Netzilla

My group used to use automatic max-damage on a nat-3 but, IMO, that can get way out of hand for something that's purely random chance. We never really did anything with a nat-18. These days, my preference is to treat any roll of triples as a crit. Whether it's a crit success or failure depends on if the roll is good enough to be a success or failure. That way, character skill matters in regards to the crit. On a crit-hit, my default rule is +4 DCs (basically a free haymaker); though I've been toying around with a deck of Crit Cards for varying effects. On a crit-fail I make up something suitably embarrassing/slightly disadvantageous on the spot; though (again) I've been toying with the idea of Fumble Cards. The crit-on-triples also applies to skill rolls but that's entirely in the realm of GM whimsy as to effect.

Yeah, with the Entangle being as weak as it is, I wouldn't mind the 0 END Continuous build like I normally would.

If your spellcasters have more than one spell, I'd suggest looking into a MultiPower for them. If they've got more than about 3 spells with similar Active Point values, the MultiPower should save them some points. Otherwise, you can look at applying an arbitrary campaign rule that divides the cost of all spells by 2 or 3 in order to make up for the free equipment that non-spellcasters get. A third option is to use the Resource Pool rules from APG1 for all equipment and spells.

With Linked, you only make a single attack roll for the Linked powers (see Champions Complete pg 109, last paragraph of the right-hand column). For the constriction effect, I'd go with Damage over Time with escaping the entangle being the negation condition (as required by DoT). Constant would be the classic (pre 6E) way of building this and is still entirely valid. In that case, you'd have to pay END and the target would take damage on each of your Phases. If you added Uncontrolled, you wouldn't have to worry about maintaining it; you'd just pay an amount of END up front for how long you want it to last. Again, escaping the entangle would be the negation condition. You could also build this effect with Telekinesis used to grab and squeeze the target. Then there's more exotic options like summoning a plant-creature that grabs and squeezes the target for you. If you have access to it, you may want to check out the Tangling Growth power in the Champions Powers book (pg 370).

Simply not liking an answer does not automatically make it wrong.

Vertical leap remains half the horizontal leap distance in 6e. I'm not sure of the reference in Champs Complete, but it is on pg 28 of Hero System 6E Vol 2.

One of the reasons I recommended Damage Shield for the electricity was so that anyone touching the blade would get shocked without any action needed on the wielder's part. While not explicitly called out in the original post, it seemed a logical extrapolation of what was being described. Without Damage Shield, the electricity only comes into play when the wielder initiates an attack. If that's not a needed, then Damage Shield isn't needed.

As with some of the others, I'd do this as a Multipower, myself. However, if you're dead set on not going that route, I believe the technically correct to do this would be: Shapeshift Multipower (60 point pool) slot1: Partially Limited Power -- 40 points base + 20 points (linked to Shapeshift) slot2: Partially Limited Power -- 40 points base + 20 points (linked to Shapeshift) slot3: Partially Limited Power -- 40 points base + 20 points (linked to Shapeshift) I've done a similar build for a 'reverse duplicator' whose powers were stronger when joined. I don't believe you're allowed to partially limit the pool itself by the RAW.

Other possible areas of expertise: death traps artificial fangs & claws vehicular manslaughter or arranging vehicular accidents venomous insects/animals bare handed martial arts (possibly a companion to your brute strength thug; think evil non-super Power Man and Iron Fist) cleaning up after the others

Hugh, I'm not sure why you keep bringing up a half-phase recover when no one has argued for it. The minimum that's been suggested is a full phase as that's the minimum that would be required to pick up a thrown knife. I've even further qualified that with a list of additional requirements a GM might impose. All the 'GM discretion' qualifiers in the section of the rules you quoted suggests a certain amount of flexibility in how recoverable charges are to be adjudicated.

Well, the rules as written don't bring up anything about PER or STR rolls to recover a recoverable charge, so that's all in GM Fiat territory. As difficult to recover as a thrown knife, while somewhat variable, isn't an unreasonable standard. As with many things in the Hero System, it would be up to the individual GM to decide what is equivalent. Best case scenario is that you can take a half-phase to move to the knife and another half-phase to pick it up. Worst case is you lose it entirely by throwing it off a cliff. Most GMs would likely pick somewhere in between. One might also require a DEX or STR roll to turn the crank while dodging incoming fire or it might require concentration or extra time to get a full charge. That would all be part of the character building negotiation process. As stipulated earlier, the described effect does sound like an END Reserve to me, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to achieve the desired effect.

Hmmm.. Upon a reread, my last post may have come across a little bit strong. The issue of boxing gloves and whether they do more or less damage than an ungloved fist is actually a rather controversial issue in boxing/mma/bare-knuckle circles and you'll find a lot of contradictory articles on the issue. It doesn't help that the articles are typically authored by advocates of one sport over the others or reference research funded by those with similar agenda. Plus, the research that's out there tends to focus on damage to fighters over the course of their careers and less often on individual bouts (let alone individual strikes). Then there's the issue that MMA has only been popular in the U.S. and Europe for about the last 20 years or so, so we don't really have much data on the long-term effects. Bare-knuckle fights are actually illegal, so there's even less research there. Compare that with boxing having over a century of data to work with and comparisons get tricky. Then you get into the fact that the gloves used in boxing have changed several times over its history. There have been a handful of studies of actual individual strike damage for both gloved and ungloved, wrapped and unwrapped punches. However, these 'studies' usually aren't performed by scientists and are rife with problems. Low sample size is usually the biggest issue. Next would either be bad methodologies or vagueness as to how they measure 'striking power'. The end result is a lot of theory and conjecture in articles that will weigh in on either side of the issue. So, the best one can do is read several articles on it and decide for oneself which articles are more convincing. For my gaming purposes, it's close enough to even that I don't feel that gloves warrant extra damage.

