Rapier

Re: Random Thought: Splitting Speed Instead of asking 'can you' (since the obvious answer is 'yes, of course') you should be asking 'why would you' or 'what are you trying to accomplish.' Those questions would be more informative. It's hard to answer 'is this desirable' without having some kind of context to formulate an answer. For example: The neurons in your brain fire faster than your muscles are able to act. So you feel that mentalists should be able to fire off strictly mental attacks faster than they can move. Would this aspect warrant possibly splitting the SPD Characteristic in my campaign into two separate Characteristics (Mental SPD and Physcial SPD)? Personally, I don't think the effort involved to adjudicate the issues it would create are going to be worth the effort to actually split the Characteristic. Would this mean that Skills like Deduction, which are entirely mental would happen at the Mental SPD instead of the Physical SPD?

Re: Dodging Fireballs Why yes I do. That pesky gravity, disappearing like that and flinging us all off our planets of origin.

Re: Dodging Fireballs

Re: Orbital Satellite Cannon in HERO 6th Edition? Build it as an armed vehicle with a computer brain. -or- In Simplesville, it's just a HUGE accurate AoE megascale RKA with an OAF.

Re: Proper Whip Build in 6e There are different types of whips and we are only MODELLING reality here. In my mind, I would have thought a whip would be a normal attack but I've no problem with it being a KA.

Re: Nanobots & Zombies This is a plot device. I don't think you should spend time bothering to write up the description, let alone making ALL those rolls and checking defenses. Simply say that either every corpse gets animated, or a corpse gets animated on a roll of 11-. It will save you a great deal of time and I think you will be happier this way. However, if you are bound and determined...this might be a good use for DoT. Or you could go Constant Uncontrolled.

Re: Proper Whip Build in 6e Don't know. I've got the same thing: Whip: (Total: 21 Active Cost, 11 Real Cost) RKA 1/2d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (15 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum 4-8 (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; -3/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 5) plus Reach 6m (6 Active Points) (Real Cost: 6) 21 Total Active 11 Total Real. Maybe Steve can't read his own writing? If this is for a SuperHeroic campaign, the 21 Active should be well under any campaign limits so should pose no problems. The Real Cost is the same, so just leave it as you built it. If this is for a Heroic campaign, heroes at the most use Resource Points (if anything) and again, those are based off the Real Cost. As long as the Real Cost is the same and the Active Points aren't prohibitive for your campaign limits (and you know how it works), I wouldn't sweat the difference.

Re: Dodging Fireballs I don't think I would ever allow a +1 DCV Only vs AoE. It just makes no sense to me. The whole concept of AoE is that everyone within the Area gets hit (except for Selective AoE). The attacks FILLS that area. If you are in that area you get hit. The only way to avoid the attack is Desol (which kind of makes you not be in the same plane of existence as the attack) or NOT being in the Area. So +1 DCV would have absolutely no effect. Dive for Cover is the maneuver designed to escape an AoE. I would be ok with Damage Redux, Resistant Protection and Damage Negation if the attack had the right SFX and Limitations. In this case, an AntiMagic Shell or Magical Grounding would make effective SFXs for all those builds. In these cases, they would be good for all magical attacks and not just a Fireball.

Steve, I'm doing a lot of PSL stuff today (obviously 8P). I'm slightly confused by a bit of the text (6E1, p84). PSLs can only be purchased to offset a single OCV (or DCV) penalty, however the text says "a character can change how his OPSLs are assigned as a Zero Phase Action." If a character can only purchase a PSL for a single OCV or DCV penalty, what is there to assign? Thanks again!

Re: Looking at characters in Champions 6E I don't allow anyone to sell OMCV below the base of 3, under the principle that a Limitation that does not limit is not worth points. In this case, selling OMCV below 3 when you have no mental powers has absolutely no effect on your character...so is not worth any points.

Re: Looking at characters in Champions 6E I've done this, when you are converting characters over it's easy to just match the old Characteristics to the new. I had a bunch of characters with no mental powers and OMCVs of 5 - 7. I would say that it's primarily a conversion error.

Re: Resistant Defenses I would imagine for Baby Steps. We've become accustomed to FF and Armour and Resistant Defense. They've been combined into a single power. I should point out that Resistant Protection is a one-stop-shopping for defenses that will allow you to purchase PD, ED, Mental, Power and Flash defense. All in one place. So I guess simplicity and brevity?

