Zed-F

One small note: Under the Blazing Away rules, you can only hit anything once, no matter how many times you roll. It would be a lot simpler (and more legal) to just buy a regular area affect attack, and up the area to what you're looking for if necessary.

Change Environment doesn't have a caution sign, but there's already comments in the power description about the GM strictly limiting the CV effects one can impose using it. EDIT: typo

Since Nebula appears to be so generally loathed, would someone care to enlighten those of us who are supplement-poor as to who she is?

Don't think damage shield would help. Since the power is not allowable to begin with, it's kind of moot asking your GM how many times you can hit out of your 640 attacks.

Re: Re: Almost anything that loops is a problem That doesn't work either. According to the FAQ, it doesn't matter where the missed shots scatter to, they have no further effect other than to increase the size of the area hit with one single hit. So, you attack with your 0 range EB (you "touch" your hex) and roll your autofire attack. Since you're standing in it, it's probably DCV 0, but you still get a -2 per autofire shot to see how many times you hit. Say you're OCV 9 and you roll an 11, you will hit 5 times. All hits after that point are considered misses and can only increase the size of the area hit with a single attack, but since they can't scatter they don't do anything. You could still get a fairly nasty power by building something along those lines and using sweep/rapid fire to do multiple attacks with it, but certainly not the 640x you have purchased on the power.

Funny, I was working on a paraplegic hero myself. I found that it was tricky to come up with a one that wouldn't be a complete liability in combat; a PC should always at least be able to handle a thug or an agent if it comes to that. One should expect to be stuck in normal form at least some of the time when danger threatens, especially if one has a secret ID. In my case it was tricky because of my character's powers, the rationale I had chosen for them, and the need to make sure the character is not unbalanced. I tried a couple of possible tacks and eventually came up with one that I think will suit. Unfortunately, it's not exactly charting new territory. Now, a paraplegic villain is much easier to work around, since you don't have to care if they are a wet noodle when caught off-guard if you don't want to.

The idea with the character is that the character is superheroic, but one of the alternate forms is his normal (true) form. For instance, let's use a werewolf example. Suppose I am playing a low-powered superhero game, and all player characters are built on 150+100 disads. I define my were-form to be the 250 point character, with the human and wolf forms being 150 points each. Obviously, when I revert, I should revert to human form if I buy reversion. However, while the human form is the true form, it is not the base form (built on 150+100) -- rather it's one of the forms purchased with the multiform. Thus, when I pay for multiform, the rules are that the true form pays the multiform cost. It doesn't make sense to me to charge the human form 55 APs for this, since the human form isn't the base form (built with 150+100). What I have is a 250-point base form and two 150-point subordinate forms, so it seems the human form should be paying 35 APs for the multiform. So, I will wind up with: wereform: 250 wolf form: 150 human form: 150 - real cost of multiform Is that correct?

Suppose a player builds a character based on 250 points, and buys a Multiform with 2 150-point forms in addition to his 250 point form. Further suppose he specifies one of his 2 150-point forms as his true form, giving the following: 1 250-point form, no restrictions 1 150-point form, no restrictions 1 150 point form, true form, must pay for the multiform (35 AP) Then if he takes the reversion limitation, he reverts to the last form in the list. Is this correct?

Re: Re: Almost anything that loops is a problem Simple. Explain to him that unbalanced powers are not allowed. If he insists on it, you can always tell him that turnabout is fair play, and search the boards for even more unbalanced opponents (like Infinite Miss) or unbalanced attacks (I don't care what your PD is, 0.1c into a wall is DEAD) to throw at him. After all, there's broken, and then there's BROKEN.

Fair enough. The point was to build something using entangle though. It probably would be more cost-effective to use transform in any case.

Duplication is an exclamation mark power for a reason. Here's another challenge, if you don't like the images one: something that uses no stop sign or exclamation mark powers or advantages.

