Sean Waters

Re: Improved Absorption? Yes indeedee... Champions does not do 'energy invulnerability'. I think it should, but it doesn't, and there are very sound game balance reasons why. A really cool 'background/justification' does not allow you to circumvent the rules. Imagine your ball of antimatter in a suit: the suit is at least partially matter, so it can only absorb a certain amount of damage (antimatter healing), before the integrity of the suit is threatened requiring it to divert life energies (STUN) to shoring it up. Ultimately, whilst some 'damage' makes it stronger, continued pounding weakens it. Point is that you can't build total immunity to damage in HERO. You COULD (with GM approval) use your absoorption to increase a tiny Heal power and persuade your GM to allow to heal individual blows individually. That is the nearest you will get.

Re: Need Help with Character Creation Find weakness with some lucky rolls, reckon I.

Re: What is up with falling?

Re: So, why is longevity so expensive? Because it is cool. First power I'd buy if I was making a character sheet up for me. It is not expensive, and telling people you remember the French Revolution first hand (not the one in the 1960s...) has to be worth major kudos. Don't like it? Don't buy it. It is worth it IMO even if you double the cost. Twice.

Can you accept a power if you are unconscious, or do you get any choice, whether it is beneficial or not? Specific example if The Shade who can make herself and up to seven others desolid. Maximan (Hero) and Scrapper (Villain) are both unconscious (and likely to be for some time) and The Shade wants to take them with her, which entails passing through a solid steel vault door. If they stay in the vault they will suffocate, but if Scrapper is 'rescued' he will face the death penalty for murder, sentence to be carried out ASAP and it is possible, but he does not know for sure, that he could revive before he dies and escape under his own power. Can Maximan and/or Scrapper be desolided out of there?

OK, so not strictly a rules question, but, how many times a day do you smack you head against a wall and cry out at the madness? ...and can I suggest that, whilst you are obviously the fount of all knowledge and the All Wise One* there are some questions which seem to stimulate a great deal of debate, and it can't be a bad thing to look at all the arguments. Might there be room for another forum: 'Steve's Referred Questions': you could give a provisional answer to certain 'woolly' or ill defined questions and then post them to a new forum for general comment? After a certain time a consensus might appear that would allow you to draw on the views of the unwashed masses, and form a view incorporating all the evidence. At (starting a sentence with a preposition (twice in the same paragraph); what would my English teacher think of me?) the very least it may save some sticking plaster... *...and let's face it, it is your game and you can do what you damn well please...

Re: How to: Reverse persistant? Inherent has advantages and disadvantages. It is like always on BUT with immunity to drains, and is cheaper to turn off than 'always on'. Someone with Desolid at zero END just has to will the power to stop and it does until turned back on. If you are 'naturally' desolid it takes far more effort to 'negate' the power. I might suggest another level of 'inherent' at +1/2 which allows you to turn off the power by spending END but you don't need to keep spending END to have it switched off (based on the END only to turn on +1/4 advantage). As I recall, Kitty lost control over her desolid power, but spent at least some time solid and unconscious. You do not need accidental change (well, it is a disadvantage you'd be getting points for, so I guess what I mean is you shouldn't be allowed accidental change) if it is just a reversion on unconsciousness, as inherent/always on already do that, so it is no more a disadvantage than simply having those limitations. If you took it, it would have to mean, depending on the level, that you changed at other times too, say on 8-/11- or 14- every time you took damage. That would be Taking damage (VC: 15 points), then +0/+5 or +10. This would simulate the 'natural' reaction to pain: trying to avoid it. Real pain if you are carrying your unconscious team mate at the time...Sound good? Complete aside, but possibly relevant, but if you had inherent AND useable by others (Kitty certainly had UBO) and you were carrying an unconscious teammate: a: could they 'accept' the power if they were unconscious (even if it would be beneficial), and, assuming they could, b: would they be given the opportunity if you changed accidentally? Aside 2: do you envisage the character being able to carry stuff whislt desolid?

Re: slots with different limitations Actually what the FAQ says is: Q: The rules say a character cannot apply a Limitation to a Multipower’s reserve cost unless it applies to all the slots. Assuming a character has the same value of Limitations on each slot, could he get around this rule by applying the Variable Limitation Limitation to each slot? A: No. That’s an attempt to avoid the spirit of the rules while still obeying the letter, and should be considered illegal unless specifically allowed by the GM. Now if I was your GM, I'd allow it subject to a veto on anything I thought was abusive or plain powermongering. I mean the alternative would be a VPP and, frankly, they scare me. Now I know someone, somewhere is going to pick me up on saying I agree with the use of any kind of power framework, but we'll debate that one if they notice, eh?

