Hugh Neilson

Re: Re: Re: Re: Flame Games I'm not looking at the books, and it's an idea I wouldn't want to see as a common power. It just seemed a good take for this power. For the impact, however, maybe it should have to be an NND Does BOD - I don't believe you can get past a force field. I suppose one could rule that this is part of the drawback of the "real armor" limitation, but it's still allowing a pretty major shift in the balance of power. If you wanted a fencing campaign without gunpowder, this could explain why heavy armor fell out of fashion.

I'm with you on not changing the speed system. However, in a scenario where "time is out of joint", this could be an interesting mechanic to add some confusion. I prefer the "one card is the phase for this segment" approach. It might also be interesting to see how behaviour changes if the player doesn't know a PS 12 recovery is coming up next. If I were to deal to each PC se[arate;y, I think I'd go with one suit for each player. That could be interesting - "it's phase 3 for SuperDude, Phase 7 for BatGuy, and WonderLady gets a recovery instead of a phase."

Re: Hot potatoes... Seems to me this is one of those "hit location determined by SFX" situations. It would always hit the hands, with no OCV or damage modifiers. Alternatively, I'd let you trade off - it gets the hand's damage modifiers, but also disables the hands if damage is adequate.

Re: Re: Flame Games Perhaps Indirect rather than AP to simulate the fact the attack actually comes inside your armor?

That's the one - I forget who posted it a couple of weeks ago! Buy any power you want (or all your powers) normally. However, also apply "Charges - 1 googol" (+1 advantage; googol being 1 with a million zeroes behind it - hey, make it a trillion zeroes the cost's unchanged) and make the charges non-recoverable (-2 from the Charges figure). All your powers purchased with this construct are half price, and get 0 END as an added freebie. Stevehas, I'm told, indicated the construct is technically legal. Clearly no one would allow it. [The priginal poster is welcome to take credit for the ides, by the way - I'm just reporting it.]

hmmm...don't the bonus DEF need "usable against others" to apply to others so they don't take damage? Probably just left off your list. I was considering Missile Deflection (area effect) with "suck the blasts in" being the special effect. Maybe Ranged, some kind of persistent continuous effect, and penalty skill levels to offset the penalties for deflecting multiple attacks in a phase. That would also put range penalties on his power, so a blast further away from him is more likely to evade his "gravity". Hadn't gotten beyond that point, actually. I didn't realize it also increased his power, but I guess that could be simulated by an Aid (Absorb no longer working as he's not getting hit). It still doesn't get HTH attacks, though. It's a very interesting construct. I'll have to keep it in mind to piece it together some day. I don't see him as a PC, so it doesn't really matter if the points get a bit fuzzy.

That's a bit of a gap in the system - if its dead, it must have "left". Assuming a supers game, however, how often is something dead rather than knocked out? It can't leave if it's just lying on the ground sleeping, can it? I suspect no one uses the Aid trick because no one would permit it in their own campaign. I think the adjustment powers need a review and fixup - the pendulum swung too far the other way between 5th and 4th. I think there's room for advantages like: "no maximum" (+1, based on splitting the points between whatever increases and +2 max for 1 character point) for Transfer, Heal, Absorb and Aid (I'd slap a stop sign on it, and no, a character who beats his head against a tree won't be allowed - for the same reason you can't use Transform to ruin the world economy) Heals Damage (on Aid could be on Absorb or Transfer I suppose); +1 Can increase beyond starting (for heal; w/ fade rate); +1/2 Why +1? Because Aid, Only to starting Max (-1/2) costs END (-1/2), Heals Damage (+1) equals 10 points per die, just like Heal. Or Heal, No END (+1/2), Beyond starting max w/ Fade (+1/2), does not heal (-1) equals 10 points per die, just like Aid. Last big change - if Transfer is fully used, it still works like a Drain. Otherwise, buy a die of Drain and a die of Aid, link them, and call the dice rolls always equal (+0). Voila - "real transfer" - and it's a little cheaper and costs less END! As for Summon/Follower - I haven't used them enough to say where the fix is, but I think these powers could stand some reworking. There's a few threads on this around.

Actually, I never took a run at the "meet his gaze" power. I got in on the disads remembering a player we used to describe as having characters with suites like "Dist Features: Beady littly Eyes (14-; extreme reaction); Hunted: More powerful someone who hates people with Beady Little Eyes(14-; NCI); Hunts peoplke who hate peopke with Beady little Eyes; Enraged (14/8) fighting peple who hate people with beady little eyes; Hates people who hate people with Beady Little Eyes" Start again with Big Nose and you've got about 300 points in disad's It never got that bad, of course - this was a "higlight character sheet" we wrote up for the player. And he was new to the game, so it came down more to learning the system, and the traditional abuse of tjose learning the system. As for the actual power, I'm not that clear on the intent, but it sounded like once his gaze was met, the other character couldn't break his gaze. I think negative skill levels make sense if the character is still able to act, just not able to look away. It may go as far as Mental Paralysis if they're really locked in place. I'd have to question how many people can meet his gaze at one time too. The other unanswered question is whether CC can manipulate his targets by turning his head - do they have to follow his gaze, or does that just break contact? ooo...I'm flattered

