Steve

Re: Sexual Orientation=Psych Lim?

Re: Psionic/Mental Combat I once came across a pretty cool name for a mental-based martial art, but I don't recall the book it came from. Kokorodo = The Way of the Mind

Re: When Aid Cost Went Up.....

This question sort of ties into my recently revived thread Sex and the Single Superhuman. We've probably all seen characters built with Psych Lims like "Lecherous" or "Flirtatious" or something else along those lines to show a character with a stronger than normal amount of lust. But have you ever seen a character take a Psych Lim to show a non-hetero sexual orientation? Is it worth a Limitation? Or does this delve into an area of personality that is not worth points, but is more of a background thing?

Re: [Character] White Phoenix - Ninja Hero/Teen Champions Thanks. I was trying for a character that changed physically, but not really mentally, and the disadvantages pretty much wrote themselves. I wanted to do a character that mixed the angst of teenaged Spider-Man and Ranma Saotome. I am working on an adult version (19-20 yrs old) that I will be posting in the next few days, along with a brief synopsis of the events that the character has gone through.

Re: [Character] White Phoenix - Ninja Hero/Teen Champions I thought about using Multiform for making this character, but it didn't have the right feel for me. So I went with Shapeshift and abilities OIHID instead.

An adult version of this character can be found here. [b]White Phoenix - Robert "Bobby" Baker[/b] [b][u]VAL[/u] [u]CHA[/u] [u]Cost[/u] [u]Total[/u] [u]Roll[/u] [u]Notes[/u][/b] 7 STR -3 7/15 10-/12- HTH Damage 1d6/3d6 END [1] 8 DEX -6 8/24 11-/14- OCV 3/8 DCV 3/8 7 CON -6 7/19 10-/13- 7 BODY -6 7/14 10-/12- 18 INT 8 18 13- PER Roll 13- 11 EGO 2 11 11- ECV: 4 7 PRE -3 7/15 10-/12- PRE Attack: 1d6 / 3d6 10 COM 0 10/16 11-/12- 1 PD 0 1/12 1/12 PD (0/6 rPD) 1 ED 0 1/12 1/12 ED (0/6 rED) 2 SPD 2 2/5 Phases: 6, 12/3, 5, 8, 10, 12 2 REC 0 2/8 14 END 0 14/38 15 STUN 0 15/32 5 RUN -2 5"/7" END [1] 1 SWIM -1 1"/4" END [1] 1 LEAP 0 1"/5 1/2" 1"/5 1/2" forward, 0 1/2"/2 1/2" upward [b]CHA Cost: -15[/b] [b][u]Cost[/u] [u]POWERS[/u][/b] 140 [b][i]King of the Streetfighting Warriors Avatar: Qi Yin[/i][/b]: (Total: 209 Active Cost, 140 Real Cost) * Shapeshift (Sight, Touch, Hearing, Smell/Taste and Mental Groups), Cellular, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (64 Active Points); Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Requires An EGO Roll (No Active Point penalty to Skill Roll; -1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, Only to Activate Constant or Persistent Power, -1/4) (Real Cost: 28) * [b]plus[/b] +8 STR (8 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 6) * [b]plus[/b] +16 DEX (48 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 38) * [b]plus[/b] +12 CON (24 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 19) * [b]plus[/b] +7 BODY (14 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 11) * [b]plus[/b] +8 PRE (8 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 6) * [b]plus[/b] +6 COM (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 2) * [b]plus[/b] +3 PD (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 2) * [b]plus[/b] +3 ED (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 2) * [b]plus[/b] +2 SPD (20 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 16) * [b]plus[/b] +2 REC (4 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 3) * [b]plus[/b] Leaping +3" (1"/5 1/2" forward, 0 1/2"/2 1/2" upward) (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 2) * [b]plus[/b] Running +2" (4"/6" total) (4 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 3) * [b]plus[/b] Swimming +3" (0"/3" total) (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 2) - END=4 36 [b][i]Immortal Phoenix Kung Fu Abilities[/i][/b]: Multipower, 45-point reserve, (45 Active Points); all slots OIHID (-1/4) - END= 1u 1) [b][i]Basic HTH Abilities - Blocks/Parries[/i][/b]: (Total: 20 Active Cost, 8 Real Cost) +2 with HTH Combat (10 Active Points); Only While Blocking (-1), OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 4) [b]plus[/b] +2 with DCV (10 Active Points); Only While Blocking (-1), OIHID (-1/4) (Real Cost: 4) - END=0 1u 2) [b][i]Basic HTH Abilities - Dodges/Evades[/i][/b]: +2 with DCV (10 Active Points); Only While Dodging (-1), OIHID (-1/4) - END= 2u 3) [b][i]Basic HTH Abilities - Grabs/Holds[/i][/b]: +30 STR, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (45 Active Points); No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), Only To Simulate Exert-Based Martial