Sketchpad

Do you allow Power Stunts? An inventive player could reason out a quick KA if you do. 

"I'm going to focus my eye beam tight and see if I can blast through this double!"

15 hours ago, RavenX99 said:

But also, it's an NPC, so points aren't really important here, unless you're writing for publication.

Which may happen someday.

12 hours ago, LoneWolf said:

@Sketchpad stated in his original post this was for an NPC, so there is no player to talk to.  If it were a PC then some of these concerns might be valid. But this is how he wants the NPC to operate. Points for an NPC do not mean as much as the GM can just give him points that the character needs.  The only time it really matters is when the GM wants to build the villains in the game using similar guidelines as the PC.   Having NPC’s have a required number of complications is not a bad idea as it gives the player something to exploit.     

Yeah, I'm not really sure why there's so much emphasis on PCs for an NPC-based thread. I think I'm leaning toward the Accidental Change, as it would work relatively well and simple. Thanks for the suggestion. 

9 hours ago, Doc Democracy said:

@Grailknight has made a good suggestion but it feels off to me if the NPC has to pay points for something that complicates their life or disadvantages them.

 

I would be more inclined to make it a custom complication.  It might be a small value one, maybe five points, when using full shrinking, on an 8 or less he gets trapped in the Microverse for 1D6 weeks.

9 hours ago, LoneWolf said:

I would use Accidental Change for this.  Depending on how often he shrinks down to the dangerous size it would be worth about 5-10 point on an 8 or less roll.  The change is that he goes to the other universe.

8 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Extreme Physical Limitation.  Wrote up this one:

 

Phys. Lim.:  When fully shrunk, 8- to fall into the microverse for 1d6 weeks (Infrequently; Fully Impairing)

 

Or, alternately, Extreme Side Effect.  Extreme starts at -1.  If it always happened, it'd go to -2.  OK, so for something intermediate...happens on an 8- might be another -1/4, 11- another -1/2.  You're saying the NPC's power simply does this sometimes, and he's got no control...so I'm taking the additional -1 for "it always happens" and reducing it based on how often it happens.

Some interesting ideas overall, folks. I agree with Doc about the paying points bit. All three of these solutions are pretty cool and have given me something to think about. Didn't even think about using Accidental Change. 

Hola Herodom! I'm working on an NPC who shrinks. As a byproduct of his shrinking, if he becomes too small, he has a chance of falling into a micro-universe for Xd6 weeks. I was thinking maybe a weird susceptibility? Or would this be a Limit on the power itself? 

1 hour ago, Tech said:

I'd just go with Martial Arts. I wouldn't use Blast, no range. I'd go with extra damage defined as Energy to your Str. If necessary, add weapon proficiency. I don't think we need new martial arts.

I agree with Tech here. Wouldn't Hand to Hand Attack work just as well? 

Yeah, I've used that in the past. I was looking at trying something ranked. Like maybe having a EVO Suit that's rated for certain levels of environment, or levels of gear that protect against certain parts of an environment (but maybe not extreme levels). LS always comes off as one-and-done, which is great in some games. 

10 hours ago, unclevlad said:

In general, my thought is, why does it need definition at all?  It's off the rack cold-weather gear, it's trivial and reasonably inexpensive to buy.  Not everything needs definition in game terms;  common sense is enough.

EDIT:  to expand on this, I feel like, if I start assigning game terms to things, then I have to abide by them.  I'd rather not.  What did you get, how good is it?  Are we talking a winter coat, or gear to run the Itidarod or something equally insane?  Conditions matter, too.  Went shopping earlier...well, yesterday now.  42 degrees, intermittent light rain...so humidity was high.  Little bit of wind.  Raw kind of day...felt quite a bit colder than 42, but dry and decently sunny with no breeze.  As long as I'm not stuck with game terms, I can say "oh man, you really want an extra under layer for your patrol tonight" and be done with it.

Well, if you're running a game where weather takes on major role, it could be useful to know. For example, a pulp game where a plane crashes into an arctic climate, or running a fantasy game where survival is part of the game. How would someone build something like this? 

EDIT: Another interesting example are the X-Men costumes, which had a rated weather resistance in the MSH RPG. They protected to an extent (as well as providing some armor, communications, etc.).

How do you handle winter clothing? Is it just a definition of clothing? Do you build it using Change Environment? Or just use Life Support's Safe Environments? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Sounds like a fun project, Mike. I look forward to reading it when available.

On 2/2/2024 at 11:21 PM, Chris Goodwin said:

Ordinarily and per RAW, no.  The GM can always permit it, however.  6e1 pages 278-279 discuss it further.

Just out of curiosity, could there be a limitation be used here? "Affected by Magic/Power Defense" or something? It sounds like it should...

20 hours ago, Steve said:

In looking at Stronghold, a grab bag mix of personalities of the superpowered, it makes me wonder if a different approach is warranted.

 

Consider a super criminal who robs banks. While powerful, they aren’t a significant danger to society at large. I’m thinking the likes of Shrinker or Ogre. They may loot and rob, but they aren’t going to kill a bunch of people or destroy a city.