Re: Improved Absorption? You shouldn't IMO be trying to simulate a power that you don't like the mechanics of with another power or powers. Think about that 15 points you are getting from that energy blast...say your campaign limit is 15d6 EB, and both you and your opponent have an EB at that level, that 15 points increases it to 18d6. Because of the way that Hero works, if you could damage your opponent with a 15d6 blast, ALL of the additional 3 dice is going to damage your opponent without subtraction, that is 10-11 points on average a hit, which may in fact double the amount of damage you are getting through your opponents defences. That is not weak. What you would like to do, by the look of it, is get stronger and negate any damage you just took. You can do this with absorption (3d6 absorption (15 AP), STR and STUN (+1/2) +2 to maximum, to 20 (+1 AP)*, total cost 24 points). But that only saves 6 points on just buying the characteristics! I know, but if you are at or near campaign maxima already, and your GM agrees, this will allow you to exceed them, which is powerful magic. In fact it would be the same cost as buyuing the characteristics with the limitation (only active for one turn after being hit by an energy attack -1/4). Why only -1/4? Because energy attacks happen all the time in Champions. If you really think the mechanic is broken, and your GM agrees, just tweak the cost, but it isn't, you know. *the +2 points is so that you can max out at +20, and even after PS12 deduction of 5 points you still have the full 15 points of effect you are after, so long as you get hit by an EB at least once a turn. NB your +15 (or +20) STUN is only added once: it can not keep negating damage, it just increases the maximum, or theoretical maximum, by that amount.

Re: Schmucks? ...anyway ayou needn't worry about the UberVillains, they have given up the sort of crime that involves hitting heroes, and have bought controlling stakes in Coca Cola, and the company that counts the votes in elections.

Re: Schmucks? No, it depends on how they face their opposition, whatever the points spent on them. The game, after all, is based on the HERO system. They may not be equal to the challenge, but that does not make them 'foolish or contemptible persons', which is what schmucks/chumps means.

Re: Desolid Munchkin Question Have your brick's SFX: 'changes to organic copper', and give him a 2d6 or 3d6 drain vs electrical SFX linked to his strength, call it 'Grounding'. First couple of hits he may not feel but then the FF is dropping and more STUN is getting through...(don't forget defences take twice the points to drain). Mind you if a character with defences that high is a problem, I blame you for letting him have them. Make sure you don't design villains just to get around your heroes' powers, that willcause bitterness if it is spotted, but it is fine if you are designing Hunteds that the character got points for. You can always have a villain with similar defences and they can not affect each other enough to ever manage a KO...could be fun, or at least funny...

Re: What is up with falling? I suppose if you are worried that you are not killing enough normals by throwing them off buildings (Hey, Jed, lookee - anuther 'un just hobbled away...maybe the pile's gettin' too big 'n' cushnin the fall!), you could apply the impairment rules to normals: half BODY, before or after area multiplier, to head, chest, stomach or vitals and you can consider them dead. Maybe that is why they wear helmets - they've read Champions and know the head has a x2 BODY multiplier...

Re: What is up with falling? What a good idea: and normal PD won't help, but I might make it 2xPD or PD+4 otherwise people would be punching holes in each other all the time. It also means that if a super hits a normal they have to be real careful...

Re: How to: Reverse persistant? ...so it looks like this: Desolid (40 AP) 0 END Persistent Inherent (+1 1/4), total AP: 90. I'd make END cost (depending on your characteristics) 9 per phase, that you can not pay to reduce to become solid, maybe more if you have really high END or REC...and no 'becoming solid' END batteries either... I would let you have always on but that would seriously ramp up the END cost (see FRED), to maybe 45 END (or, arguably either 54, 29 or 20) a phase...you don't need the points that bad... Have fun.

Re: How to: Reverse persistant? If your natural state is desolid then you should buy it with 'inherent' so that your natural state can not be dispelled. In fact it is an advantage to revert to desolid when KO'd as it means that most opponents can not touch you and you can recover in peace, so you should be paying more for it. Having said that, inherent lets you turn off the power at will by paying END (so you automatically become desolid if KO'd). If I was the GM I'd make you pay a +1/4 advantage (at least) to do that as I think 'natural desolid' is too unbalancing for the reasons given above, or make the END cost for solidity real big so that you can not stay solid long at all. You need p165 of FRED.

Re: Mystic "The's" "The Janitor" who follows the other six around and clears up the mess they make. Transformation, change environment, superspeed, KS: Stain Devils, that sort of thing...

Re: Schmucks? And here's one to think on: 'powerful' is a relative concept independent of points in the build. You can come up with a 1000 MegaHero, and I can come up with a 350 SuperVillain that can trounce him/her/it: it depends what is in the mix.

Re: Schmucks? If your game world is populated by 1000 point monsters, then you need a 750+ point character to compete. If it is mainly 'normals' with a selection of villains in the 100-400 point range, a 350 point character is powerful, and probably too high to start on. In 'real world' terms, virtually any level of power is 'powerful'. This is not a question with a right answer, I think the real problem is that some people seem to think there is one.

Re: Schmucks?

Re: Critique of how I made these grenades. Is KB applied before damage takes effect if you punch someone? No, it is not, so there is no reason the KB would be applied before the dispel. As for turning it back on, so what? You've already been knocked back, which was the point. However I also like the Banger effect you suggested. I would have gone for the no damage EB which I now acknowledge would have been shallow and unimaginative.

Re: No Frameworks?

Re: No Frameworks?

Re: No Frameworks? You've had lots of good arguments and worked examples, and your argument about the game representing comic books is slowly creeping round to 'comic books I like'. I'll build you a Lemming style flame based character...soon as I get back from walking the dog.

Re: No Frameworks? Listen to yourself...'vastly more powerful' built with a VPP. How is that balanced?