Tasha

Re: Help in evaluating a character Actually the Martial Artist build is slightly more reasonable. This one would be much easier to work into a viable character. BTW I can't find in 5ER where it says that you can't have Gestures and Restrainable on the same power. There is a restriction on Restrainable with Accessable Foci. Though I would require that the player have extra time for those powers with Gestures. What it really means is that he gestures to cast the enhancement spells and that if he is ever restrained that he will lose those powers. At least till he can recast the spells. My biggest problem with both characters is how many dice they can pump out. I would actually allow the MA with some minor adjustments and then make sure that his limitations were enforced. I think that the second time that he was hit with a Net gun and had all of his powers turn off he would want to redesign it even further. I would try to warn him how combat would play out. People who take limitations have to know that they will be enforced at times and the larger the limitation the more often that they will come up. Honestly I usually run at 12-14DC (up to 75pts), Def 20-30, Dex 21-28, Speed 4-7. with 350pts and a request to have 40-50 pts in Non-combat skills. The averages being DC12, Dex 23, Def 23, Speed 5. With Bricks trading Dex and Speed for DC and MA's the opposite. I am lucky enough to play with a mature group that has had it's fill of powergaming and make reasonable characters. Tasha

Re: Champions miniatures Here's one I did for my Group. It is for a PC called Steel Guardian The Shoulders are hand made as are the Arm launchers. This started life as HeroClix IronMan. My Minis are here http://homepage.mac.com/dragond/TashaGreenbottle/PhotoAlbum14.html I really love hacking apart HeroClix. They are a great media to work with Tasha

Re: how to make this power I agree with the people that this is best done with a transformation attack. Since the ritual takes awhile I would suggest making the Transform Cumulative so you don't have to purchase so many dice of effect. for the aging (esp if the character keeps jumping from body to body) just purchase a Disadvantage for the character Physical Limitation Rapid aging, Ages 10 years per month. Tasha

Re: hit location I tend to use Hit Locations for all Killing attacks in a Non-Superheroes game. I hate the Location chart for normal attacks as you end up with half the locations being half stun Tasha

Re: Musings on Random Musings Wow, this thread has been going since Feb 2003! Hey guys long time no see Tasha

Re: Leto II and Neo My only quibbles with this writeup are: I would have given him DCV only vs Ranged for "I've never seen anyone move so fast" The "Superman thing" was just flight with lots of NCM (or Megascale). "I know KungFu" I would just have purchased the styles outright. It seemed that he remembered the Styles he was loaded with. Also there was some practice involved. Just my opinions though. Tasha

Re: Leto II and Neo Using d20 lingo. Charisma is part Presence and part Comeliness. Comeliness is passive, ex. "She is really beautiful". Presence is active. ex Steve Job's "Reality Distortion Field" or Bill Clinton's speaking style. When you meet someone, first you see how attractive they are, Then you see their personality. Hope this helps. Tasha

