Christopher

Re: Mega Knockback in 6th

It just sounded like some more atempt at power gaming.

Honestly, one for the brick that I make I am planning a double kockback move-through/move by at combat running speed (about 60 STR and 60m running), and I will archieve this by putting a naked advantage on the total of damage classes possible/applicable with this.

Re: Mega Knockback in 6th

I'll just put in another plug for using the velocity factor rules. It makes things like massive knockback and non-combat-speed movethroughs survivable.

How are you planning to hit your enemy at non-combat speed? Your OCV drops to 0, after you aply any bonusses so there is no way (and the GM shouldn't allow any) to get back up into the positive area (at least according to 6E2 37).

Even agianst DCV 3, you only hit on hit on a 8-

Re: the Atomic Fridge

"A little chilly" would be control environment, regarding temperature. Maybe add some PER-hinderance.

When you asume he has anough controll over his powers, you could even go for drains (cooling the body, thus hindering the mucles, reaction...). Drains to most combat relevant characteristics (ever tried fighting in summer clothes at -40 degree?), or perhaps rather an AOE supress?

Consinder NND's with (LS: Cold environment or Warm Clothing).

Cilly air can be quite painfull in the lungs and be the bane for a siren-like supervilian ("This cold is poison for my vocal cords").

Of course, don't forget an affliction (sniff).

Also consider "Ice Cream Headache" power (INT drain? magic skill drain? bane for concentration powers?).

I think you should aim for a support-character: Good to aid a team, weak on his own (like d&d Bard, a good 5. Member for every group, but not the best solo guy).

Maybe add luck (to show his ability to not get killed) or unluck (to show that he never fully succeds). Even both are possible, as the affect different situations (Luck is when it's naturally hard, Unluck when it is naturally easy).

Edit: Regarding the luck/unluck thing, I once had the following Idea for a D&D item: "Gem of relative luck".

+x to archieve normal results (i.e. normal hit, normal skill result). But when ever it went for critical archievement, the bonus transformed into equal penalty: you have +5 to hit, but your cirtical confirmation roll gets a -5 instead.

When determining if you made a normal skill succes, add +5. When determining if it was a critical sucess, instead substract -5: So Roll 15 without the gem, calculate normal result as if it was a 20, check for critical as if it was a 10.

Re: Mega Knockback in 6th

Did everyone just miss or ignore the Code vs. Killing part of my post?

Just because a character is physically capable of something it doesn't mean they are also mentally capable of it too.

This is just one more reason the 'FULLY mind controlled brick' seem so much more powerful than they do when 'in their right mind' (they are usually holding back, by a LOT).

This is exaclty why superman didn't do this ealier. He even explains it, word by word.

Also, you mostly seem to forget something: Knockback is based on BODY damage rolled with an attack (before defenses). In order for it to count for STR + the Powers damage, you have to buy it for both: "Durak (STR 70) can smash his enemies around the battlefield as if they were croquet balls. To reflect this, he buys an Advantage for his STR: Double Knockback (+½) for up to 70 STR. Total cost: 35 points"

So this usually hits the 80 Active Point Limit before you hit x8 (3 instances), 4x only go when you use 40 STR max (or 40 BP attack power). In order to count for both, you have to pay it for both: 2x80 Active Pionts, only one can go into a Framework (how many GM allow you 160 Point Reserve Multipowers?). Even with hth-Limitation it 64 Real Cost for both (so without the cost fot the Multipower, 70 Character Points).

And even then you still have to hit them and run around with two combinable powers, that wear big red stop sings around their necks. Even as a player I would want to play with a power gamer that coocks up such builds.

Side node: When I understand it right, values for Mountains will be present in the APG II. But that is mostly for cosmic campaigns, I guess.

Re: Conceptual Idea: A world full of supers

Actually there was a skit on Monty Python involving this idea. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, had superpowers BUT a rare few had menial skills. Anybody remember; BICYCLE-REPAIRMAN???