Maneuvers (-1/2), OIHID (-1/4) - END= 3u 4) [b][i]Basic HTH Abilities - Punches/Kicks[/i][/b]: HA +6d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (45 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), OIHID (-1/4) - END=0 1u 5) [b][i]Feint[/i][/b]: Sight Group Images 1" radius, -4 to PER Rolls, Trigger (Activating the Trigger requires a Zero Phase Action, Trigger requires a Zero Phase Action to reset; +1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (44 Active Points); DCV Reduction Only Works For Attacker (-1), Only For Martial Arts Feints (-1), No Range (-1/2), DCV Reduction Only Lasts For One Phase (-1/2), Side Effects (if target makes PER Roll, attacker suffers -1 OCV on real attack; -1/4), OIHID (-1/4) - END=0 2u 6) [b][i]Flurry Kick[/i][/b]: HA +4d6, Autofire (5 shots; +1/2), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/2) (40 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), May Only Be Used On A Single Target (-1/4), OIHID (-1/4) - END=1 2u 7) [b][i]Phoenix Fist[/i][/b]: EB 6d6, Armor Piercing (+1/2) (45 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), No Knockback (-1/4), OIHID (-1/4) - END=4 3u 8) [b][i]Power Kick[/i][/b]: HA +6d6, Penetrating (+1/2) (45 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), OIHID (-1/4) - END=4 1u 9) [b][i]Shielding Wing of the Phoenix[/i][/b]: FF (25 PD), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4), Hardened (+1/4) (37 Active Points); Only Protects Against HTH Attacks (-1), Requires A DEX Roll (No Active Point penalty to Skill Roll; -1/2), OIHID (-1/4) - END=1 11 [b][i]Avoiding The Blow[/i][/b]: Armor (6 PD/6 ED), Hardened (+1/4) (22 Active Points); Requires A DEX Roll (No Active Point penalty to Skill Roll; -1/2), Nonpersistent (-1/4), OIHID (-1/4) - END=0 5 [b][i]Rapid Healing[/i][/b]: Healing 1 BODY, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (20 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 20 Minutes (-2), Self Only (-1/2), OIHID (-1/4) - END=0 4 [b][i]Instant Change[/i][/b]: Cosmetic Transform 2d6 (Clothing into Battle Costume and back) (10 Active Points); Clothing Only (-1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), OIHID (-1/4) - END=1 [b]POWERS Cost: 212[/b] [b][u]Cost[/u] [u]SKILLS[/u][/b] 2 Acrobatics 11- (14-) (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) 1 Acting 8- 2 Breakfall 11- (14-) (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) 3 Computer Programming 13- 2 Stealth 11- (14-) (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) 3 Jack of All Trades 1 1) PS: Photography (2 Active Points) 11- 1 2) PS: Play Roleplaying Games (2 Active Points) 11- 1 3) PS: Play Video Games (2 Active Points) 11- 3 Linguist 2 1) Language: Cantonese (idiomatic) (4 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) 1 2) Language: Japanese (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points) 3 Scholar 1 1) KS: Immortal Phoenix Kung Fu (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) 13- 1 2) KS: Japanese Anime & Manga (2 Active Points) 11- 1 3) KS: Roleplaying Games (2 Active Points) 11- 1 4) KS: Superhero Comics (2 Active Points) 11- 3 Scientist 1 1) SS: Astrophysics 11- (2 Active Points) 2 2) SS: Mathematics 13- (3 Active Points) 1 3) SS: Physics 11- (2 Active Points) 2 WF: Common Martial Arts Melee Weapons, Three-Section Staff (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) [b]SKILLS Cost: 38[/b] [b][u]Cost[/u] [u]PERKS[/u][/b] 3 Well-Connected 1 1) Contact: Julie Morgan (Contact has useful Skills or resources, Contact limited by identity, Good relationship with Contact) (2 Active Points) 8- 2 2) Contact: Principal Michael Winters (Contact has useful Skills or resources) (3 Active Points) 11- 2 Deep Cover: Qi Yin 1 Fringe Benefit: Press Pass 1 Membership: Science Geek Clique [b]PERKS Cost: 10[/b] [b][u]Cost[/u] [u]TALENTS[/u][/b] 3 Lightning Calculator 2 Environmental Movement (no penalties on narrow surfaces) (3 Active Points); OIHID (-1/4) [b]TALENTS Cost: 5[/b] [b][u]Value[/u] [u]DISADVANTAGES[/u][/b] 10 Accidental Change to Qi Yin Form: When Overly Excited or Angry 14- (Uncommon), Change Takes One Turn 5 Distinctive Features: Beautiful Chinese Girl (Qi Yin Form) (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses) 5 Distinctive Features: Science Geek (Bobby Baker Form) (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses) 10 Distinctive Features: Style Disadvantage (Qi Yin Form) (Not Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Large Group) 10 Hunted: Millenium City News Publisher Amos McCarry 11- (Less Pow, NCI, Mildly Punish) 10 Hunted: Windsor PD 