Re: We're Gonna Need Guns I for one would LIKE to see a fairly complete modern guns chart. The one in the original DChamps, is just a good resource. I don't really want to have to even have to spend time to make sure that a particular gun a player wants is "right". I really just want to look at the chart see the stats and then go. Also special rounds would be nice to have stats on. I second a call for Piercing points to make a re-appearance. All of the other stuff that was in the original DC books are very useful as well, esp if they are updated. We tend to use a lot of "real world" stuff in our regular champions games. Of course making sure that Hero Designer gets prefabs for all of the equipment would be nice as well. Thanks, Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons Thanks, I am still going through 1st season again. I vaguely remember that episode. Thanks for telling where it came from. Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons I would say only the first 3 points. I had to think about that one though. It is still way early for me. Oh BTW, I picked up the Living Gods Sourcebook for SG-1 yesterday. It solved a mystery for me. In the Stargate Movie, the Jaffa (Ra's warriors) had a golden crescent sidearm on their belt which they never seemed to use. I had always wondered what they did. The sourcebook covered them. They care called "Shak'nel". Now I don't know if they authors just made something up or if they found out by asking the creators of the movie. The Shak'nel is a handheld staff weapon. So it would have the following stats: Shak'nel: (Total: 57 Active Cost, 17 Real Cost) RKA 2d6, +1 Increased STUN Multiplier (+1/4), Armor Piercing (+1/2) (52 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; -3/4), Beam (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4), 10 Charges (-1/4) (Real Cost: 15) plus +1 OCV (5 Active Points); OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 2) [10 Charges] This Golden Crescent shaped device is the sidearm of choice for Ra's "Jaffa" It is actually a rarely seen weapon. Ra made sure that his primes and his court Jaffa carry this weapon. Heavy Staff Weapon: (Total: 130 Active Cost, 30 Real Cost) RKA 4d6+1, Armor Piercing (+1/2), 20 Recoverable Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances (1 Charge/10 minutes or Complicated Powercell Change); +1/2) (130 Active Points); STR Minimum (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; Staff Blast Str Min 16; -1 1/4), OAF (-1), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Beam (-1/4) (Real Cost: 30) [20 rec charges] This is something that I have a picture of. Teal'c is carrying this monstrosity on a sling and firing it from his hip. It resembles the heavy staff that the fighters mount. I imagined that it would do more damage, or else why carry the thing. Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons Actually in my writeup of the Zat, I did make it "reduced by range"(Although looking at it I forgot to do the same thing to the Body Drain). The range does seem to be pretty short. Otherwise we would see it used against more targets. Herolover's writeup just seemed too complicated. The multipower that must use slot one, followed by slot 2, followed by slot 3, just didn't feel right. Multipower is for things like Startrek phasers which have multiple settings (ie phaser Setting 1, nnd EB, Setting 2 EB, Setting 3 RKA, Setting 4 RKA explosion). It just seemed easier to allow the damage to accumulate over the 3 or so hits. When the damage was over twice the target's body then the body disintegrates. So a combo of Body drain, NND EB, and Mental paralysis for that "I can't move feeling" when you recover from a blast. Simple! Then you don't have to remember what shot you are on with a minion (esp when there are lots of minions). Just total body, much easier on our GM. BTW I understand that it is possible to gain a resistance to the Zat. Which also works for my writeup. Just buy some powerdefence and you have some resistance. Tasha PS I feel like such a Stargate/Hero Geek.

