Bengal

My hero Hummingbird has eight different identities, each with its own costume and powers. His stats, skills, vehicle remain the same, and the other stuff changes. This is a Multiform, Only Changes In Lab Between Adventures (-1/2). Comes out to be quite cheap- I was even able to make his base form into a formidable adventuring type.

I don't know, being reflective isn't a power, but more of a personality trait. Just spend a great deal of time furrowing your brow and ignoring what everyone is saying.

A 2D6 transform shouldn't cause too much trouble. But if your GM allowed such a broad-based transform, I think what problems it does cause are his problems.

You got it. But make it short. No longer than 3" or so. You could probably take a (-1/4) for that. It's also probably a Full Phase maneuver, so that's an extra (-1/4). It may be a lot of active points, but it should be cheap in real points- as it should be. BTW... people still play Mortal Kombat?

That's a very clever idea. I don't know exactly where to take it, but it's a clever idea.

In Marvel comics, it is revealed in the future that the Asgardians and Olympians are not gods, but rather powerful aliens who were thought to be gods. Thought to be, and therefore acted as gods. Each of these alien beings was formless, without definition, until someone believed the to be something or believed them to be something else. When the human who would become Odin saw the Asgardians, and told them who they were, then they were who they were told they were. So it was with the Olympians. I think it would be a mistake to relate the same origin to a church in the real modern world. But making, say, a Catholic-powered superbeing, I think that's probably OK.

http://www.geocities.com/area51/cavern/1905/haym14.html Try this for a start. Even in comics, most characters encompass elements from more than one archetype. In addition, let your friend know it's not okay for him or her to boss you around even if he or she does know more about the system. Tell them it will be more fun for you to play if you are able to figure out what works and what doesn't in the course of the adventure (even if you secretly do know what works and what doesn't).

When Peter David wrote the Hulk, there were a few times when Hulk was pitted against swarms of normal agents- HYDRA, some Nazi group, whatever. Even though the agents posed not the slightest bit of peril to him, he was slowed down considerably because he didn't feel like killing them all to get where he was going... and they were physically in his way. I wonder if your heroes would fare well against such swarms of normals, that their movement rate were suppressed to 1 or 2 inches per phase, and they were being plunked for 5d6 HA Continuous for the entire trip from A to B. I mean, each individual agent might be useless, but against numbers, your players' characters may have problems.

I run one game with one PC hero and one NPC hero, so the death trap thing comes up for me sometimes. The other game, I get 4-8 people a session, so you're right about that. One of the great things about DNPCs or other credible threats is, you can sometimes coerce a hero into that sort of situation without actually beating him down first.

Agents vary in comics, even from one issue to another- it really all depends on how good the agents are. Even low-powered supervillains can be weaker than an experienced agent in some instances. There have been numerous times that the (Tony Stark-built) Guardsmen have been trashed by supervillains in the Vault (In fact, it seems to happen every few months). There are other times that Iron Man himself has been trashed by normals with interesting tech, like Blacklash, the Ghost, the old Living Laser before he got transformed, and low-powered MAs like Taskmaster.

Doesn't anyone use death traps? I mean, if a hero or heroes are utterly defeated and their fates are sealed, isn't it up to the villain to entrap them in some monstrously complicated machine or whatever, give a lengthy retelling of his origin story, reveal all his secret plans, gloat a while, and leave? I actually think villains gain more XP from making death traps and executing them than they do from killing the good guys.

It's so comprehensive, it's almost impossible to teach as a first system. Too much information, too complete, too thorough, if that's even possible. Much easier to teach D&D or even GURPS or Shadowrun or Marvel or DC or... Ovnce you learn it though, everything else is dog food.

Back to the original post thread, Sue is probably the most powerful in combat. She can trash several heavyweights singlehandedly when she's appropriately motivated, like when she threw down with the Absorbing Man, Titania, a mind-controled She-Hulk and Thing in order to protect Valeria. A number of other heroes were present, but Reed (wisely) told them to stay out of her way. The battle took a few seconds.

