Fedifensor

Re: Killing Charachters/Villians in your games. Do you do it?

Re: Aircraft Interiors as fight scenes

Re: Green Lantern I haven't read too much of the recent DC stuff, so I thought I'd ask a few questions. I have a few JSA graphic novels, and Alan Scott (Sentinel) doesn't appear to use a ring anymore - he is the power (the Ultra-Humanite was using him as a power source at one point). Is that correct? Is Kyle the only GL that doesn't have to worry about yellow? Whatever happened to Guy Gardner?

Re: He's a WHIMP !!! (My Gripe) While Batman has a LOT of skills, I doubt any are bought above the base level (3 pts/skill in most cases). Of course, the 10 Overall Levels help...

I'm trying to create a 'Fatigue Rifle' for an agent in a superhero campaign. Currently, it's written as a 3d6 END Drain, Ranged. The problem is that I want the recovery rate of the drain to be based on the character's normal REC. In other words, I want to take away END just like a NND EB would take away STUN, and let the character recover normally from it. Would this sort of thing be an advantage on the power, or a limitation?

Re: Seeking Feedback On Electricity Powers At a minimum, the rain would reduce the amount recovered. I think it would depend on how much it was raining. I'd probably have a standard storm drop the REC by 10, requiring her to find industrial-level power sources or touch the source in question. Well, by default, losing 4d6 END/phase from being immersed in water will tap her out in less than a turn (she has 50 END). If I wanted to increase the disad to 25 pts (30 Active Points of Drain), she'd short out almost instantly in water...but I wanted to give the player a chance. Technically, rainstorms and the like are a Very Common occurrance (anyone can grab a water hose), but I only made it Common because the drain scales to the amount of water present. The problem with using Limitations is that she'll get more points...and they'll be spendable. If she doesn't take the Susceptibility, she has to come up with another 20 points in Disadvantages. If he limits her powers instead, she gains at least another 20 points to spend on more stuff. Adding a -1/4 limitation (Increased END Cost when in water) on all of her Endurance-using powers is huge. As an example, her 55-point Electrical Emissions multipower drops to 44 points. That's 11 points saved without even counting the reduced cost of the slots. Then you have her Force Field and Teleportation getting a savings as well.

Re: Seeking Feedback On Electricity Powers I've moved to working on the character's disadvantages. Her main disadvantage is the ability to have her electrical charge drained by water (again, similar to Static from Static Shock). Susceptibility: Immersed In Water (when Electrical powers active), 4d6 END Drain (2d6 Drain, x2 Characteristic multiplier) per Phase (Common; Can Recover Endurance Drain Normally, -5 to disadvantage points) Notes: Lesser amounts of water drain Endurance as well. A rough guidelines is 2 END/phase for a light rainstorm (drizzle), 1d6 END/phase for a standard storm, and 2d6 END/phase for a heavy rainstorm. Being hit by a water-based attack is normally the full drain of 4d6 END for the phase. The drain can continue even after the source of water is gone - having soaked clothing and hair drains 1d6 END/phase, that lasts until Volta dries off or turns off her powers. Note that unlike most Susceptabilities, Volta can recover the Endurance normally - a large enough Electrical source can allow her to even use her powers underwater for brief periods. I wanted the character to be functional on a rainy day, but inconvenienced. Her Voltage Boost power should partially compensate for the drain of a standard storm (the drain averages 18 END/turn). I also expect the character to carry an umbrella if she knows it's going to rain. I priced the Can Recover Endurance Normally at -5 points. Normally, you can't recover stats drained by a Susceptability until the source is gone, but I didn't want the character to run and hide whenever water shows up in an adventure. So, do you think the disadvantage is worth 20 points?