Re: An interesting idea by Hugh I can't claim credit for the idea - someone raised it once on a newsgroupd or an article somewhere and it seemed pretty creative. I lkiked their concept of shuffling the deck and drawing one card at a time for phases (Ace to Queen meaning phases 1 - 12, King being s post seg 12 recovery), mainly because it ensured that, over time (52 segments) everyone had the appropriate number of actions for their Speed, something many randomizing systems fail to deliver consistently. I guess you could get more consistency if the GM held only 13 cards, so you wouldn't get Phase 3 twice in a row or all the PS12's come up near the start or finish of 4 turns.

You could also consider Continuous to enable the armor to stay hot, maybe even Uncontrolled so you don't have to keep paying attention to it. That could get pretty costly - might be something best bought with xp after you see how the original power comes together.

YMMV. Personally, I like the ability to have a tough hero who's not necessarily all that strong, a strong character who may not have a high BOD, a smart character with limited willpower (or vice versa), etc. I think Hero does a great job of segregating these abilities to allow customization. Merging them takes out a lot of that customization. May as well merge EB's and RKA's/martial arts, hand attacks and HKA's while you're at it. No sense them looking any different - they're all ways to do damage at range/in HTH.

Which was the point of the exercise - a power which, while technically legal, clearly would never be allowed by any sane GM.

Has a poor GM for not indicating campaign lethality and expected level of defenses more clearly to the player. That is what you were going to say, right?

Re: Energy-choking Darkness I think I'm going to make all my players pay for their abilities in $ from now on too! Galactic Champions can't get here soon enough once I make that little change

Technically, NND is not "can't be based on "lack of something", it says "generally lack of something would be inapprorpiate". For these specifics, I'd probably say you beat the generality. But, if we want to push into the realm of "anything suggested as inappropriate is against the rules", how about the defense is Force Field or immunity to high heat LS (the field keeping the heat away from the weilder) and the power gets a limitation for "Only works if target wearing/holding metal"? Yeah, a force field guy with armor or a sword will be unaffected, but you do save some points - invest them in someting to deal with these guys (maybe boost your Dispel Magic).

I probably wouldn't change the system either (although a scenario where time is somehow messed up might make it appropriate for a scene or two). The susceptibility, side effect or pay to activate mechanisms can make it work without dropping the system wholesale. I think this could get frustrating in a lower power (and lower speed) game as we get several phases where no one acts. Dice rolls, of course, mean you will eventually have a combat where the brick moves every segment and the MA not at all, due to lucky dice.

A super hero name? How about Redeemer - no one has to know he's referring to his own redemption.

Re: Need some help with gadgets - A remote control camera he can attach to a wall or something and be able to see what it sees Clairsentience, possibly with Eidetic Memory if i records - A tracking device he can attach to villains, vehicles, etc... How about Detect Tracking Device - you now need to plant the device itself, and follow it with the tracking indicator. Maybe a multipower with some Megascale, and/or some range penalty offsets to make it longer. Perhaps a limited Mind Scan would work. - A device to trick key card readers (remember that scene in Terminator 2 when young John Connors gets money from the ATM machine?) hmmm...Wealth perk and that's my special effect? comp programming's been suggested - buy the card as a computer with that skill Transform?

I think the bigger problem is that Speed is not open-ended, which creates some problems. Actually, if you want "costs END" to work, move your game to a more randomized system. I've never experimented with any myself, but one approach is "everyone roll d12 - if it's equal to or less than SPD, you get a phase this segment". Another is a standard deck of cards. Ace - All who would move on phase 1. Other #'s - All who would move that phase Jack - Ph 11 Queen - Ph 12 King - Post Seg 12 recovery. I think I'd favour the cards - at least after 52 phases, everyone had four full turns.

Nothing stops him? Maybe the GM stops him! But the "switch the points out and the beast goes away" answer has its own problems. MUNCHKIN: I get up in the morning. Shift my Multipower to "Summon Horrifically Powerful Beast That Grants My Wishes". roll roll: Ego roll is 7. GM: It rolls a 17. Your roll is +15 because it's a 150 point active power, so you lose. It snarls, but can't do anything as it's disoriented on the arrival phase. MUNCHKIN: Switch my pool to Force field. GM: No more points for your Summon Ultra - it vanishes. MUNCHKIN: I'll take a recovery, then Summon again. ad infinitum until EGO contest succeeds. And AID works the same way in a power framework. Add in some Delayed Fade, and you can enhance yourself and your friends pretty good. You can only replace it if the original one leaves. How far away is considered "left"?