Okay, Wasp just had a radiation accident in the new issue of Avengers, 78 or whatever, where she learned Ant-Man's growth trick. Other than that, she just seems to go in for new outfits over and over again. While she's grown as a character, she hasn't grown as a PC very much. As far as the FF predating the Avengers, that is true. But the characters who made up the original Avengers all predated the Fantastic Four, sometimes by years. Ant-Man was 1958 I think.

You know what I hate? I hate how microwave popcorn is so hard to get perfectly cooked! And then it gets stuck in your teeth and you're trying to get it out for hours. It's like a big tease. You think you're getting popcorn, but you're just getting a big bag of headaches.

OIHID can also be analagous to IIF if yoiu're talking about a costume. Defender's power suit could be IIF just as easily as OIHID.

Ah, the battle of Good versus Neutrality... sound the Beige Alert, we're going somewhere near a battle.

Way off topic here, but I DID see Rick take out the Taskmaster once, which is pretty darn cool. Taskmaster is at least Cap's equal in fighting skill.

Yeah, I'd be a real bastard too if someone cut off my johnson.

Okay. I can understand gaining a point of speed through training and meditation on the meaning of action, or whatever mumbo-jumbo you want to trot out. But gaining in Dex? Probably nopt something you can gain through diet, excercise, and whatever. At least not 9 active points of it. Better to build it through the (more expensive) combat skill levels + lightning reflexes construct, to show extensive training. You might even buy +1 SPD, Costs END (-1/2) in order to demonstrate it's something metaphysical and not strictly natural, costs Chi energy expenditure, whatever.

Pet peeve addendum: If you want to portray comic book heroes in a 750-point setting, and they stat out to 600 points, play them anyway. Giving up a couple of weight classes won't hurt a true hero too badly. Besides, if your GM is fair, he'll find a way to give you fair fights as well as the next (750 point) character. Even in my 350-point start campaign, I had a range from 165 points, the base form of a Multiform with some 295-325 point forms, to a 360-point energy projector (who forfeits the first 10 XP to cover the extra points the concept needed). The big hitters cover for the weaker members just like a 350-point team covers one another's weaknesses. What irks me is, the most experienced heroes in the MU should be Ant-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk, followed by the Wasp, in order of seniority. Except for Iron Man, none of the others ever seems to "spend XP".

It's a possibility that he's better than Nighthawk at MA... but I think his Dex should be at most 27 (probably 26) and his SPD should definitely be dropped back to 6. The defenses, combat levels, and skills seem right, as do the weapons.

Re: The Greatest American Hero Hey now, I though tthis was one of those "don't ask, don't tell boards". I remember the guy's name was Ralph Hinckley, but they had to change it to Hanley right after the Reagan asassination attempt. I used to watch it as straight action-adventure when I was like four years old. Later on, when I saw it in reruns, I "got" it. Very funny show for its time. My favorite single scene was one where Ralph was attempting to use his retrocognition ability to see what had happened to a kidnapped teenage girl. In order to do this, he needed an article of her clothing. In this case, he was given a frilly nightie she had worn shortly before her abduction. Camera pans up to him, sitting on her bed, wearing the nightie over his costume, rubbing it against his cheek. Everyone else does spit take. Very funny, guess you had to be there.

I'm sorry, but you are all going to have to hear me out here: I have no strong opinions on any of this.

One of the fun things you can do with a multipower is stick slots in called Brick Tricks, or whatever is appropriately cheesy enough for you. For instance, a 50-point pool with some options: Makes up to 100 STR 0 End Makes up to 100 STR Armor Piercing Makes up to 100 STR AoE: Hex (giant swat) Makes up to 50 STR AoE: Hex and Ranged, ground targets only (-1/4) Makes up to 50 STR AoE: Any Area, Ground targets only (-1/4) This last slot is a naked advantage which roughly translates to a groundstike. I mean come on, 10 DC against every agent within 15 hexes must do it for you if you're really a brick player at heart.