Re: Is DOT overpriced I feel the same. I've got some campaign guidelines and ask that anyone violating those guidelines discuss it with me and I get final approval. I don't think I would have a problem with a straight up 10 DC DoT attack in a 12 DC game. The real stumbling block is the MP crowd. MPs are still very prevalent and the character has to decide if they want to pony up the points to buy the DoT straight out or increase the Reserve so it'll fit. It's a tough decision.

Steve, I'm having a bit of a problem reconciling in my mind what qualifies for a PSL as opposed to what requires a CSL. I understand that natural modifers on a maneuver (eg Haymaker DCV Mod, MoveThru OCV Mod) are ineligible for PSLs, but is the list of common PSLs (Range, Hit Locs and Throwing) exhaustive? Smaller than man sized targets apply an OCV penalty (6E2, p51: "Target Size"). Would this be a likely candidate for a PSL?

Re: Sx help: Name that pistol! I'm surprised your Gun-dar didn't go off a bit earlier, myself.

Re: Cutting the Drama Out of Character Creation Player death should not be a common occurrence, IMO, in ANY game. Players (myself very much included) get rather attached to their characters and it can be fairly traumatic event when they die. My first question would be what kind of campaign you are running? Heroic? Superheroic? Realistic? Black-and-white? Gritty and grey? Four colour? My second question is what kind of AP ranges do the characters have, and what are their average DEF? Thirdly, how do the opponents stack up against the players in number and power? Have you considered using some of the generation template charts in Champions? What about using some of the pre-generated powers in Champions Powers? Did you know that you can create pre-generated Package Deal for certain occupations (eg Cop, Marine, School Teacher)? CharGen is always going to take a while. It's the most time consuming aspect of Hero. Do you use Hero Designer? HD has cut down my CharGen time by a factor of 8 (at least). It's well worth the cost.

Re: Resistant Defenses We're always here and willing to lend a hand. Welcome and I know you'll enjoy your time with Hero. The first time you play Hero it's free.

Re: Sx help: Name that pistol! Hellz yeah! And one to the brain pan as they lay on the floor just to make sure they stay there!

Re: I want to be legal, second opinion? Hugh's response was a great deal of merit, but I figured I would take a look anyway. Firstly, I'm assuming simply from your Regen build that you are using 5E? It's important when asking any kind of design/build questions these days that you include what version of the game you are using. Hugh is dead on with 'Character May Take No Other Actions.' The character is dead. I would certainly hope he is not taking any other actions. Since he is dead, he CANNOT. Any Limitation that does not limit the Power is worth no points. Extra time was taken twice. You seem to be trying to rebuild Regen into the Resurrection and then take a Limitation for Only Resurrection. The Linked is a no-go out of the gate. Most importantly though, if I tell the players that they have a 50 AP limit on their powers and a player brings me a character that has what amounts to one power broken out into two builds just to get around that limit...I am going to be a very unhappy GM. You should build the Regen w/ Resurrection and send it to your GM. Tell him that while you understand that there is a 50 AP limit, you couldn't get Regen under that limit. Ask him if you can have an exception or if he has another build that might do the same thing (and be under the limit). Do NOT bring a character to your GM trying to do an end-run around the campaign limits. It doesn't send a good message, nor does it affirm your intent to play fairly. Ug. You are using standard effect (which is handy with Adjustment Powers). However, .9 SPD = 0. There are no partial points of SPD so 9 pts added to your SPD will do nothing. Only 6 Activations at once on a power build with All Powers Simultaneously is not a Limitation at all, let alone one worth -1/2. Visible, again, has to go. Physical Manifestation is invalid. Physical Manifestation is, well, a physical manifestation. There is something about the power that is physically present and the power can be turned off by someone acting against the manifestation. This Limitation is usually applied to things like Wings and Ice Slides. To stop the flight you can tie up the wings. To stop an ice slide, you can attack the slide and break it. I cannot imagine anything that would allow Physical Manifestation of ANY characteristic (except possibly STR). Linked is invalid. As above, Linked is out. Visible is out. Physical Manifestation is out. The 'hardening of the skin' is SFX and is not worth Limitation points. Linked is out. Visible means that a power is detectable by three sense groups. Glowing eyes is one sense group. Visible is invalid, as is Physical Manifestation. Linked is only a Limitation when it limits the power. If you have a power that is always on (like Regen), linking something to it is not worth points. I would also STRONGLY, STRONGLY urge any player to not limit the Immortality. I had a player now who is a 4000 year old Immortal mummy. If his Immortality gets turn off for some reason, he will suddenly be 4000 years old...and very dead. 1" of Stretching really isn't a whole lot. It's roughly in that 'why bother' category. A Bulky OAF means that you have to lug around some kind of huge object (placing you at 1/2 DCV IIRC). Actually, this power is built so poorly that it should be scrapped entirely. It appears that your intent is to rubberband yourself a bit beyond normal reach to do some damage. Purchase an EB with a heavily limited Range. If you intent is only to do damage, then start your build with a power that does damage. In 6E there is a version of Stretching called Reach. That is what you are looking for. There is no easy way to say this, but you're a Munchkin. Now, that's not as bad as it sounds. We've all been there. Especially in the early years. I was a Munchkin, but now I'm better. You seem to be desperate to tack on every Limitation you can find to bring down the cost of the powers. Like Hugh, I get suspicious when I see power builds that cover more than 2 lines. You are trying to Link everything to a power that is always on (and with Inherent, unable to be shut off). A Limitation that does not limit the power is worth no points. You are trying to double dip using Visible and Physical Manifestation. None of these powers would qualify for either Limitation, as described. Some of these Powers could benefit from being inside an Elemental Control, since it seems you are trying to give them a single, unified special effect. But Powers in an EC need to cost END. I think you are trying to hard, especially since you are knocking yourself out to so heavily Limit a power...and are only saving yourself a handful of points. Step back and simplify.