Re: FoxbatsMasterPlan.Com

Re: Seeking Feedback On Electricity Powers Well, according to the book, a well-grounded person will take 2d6K damage from an automobile spark plug - the same damage done by heavy household current. So I figured that she could gain the same amount of power from an automobile. Even if there are multiple sources, she only sucks energy from one source at a time - otherwise figuring out how much power she can access gets too complicated. Unless she wants to use her noncombat teleport, she won't be teleporting anywhere close to a kilometer. Even if she does, the limitation reflects in the inconvenience of finding an appropriate location to drain power from. If she wastes a phase or two seeking out an appropriate location, the limitation is having its desired effect. Here's some typical fight locations in my campaign: Typical Office Complex - Light Household Current Bank - Light or Heavy Household Current Villain's Base - Heavy Household Current, or Light Industrial in some areas. City Intersection - Heavy Household Current (street lights), (Light Industrial Current (power lines) or Heavy Industrial Current (transformer). Note that she needs to be within 4 meters (roughly 10 feet) of the source, and she doesn't have a way to hover. So if she teleports up to a high voltage pylon, she has to figure out a way to balance up there for the duration of the recovery. Construction Site - Light Industrial Current, or Heavy Industrial Current in some areas. I freely admit that I'm not an expert on electricity sources (and the player's even more clueless than I am), but I figured I'd place them as appropriate for dramatic effect. I see no problem with her getting access to Heavy Household Current in most fights, and Light Industrial Current if she works to find an appropriate source.

Re: How do you Build this? Why not have a 5 or 10 point base VPP that can be accessed without rolling Absorption, and add to it from there? If he absorbs PD and ED, just walking around and standing in sunlight should be enough to give him a low-level pool to work with.

One of the PC's in a forthcoming campaign that I'm running has electricity powers. I was looking for feedback on some of the powers, since I'm a bit out of practice with character design. The powers, along with comments, are listed below. Voltage Boost: +20 REC (40 Active Points); Limited By Amount Of Electricity Available (-1/2), Visible (-1/4) Guidelines: Household Current: +5 REC, Heavy Household Current: +10 REC, Light Industrial Current: +15 REC, Heavy Industrial Current: +20 REC, Automobile: +10 REC I wanted to do something similar to Static Shock, where she can stand near a power source and absorb energy...without any complicated power construct using Absorption or Transfer. Basically, whenever it's time for her to take a recovery, I figure out the strongest power source within 4 meters, and base her recovery on it. I figured out the relative strengths of the power sources by consulting the table on page 299 (5 pts REC per 1d6K damage). The Visible disadvantage is because the electricity arcs from the power source to her body. The -1/2 limitation for available electricity seemed right - I figure she can usually find at least Heavy Household Current in a battle, but getting the full use of her Recovery is difficult. ---------- Electrosense: Detect Electrical Fields 13- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Range, Sense Long-Range Electrosense: Clairsentience (Radio Group), Megascale (1" = 1,000 km; +1), Can Be Scaled Down 1" = 1km (+1/4) (45 Active Points); Only Between Conductors Or Through Wires (-1/2), One Sense Only (-1/4) Electron Transport: (Total: 50 Active Cost, 33 Real Cost) Teleportation 5", No Relative Velocity, Safe Blind Teleport (+1/4), Megascale (1" = 1,000 km; +1), Can Be Scaled Down 1" = 1km (+1/4) (50 Active Points); Only Between Conductors Or Through Wires (-1/2) (Real Cost: 33) Three different powers that work together. Her Electrosense allows her to sense electric current - cities appear to her filled with lines of electricity. Her Long-Range Electrosense allows her to extend that perception on a planetary scale, as long as there is a direct electrical pathway from a source within her line of sight to her destination (such as a fiber-optic line). This ties into her ability to teleport by traveling along those electrical pathways. You'll notice that her Electrosense isn't a Targeting Sense. This is intentional. I don't want her travelling through the power conduits of a villain's base and appearing in the control room. By combining Safe Blind Teleport with a non-Targeting Sense, I can control her ability to do pinpoint teleports without putting the character in excessive danger from long-range travel. ---------- Living Lightning: Teleportation 13", No Relative Velocity (36 Active Points); Cannot Pass Through Non-Conductive Surfaces (-1/4) Living Lightning Arc: Energy Blast 3 1/2d6, No Normal Defense ((12+ resistant ED or being fully insulated); +1), Area Of Effect (4" Any Area; +1) (54 Active Points); Only Along Teleport Path (-1/2) This is a bit of a weird one. She can transform herself into 'living lightning' in order to move from place to place, even if there are no wires nearby. However, she can also do a half-move teleport and shock anyone she passed along the way. Though the attack goes off after the teleport (according to game mechanics), the overall effect is that it occurs as she teleports. It doesn't have to be a straight line, but she does have to be able to trace the AoE along the lightning path (7" from origin to destination for a half-move). ---------- Well, those are the only three 'iffy' powers I've come up with so far. What do you think?

