Zed-F

Re: Munchkin powers on legal active point costs

Re: Munchkin powers on legal active point costs Except that the knockback is applied before the effects of the dispel are applied, as is always the case for adjustment powers that affect defenses. So anything with KB resistance still gets full benefit. Personally I prefer Coach Boomer's version: Flash Hearing, Does KB, Double KB. "Siiiidekick!"

Re: Munchkin powers on legal active point costs You're right that he needs personal immunity, but in this context 'self only' is a targetting qualifier. It means he can only target himself. Since it's an AoE, it still affects everyone in the radius. And no, self-only is not the same as 'no range'. If it were 'no range' but not 'self only', he could plop one down in his own hex and leave it there while he wanders off somewhere else to do it again. With both 'no range' and 'self only' the effect automatically and always follows him around.

Re: Munchkin powers on legal active point costs Doesn't seem like a big problem, but the GM might not start every fight on phase 12 if you took a power like this. Don't forget personal immunity. Also screws over any allies you have in the area. Moreover, normally there is a cap of -5 OCV unless you get GM permission. Better get personal immunity if it's for a melee attack since many melee attackers want to get in your hex. Again there is a cap on max DCV you can apply in a CE. Moreover I would rule that extra applications of the same CE in the same hex do not stack; all your autofire gets you is extra hexes you can place your CE in. Don't think this is rules-legal. A huge presence is not a problem in a game with the right JLA-level tone, so long as the GM and the players have some ground rules in place regarding what a huge presence will or will not do. In-genre, it will allow you to send any mook-level opponents running and give a significant advantage against henchmen not prepared to deal with PRE-master. But against prepared name opponents, master villains, and so forth? Not so much. The rules on PRE attacks give guidelines that PRE attacks are meant to be used once per scene, when dramatically appropriate. You can't just toss them around willy-nilly, and a PC that does should be penalized on their effectiveness. "Yeah, you told us that already, blabbermouth. Just shut up and take your licks like a man!"

Re: PRE Attacks for scary creatures Skeletons and Zombies, properly, aren't very scary to even modestly experienced heroes. Most of them have seen weirder stuff before. It's when you get to the really scary stuff that things start to hit the fan as far as fear factor goes. If you want scary undead, pick ones that have a high PRE score to start with.

Re: Another Brick in the Wall (Tell me about your Brick!) Soulbarb is my favourite brick. Here's one version of her -- I have a number of versions tailored to different power level games (from 250 points up) and different stages in her career. If I need a brick I often play her and just adjust her background/powers as appropriate to the campaign. Soulbarb v1.40 She's a light, agile brick with a demonic origin and powers, but she doesn't solely rely on them. She usually has some other tricks up her sleeve as well, whether it's a variety of street-level weapons and equipment (for lower-powered games) or actual spellcasting (in higher-powered ones.) In more powerful/experienced versions of the character she's also got some martial arts. Overall she's a highly skilled and very versatile character; in concept she's something to akin to 'what if Batman were a brick.'

Re: Staring into the sun I suppose there are lots of ways to build it depending on how powerful you want it to be. Something that's difficult to look at directly but won't leave you temporarily or permanently blind afterwards is a lot simpler and potentially less munchkiny than a more powerful version. It would also tend to be a lot cheaper. Simple & Cheap: -- Darkness 1" radius defined as 'too bright to look directly at', with limitations (e.g. not vs. flash defense) A little stronger & more expensive: -- CE causing penalties to sight PER rolls within x" radius (possibly stacking with the above darkness at the center) Stronger yet but costly: - Continuous AoE flash builds centered on self, blinds everyone in radius but effect fades quickly outside of it Actually damaging to the eyes but wickedly expensive: - AoE Transform to blinded person Combine to taste, and per your points budget.

Re: Martial Arts, Foci, and Possibly HD So supposing someone wants to buy plain old regular martial arts based on an OIF 'gem' focus, they can do it, they just won't get a cost break for the OIF gem?

Re: How do you keep your dark knights from going "squish"? This is starting to get off on a tangent here, but that's why most Silver-age heroes and Silver-age villains (who aren't that interested in killing) should come equipped with a stun-only attack, an entangle, or some other option for dealing with folks without seriously hurting them. Too many people seem to forget that rule when building characters, hero and villain alike.

Re: Staring into the sun I used the following for a character who had a power like this -- the effect was bright enough to make it difficult to look directly at her but not bright enough to temporarily blind. For that, she had a VPP with a variety of powers, including flash. I should probably have put 'self only' on that as well so she can't just leave a trail of 1" radius blinding patches behind her everywhere she goes.