SKIT: This guy dressed like Superman sees someone having trouble with their bicycle, he "changes" into Bicycle Repaiman he then walks over and fixes the bike.

You mean this?

Re: Mega Knockback in 6th

Double Knockback itself isn't STOP sing as long as you only buy one instance (and stay in the ap limits). Just the option to add multiple instances is a STOP sign GM-Option.

About the JLU scene: Anybody noticed the slight influence from dragonball?

Re: Dangerous Beauty

When you want to use a "really" overwhelming beauty, make it an AOE Mind Control, EGO+20 max (this ways those uninterested in your gender/species aren't effected). Perhaps defined at "those that look him/her/it in the eyes", so that it only affects people when los is established (would have to take a look at aoe). Maybe add "Half" or "No Endurance".

[Edit: EGO +10 max seems more fitting; didn't remeber the table rigth away. EGO +20 would be those generally uninterested (wrong sexuality) while EGO +30 could even work when you are racist against the target, or distaste the idea even stronger, like homophobia].

Also, it might be interesting to know what you think "Normal Human Maxima" for Striking Apereance would be. So what is superhuman and where is the cap for supers in your campaigns?

Re: Conceptual Idea: A world full of supers

This does remind me of some of the beginning story from PS 238 (the "wish you into the cornfield" syndrome).

For the effect: Mostly it would make standart supers more..."normal". I don't know how to better describe it.

When more people have powers, having powers becomes less special. There would be "slightly powered" henchmen for good and evil. There might even be organisations to deal with where should "can let plants grow fast"-man work, to make the best out of his "not crimefighting" level power?

Re: Armor from x-men type of brick.

Yes, I meant Multipower, no idea while I wrote it wrong.

Also, it's not that the gm is a jerk. You are asking him to make this a part of the game when you take the limitation and get points for that. "If you don’t want your character to be Limited this way, [...] don’t take it (the limitation) in the first place." - 6E1, 364

You could always make it a -0 Limitation. It's there, but it is flavor and the GM is not allowed to use it against your character.

Another way might be to use distinctive style (forcefield form), since it is hard to not notice her using her powers (but how to you limit distinctive style to OIHID?)

Personally I think this is a perfect example for a unified power too (you can unify and link them). Might want to add some power defense to that, so it won't break under 1d6 autofire drain.

Some ideas how I would try to generate the "can't be attacked, unless shield is broken or kryptonite is used" effect (if you want it):

- Desolidification, with "can't pass trough solid objects", with "Visible Light and Qestionite" as normal effect attack. Downside is, all attacks and powers may need "Affects Physiscal World +2) so it may be way to expensive.

- Under Barrier, Mobile advantages is written: "At the GM’s option, if a Barrier has Non-Anchored and Mobile, if formed around the character creating it, it moves with him as he moves." - 6E1 173, left column last sentence. So this may be even closer to that idea.

Re: Rules question

Answer: 6E2 140 says:

Falling damage is usually physical Normal Damage. So the answer is: All protection counts. Same as it does for normal Damage from attacks or from Knockback/Knock into damage.

However: "Depending on the special effects, gamebalance, logic, etc... the gm may rule otherwise". For normal Amors it may be true that they don't help against falls, this is part of the sepcial effect (when falling/knockback is relatively common danger, this may warrant giving them a limitation). The force field however, works by aplying a counter force and may break the fall. Or it may not, mostly depends on how you defined the special effect of the field.

When the works by deflecting attacks (like d&d deflection ac bonus), it won't work for falling. Does it work by absobing attacks force? Then it should work (since it is not much difference between the impact of a mace or the energy applied by falling).

For damage negation or reduction, the answer would be yes in every chase (unless the special effect, game balance, a limitation, .....).

Re: Rules question

I read the post in the rules section, let me rephrase what I understood:

Character has (resistant?) physical protection, Cost Endurance (force field or protection spell).

