Hugh Neilson

Well, it makes full (50 base) Life Support worth 100 points, or 67 if you accept that "always on" is a limitation (not sure why you would for life support...). If your EC already has 100 point powers in it, you pay the same for life support inside or outside. I think I'd take it outside and avoid the extra impact of drains. Essentially, this comes back to just another way to make the cost higher if it goes in an EC. My question is, if Life Support is worth 50 points and 10d6 Energy Blast is worth 50 points, why is it OK to reduce the cost of Energy Blast by having it in an EC, but not OK to reduce the cost of Life Support? Is EB overpriced, or life support underpriced, to justify this differing treatment? If so, change the price. If not, why is it (and other o END powers) singled out for special treatment in this regard? On the one hand, I'm inclined to agree that justification for 20+ points in any of those defenses needs to be pretty good, EC or not. On the other hand, if you want to waste ANOTHER 20 points on flash defense, who am I to tell you "no"? When's the last time you saw a 20 BOD flash attack anyway? There's always AVLD, but a 6d6 (75 AB) AVLD will be getting 1 stun a shot on someone with 20 flash defense. Personally, I'll pay 10 points for Flash Defense outside my EC. I don't need 50 points' flash defense, my 50 point EX doesn't support any less and I'm not spending 15 more points for DEF I'll never use. Power and Mental defenses have a bit more value at the high end, of course. I can't think of many valid special effects for power defense in an EC. Mental defense for mental powers makes sense, I suppose, but again not many other effects. There's always the "Android Body" effect, but that's a racial EC to me, and I have to accept all androids have that much power defense or I won't allow it in the EC. I don't often see EC's small enough that 10 or 20 point powers fit effectively anywa. Maybe my players are especially reasonable, as they've never asked for an EC of this nature. Maybe I'm not aggressive enough since I've never tried to set one up for my character (thought about it once or twice...) As for changing the rules, I believe we have the standard intro that the GM is the final arbitrator of what the rules are. In challenging my rules calls, the munchkins are breaking the rules anyway. Personally, if I depart from the rules, I'll tell people up front "Yep, I'm changing them". Generally, I think I'm pretty lenient, but then I also don't use canned characters "as written", and they get the same benefits the players do. Something to remember - if you can have an "EC: Exotic Defenses", bet on a lot of your opponents having the same thing. Or having extra dice with some limit or other that gelds your excessive defenses, while not being worth using on the other opponents. Hey, I'll tell you once, maybe twice, if I think the ability (or character) is unreasonable. After that, it's not worth the hassle - I'll just make sure the opposition gets equalized in a manner that negates your unfair advantage withut punishing those who chose to heed the voice of reason.

Probably fair - the hearing sense dopesn't become targetting, but the ability to block (most) spellcasting is as good as the ability to blind (most) targets. It's not a big cost increase, of course.

Either the cost of darkness vs sound needs to increase, or you need to give a greater limitation for Incantations if the Darkness will be common. Depends which way you look at it. Dispel is much more common in fantasy games, since Magic will be so common and I can target magical effects rather than a specific power. No one talks about increasing the cost of dispelling magic in Fantasy Hero, but it is much more useful.

No, I started off saying that simply having powers which do not normally cost END prohibited from being in an EC is excessive. In the right case, I could see any of characteristics, unusual defenses, life support, Aid or enhanced senses fitting the special effects of an EC. I do not see "Characteristics" or "Defenses" (however you sugar coat it) being a valid EC. However, a Light Powers EC could appropriately have Flash Defense. Perhaps a Darkness EC could as well (block the flash w/ darkness). It would not logically provide power defense or mental defense. A heat EC might logically hold Infrared Vision (though I can't see the point setting the base of an EC so low). Many EC's might reasonably hold an Enhanced Sense - Steve alludes to this when he notes a typical EC might have a sensory power. A Speedster's EC may well appropriately include enhanced Speed and/or Dex (DEX gets expensive, since characteristics in a power construct generally provide no figured). Many might properly include Damage Reduction against their special effect, and/or an opposing special effect. Is it improper for Spider-Man's Spider Powers EC to include his "spider sense"? Maybe - you may think it's a strech for spider powers. But it should not be disallowed solely because Danger Sense costs no END (or because it may be a special power; I don't recall if it is). Are these powers truly so overpowered that they should not qualify for the point breaks available to other powers? If they are, maybe their pricing overall should be fixed. I don't believe they are.

Armor: OIF John...Paul...Ringo...George Helping Steve a lot, I suspect. I agree with a prior poster - try and set up some of the "classic fantasy" items that seem tough to duplicate in the Hero system. Need some items? Well, troll the boards for a while and you'll see plenty! Let's start with Trog Stench, and Berserker Rage (haven't read FH yet - sorry if one or both is already in there) A thought for discussion: Should Steve publish the full details of the characters' spells (assuming some are mages) or just a name and a Grimoire reference to save space? The latter seems preferable if you buy both to get more info in MM&M, but means the characters aren't complete in one spot, and are less useful if you didn't buy the Grimopire.