Re: Campaign Building Blocks: General Musings I started with a rough idea about the United States. I've really liked Mel Odom's breakdown of the US in FREELancers. I borrowed the concept of the US breaking up into member states similar to how the EU is organised. I then broke out the country in some member states and brainstormed an idea about how what I wanted would come to happen. Once I started describing (in broad strokes) how people perceived the member states, I was off and running with ideas. I began to think about what kind of fantastic creatures I could populate the world with, and figured a way to work that into the settings. Then I realised that now that I've got this foundation a lot of the things (like magic) start to fall into place. I didn't really have to try and decide how magic was going to work in the setting as I just had to realise that I had already worked it out in my head. It's hard to describe but filling in some of the foundation pieces led me to a cohesive world theory that included things like magic. I've also found that sometimes it helps to take a break and forget about it for a while. Come back and read through everything. Sometimes it sparks new ideas or changes in how things work.

Re: Sx help: Name that pistol!

Re: Sx help: Name that pistol! A number of the PDs in our area are issued with Glocks. A couple of cop friends use revolvers as their 'off-duty/backup weapon.' They are frequently .38s. Smaller and lighter. Hope that helps some.

Re: "Neat" Pictures It's strange how similar public transportation facilities appear. The tower shot in that one pic looks JUST like the blue-line CTA stop at Harlem here near Chicago. The platform pics look familiar also. I guess there is only so much differentiation you can expect, but I still find it startling.

Re: Organizations Ohhhh, now I need the Ultimate Base so I can take a look at this!

Re: Is DOT overpriced Hmmm. I see what you are saying. But isn't that true of most 'not-directly-effecting-defenses' advantages? If you've got a 60AP limit, adding Extended Range or Continuous (etc) forces you to decrease the DCs in the attack to account for the Advantage. If the average character is designed to withstand a 12DC Blast, an 8d6 attack won't normally do much, if anything. For 60pts, you can have: - 12d6 Blast - 6d6 Blast, Constant, Uncontrolled - 8d6 Autofire In a campaign where characters are designed to be standing up to the 12d6 Blast, is the 6d6 (Constant, Uncontrolled) going to have much of any effect at all? DoT is pretty powerful at the crazy expensive level. A Constant attack will only activate on the character's SPD. DoT allows it to tick on every single phase. That's a pretty beefy effect. While I can understand the impression that comparing a DoT attack to a regular attack, puts the DoT attack in a 'too expensive for the effort' box...that is true of 90% of the Advantages (except AP, Penetrating). I don't really see that DoT is much of any different from the rest and believe it is appropriately priced.