Re: What is the average attack and defense in your super?s campaign? This is from my campaign guidelines. If I can ever get out of this d20 world and back to Champions, this is what I'll use. They're based off the survey posted way back in the 4th edition Big Blue Book, where the average campaign attack was 11d6, and the average defense was 25. Basically, I link speed to attack strength, and DCV to Defenses. That way, neither damage output nor overall defensive capability are too strong. The Maximum Attack column is for special attacks that are limited in some way, such as a once/day power. Power Levels (General Guideline) Speed Attack Power Range Maximum Attack 4 12-14 DC (12d6 to 14d6) 15 DC (15d6) 5 10-12 DC (10d6 to 12d6) 13 DC (13d6) 6 8-11 DC (8d6 to 11d6) 12 DC (12d6) 7+ 7-10 DC (7d6 to 10d6) 11 DC (11d6) Defenses DCV 28-30 PD/ED 7- 24-27 PD/ED 8 20-23 PD/ED 9-10 18-20 PD/ED 11

Actually, while I like the JLA a lot better, I'd have to give the victory to the Authority. Put simply, while the JLA stops to talk things out, the Authority lets loose with everything they have. If the Authority is in a particularly bad mood, nearly half the JLA is *DEAD* before they can respond. The Authority has a lot of killing attacks, and isn't hesitant about using them. Let's keep in mind some of the world-shaking abilities the Authority has. The Doctor shredded half of a metahuman assault force with one spell (a force numbering in the hundreds, BTW) and put an entire nation into orbit. The Midnighter actually falls into the speedster category - the Flash may be faster, but the Midnighter knows how the entire battle will play out before it even starts. Apollo is the Authority's version of Superman...unless you're talking about pre-Crisis Supes, it's an even fight. No one in the JLA comes close to the Engineer's VPP, not even Batman and his mega utility belt. I'd go on, but I'd need to dig out my comics to say more - it's been a while since I've read them. Now, if the JLA wasn't constrained by morals, and just let loose with everything they had, the fight may go to them. But you can't evaluate the teams without considering their personalities as well as their powers.

Actually, the BT Superman gets stunned every so often by attacks. I think he'd do fine with a 25 to 30 CON. He should have a good amount of STUN, though...and you're missing one important thing. Superman takes a huge beating in lots of the JL episodes, but comes back to triumph. A 30 REC would go a long way towards explaining this.

I once did a jack-of-all-trades in a 75+75 Fantasy game. It's amazing what 5 Overall Levels can do for you...he was better than anyone else at any skill he bothered to purchase above a Familiarity.

I would go with B, because it's more flavorful. Whenever she uses the powers in her VPP, she knows exactly who gave her the power she's using. It would also make a great plot for an adventure, if she started taking on personality traits from the person whose powers she currently has.

22 Multipower - 45 points, OAF 2u +6d6 HA, 0 END (11d6 HA for 2 END w/ 25 STR) 2u 9d6 EB, range limited by STR, 4 END It's a little more work to throw the baton than swing it (higher END cost), but that just keeps the hero from using it at range all the time. If it doesn't automatically return, you'll have to add 1 Recoverable Charge and Costs END to the limitations.