If they already know, why do they always make us tell them?

Not if you move the REC up the time chart.

No, it says the power stops functioning when the character stops paying END, though some effects may linger (the example of flowers still blooming). Still changing CV's? I don't bel;ieve that's intended to be covered. Long Lasting as an adder would work, and notes continuing charges are an acceptable substitute. I'd cover it with Immunity as well, but some are quite insistent that we follow the "letter of the law" that PI is for your version only (and, well, maybe a sibling).

I believe the 1 minute limitation means Troggy can only stink (or at least impact your CV) for 1 minute. If he dies, the effect would fade immediately. If you want the nausea to outlive Troggy, you need some kind of "continuous" advantage. Maybe give it continuing charges? Trog's in TOS aren't limited in number of uses per day, but how many times would thet get an opportunity? 6 charges of 1 minute (-0), or 1 fuel charge of 1 hour (also -0) would seem to do it. An hour per day would seem to be plenty, and you don't have to pay for reduced END! [Let's assume "doesn't affect Trogs" is a +0, shall we.]

It's generally hard to do any game on a straight conversion. I normally try to convert the feel of the system and characters more than the precise mechanics. If it's instant death for unarmored foes, 7d6 RKA probably does it.

I can recall a time when my group played three games: Champions, AD&D and Call of Cthulhu. One player summed up success and lethality something like this: Champions: Play well, and you have a good chance of succeeding at any adventure. Play poorly and the worst case is you'll be knocked out. Death is highly unlikely. D & D: Play well, and you have a decent chance of succeeding at any adventure. Death is a possibility, but low if you play well. Play poorly, and death is likely. C of C: Play extremely well, bordering on perfect, and you have even odds of surviving the adventure.

Refer to the FREd comments on "racial EC's". To me, all three of the above imply a racial abilities EC, so the most you could buy will be the minimum expected of all androids/golems/demons. So, unless ALL androids have 10 points flash defense, for example, it comes out of the EC. Personally, I don't associate "android" with "can't be blinded", so it doesn't fit. "EC: Superhuman Powers" and "EC: Alien Powers" would seem as (in)valid, to me, as the constructs you list above. There does not seem to be a link which explains why a single drain would logically affect all of these powers at once. Turning that around, I would have to accept it is legitimate to pay +1/4 to Drain any one Android Power, or +2 to drain them all at once. If it's a common special effect for an EC, it must also be a common special effect for adjustment powers, right? [ASIDE: Shouldn't all those powers pay for Inherent then? They should all be inherent, given they are standard abilities attributable to your physical form. I don't like Inherent much, and given the impact on the adjustment power rules for power frameworks, inherent powers clearly don't belong there. To light a further fire, don't we have Inherent running, and birds have Inherent flight? Aren't all our Characteristics Inherent?] Given most of us just look at having the DEF at all times, it's the same basic effect. It is probably more correct to say it makes no significant combat effect (although you will be affected by different NND's, and I think more use force field than armor as the defense). Inside or outside an EC, the bigger question is why a force field costs more points for the same defenses/SFX combination. Armor (or PD/ED + Damage Resistance) is already persistent, and does not require visible special effects. Since it is persistent, arguably it comes with Always On built in (with the same problem it's hard to get an innoculation). Although many of us assume a visible SFX, armor is not inherently Visible unless it Costs END according to the FAQ. An equivalent Force Field needs to be 0 END, persistent and Invisible to all sense groups. Although you get the always on point break, it's still more expensive. 10 DEF armor (or 10 resistant PD/ED): 15 points 10 DEF Force Field modified per above: 10 x 3/1.5 = 20 points. Why is a force field significantly more expensive for the same effects? Surely not for the sole reason that it can be placed in an elemental control! We don't have a special "costs more" energy blast so it can go in an EC? If only the powers that cost more can go in an EC, why not scrap both concepts?

This will depend on the campaign setting. How lethal is combat intended to be? With an average 16 rDef, a 4d6 KA inflicts no BOD damage unless it rolls above the average of 14, and 7d6 will average about 8.5 (24.5 average roll). However, they have the potential to do a lot of STUN. 40d6 KA is pretty much "kills whoever it hits", since it will do 140 average BOD, and that 16 DEF won't shave much off. Practically, it's a nuke. It's a 1,200 point attack, which is probably the best measure of raw power. Commonly, I see 60 point (12 DC) limits, and 75 point (15 DC) limits to avoid instant kill attacks, but it depends on the combat structure you're trying to create. If you want an "instant death" effect for unarmored targets, 6d6 or 7d6 RKA are about right.