Character falls and hits the ground.

Does the ®PD work against the falling damage?

Re: Armor from x-men type of brick.

You can just choose str and con outside of a unified power and save unified for the Multipower itself. After all, Charactersitics are just plain cheap and are misplaced in a multipower most of the time (perhaps the brick is the exception tho this, at least for str).

The two could still share the other Limitations ("not while affected by Kryptonite or Red Sun radiation"). That is actually something I plan for a Brick that I am making (and I'm still not certain if I want to put the STR in the Multipower or not).

Note that "Links" between Constant/Persistant and Instant Powers may not always count. (And a defense forcefield that only costs endurance to activate may be just such a chase).

Also, if you link instant to constant, you can either only use the instant while activating the constant (and not while it last), or have to reduce the limitation by 1/4 (6E1 385, just under the example).

Link is better suited to combine powers of equall duration and especially attack powers.

And Nexus is right about the STR, you can always choose to use less (using str casually is just such a chase), especially to conserve endurance or let your attack "fit" into a naked advantage for STR that you only bought for a part of your STR (i.e. only for 40, when you have 60 max).

Re: Armor from x-men type of brick.

Perhaps one general thing about limitations (and Complications). There are like asking the gm, to exploit them. That doesn't mean every body knows of them, but coincidences take them from you: Your Power Armor-suitcase/Green Latern Ring gets stolen by someone unrelated the the adventure; For some reasons your enemy paints his bullets yellow; Your enemy wears a Kryptonite Stone in a pendant; You secret ID (Little 9 year old boy) gets abducted and gagged/k.o. during the transport - and then locked up in a Faraday cage.

Overall it would help if you could give us the character you are copying (link to wikipedia/name).

Someone who might have copied just the same x-men can be found here:

Hercentral

Look for Samandar; but TK seem to be similar, just with Telekinetik Forcefields; and both have unified on a Multipower, so this may be what you are looking for.

Re: Armor from x-men type of brick.

Rebuilding a character from a movie, game or comic is always tough.

The best thing to do would be to take a look what game effects you want to archive, where you want her to be good - and where to put limitations and where to put the Kryptonite.

Unified vs. Linked:

Unified means same source of powers and posibilly a common weakness (thats what the Limitations text sugest). From what I heard Multipower w/ Unified is mostly there to mimic Elemental Controlls and their drain-behavior from an earlier version (the classical common source, common weakness combination).

Or Multiform w/o Unified ist the advanced/generalised version of Elemental Controlls (since it implied to be only for elemetal powers).

When you have a lot of powers (especially a lot of different attacks) and don't want to use all of them at once, use multipower.

When there is a hell of a lot of possible effects, consider a VPP "powers show in the comics".

Just take a look a hypermans "The Classic Justice League starting members" thread. Green Lantern was pre-destined for a VPP, but in the end he even had to give Supermann one. Since there were just too many powers shown in all the interpretations.

The more the Charakter was shown and there more versatile his powers are, the more the rebuild will need a vpp.

Re: Using a D20

I've never liked the d6 systems for skills and combat. It's the thing I dislike most about the Hero system. I would prefer a percentile-based system any day. As I see it' date=' I want a +1 to the roll to always mean the same thing. If two characters each get a +1 to their roll, but their bases are at 11 and 14, it has a very different affect for each.[/quote']

"It's not a bug, it's a feature" - inofficial Microsoft Slogan.

 

But seriously: I think it is an advantage that a weak character(11-) get's a better effective bonus from +1 than a good one(14-). One the other hand, a good one has less to worry about negative modifiers. So the game is more about base-values and internal bonusses than about stacking circumstance bonusses.

