CraterMaker

Hope nobody minds that I dragged this up again, but I think I've found the most elegant solution to my drain pd question. I've been writing and rewriting the character, tentatively named Breakpoint, and just not being happy with all the figuring and fudging and stuff involved with using drains. So I sat down with a six-pack and dug down into Hero Systems mightiest strength, the "What do you want the power to do" question.. "I want Breakpoint to do more damage to a target than his 20 strength would normally be able to." And then I hit on the solution! Rather than buying a drain vrs defenses, the same effect, the EXACT same effect can be simulated by him just doing more damage! I was just caught up in the Cool Power Making part of HeroSystems, thinking "having a character with Drain would be nifty!".. So, he has this - 15 Elemental control , Affect Weak Force (Make things tougher/weaker) 10 4d6 hand to hand attack, AP (+1/2), (NR -1/2) 15 10 pd 10ed FF, usable by others, one other simultaneously (+1/2) ?? Find Weakness, all Hand to Hand attacks, 13-, costs Endurance (-1/2) (Don't have my book on me, so can't figure point cost) And that's it - All he really needs to define his special effect. The flip side of an object taking more damage is doing more damage to the target. And later, if I want to increase his powers to the point of OTHER characters taking advantage of the targets weakened state, I can buy the FW as Usable By Others or something else, maby a drain..As it is, he weakens the target for only an instant, and at no range - just long enough for him to wallop someone(thing). So whatcha think? -CraterMaker

How about Sonoluminescence? We used this ground breaking science in a Call on Cthulu game and it was a hit.. here's a link http://www-phys.llnl.gov/N_Div/sonolum/ Nifty neato, definately.. -CraterMaker

Illegal? Like cops bustin' down my door? (bustin' your chops here, don't get mad..) Yeah, yeah.. I know Transform on yourself is frowned on. So definately, that second option I suggested is waaay out without GM's explicit approval.. But I as a GM would allow the first, the aid with the side effect of transforming the character bezerk. It doesn't add any powers to the character, or make him tougher, and it seems (from this seat) to be a fairly elegant solution. -CraterMaker

Hey, this is just off the top of my head, but how about buying an Aid to whatever characteristics you want, with a trigger "When Innocents or allies hurt", with a side effect of a transformation attack that makes the hero a bezerk hero.. So every time an ally or innocent is hurt, he gets stronger , automatically. And every time he gets stronger, he gets closer to losing control. Buy the side effect with the advantage "Partial Transform", maby. OH OH OH!! Or you could buy it as a Transformation attack on self, with trigger, into some hulking monstrosity like Grond, and buy it with the advantage "Partial Transform"!!! No side effects needed! -CraterMaker

WereWolf? With the destruction he caused, he's more like the Fenris Wolf! And everybody knows that Jedi's kick Ninja's butt!

Hey guys - Did you see the artical in the paper 'bout the new zeroes in town? (link to article) Just what we need, a bunch of bozo's who can't even bring down a gang without leveling a city block! I tell ya, it's crackheads like these that are driving up Home Owners Insurance.. I'm sick of it! We need someone to protect us from the geeks tryin to protect us! Can we say "Get A Mentor!"? A Heroes (or Zeroes, in this case) first priority shouldn't be taking out the bad guy, it should be protecting us! Wheres Harbringer when you need him, eh? -MinuteMan117 -CraterMaker

True, Levi .. It would make comic book sense too, to ssay that a creatures bioelectric field interferes with his mutant ability to affect the weak force's ability to hold atoms together. If a gm wanted me to limit it like that, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'll make two or three versions of him (or rather, his powers) so the GM can pick or choose. (Kinda a moot point right now since there is no group to join around here. Making characters is fun for me, and good practice to boot.) By the By , what would you assign the limitation "Not vrs living things"? Right now, this is what I've got for first draft - I shyed away from the +2 advantage, all powers of physical defence sfx, since it doesn't really seem to be a tight enough SFX to be warranted. 51 Multipower - Weak Force Control 8m Suppress, 10d6, Armor Rpd, no range (-1/2) 8m Suppress, 10d6, PD, no range (-1/2) 8m Suppress, 10d6, Damage Resisance RPD, no range (-1/2) 5m Suppress, 10d6, Force Wall RPD, physical force walls only (-1/2), no range (-1/2) 5m Suppress, 10d6, Missile Deflection, physical SFX only (-1/2), no range (-1/2) 5m Suppress, 10d6, DEF of objects, only vrs physical attacks (-1/2), no range (-1/2) 5m Suppress, 10d6, Damage Reduction Physical, only physical sfx (-1/2), no range (-1/2) 10m Force Field, 10pd, 10ed, 5 Lack of Weakness, Hardened (+1/4), 1/2 endurance (+1/4), Usable by Others (+1/2) 6m Hand Attack, 6d6, Penetrating (+1/2) Later on I'll buy him an HKA (disintigration attack), Clinging RSR Climbing roll (Poking fingers into walls to climb em'), Missile Deflection bullets and shrapnel (turning bullets into the consistancy of chalk), and 1" tunnelling (disintegration attack) Comments and suggestions are MOST welcome.. -CraterMaker

