ghost-angel

Re: Cyberpunk Jedi Build I'm trying to wrap my head around the concept ... and all I can come up with is that AT&T owns the rights to the Dark Side of the Force. And will charge you 6-cents a phase for their use, which is a very reasonable rate.

Re: Dealing with Invisible Heroes I went over a lot of my notes from the campaign (with intent to post onto the web eventually.... after edited for spelling) and looked for some of the problems that were caused by my characters invisibility.. One, things are interested in the character, very big powerful things like this trick and want to know how it works. Chthulhu thinks it would make a great party-gag at the next Great Old Ones Convention...... Two, teammate can't used area of effect tactics in combat if I engage in melee or come in close from range for fear of hitting the character. She has no defenses beyond being "The non target", a hit really hurts. The concept behind my idea was "If they don't know to shoot at me, how can they hit me?" .. works mostly. The first few combats were fun: GM: they attack you. Me: No they don't. I'm invisible. GM: I hate you. that happened several times... Communication ..the character can go scouting ahead and follow people... but can't communicate back any information. Unless he uses a radio - but then the radio isn't invisible is it? At least, not if the teammates want to hear the message. This is true for most any other form of communication. IPE ... gets expensive quick when bought on all the other powers, he will be less effective because of it sometimes. IPE to everything doubles the cost of any power. What if it's Persistent and you do manage to knock him out? or worse yet if he takes enough body so he's in danger of bleeding to death? If he's invisible to it all his teamates can't find him either. Bad times ahead. Your team will start to dislike you if the enemy always brings along grenades, RPGs, shells and bombs to get Mr Invis. - especially if they're worried about collateral damage and/or innocent bystanders.

Re: Immortality Shrike's build is pretty clean, though my GM limits us to max 3 Regen normally... that part is easy to shift up or down depending on the campaign anyway. And most of the time Ressurection and Heal Limbs is flavor power. I occasionally add it for the cool factor as we also do not use hit locations unless the shot it called and characters rarely die or lose limbs. The only thing I would do is vary his stats a little .. all up at 20 is cool and all, but not to my taste.

Re: Question on flight and telekinesis Or.. if you can pick the object up with your TK and are carrying it with TK, as long as you can carry the object in question with your TK STR, then it stays with you. TK works a lot like STR Usable At Range .. which is really what it's supposed to be simulating. If you're using Encumbrance rules for normal STR I'd use them for instances where TK is being used to carry an object as well.

Re: Dealing with Invisible Heroes Invisibility: Hearing Grp, Sight Grp, Radio Grp, Mental Grp, Detects, Danger Sense, Combat Sense, Smell/Taste Grp, Spatial Awareness (not Touch based SA), No Frindge: 64pts With: 0 END = 96pts With: 0 END/Persistant: 128pts If you have an Active Point cap in the game there is a chance one or more of those constructs will exceed it. Don't let them under any circumstances. Everything but touch related sense will affect them .. Spatial Awareness defined as "sonar" requires hearing normally and will fail, Spatial Awareness defined as a form of TK will work as they "feel" the character. They will leave footprints, activate weight sensors, get smacked by AoE attacks and effects. This is powerful, but it can be fun in handled properly. The player should resist the urge to go with massive defenses. I think it works in the game I'm in because almost every paranormal is a "one trick pony" kind of character - they have one power that they do really well, mine is essentially to become a Ghost. They shouldn't even be allowed to purchase Inisibility to Touch, that's what Desol is for and they shouldn't be allowed to have Desol if they are invisible to this level. The downside to this kind of Inivis is interaction .. they can't interact with the world unless they stop to write notes a lot (make the player do this!). No talking, nothing .. imagine trying to order lunch in this state. Make it clear that it's a bad idea to have this on all the time... really clear.

Re: Immortality Another thing beyond Overall SLs are Skill Enhancers. These allow for a discount of a large number of particular skills - Knowledge Skills, Languages, Area Knowledges, Science Skills and Proffesions. If he's buying more than three in any one of those categories he will start to get point savings which allow him to buy more skills! Another Immortal Construct I use is: Life Support: Immortal, Immunity: All Diseases and All Poisons: 25pts this explains how he might have avoided plagues and other epidemics as well as lived to be 300 or more years old.

Re: Dealing with Invisible Heroes Well, I'm speaking from experience here .. one of my characters is Invisible to it all. Everything. Makes for fun combat as a sniper. Except touch. I left that out because it'd be no fun. Here's some of the things my GM has used against me: Explosive Paint Rounds. Nothing like an area of effect gob of safety orange covering the battlefield. Grenades and other explosives. These proved to be incredibly useful against my character. for non combat effects.. Pressue Plates work wonders, so does soft ground. Also, unless he has a Naked IPE Advantage or all his attacks are IPE, his weapons are still visible, use is against him. One scene had my character using an IR Scope at night on a target .. well, the targets buddies were picking up the scopes signatures on their sensors, I remember investing a bit of time in learning to shoot in the dark by iron sights alone. The character is now a dead-ringer of a shot as they actually have an aversion to most technology (flash suppressors and silencers are my friend otoh). On the other hand, he spent quite a few points to become that level of a non-target... he should get away with some things with some regularity.

Re: New Limitation: Does not Stack. Gm's please look that's my point .... the game is about Genre Simulation .. not Real Life Simulation. I've yet to see proof that within the construct of the game 10DEF provides 16x the protection of 2DEF. [an Abrams MBT is listed as DEF 20 Hardened btw not 10 in FREd.] A game can ramp things up .. if the "doesn't stack" rule works for you and your group - cool, go with it. It is a Kludge at best. If your players feel they need a 10+ DEF in a Heroic Fantasy game, I personally believe something went wrong somewhere. I ended up in a Cyberpunk Game where damages started scaling up towards 9D6 Killing .. wasn't happy about that as we had taken a wrong turn somewhere. The system is designed to simulate MANY genres, a 10DEF may be high for Heroic, gut could be pitifully low in a Super game. "The System" is not your issue.

