesn't work out like you expect, you can always buy additional slots with different areas later to enhance coverage. My experience is a 20 PRE is pretty common. Add 2d6 for actions/soliloqies and you end up with 21 rolled on average. That's a pretty average PRE attack. A good PRE attack will easily get +10, more commonly +20 on you. As long as you understand that, and it's in your conception of the character, I see no problem, but be aware that he is vulnerable to PRE attacks. I would describe him as pretty easily impressed for a Super. Vorsch has a lot of good comments. I'd still call his DC's too high, and his DEF/DCV combo pushes the envelope as well, at least IMC. Un;less you're in the Edmonton area, he won't be IMC any time soon - other GM's may differ. I'd note that I ignore the names of "Hunteds" since I generally enforce these as being "mystery hunteds" or change them for my campaign anyway.

Re: OK Call me stupid but..... The term derives from the printing process originally used for comics - four colors (red, yellow, blue and black) could be used. I think there are three shades of each of the primary colors, and I anticipate three of black, leaving 256 possible combinations. This was used, if I recall correctly, well into the '70s, certainly the full golden and silver ages, and has come to refer to the subgenre when good is Good, evil is Evil and ambiguity is absent.

Re: Ultimate Brick -- What Things Weigh

Re: A character for a game... That was my first thought as well. Note that an expendeble focus is like a material component used in casting a fantasy spell. Using the power uses up the component. This is why those shield powers look so huge - you need one shield for each usage. My 2 cents: He's pretty easily imnpressed (14 Ego and 14 PRE) - he'd hesitate quite a bit in my campiagn, but I sometimes think I'm the only person who uses PRE attacks, given the frequency of similar stats I see. I'd boost the activation roll for your shield Armor. It saves virtually nothing and makes it undependable at best. How often does Capt. America fail to catch an attack on his shield? Since your area of effect is selective, why not use something other than "Any Area" to get a wider area of coverage? A cone might make sense, to hit a bunch of gons in an area. Make the cone no range and you've got a pretty decent arc from the character to choose from. I doubt I would allow the EC - "Super Soldier Serum" as a common special effect doesn't do it for me. I'd probably allow it as a multipower, which would ultimately be cheaper anyway. No way would I let the character have a 22d6 martial strike (with the shield element). This stems from the 12d6 HA for the shield, which stems from the mistaken application of expendable on the focus.

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

Re: Mental Entangles and the Weak-Willed

Re: Mental Entangles and the Weak-Willed Good question. Posted to Steve's Board.