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching) 10 Hunted: Nightwind 11- (Mo Pow, Watching) 10 Hunted: Science Geeks 11- (As Pow, NCI, Watching) 15 Psychological Limitation: Code of the Hero (Common, Strong) 10 Psychological Limitation: Protective of Innocents (Common, Moderate) 15 Psychological Limitation: Uncertain Gender Identity (Common, Strong) 5 Reputation: Masked Vigilante, 8- 5 Social Limitation: Harmful Secret (girl who is really a boy) (Occasionally, Minor) 5 Social Limitation: Minor (Under 18) (Occasionally, Minor) 15 Social Limitation: Secret ID (Bobby Baker) (Frequently, Major) 10 Unluck: 2d6 [b]DISADVANTAGES Points: 150[/b] Base Pts: 100 Exp Required: 0 Total Exp Available: 0 Exp Unspent: 0 Total Character Cost: 250 White Phoenix in Battle Uniform Quote: It's cool to be a superhero, but why do I have to be a girl to be one? Background: Bobby Baker was the sterotypical geek, a brilliant kid just trying to get through high school without getting picked on too much by the musclebound neanderthals that played football there. One day while walking home from South Windsor High School, he took a shortcut to avoid some of the jock guys from his school. On a back street he came across a small video arcade called the Mystic Lane Arcade. He spotted a new video game he had never seen before: "King of the Streetfighting Warriors - Ultimate Edition." Slipping past the creepy attendant sitting near the door, a wizened old Chinese man smoking a pipe, he went over and dropped his pack next to the game. He'd never heard of the game before, which suprised him, and he looked over the available characters. Spotting a cute kung fu girl fighter, his favorite to play, he chose her: Qi Yin. He put a quarter in the game and laid his hands on the controls. A deep voice intoned from the game's speaker, "FIGHT!" Then the world went dark as arcane fire seemed to leap from the game. Bobby awoke in a deserted arcade, cobwebs and dust covering old hulks of rusty pinball machines. There was no sign of the old man, or the game that had enticed Bobby into the arcade. Then he noticed that he was now female. After screaming and having flashbacks from one of his favorite animes for several moments, Bobby realized he was now a she, and not just any girl but the girl from the video game. He was now Qi Yin. Since then, Bobby has learned how to tranform back and forth between his two forms, and what his new form is capable of. As Qi Yin, Bobby is a skilled martial artist, a practitioner of the Immortal Phoenix School of Kung Fu. Deciding that he'd been given such powers for a reason, and the old bit of wisdom "With great power comes great responsibility" ringing in the back of his mind, Bobby became a superhero, the White Phoenix. It hasn't been easy. He's found that he'll turn into Qi Yin whenever he gets too excited or angry, and there've been a few close calls. He's also finding that it's oddly intriguing and enjoyable to be a girl, but he worries about it. A lot. For some reason, Amos McCarry, the publisher of the Millenium City News, has been writing a series of articles on White Phoenix, calling her a vigilante menace. Taking a cue from one of his comic book heroes, Bobby started using his hobby of photography to take action photos of himself in action as Qi Yin. It's oddly satisfying to get paid by the man who seems hell-bent on making White Phoenix into some kind of pariah, and becoming part of the press brought him into contact with Julie Morgan, who has been helpful on a couple of cases. The police are a bit suspicious of her too, and the hero Nightwind seems intent on mentoring Qi Yin. That would be cool, if only Nightwind wasn't so condescending about it. What makes it hardest for Bobby is that he can't tell any of his friends about his adventures. His few friends at school are constantly talking about the new "kung fu babe" and occasionally some raunchy commentary on her physique. Luckily, one of his first cases as White Phoenix involved saving Principal Winters from a minor supervillain, and the stodgy principal turned out to be a retired superhero himself. The two have been working together to establish a legal identity for Qi Yin. Personality: No great tragedy mars Bobby's life to turn him into a hero, but he is trying his best to be one, like his idols from the comics he collects, and the real life heroes in nearby Millenium City. He's exploring his new "feminine side" a little, going out as Qi Yin in normal clothes and seeing what it's like to be female and do things like shopping, but he's also afraid of what it means to his sexual identity.