Re: How to kill characters? For any of these, I'd talk to the players first to see what they'd want their character to face at the end of the game: Option 1: PC dies, in suitably dramatic and heroic fashion Option 2: PC ascends/vanishes on an interdimensional journey/is forced into retirement/otherwise stops active adventuring and becomes an NPC Option 3: PC has a radiation accident which changes him in some fashion to be suitable for the next game Float whichever options tickle your fancy and see what they think. There's probably other options too, this is just what came to the top of my mind.

Re: Zounds! How do I build "Zeus' Wounds?" Damage Shield doesn't work at range. Trigger is your best bet here. Possibly a triggered variable SFX EB, if the monster is basically just damage, goes fast enough and is short-lived enough, and can occasionally miss. You could do it as an uncontrolled continuous 1-hex AoE accurate triggered EB if you want the monster to not miss and stick around for a while, but that gets expensive quickly. Alternatively a triggered summon, though that can get both expensive and complicated. You could just generate a single brand of summoned critter, and give it the variable SFX attack. On the other hand, then it can be dispelled, it can decide that it wants to do something else, it can decide not to go away once its had its snack, it can be controlled, etc. If it's only the target that can see the monster it could even be a triggered mental illusion. Or a cumulative triggered mental illusion. Lots of ways to do it, some simpler than others. It will probably be expensive any way you slice it, though.

Re: Bricks Get Hosed, Or Not Disagree. Bricks are already amply effective for the points and there is nothing preventing many powers a brick would want from being placed in an EC, depending on concept, regardless of the 'no 0 END powers in EC' rule.

Re: WWYCD: The Life Pod Soulbarb should in most games not get mixed up in something like this. She tries to avoid making her existence known in the first place, has no business in the Arctic Circle for another, and knows nothing more about aliens than any civilian in her world for a third. Sylph might stand a slightly better chance of meeting said alien, if instead of the alien being stuck in a glacier she were stuck in an iceberg that had floated south toward New Constantinople. She doesn't really know much about aliens or technology either, though. She'd defer to UNTIL and let them worry about things like quarantine conditions and so forth; the only reason she'd be around is if bringing the woman out of stasis goes wrong and the woman needs healing to live through it. (That and help contain any potential threat the woman might represent, though Sylph wouldn't look at things that way.)

Re: Typical NPC

Re: Typical NPC If you don't put a stake in the ground and argue for your own bonuses, who will? Expecting the GM to think of everything for you is asking to fail a lot.

Re: What would your character Dream: The Hero who has everything Hehe, then Inktoma can be glad he hasn't seen more of Sylph yet.

Re: Humans are "Special"

Re: Humans are "Special" Another advantage often given to humans in a sci-fi setting where humanity has explored and colonized other worlds and formed a space empire, is that humans tend to be better businesspeople and explorers. Humans are usually latecomers to the galactic scene but rarely have trouble carving out an empire for themselves once they do develop FTL space travel. Moreover, while human spacecraft and weapons of war are generally not particularly advanced relative to the races around them, they usually have a better economy than most of their neighbors.

Re: Humans are "Special" What do humans have that no other race does? In a comic book universe, common sense. Of course, most humans don't have that either...

Re: Did I do this right? Agreed, all powers of all SFX is a +4 advantage. All powers of any one SFX is +2 1/4.

Re: Hero system complexity The fact that you were interested in picking up and running all those games suggests you were an experienced gamer before you picked up and ran those systems, no? Most experienced gamers should not have that much trouble picking up Champions and getting a good enough feel for the system to be able to run a game. They might not do a perfect job the first time around, but it's very possible.

Re: Uses Multiple Continuing Charges? That's a pretty esoteric corner of the rules, probably not many people remember how it's supposed to work. I would more typically give that slot its own charges limitation to specify how many continuing charges of that slot were available. Sorry I can't be more help than that.

Re: Hero system complexity I don't think it's as big an issue as it's being made out to be, though. How many people pick up a game they've never seen before and decide to GM it? Damn few, no matter WHAT it is, unless they are a veteran RPG player with more than one or two systems under their belt. More typically, we learn the basics of a system by playing in a game that someone else is running in that system. Once someone has got a basic feel for how the flow of the game works... THEN that person might consider running it and figuring out those little questions about play balance and power level and so forth. And by that point, they'll have at least one example of how it was done before, and probably someone they can talk to about it and bounce ideas off of. So it's not really all that terribly complex, even looking at it from a GM perspective.

Re: Harpoon Man -- Advice Needed Soulbarb uses stretching, swinging, and a reduced penetration hand attack with variable advantage for her 'get-over-here' type barbed/spiked attacks. You could substitute a KA, but in her case she uses swarms of smaller barbs rather than one massive harpoon, so the hand attack seemed to fit better.