Actually, it sounds like the Side Effects would be a -0 limitation in this case, as there is both benefit and disadvantage. On one hand, I'm transforming an object for free. On the other, I'm doing property damage that will probably upset the owner of the item.

Kind of hard to be the humor person when you have bloody entrails stuck to your claws... Many good suggestions in this thread - the most important thing is to talk to your players first, and let them know that this isn't the way you envisioned the campaign. If they're dead-set on using killing attacks after the talk, then it's time to change the tone of the campaign one way or another. Put them in a few situations where if they kill people, the organized supergroups will hunt them down. Maybe even talk with the wind character about being part of the group that hunts them. Once the killers are in jail, they have the option of reforming (maybe being released from jail on the condition that they work directly for the government), or making new characters.

It really depends on the gamemaster...and the object you're using. Some GM's may have a problem with you casually grabbing a minivan and turning it into parts for a gun. I may end up defining the VPP with the Object of Opportunity limitation, while also buying a separate 1d6 cumulative Major Transform just in case.

I'm trying to convert a character from an old campaign to 5th edition, but I'm not sure how to do it. The character had control over technology by touch - his most common action would be to touch something technological (a laptop, a car, a boombox, etc), and turn it into a weapon, by mentally disassembling it and creating something from the raw components. Currently, it's written up as a VPP with the disadvantages Focus (OAF of opportunity, -1/2) and Requires Components (-1/4). The character also has a separate power, Transform (technological item to raw components), No Range. There are a few problems with this setup. First, it's slower than I imagined. The character has to take a Phase to touch the object and transform it, and then switch his VPP in the following Phase. Even buying 0 Phase to switch won't change this, since attack actions end your Phase. Second, the transformed item is technically destroyed, and Transforms in 5E don't permanently destroy things. I guess you could say that the cure for the Transform is reassembling the object, but I'm not sure if that's a legitimate choice for a cure. Ideally, I'd like the character to touch an object in the beginning of the Phase, transform it into a gun, then fire the gun as his attack action. Failing that, I'd like to have the gun made and ready to be used at the start of his next Phase. The main issue with this setup is that transforming anything is an attack action. A Brick can grab a street lamp to use with a simple application of Casual STR, which is simply a different version of what I want to do - turn an object of opportunity into a weapon. The only workarounds I can see are far, far too expensive for what is basically a special effect. Any ideas, folks?

Dan, I just wanted to chime in to say that without Hero Designer, HERO would be much less attractive of a system. Like many, I have some points of difference with Steve on the rules versus opinions issue, but you've done everything that's been asked of you for Hero Designer. Now, folks, Dan is technically right. Designing a product does not mean he becomes a customer service representative. There are many companies that make a software product, but turn over support to the company that markets the product. He IS answerable to Steve and Darren (his customers), but DOJ is providing customer support for the product, not him. Dan has given direct help as a courtesy, nothing more. Keep up the abuse, and you may lose that courtesy. Would you prefer to see him stop answering posts on the Hero Designer thread, thus forcing Steve or Darren to take over that role (and have less time to produce products)?

Also remember that END was a much bigger deal in 3rd, when powers costs 1 END per 5 active points.

Perhaps that's part of the problem. When I bought 5E, I expected a rules system for the experienced gamer, not the newbie. The latter should be targeted by something like the forthcoming Sidekick rules. When you *need* a computer program to churn out a character in a reasonable amount of time, it's not a beginner's system.

That's incorrect. I have the BBB right here, and there's nothing restricting no-END powers. In fact, the sample character of Howler has two slots that wouldn't be allowed in 5E - a 4d6 Absorption to all EC Powers (sonic attacks only), and 75% Resistant Damage Reduction (only version sound attacks).