Well, with the drain being able to target just the pd parts of defensive powers, it does make it so that if I did buy it with the +2 advantage (all powers of sfx) it would still be effective without being a 100 point plus power. Plus, it would toss all that "What defenses does he have?" back into the GM's lap, where I think it belongs. No need for me to know that a particular object has X power or powers. You're right, Zornwill, that the power seems to have a pretty broad SFX problem.. Just to reiterate, the character can affect the Weak Force in objects, effectively making objects fragile or much tougher than normal. I think that I'll recognize this powers extra "broadness" by saying that the drain doesn't work on Force FieldsThat's a pretty common schtick for a pretty common defense, and it'll be a -0 limitation. So if X agent has a bullet proof vest and a FF generating belt, it won't affect the FF. I'm toying with the idea of some sort of endurance drain linked to the power that's triggered only when it's used against someone with a FF, sort of an interference effect, maby even affecting my character, too.. OOoo I'm kinda liking that the more I think of it! I"m curious about using Piercing as a naked advantage - could you run down how it would work with an example? Thanks, Vigil - He IS going to have an HKA eventually, either bought with NND does body or AVLD does body. This will be his power to straight out disintegrate things. I'm going to hold off and buy it eventually with experience, I think that'll be cool for him to find out he can do that at some future part of his career, and give him a big attack when facing the super supervillians. I'll let him add his str damage in, tho. With those advantages on the hka, he'll get nada from pushing his power normally ... the added str damage will represent him pushing his power to the max. Anybody have any idea what the limitation "Str used to add to HKA costs X2 endurance"? -CraterMaker

Well, I think I've changed my mind about using a whole bunch of drains in a multipower, each vrs a seperate type of defense. It'll be a bit easier to read as one drain with the quarter advantage.. but, say I have a 5d6 drain vrs any one power or stat that protects from physical damage, and use it on a pistol (so I can crush it to dust for a Presence attack).. I roll 20 on my dice, which is halved to ten because it affects a defensive power.. so, how much DEF have I drained? Erm, one other thing.. am I correct in assuming I cant drain, for example, a force field of just pd, and must apply it equally to both pd and ed? Or can I just have it applied to the pd part? I've got a quasiscience explanation for it, but .. it kinda sets off my cheesy alarm. Either way, It'll be usefull knowledge to add to my Hero knowledge. -CraterMaker

One introduction I ran was : Street hero Blitz hears on the grapevine that a group of powered armor guys (the ones from Strikeforce) have been hired to make a hit on The Man In Black, another street hero in a different part of town. Not knowing how to get a hold of him, he contacts a hero he's worked with before to help him out - OverMan. The Two eventually track TMB down in an Italian diner, and as they are trying to figure out who put the hit out, the bad guys attack. During the fight, another Hero, Lady Kiesa, shows up to bust on the armor guys, and help out her fellow supers. The heroes drive off the bad guys, and eventually tap another hero's help, Breaker, to find the originator of the hit. The hero's finally confront this guy, a mobster, and after a long discussion that drops tantalizing clues get ambushed by the kid who led them there when he turns into a twelve foot tall monster, described as an "Alien, but Bigger" - henceforth they called these creatures Abbs - But then they had to tap another quasi-hero/investigator, Doc Beowolf, who was a specialist in magic (did I mention the ABB was casting spells, too?. Finally, the gang all together, the adventure went into full swing. -CraterMaker