 

About D&D: I seriously dislike the entire ac-system. It's just one value, and it determines if you are hit or not. There is no "partial hit". And on the higher levels, fighting is more about HP-atrittion than about tatics. Also, it doesn't fared well with modern weapons (at least the ones in the gm-book). Just think about the fact that a Full plate offers the same bonus against a sword and musket. That's not how it worked, armors were way weaker against firearms. Also, there is no easy way to play an unarmored fighter (there are the monk and some prestige classes, but they ain't easy and compatible with half the concepts I could cook up).

Also, they have no defense skill (or no attack roll, in the chase of spells). It way always just a "Roll vs. target number", but fighting should be more like skill-contest:

"Roll-vs-Roll".

Re: Immunity to cancer

If this is about the imunity to an nnd and this is the only way to defend against that nnd: 2 Pionts

If it is one of the ways (i.e. Imunity to Cancer or Imunity to Radiation), both of the defenses should cost 1 Point at least.

I had some thoughts about the nature of NNDs and how expensive their defenses should be and these guidelines seem just about right for any nnd in "official" NND's I have seen so far (wich are not many).

Btw, a "post-apocalypse setting" right now? Any chance you got inspired by Fukushima?

Re: Using a D20

That doesn't quite convey the real difference because the numbers are clustered around the middle range. The ends of the bell curve are where it gets extreme. A d20 is always a 5% chance (1 in 20) for any given number. By contrast' date=' a 3 or an 18 on 3d6 is a 1:216 chance IIRC.[/quote']

There is a great difference. And it doesn't even ends with the propabilites. What about the difference in the range of values (3d6 only have 16 sums/results, a d20 has 25% more), that would affect how much a modifier is worth (i.e. 1/2 can have a totally different statistical impact on an 3d6 and d20 System). When you are intersted in the math, I could give you the excat propabilites for every possible result of 3d6*

 

* Well, actually anything from 1d6 to 15d6 and I have java code that can go up to 23d6. I just don't had the time or interest to go to the technical limit. I made this for a "xd6 vs. Target number or less" System (remotely similar to Star Wars d6).

Re: Allocatable

I don't think there is much of a problem:

Special Defenses for Barriers are a GM-Option

Allocatable is a Warning Sign GM Option

A barrier is easier to attack than a human sized, doging oponent. Don't foget that (re-)activating the barrier costs endurance.

These defenses can be easily outflanked (just give him someone with duplication or summoning to fight against, or someone with ultra-speed). Give him enemies that can varry their attacks between physical, energy and/or mental. Give them indirect attacks.

To give someone using it his "worst nightmare" and put him against an enemy with maxed, double number duplication or summoning (so you get original +2 of equal value). One of these three has ultra-speed with physical hth, one has mental attacks and one has energy blasts.

Re: ADVANCED PLAYER'S GUIDE II -- What Do *You* Want To See?

I believe the official ruling is that a vehicle' date=' automaton, etc. which does not act under its own volition must be purchased as "slavishly loyal" when Summoned. Assuming this is still correct, a discussion of tasks for such entities without using the Slavishly... modifier seems reasonable,[/quote']

The rule you describe is for "Inanimate Objects" only. And with slavishly loyal and the fact that they don't even have regular actions (i.e. no will to use any of it's powers), I think it is reseonable to just ignore tasks for them.

A automaton is very much animated so it is a absolutely normal summom, with all the rules for tasks, ego rolls and so on. No matter if it's one of Mechanons Summoned Robots, a zombie or autopiloted car.

Re: ADVANCED PLAYER'S GUIDE II -- What Do *You* Want To See?

Segmented movement for vehicles:

The current interaction between a vehicles speed and its drivers speed is very cumbersome and often doesn't make any sense. Switching vehicles to segmented movement would solve this issue nicely.

For all those who keep asking for it: there are already rules for Segmented Movement in print. See APG 160. It's certainly possible there's more that could be said' date=' or different ways things could be done, but that's all I intend to write about the subject. [/quote']

 

Tasks for Cars: Simple, unlimited. No ego Roll means every point counts, a task is at least a day and the summoner can reroll as often as he lives (okay, almost). Or you just skip the roll, after all a car can't act on its own like a demon (if it can, buy it as a normal "Summon KITT").