1d6 Entangle, +1 DEF (Base 15), BOECV (+1), Autofire x5 (+1/2), Continuous (+1), 0 END (+1), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Fully Invisible including Effects of Power (+2), Sticky (+1/2), Time Delay (+1/4), Cannot be escaped with teleport (+1/4). 120 Active points. Flavour with your favourite limitations (e.g extra time: 1 week, -4 1/2) to reduce the real cost. You could also use Extra Time instead of Time Delay to mimic the onset time. Effect: A mental paralysis virus, with a morphology that is the CDC's worst nightmare. Spreads by simple contact, delayed onset of symptoms, effectively causes brain death. The uncontrolled autofire attack will effectively build up body in the mental paralysis indefinitely -- once it reaches the victim's EGO + 30, I'd consider the victim dead. This kind of virus if allowed to spread unchecked, could kill 90+% of the earth's population. Bonus: Uncontrolled Missle Reflection, at any target, at range, IPE: IEOP. Anything with continuous/uncontrolled and 0 END can potentially be abusive. IPE is another one to watch. Next challenge: Images. And no Megascale.

Megascale movement power, usable as attack. "And then I slammed him into the wall at 0.1c." "Ouch, that had to hurt..." On a similar note, summon something which tries to ram someone, using a megascale movement power.

In that instance, the FAQ contradicts FREd. I still like FREd's interpretation better for PCs; the FAQ's interpretation is too powerful to let a player use. Then there would be no reason for me not to apply the same logic to a killing attack or a transform -- it pretty much allows a player to take down any opponent he has under surveillance with no ability for the other guy to resist. If someone thinks Zardoz is powerful as they are, just think about what would happen if you added an undetectable Mind Scan to his power suite. All for about 3 points in his multipower. Definitely NPC territory. Can you imagine a PC with that combo? "Oh? So-and-so escaped from Sanctuary? No problem, I'll just convince him to turn himself in. Oh, and that reminds me, I should convince his buddies VillainX, Y, and Z to turn themselves in too." Anyway, we can always dream up lots of hyper-efficient power advantage structures. Anything with multiple power advantages stacked one upon another tends to get very scary very quickly, even if bought at a low base level. How about a megascale movement power, usable against other, area effect? "And then I slammed him into the wall at 0.1c." "Ouch, that had to hurt..." Sometimes I think power advantages should multiply, rather than add. Adding works well for limitations since you reach a point of diminishing returns fairly quickly, but using addition for power advantages often allows low-base powers to become monstrously powerful for a given amount of points, when compared to the power level acheived by adding the equivalent amount of extra dice.

I just noticed something about Zardoz -- as he is intended to work, he's actually bending the rules. As an NPC that's ok, but I probably wouldn't let a PC do the same thing. Even with fully invisible including the effects of the power, according to FREd the victim still feels the effects of the power. Moreover, a mental power with the cumulative advantage is still felt by the victim even if the effect threshold has not yet been crossed. Technically, if Zardoz is messing with someone's mind, they should still feel the fact that someone is there doing something, even if they don't know who, from where, or doing what. I'd enforce that restriction for a PC version. As Zardoz is an NPC, however, it's perfectly reasonable to handwave a bit and chalk bending the rules up to dramatic license.

What about characters who rely on equipment/advanced technology for their powers? Would your typical power-armour character have a place in your campaign? Would a low-power version of Batman?

You have to buy computers separately from the bases/vehicles in which they are housed anyway. Check the FAQ.

And the challenge?

Another idea would be to define it as a multipower, with one slot for extra running (lots of little hops) and one for leaping (one or a few big hops in a straight line.) Recall that the FAQ already allows for extra bounces (in a straight line) for move-throughs/move-bys with leaping.

That would be tres handy. Right now I'm trying to guess how much to pay for a real-world laptop for my "teen hero" idea. I've got it pegged at 3 points right now, but that might be a bit high, considering her vehicle costs 3 points and does a heck of a lot more than a laptop does... Of course with disadvantages the vehicle comes to 65 RP, and as with most vehicles pretty much everything has a OIF, Bulky (-1) limitation on it. Maybe I should just build the laptop as a computer & see what happens. You could probably do the same with a cell phone if you really wanted detailed stats on it.