Thanks for the input, everybody .. I think I'll toy with several drains in an MP, as that is what his other powers are in - Whats a few extra slots? Anybody know what a point of DEF in an object runs AP wise? Thanks for getting me past my brain freeze! - Cratermaker

Hi everybody.. I'm working on a character who can strengthen or diminish the weak force in things.. at maximum power in weaken mode it can completely disintegrate it's target. But one of the powers I wanted was to make things fragile.. My first choice was a pd drain, and then my mind went "WONK"! So here's where I'm stuck, rules wise: If I buy a PD drain, I'm sure it will affect normal non-resistant PD.. but will it also affect armor (the power), forcefield, and damage resistance since all three have PD elements? If not, should I buy seperate powers to affect these similar defenses? Thanks for your input and time - -CraterMaker

Whups, forgot the apostraphe.. That DOES look confusing! Lois McMaster Bujold is the writer, and Miles Vorkorsigan is the main character in all but the first two books (which are about his parents). MIles Vorkorsigan is the son of a great general, from a line of great generals, in a culture that practically worships the figure of the warrior. Unfortunately, becaused of a failed assassination attempt on his father , Miles has extremely (!!) fragile bones ... you could pulp all the bones in his hand with an exuberant handshake. That, coupled with his extremely short height (I think he's 4 foot 2, IIRC) encouraged him to compensate with a brilliant intellect, perverse sense of humor (erm, not in the sexual way) and a hyperactive ambition gland. Oh, did I mention that mutants are despised on his world, routinely killed at birth? A great, GREAT series. Falling Free, also by Bujold and set in the same universe though a couple of hundred years earlier, is a good yarn too. Its about a genetically engineered creche of four armed humans, and their indentured servitude to a corporation that builds space stations (and their bid for freedom, of course).

Susano, I just wanted to say that your character interpretations seem spot on, and are both inspirational (for those borrowing ideas) and a fun walk down memory lane... Have you, or could you, do Lois McMaster Bujolds Miles Vorkorsigan? He's one of my absolute favorites in the contemporary Sci-Fi category. I can understand if you pass, though - What are there, like ten books to glean info on a hero with a multiple personality disorder? Anyways, thanks and keep em' coming... -CraterMaker

Are you thinking of the chart on page 15 in Fred? It has the ranges for spd, cv, dcv, active points, etc for different levels of games.... -CraterMaker

I'd like to see: A floating orb that can shoot down incoming attacks.. A frictionless bodysuit "Magnetic" boomerangs or shuriken Hoverboards (ala Back to the Future) Psi-static generators The old but trusted Bag of Marbles, and the new Bag of Exploding Marbles Limpet mines and triggered devices Sattelite Lasers controlled by a wrist computer Inertia-ray guns Force field projectors Bolos of various flavors EMP weapons A Vibro-cannon And a jet-staff -CraterMaker

Just curious, Wormhole... Do you have any background fluff on the Ragnaroks? Who made them, what they're firing, etc... And I would definately consider the backblast on the jetpack to be disadvantageous.. You couldn't fly around a cityscape without doing mondo property damage. -CraterMaker

He looks like a good, solid character. The only areas I would be concerned about are entirely campaign style related - i.e. his +8 levels (altogether) with his machine guns and the high killing damage the machine guns do.. If that IS the type and amount of damage runnin' round, I suppose the high combat cv wouldn't be any problem - those Ragnaroks' would turn Air Raider into a fine red mist, so the noncommitted levels would probly be used on dcv most of the time.. But definately a nice character, and good use of the autofire skills. Very action movie-ish.. -CraterMaker

Them peepers Just to clarify : Whoever is looking into the cats' eyes can still move, fight, talk etc, as long as the target doesn't break eye contact? how about : Change Environment, 4" radius, -2 dcv, -2 sight per rolls, -2 ego rolls .. 0 endurance (+1/2), persistant (+1/2), allways on (+1/2), inherent (+1/4), trigger "looking into cat's eyes" (+1/2) No range (-1/2) allways on (-1/4) active 78 points, real 44 points Note that when the cat is unconscious, the special effect makes the power turn off.. and that by simply moving away from the cat the target can escape it's effects. But the window of opportunity is there for the cat and it's owner to do some serious mischief. -CraterMaker