prestidigitator

Re: OCV/DCV Am I doing the math right? Interesting aside. In 2nd Edition AD&D my group always played up the (optional, yeah right!) non-weapon proficiencies. Each skill had an ability score its roll was based on (e.g. roll under your dexterity to succeed). Each skill also had a modifier. For years and years and years we thought the modifier was to your ability score (e.g. if your character with Dex 14 used a skill that was based on Dex and had a -2 modifier, you'd want to roll equal to or under 14-2=12 to succeed, making the roll more difficult), but then one day one of us re-read the rules and discovered that in the Player's Handbook the modifiers are actually to the die roll itself, so a negative modifier is good and a positive modifier is bad (e.g. if your character with Dex 14 used a skill that was based on Dex and had a -2 modifier, you'd actually want to roll equal to or under 16 because 16-2=14, making the roll easier). Compounded to this was the fact that in the Dungeon Master's Guide, the sense of the modifier is reversed (our original interpretation was correct for things listed in the DMG, but we always used the PHB as our reference when building characters and using skills, so...). Radio announcer advertising voice: Does that sound like your experience with the Hero System? Relax! Look no further! Our roll-high method is here to save the day! Simply roll 3d6 and add your modifier! It's the D&D-3E-equivalent to your Hero System woes!

Re: AE Accurate War! Ugh ... what is it good for? (Absolutely nothing?) I kinda enjoy and like to play up the fact that you can Dive for Cover out of the area and avoid the Accurate attack completely. In fact, personally I make it easier to DFC from an Accurate AoE attack than from a normal attack; I require that DFC from a non-area attack actually get you out of range (for HTH attacks, outside reach plus whatever combat movement the attacker has left to make/complete a Half-Move before attacking) or behind cover to work. To DFC out of the effect of an Accurate AoE attack you just have to dive far enough to leave the radius of the AoE. That may be non-standard, but IMO it lends a nice feel to the mechanic and feels fair and balanced.

Re: More Blockages Hmm. And how are you going to deal with blocking with a shield or weapon? Built-in limited DN for each Focus, or...? It's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure I have that big a problem with Block avoiding damage completely, given how difficult it can be to pull it off and that you have to use up a (Aborted, Delayed, or normal) Phase to do it. If you apply common sense as a GM I think you can easily deal with situations like blocking weapons with bare hands in a way that makes sense for the game/genre being played. Give OCV penalties or make it straight out impossible if the circumstances are such that the block doesn't make sense. I THINK I can see where you are coming from in terms of cost. I'm not worried about the ability to sell it back; I think that can just be folded into Complications that make the maneuver impossible (in addition to whatever other drawbacks there might be such as not being able to wear a wristwatch if you don't have arms) if it really makes sense to do so. But it might at times be nice to be able to do things like apply (Naked) Advantages such as Trigger. I think I'd just consider Block to be an Everyman HTH version of Deflection for that purpose, myself. Oh, and I think you're thinking too hard again, Sean. I smell smoke.

Re: Teleport and Clairsentience This is starting to sound like the Riftwar Saga, only with robots. Heh heh.

Re: Visualising Block (Deflection allows you to do this at range--i.e. Block for someone across the room from you who is not within reach.) And that is a major benefit of Block. You can Block for someone else, but you can't Dodge for someone else. The only other real option you'd have for interceding is to do a Dive for Cover to be voluntarily hit by the attack instead of allowing the attacker a to-hit roll against their chosen target. Or, if the GM is willing, stand in front of the target and provide them a Concealment DCV bonus; if you're doing this on purpose and the GM has his head screwed on correctly then the attack should automatically hit you if it misses the intended target by less then or equal to the Concealment bonus you are providing the target.

Re: Teleport and Clairsentience Remember that MegaScale (MetaRange that is) also changes the scale for the range modifier. So a power that's MegaScaled to 1m -> 1km gets -2 range modifier at 8km, not 8m. I've always thought the rule about not being able to set a Floating Location via Clairsentience is stupid. I might require some extra time to for it, but I generally allow it. I suppose it might depend a little on the game and the circumstances too, though. If the SFX of setting a Floating Location meant you had to perform some sort of little ritual at the location, Clairsentience might not cut it after all.

Re: Visualising Block

Re: Mental CSL's and base cost weirdness (6e) But with Mental CSLs you can bounce your mental attacks! (In all seriousness I'd like to see more uses like bouncing attacks to make CSLs more effective. Mental CSLs can increase the damage/effect of mental powers, so I suppose if you want to get a bit of a rebate you can limit away that ability and pay a little less than 6 points....) EDIT: Actually, on pondering it for a moment I think I'd like to revisit that idea of bouncing mental attacks with a little more seriousness. What if you could bounce Mental Powers off of minds to establish LOS where you otherwise might not have it? Hmm.....

Re: Electro Magnetic Pulse Yeah, not really. But hey, anything can happen in a superheroic game, eh?

Re: OCV/DCV Am I doing the math right?

Re: Solar Hero timeline

Re: Combat Flowchart Yeah, that seems like a pretty common viewpoint, and I can't say I disagree that the inconsistency is disturbing. However, we've been over that one several times already and apparently it was by design rather than oversight.