 

Then consider the members of Eurostar. They are superpowered terrorists. They act to topple governments or hold cities hostage.

 

Should they all go into the same prison facility? Would it be better to segregate the thieves and robbers from the really terrifying villains and put those terrorist types of villains in a deep, dark hole somewhere?

Honestly, from my understanding, that's not far from how prisons work IRL. You can be a burglar and be in the same jail as a serial killer or spree bomber. The jail itself is supposed to be prepared with the systems and employees that it uses for containment and, hopefully, rehabilitation. 

Mind you, there are also different levels of prisons, ranging from Minimum to High Security. If you're a one time thief and get caught, you probably aren't going to something like Stronghold. But a career thief that can phase? Yup. He's going to the supermax.  However, villains like Eurostar I would image going to something more like an UNTIL secure facility, as they'll want to question and isolate members. 

In the campaign I run, there are several prisons that specialize in superhuman criminals. Each is in a remote area and have superhero staff, as well as well trained (and vetted) guards. It usually doesn't come up where the villains go unless the adventure needs the players to know. I once ran a game where a few of the players were surveying a base and a breakout happened. They ended up having to defeat one of their big-bads to restore order, and hunt down a few C-listers that made an escape. Fun stuff.

There are a few in the Downloads section. You may want to search the boards as well. 

I remember hearing rumblings about it back in the day, but I honestly can't remember who used work on it. 

3 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

Summoning works for Omega Beams in another sense: you can outrun them in theory.

That just means they missed. Something that doesn't happen often, but has happened. It really comes down to matter of preference. 

On 1/6/2024 at 6:17 PM, Christopher R Taylor said:

Classic Batman story with Neal Adams art

That's actually Marshall Rogers doing the art. "The Laughing Fish" was written by Steve Englehart, with art by Rogers. Great story and pretty well adapted into the BTAS cartoon. 

It's probably just me, but I don't see something like Darkseid's Omega Beams built as a summon. I've considered the AoE bit, and prefer the Homing bit in the other thread, in all honesty. But the build in Champions Powers, which is a summon and energy creature/creation, isn't what I would use for that kind of effect.

If you're thinking of using the latest edition, Fantasy Hero Complete is your pony. The current Fantasy Hero still needs the rule books, which can be difficult and pricey to find. FHC is a one and done book that includes rules and genre info. 

5 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

Getting away from Homing discussion to the point of the OP ; Sketch, are you only interested in Adders, or did you want to discuss Custom Advantages as well?

 

For anyone curious, I did in the past start a thread for Custom Advantages.

Custom Advantages and Limitations would also be welcome. I'll take a peek at what you posted in your thread.

On 1/26/2024 at 5:11 PM, Gauntlet said:

In a Robot Warriors game I once ran, I had Homing Missiles. They were purchased as another vehicle that flied and tried to hit the target and of course had a single charge attack that destroyed it when it hit the target (6d6 KA I believe). By having it as its own writeup, it would continue to try to hit the target until either shot down, wrecked for some reason, or ran out of fuel. 

For a missile, that makes sense. But to stat out Darkseid's Omega Beams? Never cared for the idea. I did like the +1/2 Custom Adder with a +1/4 for each successful attempt (which I'll be using in some builds). 

2 hours ago, Stanley Teriaca said:

Ok. How does Homing work?

If you click on the link in the OP, you'll see the older discussion.

Hello Herodom! I took a look around after not really being satisfied with the Omega Beams presented in Champions Powers, and was specifically looking for something akin to Homing. After looking at the responses, I was curious about what other custom adders folks may have used in the past. Did you have a power where you had to create an adder? If so, what was it and how did it work?

2 hours ago, Susano said:

I have no real idea. I mean... I want to present the three groups and then talk to Jason. So.... assume 400-500 words/page and 60,000 words, we're talking a 150-page book. The actually book will probably be 128 pages.

Couldn't you just expand the page count with the extra stuff?

20 minutes ago, Susano said:

The Blood is at 22,228 words and I am ... 75% through the characters (working on Sala). Once Sala is complete, I have Shade-leader, Tyrkan and family, Warrior, Venguer, Commodore (and his base, ships, agents, and so on), Bloodletter, and any associated Scenarios. 30k words is my estimate. I also estimate around 30k words for the Circle, with a lot of that the history of the organization (Aaron wrote a LOT) about them,

If this means no Wanderers, I want to ask Jason about making them a standalone. I also want to ask about present Aaron's martial arts styles as a product.

What's your goal for the book's page count?

12 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

If I remember correctly, JI _did_ come1 with a four-fold poster in the box.

I think you're right Duke. I seem to recall the poster when I bought JI back in the day.

On 1/6/2024 at 8:19 PM, Rich McGee said:

Interesting.  What's next, another sequel to Freedom Force? 

Don't tempt me with a good time. I made a few of the characters for Champions back in the day. Hmm... wonder what happened to them.