Re: Stargate weapons Thanks HyperMan (BTW I love Freakazoid!) I seem to remember that Hardened defenses defeated Piercing. You could then make your Piercing points armor piercing to defeat the first level of hardening. The P90 uses a 5.7x28mm cartridge which makes it smaller than the 9mm. I assumed that it would only do 1d6 RKA, but why quibble over 1 body. Indirect only works with force walls, physical walls and shots that have to go around corners. It doesn't work in this application. I guess I could have defined it as NND does body (Def is 8 or more rPD armor) but that still doesn't work properly. So thanks again HyperMan for correctly deducing why I made the design decisions for the P-90. I had run those same numbers in my head and had come to the conclusion that AP just wasn't right. Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons Yep, the 7 body is only to defeat the first 7pips of armor. the rest damages the target. AP just doesn't work with a weapon like this. It is known to have a high degree of armor penetration, with little stopping power. This was the only way that I could see to make a weapon that could penetrate a Kevlar vest without doing so much damage that against unarmored targets the gun doesn't make sense. It is an idea which originated in Champions III from 2nd edition Champions. You spend points to defeat a set amount of armor. Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons Thanks, I hadn't yet looked up the Combat luck and see whether or not it was hardened. You did bring up something important that I forgot on the P90 write up. The piercing points are completely negated by "hardened" defences. Thanks, Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons Here are my Golden Master Versions of the Staff Weapon, Zat Gun, and FN P-90 EQUIPMENT LIST Staff Weapon: (Total: 137 Active Cost, 35 Real Cost) RKA 3d6+1, Armor Piercing (+1/2), 20 Recoverable Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances (1 Charge/10 minutes or Complicated Powercell Change); +1/2) (100 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; Staff Blast Str Min 10; -1), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Beam (-1/4) (Real Cost: 25) HA 5d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (37 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum (Str Min 15 for Staff Strike; -1/2), Limited Power Hand to Hand Attack (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Range Based On STR (-1/4), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (Weapon Maxes out at 10d6 Damage from any additions; -1/4) (Real Cost: 10) (20 recoverable charges) Zat'nik'tel (AKA Zat Gun or Zat): (Total: 294 Active Cost, 123 Real Cost) EB 7d6, 50 Charges (+1/2), NND (ForceFields and Force Walls; +1) (87 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; Str Min 5; -3/4), Limited Power Body Recovers 1 body/1 minute (-1/2), Cannot Use Targeting (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (Not vs Goa'uld Force Screens; -1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Beam (-1/4), Reduced By Range (-1/4) (Real Cost: 17) Drain BODY 5 1/2d6, Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per 5 Minutes; +1/2), 50 Charges (+1/2) (110 Active Points); Linked (EB; -1/4) (Real Cost: 88) plus Entangle 4d6, 0 DEF, Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (+1/4), Works Against EGO, Not STR (+1/4), Takes No Damage From Attacks All Attacks (+1/2), 50 Charges (+1/2), BOECV (Standard Defenses apply; Use OCV to target; +1), Range Modifiers Apply (-1/4) (97 Active Points); No Defense (-1 1/2), OAF (-1), Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (Not vs Goa'uld Force Screens; -1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (Only after target is Knocked unconscious; -1/2), Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4), Beam (-1/4), Linked (EB; -1/4), STR Minimum (Str min 5; -1/4) (Real Cost: 18)Notes: When body x2 is exceeded and after the 3rd shot hits, the body disintegrates (50 Charges) FN-P90 submachine gun: Value: Weight: (Total: 89 Active Cost, 24 Real Cost) Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6, 50 Charges (+1/4), Autofire (5 shots; +1/2) (26 Active Points); STR Minimum (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; -1), OAF (-1), Beam (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 7) Piercing points (RKA) 2 1/2d6 (standard effect: 7 BODY, 7 STUN), 50 Charges (+1/4) (50 Active Points); STR Minimum (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; -1), OAF (-1), Linked (Killing Attack - Ranged; -1/4), Lesser Power can only be used when character uses greater Power at full value (-1/4), Beam (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (Only to reduce armor; -1/4) (Real Cost: 12) plus +2 OCV (10 Active Points); OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 4) plus +1 vs Range (3 Active Points); OAF (-1) (Real Cost: 1) (50 Charges) ---- I would like to thank Dan Simon for his wonderful program that made this anal retentive list possible. Also all of those who have expressed their opinions here. There were some good ideas which were incorporated into the design of these items. Although, I have no idea whether of not my GM will even use these. Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons It seems to me that having decent body armor has been the thing that has saved the life of most of the SG team at one time or the other (that and the Talent Combat Luck). I don't really like building it with an NND that does body. Even my Zat now does a Body Drain instead of an NND does Body EB. I also don't see the Staff weapon being Bulky. Unless you see a quarterstaff being bulky or a .50 Sniper rifle being bulky. The Jaffa use the Staff weapon as a quarterstaff and without much effort. If you see it being bulky then the best bet is making the Str min High (18 str or more). In my writeup I had the Blast as Str Min 10 (It does seem pretty easy to fire) even wimpy Daniel Jackson could fire one in the movie. Using it as a Quarterstaff has a Str Min of 15 due to it being kind of big and with 2 big weights on each end. Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons Actually you are right. I looked it up. It does make the Zat way more expensive. You would have to also purchase a stun drain as well which makes the gun hugely expensive. It does allow for the destruction of the body after it reaches double body drained. I think that I like my version though. I think I will limit the Mental paralysis to second shot on same target only. That would allow for someone to run away if the initial shot didn't knock them out. You are right about not needing "Reduced Endurance". That is what happens when you build things at work and don't pay attention to what you are doing. Also these Multipower versions of the Zat are too complicated. The funniest thing about all of this is that I am making the weapons that my character will be facing in the game. I am not GMing this one.