Re: Simple Killing The problem with this is that you are applying damage against a limited form of defense, so it increases the relative effectiveness. Hero has always seemed to me to have an underlying philosophy that increased effectiveness should be balanced by increased cost. Right now, a Killing Attack is roughly a +2 Advantage. I don't think it's right to effectively triple the cost effectiveness unless you cut the cost of defenses to compensate. Maybe make Resistant Defense a +1/4 Advantage instead of +1/2 like it is now?

Re: Continuous vs Sticky Make it a Megahex, and you could blanket a few city blocks.

Re: Fantasy Cliches

The average human needs to sleep 6-8 hours out of every 24. How would you model a Disadvantage where a person needed more sleep, like 6 hours out of every 12, or 3 hours out of every 6? A Physical Limitation would be a simple way to describe it, but I wonder if Dependence could be used to model it.

Re: Hit loactions, maximum damage and the stunning mechanic It depends on your goal for limiting the defenses: do more BODY damage on a hit or do more STUN damage on a hit? Given a campaign average of 10d6 normal damage, if you limit DEF to 20, you are allowing more STUN but not necessarily BODY. IF you limit DEF to 10, there is a good likelihood of some BODY and a lot of STUN. I've been considering using PD/ED that only affects STUN damage to modify the amount of bleeding going on after a hit, without cranking up the STUN damage that gets through as well.

Re: Chainmail Bikini Effects Yes, that's what it is. I think I'll have to pull out my old comics and start writing up Red Sonja now.

Re: Multiform In A Multi-Power as slot? Well, theoretically you could also have a Multipower of nothing but Multiform slots, which might or might not be cheaper than buying new forms directly through the Multiform power, depending on how it's set up.

Re: Character: The Man With No Name Was there a 4th Edition version done in the old Adventurers Club magazine? I vaguely recall seeing one, but I have those in storage and can't get at them right now.

Re: Chainmail Bikini Effects I'd just call it a special effect.