I have read several articles on boxing gloves and head trauma. Many state that bare-fisted and lighter weight gloves (like those used in MMA) actually increase the amount of head trauma because the cushioning of the full sized gloves reduces the elasticity of the collision. So, while there is slightly more weight in the fist, a good portion of the impact is absorbed into deforming the glove itself, thereby reducing the overall transferal of energy. In fact, one of the theorized reasons for concussion syndrome being more prominent in boxing is because the gloves reduce the likelihood of knockouts, which causes fighters to get hit in the head more often during a match. The repeated hits cause more cumulative damage over the course of a bout. However, as stated this is a theory because you can't really do proper laboratory testing of this kind of thing on humans. Plus, the existence of the standing 8-count rule is another factor that is believed to be a strong contributor to boxing's concussion syndrome rates; which further muddies the waters. Also, while its true that gloves allow you to hit harder without breaking your hand, the "without breaking your hand" is a very important qualifier. You can hit just as hard either way, but you're more likely to break your hand without the glove, which increases fighter reluctance to hit hard targets like the head. However, you can get most of the same benefit with a good hand wrap and no glove.

I'm with Beast on this one. Gloves don't really make you punch harder; they make it less likely you'll break your hand. They also make it less likely that you'll cut your opponent.

Eh, while i agree this does sound more like END Reserve, I don't think spending a Full Phase turning a crank to recover a charge is any more out of place than running over and picking up the dagger you just threw.

You might try going with a recoverable charge, where the recovery condition is turning the crank.

I'm not too fussed about origin of powers, so I'll just say wide open. As for tone, I'd go Bronze Age.

You could build a regular blade to start with then add an NND Blast Damage Shield that covers the surface of the blade. You can define the damage shield as 'offensive' for +1/4 to make it also work when you attack with the blade. The damage shield would be powered by an OAF Endurance Reserve (possibly fragile to represent the easily damaged cord).

i'm just saying that pressure points require more finesse than joint locks do. There's, of course, some variations within the given groups of techniques themselves. After all, Jugi Gatame (cross arm bar), Ude Garami (key lock/entangled arm lock) or Gyaku Ude Garami (Kimura/reverse key lock) can be taught to a beginner without much trouble. On the other hand, Ashi Sankaku Garami (Omoplata) is a bit more fiddly. A folded pocket knife won't help much with any of those. A stick, jo or bokken (never mind a real sword), can make pretty much any key lock very nasty with the extra leverage. Pressure points, on the other hand, are smaller and harder to find. So the precision needs to be higher. I've always seen students struggle more with getting pressure points right than with a Jugi Gatame. As for them being different things, sure you've got techniques that blend both but those are, indeed a blending. For example, Yonkyo is a wristlock that includes a pressure point manipulation. However, you can get the wrist lock without engaging the pressure point. You can also target that pressure point without doing a wrist lock.

What Chris said above is correct. Additionally, once a target is at under 0 stun, they're at 0 DCV and take double damage from attacks, so dropping them below -10 is pretty quick.

Having done both joint lock and pressure point work (background primarily in judo and aikido), I would class them as different things (though you can use one to enhance/assist the other) and considering the fiddliness of pressure points, I stand by my finesse statement.

If the pilot's speed is lower than the ship's the ship can only maneuver on the pilot's phases. The ship will travel straight forward on it's 'uncontrolled' phases. If the pilot is faster than the ship, the ship can still only maneuver on its phases, but the pilot will have extra phases for doing non-pilot things. Either way, the pilot must dedicate a 1/2 action each of his phases to controlling the ship. Gunners act and fire guns on their own phases, regardless of the ship's speed. However, they are still subject to any OCV mods from the ship's maneuvers. So, if you have enough gunners, you can keep all the ship's guns firing. All of the above is from memory, so I reserve the right to be wrong.

Since someone grabbing/attacking you doesn't take damage and it only does damage if you initiate a grab, I wouldn't call that a damage shield at all. It's a hand attack that only enhances grabs. OTOH, if someone grabbing/touching your gloves takes damage without you initiating the action, then that would be a limited form of damage shield (maybe lower it from +1/2 to +1/4). If it also works when you punch someone, then that's an 'offensive' damage shield, which costs an extra +1/4.

I'd also suggest 2 or 3 titles be reserved for rotating mini-series/one-shots/specials in the long run. You don't start with or run with them all the time, but you want room for the occasional side event or big special event. You just need to keep them a bit more rare than the every year model the big two seem to follow.

Extra Limbs for certain. Extra SPD, Only to Punch (-1) as a possible add-on. If you have them, check the Champions Villains books for the Grond write-up.