Re: Electro Magnetic Pulse I don't think so. My understanding is that without also enough Expanded Effect to cover any and every power in the category of SFX you'd have to choose what kind of Power or Characteristic to affect with each use of the Dispel. For example, one Phase you might affect electronics-based Flight. The next Phase you might affect electronics-based Resistant Protection (e.g. force fields?). The next Phase you might affect electronics-based Strength (e.g. servo-motors). You would not have the option of saying, "I want to affect whatever electronics based power (or power(s)) each target has." This makes SFX-based Adjustment powers pretty damn worthless in 6E in my opinion unless they are bought with the +4 worth of Advantages and permission from the GM to make that cover all powers of the given SFX.

Re: Electro Magnetic Pulse For cases when Focus-breaking RKA/Dispel type powers may be considered too potent, consider Drain/Suppress instead. That should create similar but less destructive effects (despite likely being even more expensive in terms of Active Points).

Re: Electro Magnetic Pulse Hmm. Good point. I certainly wouldn't feel bad about a CE messing with "real" equipment that wasn't purchased with points. I suppose you could assume that powers bought without some kind of Limitation making them vulnerable to strong electromagnetic fields/pulses aren't particularly susceptible to them (i.e. are shielded so a RKA or Dispel or whatever WOULD be necessary to disrupt such superpowers), and that appropriate electronics-based powers will take some kind of Limitation (either a specific one or some kind of "Real Equipment" type thing).

Re: Magical Knick Knacks I had a small box that would preserve food in it indefinitely. Life Support (no need to eat) with 1 Recoverable (put more food in) 1-day Continuing Fuel Charge (-0). Probably overkill, but clever (or so I thought ).

Re: OCV/DCV Am I doing the math right? It's things like that kind of use of the word "complication" that are grating on me, and sound pretty darn defensive. It's not a complication at all. It's a different way of making the roll. There's certainly nothing more complex about it than the current default. I've never said the current way of doing it doesn't work well; just that this might work slightly better, particularly for new players.

Re: What's the next step? My bet is on ion drives rather than nuclear propulsion, but most likely there'll be some kind of hybrid approach. Decelerating isn't that big of a deal, as it is generally symmetrical with the problem of accelerating toward the destination (though there are possible solutions for decelerating that will take less active propulsion, such as magnetic sails). We don't have to worry much about solar escape velocity, by the way, since we are starting off in pretty high solar orbit (meaning we already have almost enough speed/energy to essentially be "free" of the Sun's gravity; the difference in velocity between Earth's orbit and solar escape velocity is 12 km/s--paltry compared to the kind of speeds we'll be interested in for interstellar travel, and actually about equal to Earth's escape velocity from the surface of the planet so it's the kind of magnitude we're used to dealing with). We've already sent probes (such as Voyager 1 and Voyager 2) into the outer regions of the heliosphere, where they continue to collect data. It's more a matter of how much time it takes to get out there than whether it can be done at all.

Re: OCV/DCV Am I doing the math right? When attacking a player I just roll 3d6+OCV and then say, 'What's your current DCV?" or, "What's half your current DCV?" If they respond with 5, I know I hit if I reached a target number of 15 or higher. If a player is attacking I do the opposite: they roll their attack roll as 3d6 plus their current OCV (or half their current OCV). If they are trying to hit my NPC with DCV 7, they hit if they roll a 17 or better. I always have a target number in mind when skills are being rolled as well, with the default difficulty being 12.

Re: OCV/DCV Am I doing the math right? Hardly defensive. We were sharing mutual excitement over a new way of doing things, that makes it easier for new players. Unfortunately that seems to make certain people defensive themselves. I'm not saying I think it is easier for people because I like it or it is easier for me personally. It's actually the opposite: the thing that appeals to me about it is that it is easier for new people, not that it is necessarily easier for me personally.

Re: This will require some explaining Hmm. Yeah. I'd probably go with HRRP, add in some Discriminatory, Analyze, and Transmit, and compliment it with some skills like Systems Operation ("...allow characters to send or intercept navigational or encoded data."), maybe Computer Programming, and optionally Cryptography. Slap some Limitations on the sense and the skills if you want to restrict it to wireless Internet access only, and I'd call it good.

Re: Electro Magnetic Pulse A changing magnetic field will induce an electric current in as simple a component as a loop of wire with absolutely no pre-induced current or potential difference (voltage) required. In fact, some AC motors are built such that induced eddy currents on a metallic core will provide enough of a magnetic field to produce torque in the externally generated field. Every electronic component in existence is going to have a bit of inductance, and is going to be subject to strong electromagnetic signals to some degree. Whether induced currents and voltages (of a given strength) actually damage the component is a matter of the amount of inductance, the amount of resistance, and the materials out of which the component is made. As for whether a superhero could generate an effective EMP, it's going to be a matter of range. The intensity of the signal will drop off with the square of the distance. Nuclear explosions create EMPs that can damage electronics at very long range. Devices that generate EMPs electrically have a much shorter range, but at that short range they can be as effective as the nuke at long range. I don't see why a superhero couldn't generate a pulse that would do some measurable damage at limited human-scale ranges.

Re: Electro Magnetic Pulse

Re: Regeneration Potion This ruling strikes me as really dumb and counter-productive, but:

Re: Electro Magnetic Pulse That's not necessarily true. Integrated circuits can be damaged whether on or not. Being powered normally when the pulse hits may or may not make a difference; certainly current operation can be disrupted whether or not a device is actually destroyed, but if no actual damage is done a reset may help just as much as the device being off when it was hit. Whether your vehicle depends too much on complex circuits vulnerable enough to be damaged by the pulse is another question. Magnetic storage devices such as hard disks and EEPROM (flash memory and such) could also be messed up pretty badly even if not in use, so there goes your data, operating system, embedded programs stored in devices, etc.