Holy First Edition, Batman! Originally, MA got you five maneuvers (IIRC, the current Martial Strike, Offensive Strike, Martial Dodge, Martial Grab and Martial Throw) for 1/2 your STR. All damage was denominated in multiples of your usual STR damage, not +x DC (Haymaker was the last holdout to that convention...I find I don't miss it). Each additional 1/2 STR paid bought you +1/2 to the damage multiple. So a 60 STR Brick who wants a Martial Dodge has to pay 15 points...I'm guessing he'll buy levels in DCV only when dodging instead. On the other had, a 5 STR looks pretty good if you want MA from Hell

I'm working on a 90 pt VPP character for a 350 point game, and he has 50 points' life support. You don't have much outside the VPP, so you won't be firing off 90 AP attacks. [i've predefined him having a 12 DC limit anyway to avoid any ability to squish campaign power limits.]

This should become an "interesting" thread I'll probably be too nice, so Farkling, if you;re reading this, come curb my munchin tendencies 60 points of Distinctive Features - NFL and I don't mean the football league. More appropriately, you should have one combined disadvantage for the various things that are distinctive. I might give you the psionic aura if I think enough people can detect it, but I'd also assume it makes it easier to find you with a Mind Scan, so maybe it should be a Physical Limitation instead in that respect. Reputation (see "Distinctive Features"): Reputation: Less than sane Anarchist (14-; extreme) 20 points. I'm interested to lknow what "near death" is for the enraged. I guarantee you will be there at some point in my campaign, otherwise the disadvantage isn't worth any points, so for your sake, I hope it's not "at negative BOD". I'd want a bit more ddefinition for the psychs to assess how common or strong the will be in my campaign, but no immediate concerns. MAKING UP THE POINTS: I would think a guy who's that distinctive looking would have a Public ID. Where's he going to hide? I would also expect a less than sane anarchist known to most of the world would have some Hunteds. These are probably reasonable areas to make up some of the points. And, of course, there's the Universal Balancer - Unluck. [Rule 417a: When a player's disadvantages have been discussed and the polayer is incapable of accepting that the proposed point value is acceptable, the GM should accept the proposed point value. He should then immediately draft a backup character sheet on which the disadvantages are reflected at their true value, and apply dice of Unluck to achieve a balance. This should never happen to reasonable players.]

Re: Multipower summon question I believe the FAQ indicates that switching points in a framework doesn't eliminate the summoned creature, only the ability to summon. Nor can you make the creature vanish at will (although it could be a task assigned, and an amicable Summon may leave on request). On that basis, I would say: (1) He can't make it disappear by switching slots (2) He could swich to mind control and try to control it (3) No change for a VPP (4) Why don't you just shell out for the +1/4 and make it Amicable?

If Mr. Negative can cut and paste, so can I You could also reduce the cost to 16 points, a big 6 points extra, at the cost of leaving the roll for the side effect. Now you average 21 END cost, but risk fluctuations in that amount. Reduce the cost to 20 by making it a -1 side effect (4d6 END drain) and you average 14 END, and need a pretty high roll to beat the 18 charged above. It would likely be more efficient (but riskier) to use that approach. Spend the 2 points you saved on END. Save 18 CP at the cost of 18 END for each use of the power. Actually, I don't see a more practical way to achieve the effect. As an alternative, you could take costs END (-1/2), 3x END (-1), only costs END to activate (cut limitation by half to -3/4 in total), and get the same -3/4 limitation. You now only lose 12 END for starting up the power. Problem is, while 12 END for 4 extra phases is 3 END per phase (and may be reasonable), technically I think the power can then remain up indefinitely. Since you only paid END on startup, I'm not convinced you must shut the power down to take a recovery (off PS 12, of course). Without any "rules support", I'm inclined to say I would allow this on one of two bases. One - you must shut the power down if you wisah to take a recovery other than PS 12 (which may be correct anyway). Two - the power is "activated" once per turn, so you pay 12 END each turn to maintain the power. Now we're paying 3 END per bonus phase, which doesn't seem unreasonable on either side. [To me - the player will call it highway robbery, and Farkling will call me a munchkin enabler for considering it I think the 1 1/2 d6 side effect mentioned below is more in the game, but that's now 5 points per phase (1/2 die will average 2 so that should be the standard effect). Given the nominal variance and frequency of die rolls, I think you're wasting points to go with a standard effect. Mind you, if you figure the character is almost certain to have a base Speed of 3 or 4, he's spending 35 or 40 END per turn on this - the power is self-defeating. OVERALL: I think either side effect or susceptibility works better than SPD - Costs END due to the mechanics of speed. Costs END only to activate also works reasonably well if appropriately defined, but no way would I let a player spend 12 END when he wakes up and keep +4 Speed running for free until he's forced to shut the power down. "SPD costs END" in any formn should mean significant END while the SPD is in use. Speed that takes an END toll isn't unreasonable, at least in my opinion. The bigger question is whether you would allow someone to achieve a Speed that high in any case. I'd be pretty leery of +4 SPD in, say, Fantasy Hero without some pretty crushing limits. Definitely time to take the player aside and discuss the availability of this effect to NPC's as well. In a Champions campaign, it may not be as devestating, depending on the character, but a high Speed remains very valuable, so it would definitely be a character by character decision. Speeds above a certain level is a definite "Stop Sign" in my books.