Re: Ward to keep out vampires

[All this chatter is probably going to hurt my future case' date= but... ]

 

From what I've heard, there's no better place to kill someone than in your own home. Seems lawyers figured that one out some time ago & now have a standard form for winning such cases.

 

So... according to reciprocal contiguity (which may be redundant... idk... I just made it up), which is an aspect of our shared contiguum (something else I just made up), not only do women & children possess the same capacity to kill w/in their own home (& get away with it legally), but everyone else does, too.

 

I suggest, at the very least, never entering a residence without being invited. And just to be safe, never cross bodies of running water (like rivers) as such things tend to be arbitrarily determined as boundaries between units of realty.

So, the writers of Vampire Novels/creators of the vampire mythos predicted the existense of lawyers? And the real evil in the storys where never the ones with "Special Dietary Requirements" but the guys who defeated them?

Now that is scary.

Re: 6th Edition Brick

about KISS' date=' I was keeping it nice. Noone wants to be called stupid, so I changed the meaning of the last character[/quote']

Since we programmers mostly say that to ourselfs, we can hardly hurt our own feeling with it:)

 

About DN. I just realised, that it is very potent against any killing attack with Stun Multiplier Bonus. You can not ignore 2d6+1 with 1/2d+1 Stun Multiplier (up to 13 BODY and 52 STUN) under 40-50 Points of Defneses vs. Stun. Especially when the weapon has Autofire. But when you have 3-6 levels of DN instead, it's suddenly much less of a treath (7 BODY, 28 STUN Max or 1 BODY, 4 STUN).

It is automatically resistant, and neither affected by Armor Piercing nor Penetrating. Of course, when you have to take it out of your ED/PD Pool, you may be more vulnerable/stunable to normal attacks...

 

Edit: It's also a kind of Knock Back Resistance (since less BODY means less Knockback), and in a way a "Power Defense, Only for Drain BODY and Drain STUN"

Re: Help me Populate a Cirque de Hero!

(3) a shill for the real stars of the show' date=' metamorphs that can switch from animal to human at will.[/quote']

When the circus only has night shows, how about a circus made up only of vampires and different were-animals. Depending on powers, the vampire could be the "Ring Master" from above. And each were-something could easily have a human form role from above, with were-form + human-form-role-skills becomming a powerfull combination.

Re: Fading Stars...when and why should superheroes retire?

Especially for the "Merge with Alien/Magic Lifeform" origins:

The entire merging thing turns out to be only the chrysalis state of that organism. Some day your power just form into a new sentient lifeform. This may be like: "Hi, I'm was your power. But now I have kind of very important stuff to do elswhere, so goodby" or "Well your time with me is over, I can't go back. Kinda looks like I got your job now."

Or it's more like in Alien

Re: 6th Edition Brick

Nothing wrong but it does mean you have to go through 3 different calculations every time damage is applied vs. the character's defenses. That seems a little excessive if all 3 defense types are always in use.

Funnily, this would most likely be the main reason for my gm to not allow them. About their usage: I think DN is very good for simulating "Imunity to normal weapons" (Buy 6 + decend Resistant and you can ignore them) and as mentioned above, DR is good with large attacks or for "Boss" Enemys, so they are harder to stun, but everyone can contribute to the damage.

I am a proponent of KISS when making characers. ie Keep it Simple Sweetie.

I only know the interpration from software devellopment: KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid:)

About Speed:

I too do not want to wait to long for a phase, so 5 is the minimum. That is barely "competent" and a fighting character should be at least competent in a such battle-relevant value (and even the BR list for Superheros speed 5 as minimum).

Unfortunately the rest of my life wants some more attention right, so it may take some time before I get to posting my design.