Re: Infinite Crisis Spoiler Alert Well, the second issue is out and things are looking like Kawanga is right. I found it interesting that the Superman of Earth-Two commented that they saved the wrong Earth at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and this Earth made from Earth-One and scraps from other Earths is fatally flawed and should be erased and forgotten.

Re: Armor 'Sets' Multiple foci is discussed on page 295 of 5ER or page 190 of the original 5th Edition. It lists a few options for how to achieve the effects you are going for.

Re: Inspirational Writing and Meme Creation No, I haven't. Do you recommend it?

Re: Inspirational Writing and Meme Creation Well, my question originated after reading GURPS Transhuman Space, which discusses memes and their effects, even used as a type of weapon.

Re: Inspirational Writing and Meme Creation Well, if Hero can be used to model a disease, then it can be also used to model how an idea would spread. It doesn't have to be a cult brainwashing thing.

Throughout history there have been ideas that have changed people and societies. And these writings persist, affecting people years or even thousands of years after the original author is dead. Religious texts are one source, but so are the writings of ancient Greek philosophers or the likes of Karl Marx or even Adolph Hitler. Their words have the power to spread memes (any piece of information passed from one mind to another) into society and change those societies, for good or ill. Consider a Fantasy Hero campaign where a new religion arises and begins to spread, threatening the established theocracy. Or a political movement begins to spread through the worlds of a Star Hero campaign. How would you model such a meme in Hero terms? Mind Control is too short-term, so that leaves a type of Transform. Reading something like the Necronomicon can Tranform a person into an evil cultist, determined to bring about the return of the Old Ones. Likewise, the words of a particularly charismatic politician could sweep a new government into power, through an election in the case of democratic forms or a coup in the case of a monarchy. How would you model a meme?

Re: Red Monika - Valdorian Age Thief and Swordswoman Oh, aside from borrowing the name and her picture, I didn't really try to make her like her Battle Chasers version. The character was used as an inspiration for a redheaded thief, but it is not meant to be a faithful recreation.

Re: Red Monika - Valdorian Age Thief and Swordswoman Based on comments received in this and my other thread, I came up with this variant form of Eye Candy. Eye Candy (PRE-based variant): +60 PRE (60 Active Points); Offensive Use Only (-1/2), Only For Making Friendly PRE Attacks (-1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase; -1/2), Effect Ends Immediately If Anyone Directly Threatens Target (-1/2), Limited Normal Range (3"; -1/2), Not When Wearing Heavy Armor (-1/2), Only Works On Persons Of Appropriate Sexual Orientation (-1/4), Requires A Seduction Roll (-1 per 20 points; -1/4). Total Cost: 13 Points. The way Monika's build works now (pardon the pun) is that to make Eye Candy work at maximum effectiveness requires her to use Feminine Wiles (a 13- roll), then Eye Candy (a 10- roll; 12- base roll +3 for Feminine Wiles and -5 for Active Points), then she still has to make an EGO-based attack with only a 3 ECV (likely an 11- to hit). With this variant, she just has to make two rolls: Feminine Wiles (a 13- roll), then Eye Candy (a 12- roll; 12- base roll +3 for Feminine Wiles and -3 for Active Points). The remaining 9 points freed up could be put to levels offsetting Conditional modifiers for PRE-based Skills. My thought was that she could be dirty and/or cut up and still look sexy.

Re: Chainmail Bikini Effects Based on comments, I have come up with a variant form of the Eye Candy ability. Eye Candy (PRE-based variant): +60 PRE (60 Active Points); Offensive Use Only (-1/2), Only For Making Friendly PRE Attacks (-1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase; -1/2), Effect Ends Immediately If Anyone Directly Threatens Target (-1/2), Limited Normal Range (3"; -1/2), Not When Wearing Heavy Armor (-1/2), Only Works On Persons Of Appropriate Sexual Orientation (-1/4), Requires A Seduction Roll (-1 per 20 points; -1/4). Total Cost: 13 Points.