The "get him before he gets me" theory may also come into play. "Well, we'll just try to distract Mighty Man - if he catches us, we go to the police. Oh well.. But we'd better hire someone to take out the CrookKiller. Run into him and it's all over." Actually, this helps out the original posted issue in a couple of ways. First, make this quid pro quo clear to the player up front. If you are killing the villains, they will come at you harder than after the others. And they're probably likely to target the killer first - after all, as long as he's down, they only get jail cells if they lose the battle overall. Second, make sure it happens if our black ops friend decides to save the state some trial expenses. One reason to show some restraint up front. If the enemies all fight to kill, it's a lot tougher for the heroes, or the players, to show similar restraint. "Judge Judy, we gots no means of support since he kilt off mah husband. Without him robbin' liquor stores, how's I sposed to send lil' Billy to college?"

Re: Hmm... You can buy partially limited powers - why not partially advantaged? The "partially limited powers" description on FREd p 180 is a good example of a character who has variable END costs on different levels of power. Just apply Reduced End to the first 4d6 in the example. Some advantages are clearly absolute, but a lot could work on the basis that you forego the advantage entirely if you choose to use the non-advantaged dice. So, like, AP is 0 END? Again, I can't see why not. Someone will doubtless show up to tell me exactly how I'm giving away the farm here, but let's say you had an 8d6 AP blast. That costs 60 points, of which 20 is the AP. It should cost 6 END, of which 2 is for AP. For 10 points, make AP cost 0 END and the entire attack costs 4 END. [Mind you, it would be more efficient to make the whole attack 1/2 END for 10 points, so it costs 3 END] A lot of advantages clearly need to apply to the power as a whole (eg. you can't Trigger just the AP portion of the attack).

Not looking at the book, but I bet they generally spend more than 60 AP on defenses as well. Especially if you consider Regeneration, DCV bonuses and DEX over some number to be "defensive powers".

ooo...how 4 color! I must have missed that one - I've certainly never seen it applied. Oh, I see it - it's supposed to be an average, not a maximum. I've still never seen average resistant defenses fall that low in a supers campaign (including the standard Hero characters). It's probably good for a gritty, street level structure, or even a structure closer to four color, but where combat is more oriented to death of combatants. Like any other restriction, it depends on the tone and structure of the campaign. 6-14 average DC's...4d6 KA vs 10 rDef...not pretty!

That abuse is much easier prevented - show me the tightly knit special effects that bind all these powers together. There's no such thing, for example, as "EC: Defenses". It is also noteworthy that I may only buy these powers if "they take the limitation costs END or the GM permits it". So? I can't buy any power if the GM doesn't permit it. Just hang a stop sign over the construct and be done with it! Enhanced senses, you say? Why, Steve's discussion on FREd 204 suggests an EC would commonly have a sensory power (but likely only one per EC). I wonder which ones he's referring to, since very few cost END. By the way, Flash, Power and Mental Defense, as well as Enhanced Senses, are all Special Powers that require GM permission in any power construct (just like powers costing no END in an EC). Note that power, mental and flash defense could all be purchased as part of a force field, which also grants resistant defenses, so no need for damage resistance. Make it 0 END (and maybe always on) and you have your special defenses. And forcing them all to cost END hardly seems the solution to this problem. So I make them cost END (maybe only to start up) and buy all my powers that would otherwise cost END to reduced/0 END to compensate. So Aid was legit if it cost END, but since it was changed to incorporate "0 END", it's no longer appropriate? Yet I can buy an EB and reduce it to 0 END. Maybe I should be allowed to buy Life Support Costs END, 0 END. It's a stupid construct, obviously. A force field with multiple extra defenses tossed in also gets around another issue with EC's - if you put in powers that are very low cost, you eliminate the benefit on higher cost items. An EC with 10 points flash defense, a 75 point attack power and a couple of 50 point powers [extreme example] is horribly inefficient. Total cost 5 + 5 + 70 + 45 + 45 = 170 points. Take out the Flash Defense and buy it separately, and pay 25 + 50 + 25 +25 + 10 = 135 points. And no, you can't have a slot for "10 Mental Defense, 10 Power Defense, 10 Flash Defense, 10 Lack of Weakness and 10/10 Damage Resistance" to force it to cost 50 points. No point putting multiple attacks in an EC either. Let's say you already have a 60 point power in your EC, and you want some attacks. Three attacks costs 90 points. A multipower with three Ultra attacks costs 78. Neither construct allows multiple power attacks (absent special GM permission - there's that "GM permits it" business again). You could mix & match if your multi uses regular slots, but that's 96 points (oooo...+6 to be allowed to mix & match - a +1/15 advantage!). Make it 5 attacks, and we get 150 in the EC, 90 in the multi or 120 in the multi with mix & match potential. And this ignores the fact the attack generally costs more than the other EC powers, so it generally does cost more than 50% its usual cost. The EC works best for non-attack powers, or where the character will only have one or two attack powers (and some big related powers). Funny you should mention life support, by the way. As a power costing as much as 50 points, it would be a nice one to get a point break on. Given its general utility as compared with, say, a 50 point attack power or a 50 point defensive power, it seems legit that you could get a point bvreak somewhere. Mind you, in my campaigns, players have generally purchased life support because they needed it for their character's conception, not sought out conceptions that justified life support. FTL travel is another, although it's less expensive. Can EC's be abused? Sure. Is putting a power that costs no END in an EC usually abusive? I don't believe so. Can they be abused with powers that DO cost END? Sure. So why put this special restriction in place for EC's only? Regeneration - that would be a persistent power that doesn't cost END, wouldn't it? Sure, it's constructed from a power that normally costs END, but the net effect is that I have a power which, by its nature in the rule books, never costs END. An always on force field is visible to three sense groups. So much for stealth - your crackly force field makes it very difficult to sneak up on people. Disguise yourselves to pass unnoticed? Sorry - you're down to the "trenchcoat and big hat" school of subtlety. And no, you don't get distinctive features for that, any more than anyone with a force field gets an "easily concealed" DF since he can shut it down. Hopefully, you also purchased Immune to Diseases - you're very difficult to innoculate with 15 Resistant PD you can't shut down. Secret ID? I think not! Just off the top of my head. Always On wouldn't be listed as a separate limitation if it didn't commonly cause problems to have powers it applies to unable to be shut down.