Re: Stargate weapons It is close to what I wrote up as well. The problem that I have with that writeup is that the gun is capable of piercing 48 layers of Kevlar. At 1D6+1 AP it still flattens most of it's rounds against a Kevlar Vest or does 1 body.(avg 5 body, 8 rPD halved is 4rPD). Which doesn't seem to model this gun very well. Again a quote The Arms Site AKA remtek.com The problem is making a version that is as effective against armored targets as the real world version seems to be. That is why I was thinking of resurrecting piercing points. Which is just an easier way to simulate a gun's built in armor piercing capability. Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons I did base the Statement about the Staff weapon's damage based on the incorrect table in Fred. I should have known better. In all editions of the rules the .50BMG shell does 3d6RKA. I thought that it was quite odd that it was changed. Thanks, Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons How about a write up on the SGC's FN P90 Submachine gun. All of the real world data that I have found about this weapon makes it seem much better than a sub 9mm SMG. "The FN Project 90 was first introduced by FN Herstal in 1988 as a weapon to arm soldiers who's job duties did not require them to carry a full size battle rifle. The gun fires a 5.7x28mm cartridge that is smaller diameter than 9mm, but can also pierce 48 layers of kevlar at approximately 150 meters." That is a typical quote for the P90 on all of the Gun fan sites. Also they talk about taking out a hostage taker who was wearing a flak jacket with it. It sounds like they were using it as a sniper weapon. So 1d6+1 AP just doesn't seem to cover this weapon's capabilities. Because against Kevlar Body Armor (8 rPD and 8rED) it would still bounce most of the time. :/ So I am working on piercing points. Basically they cost 15pts for 4 points of piercing. (1d6 RKA Standard effect vs armor only no stun or body done to target). That is the only way to make a lot of different weapons. I am beginning to see that Heroic level games shouldn't be balanced against the Superhero genre. The weapon lists seems to work well in champions, but fall flat in heroic games (The Muscle powered stuff works well enough). Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons The staff weapon was much easier to design. Staff Weapon: (Total: 138 Active Cost, 35 Real Cost) RKA 3d6 , 16 Charges (+0), +1 Increased STUN Multiplier (+1/4), Armor Piercing (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (101 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; Staff Blast Str Min 10; -1), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Beam (-1/4) (Real Cost: 25) HA 5d6 , Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (37 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum (Str Min 15 for Staff Strike; -1/2), Limited Power Hand to Hand Attack (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Range Based On STR (-1/4), Cannot Be Used With Multiple-Power Attacks (-1/4) (Real Cost: 10) The HA has to be 5d6, comparing the weapon to a quarterstaff (4d6 HA +1 ocv). It is apparent that the Staff is a heavier quarterstaff. Remember that weapons can only have their damages doubled. Also with a Str Min it means that a 20Str character will do 6d6 with the weapon and up to 10d6 with an offensive strike. I don't see the problem. Esp seeing as my character will be bringing her Barret .50 Sniper Rifle along (3d6RKA +1 Stun mult, +1 OCV, +4 RM) Also remember the Jaffa were one shotting normals with the weapon in HTH mode. Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons I thought that the drain approach didn't work properly for something that kills you. I don't have FRed infront of me, but I seem to remember that you can't kill someone with a Drain. What seemed to work for me with a Zat is the following: Zat'nik'tel (AKA Zat Gun or Zat): (Total: 265 Active Cost, 54 Real Cost) EB 10d6 , 50 Charges (+0), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), NND (ForceFields and Force Walls; +1), Does BODY (+1) (175 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum (STR Min. Cannot Add/Subtract Damage; Str Min 5; -3/4), Limited Power Body Recovers 1 body/1 minute (-1/2), Cannot Use Targeting (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (Not vs Goa'uld Force Screens; -1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Beam (-1/4), Reduced By Range (-1/4) (Real Cost: 35) plus Entangle 4d6, 0 DEF, Limited Power Power loses less than a fourth of its effectiveness (Not vs Goa'uld Force Screens; +0), 50 Charges (+0), Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (+1/4), Takes No Damage From Attacks Limited Group (+1/4), Works Against EGO, Not STR (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), BOECV (Standard Defenses apply; Use OCV to target; +1), Range Modifiers Apply (-1/4) (90 Active Points); No Defense (-1 1/2), OAF (-1), Linked (EB; -1/2), Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4), Beam (-1/4), STR Minimum (Str min 5; -1/4) (Real Cost: 19) Notes: When target is killed by the 3rd shot the body is disintegrated. Basically 10d6 NND does body linked to a 4d6, 0 Def Mental paralysis. I did it this way because it was the easiest way to accomplish what the Zat seemed to be able to do. I did the paralysis to both knock the victim down and to simulate the paralysis that occurs when you recover from one of the Zat's blasts. I am still editing the weapon in Hero Designer, so it is still somewhat rough. Tasha