Certainly a bit more SPD and PRE could come out of the 54-point budget allocated for skills, since skills are relatively easy to pick up as time goes on. It's also possible that I could redesign it so that the VPP is the province of one of the subordinate forms rather than the base form. Anyway, I've put this idea on the back burner for now and am working on other characters. I just wanted to make sure that the balance angle was reasonably well in hand before shelving the concept for later re-examination. Thanks for your contribution.

No comment = all is well?

Bnaka: No way to all of that. Simply put, every ball-payer would pretty much be a hero-class character if you followed those suggestions. Joe Professional Ball-player is at best a Noteworthy Normal, built on 0 points. He will not have significantly better stats than normal, so 10 BODY, a PS: Ballplayer, a KS: Ballplayer, a hobby, and a familiarity or two. You might give him PD 3 or at most 4. Joe Major-leaguer will probably be a skilled normal, built on 25 points. Stats for skilled normals have 13 STR, 11 DEX, 13 CON, 3 SPD, and 4 PD, which seems reasonable as a starting point. You might give him another PD and maybe another DEX or so, but not much more than that. Joe World-series Champ (Competent Normal) starts with 13 STR, 14 DEX, 13 CON, 10 BODY, 5 PD. Again, maybe 6 PD and 15 STR, but since normal max is 8 and 20 respectively, probably not more than that -- need to leave room for more physical sports like football/wrestling after all. A generic gun is about 1 1/2 to 2d6 RKA. Ball players are not any more immune to bullets than anyone else, World-series Champs or no. Two bullet holes should be enough to put just about anyone down, unless you get some pretty bad rolls. If a player wants more BODY than that, fine, but some random NPC? Probably not more than 11 BODY even on the World-series Champ without good (i.e. plot-related) reason.

Updated Powers/Tactics and Campaign Use section of his background as per above changes. Again, comments are welcome! Is he in-line with a normal hero power level, still too strong, or too weak? Powers/Tactics: As an Avatar of Change, Equinox has the power to evolve new abilities very quickly -- within a matter of seconds, rather than millenia. Evolving entirely new forms is also within his abilities, though this normally takes considerably longer, on the order of a few days. Having a template to work from (as in the case with the hero team whose identities he absorbed) makes this easier and quicker, but it is not required. However, regardless of the form he takes, his memories, knowledge, and certain of his properties will remain constant. Under most circumstances, the Lords of Change abstained from direct revelations of their power to their worshippers; in Equinox, this outlook translates into a preference to use his alternative forms to interact with the world, rather than his true form. As Equinox is only a Lesser Avatar, changing forms causes a slight disruption of his power matrix, which puts a limit how frequently he can do it; once that limit has been reached, he requires a certain amount of time to realign his power matrix before he can transform again. Additionally, if Equinox's BODY is reduced to -10 while in an alternate form, then that form's template in Equinox's power matrix is destabilized, and that form "dies," at least until such time as Equinox can recreate or replace it. Equinox in his base form is not particularily well-suited for combat, as he's physically unimpressive and he takes a significant amount of time to evolve new powers. If he does sense that danger is at hand, his preferred response is to transform into a suitable alternate form to deal with the problem. If that option is not available for whatever reason, he will withdraw if feasible using Teleport or if necessary an Extra-Dimensional shift. If he must stand his ground, he will usually Summon assistance rather than trying to fight directly. Campaign Use: Equinox in his base form will seldom make an appearance, as he will usually stick with one alternative form or another rather than switching to his base form. The 300- point base for alternate forms and required purchases on some powers/skills mean that the alternate forms will have around 200-225 RP to build their archetypes. The intention of this restriction is that none of Equinox's alternative forms should overshadow another 350-point specialist PC in his own field. If this turns out to be too few points, the GM could allow Equinox to purchase a higher base value for his alternate forms.

KS, I noticed you updated the header page list, but didn't include Glaive... did you miss the link I posted? BTW, what's the legend for the Survey column?