You mention already looking at END batteries, but this seems the most effective means of accomplishing what you're looking for. "Multiple charges" equate to higher END costs from the battery, it gradually recovers and you could use Aid, Absorb, Healing and/or Transfers to boost its END stealing points from others. If you also want to slap a limit on how many times a day the power(s) can be used, each power could have its own charges, or the END battery itself could be charged simulating a limit to the number of times per day you can draw on it. My general approach is not to try to duplicate other games' mechanics too precisely, especially when it gets exceptionally complicated under the Hero system. If I want to play a D&D wizard, I'll play D&D. In Hero, I look for something different from what I can play in whatever other game.

The owner of the phone number must be on file somewhere. If he can pay cash, then he should have no problem. Of course, he should consider where he leaves the phone while in secret ID - hard to explain why you don't answer it... If you can get by with local calling only, perhaps you can stay somewhat anonymous. I'm not a big fan of cellphones, so I wouldn't be familiar with anonymous phones. You have a number - there must be a name attached to it somewhere. At the end of the day, from a game perspective, it's no different from a car. If you want to use it in play, you pay the points for it (assuming the campaign as a whole doesn't allow equipment purchases with money).

If the SFX justify it, I'd permit armor in an AC. +10/+10 Force Field 0 End is the same cost, so there's no real cost break. If he wants to add Persistent, he has to add Always On first, so the force field winds up cheaper than armor anyway. Technically, if I buy my Armor (or any other defense) "costs End only to activate", it's legal in the EC. Personally, I don't see the huge abuse that requiring all EC powers to cost END is preventing. I can have an Aid, for example, in my EC if I make it cost END. I can have an EB reduced to 0 END. So why force the Aid to cost END? As for the DEF/Attack quandry, my experience is that players generally take the EC to the lower total (eg. their defenses and movement power) and spend extra for an attack power, if they have an attack power in the EC at all. Far more common is an EC with no attack powers and a multipower for attacks if the player wants some versatlity. Multiple attack powers in an EC are not cost effective.

Well, I suppose most characters have an address. How many have an address they wish to give out (for billing purposes)? "Sure Batman, we'll just send the bill to Wayne Manor. That Mr. Wayne sure is swell to take care of your bills like that." Certainly, there are ways around it, but hey - we pay points to justify those ways around things! hmmm...FoxBat disguises himself as each member of the supergroup and signs up for dozens of cell phone plans. And the bills start pouring in... "Crusaders won't pay their phone bills. Film at 11"

I'd allow it, with a pretty hefty limitation. Remember that you go to DCV 0 if you recover, and you don't get the recovery if you get hit/take damage before your next phase.

That's not "Invisible to one", it's "Invisible to all but one". Whether the orcs have the reaction you suggest depends on how aware they are of Magic, which in some part means how common is it. Now, if we talk about our character in a modern campaign pulling the same stunt on the Chairman of the Board, he'll be seeking psychiatric help before too long.

Better yet, set him up to destroy his killer first time. If you can come back as a ghost...