Re: Stargate weapons As for the HTH attack I was basing it on the Quarterstaff which it resembles (4d6 N, +1 OCV, Str Min 10) which means that most adults will be able to use it. Also the Str Min rules are that for every 5str that you are below the Min, you take a -1 to hit and -1 DC. So the Str Min works. I would give the staff weapon a Str min of 13 it is kind of big and unwieldy.Remember the SG teams and the Jaffa are stronger than normal people. I'll bring the books tonight and we can talk about it. BTW guys, I have lots of experience in Heroic level games. Just about as much as in Champions. Looking at the D20 Version I now agree about having it being 3d6 RKA as it does 33% more damage than a .50 cal sniper rifle.

Re: Stargate weapons Actually I disagree on the Staff Weapon. SG-1's members have been hit with staff weapons more than once and have survived. So perhaps 2d6+1 RKA, +1 Stun Mult. The blast seems to knock out anyone hit by one. This should be enough to severely wound the NPCs, but not outright kill them. Add the bleeding rules to this weapon and most people will bleed to death pretty quickly. Looking at the D20 Writeup. It looks like I am right Mult Power 60pts OAF, Real Weapon, Str Min 1) u 2.5d6 RKA +1 Stun Mult; Full phase to activate, 50 charges (one charge returns per 30 seconds) 2) u 5d6 HA The Staff weapon does work like a heavy Quarterstaff, which is why I like the 5d6 HA for it's damage. Tasha I guess I will just have to pick up the d20 book tomorrow so the people in our SG-1 game can look at "official"(D20) writeups of the weapons and equipment that the SG teams use. I wouldn't be surprised if the SG teams did use light body armor. Isn't it SOP for Real world ground troops to be in body armor in combat situations? Also even the police wear Kevlar vests while going into dangerous situations. Could a staff weapon's energy attack be 2d6 RKA Armor piercing +1 Stun Mult.? I guess it depends if the SG teams wear armor. Damn it's getting late and I am rambling, Good night Tasha

Re: Why does Nighthawk always get depicted getting the crap kicked out of him? That's because Nighthawk is Seeker's Secret ID. You see Seeker was sick of getting the crap beat out of him. So, he created a new persona like that Bat guy. Tough, menacing, dark... He never noticed that Bat Guy only fought normal guys, never those super shooting rays out of their hands folks. So, he gets to have his ass handed to him in his new persona now. Poor guy, never gets a break. Perhaps he should retire, or move to Hudson city where a guy with his talents could go far. At least as long as he stays away from the Harbinger of Justice. This is my theory and I am sticking too it. Tasha