Re: New Limitation: Does not Stack. Gm's please look Even if HERO is logarithmic it still doesn't state why I can't put on a breast plate and put up a force field. Now .. it would be logical that I can't put on two breast plates, the idea of one large enough to fit over another should make the enemy laugh at me and then I fall over because I'm wearing half a ton of steel. I would also concede that two magical force fields don't stack on the same character because the magic spells don't work well together. And I don't agree that DEF is completely logarithmic, it's definately not exactly linear either. even at 10 DEF a 2D6 KA can get through which is only +3 DCs, or 6 DCs total.. saying it's 16x times higher would imply that it requires an attack 16x higher to penetrate than an attack needed to hit a 2DEF character... assuming KAs a single KA = 3 DCs .. 16x3 = 54 DCs ... which would squish the 10 DEF guy, the 20 DEF guy the 30 DEF guy and put a hurting to the 40 DEF guy and the 50 DEF guy ... using standard effect only... forget a good high roll. And with a normal attack on an average of 1 Body per DC 1 DEF blocks 1 DC, 2 DEF blocks 2 DC ... with your scale a 10 DEF would block a 32DC attack? no. not really. and if you don't like the way Armor Weight is presented CHANGE IT. Really, in your world heavy plate could weight 2 pounds if you wanted. "Based on weight" does not make a system logarithmic or linear .. it assigns a weight value based on a number we call Resistant Defenses in game terms. Weight may be logarithmic, defenses are not. (yes, STR is not linear, that is very true. but still means squat in this discussion.)

Re: Cyberpunk Champions two products for cyberpunk ideas, both from R Talsorian: Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. Hardwired. I prefer the way hacking is done in Hardwired as it gives more a grit feel to it. Hardwired has more of the post-apocalypse feel to it, CP2020 simply has a good CP feel to it overall. And if all your looking for is plot seeds and ideas log onto usenet somehow and lurk in alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo which is an amateur CP literary newsgroup (people write and post stories). If you want to really get into the genre hop into alt.cyberpunk and check the FAQ which has a large list of CP style books with which to feed your imagination. [for those who want to know what the "chatsubo" is for/from, it's the name of the bar at the begining of William Gibson's 'Neuromancer' novel where US ex-patriot's all hang out and translates as "Tea Bowl" from Japanese.]

Re: Invisible to Infrared only

Re: I need a library Well ... here's what I've got so far, only have to pass it to my GM to see what he thinks. The library is essentially a base that is one giant Lab. (the power is being bought as a base.) KS: Everything 29-; 2-24 hour research time, unless character possess Tome of Knowledge then 1-6 hours research time (-0). [note: Everything means EVERYTHING, it just might take time to get to the details of a subject.] coupled with the characters own: 8pt VPP: KS/SS only (-1), IIF (Tome of Knowledge) (-1/4), requires 1-6 Hours research time + KS/SS "stuck" until character purchases with EXP (-0), Variable RSR (INT outside Library, Library KS if otherwise) (-0). Total Cost = 10 pts (8 Pool + 2 Control). that whole bit above will accomplish, I think, what I'm aiming for. The "Tome of Knowledge" is like a condensed version of the library (it's a big magical book..) that acts mostly like a Mega-Index when inside the library. The book itself provides a VPP that will allow the character to have 3-4 'slots' open to learn new KS/SS that might be needed, but to avoid abuse the skill learned stays in the VPP until real EXP are spent on it by the character (ie, the pages with the information retain that info until the character 'memorizes' it by spending exp, then the pages will go blank until new information is needed). The series of -0 Limitations are there because 1) I hope to make it rare that the Tome will be missing, but still have concequences if it is and 2) the Tome isn't required to use the library, it just helps a lot. On the Tome the -0 Lim's are there because I've already passed it by the GM and that's what he wanted to see. The character in question is a bibliopolist (dealer in rare and/or secondhand books.) and a proffesional Research Librarian (Bibliothec).

Re: I need a library The character itself actually does have a VPP for KS only .. but it doesn't answer everything, requires access to a knowledge resrource base (internet for cross reference, library, book collection, etc..). The Library itself can answer Everything, given enough time and research. I was going to go with another VPP, but it seemed redundant and kind of clunky for this option since theoretically it knows it all at once... don't want to worry about active points in a VPP kind of thing, the characters limited Knowledge VPP has limitations of how much can be known and requires the character buy out a KS from the VPP before it can be "replaced" with another knowledge. As for the KS: Everything ... that should mean Everything from broad to detailed. It encompasses so much that it actually comes back around the curve and includes the details as well. I just need a way of showing that it takes time to sort through the information and get the relevant details needed. Either just mechanics (that's how I'm leaning) or a limitation.

Re: Ripping Telephone Poles From The Ground depends entirely on the lines .. higher power ones might even go up to 240? not sure, enver dealt with them. As for the casual STR .. assuming it requires 30 STR to lift one out, a 60 STR character might be able to do it, maybe as a 1/2 phase... if for some reason you have an 80 STR character however, that's another 16x stronger than the 60 STR guy and can lift 1000x the 30 STR needed to remove the pole ... that'd be a zero-phase action.

Re: Block Confusion I'm pretty sure it's you get +2OCV to attempt the block, if you fail you gain +2DCV vs the incoming attack, and mostly likely any other hand-to-hand attacks coming your way untill your next phase.

Re: Invisible to Infrared only I'm assuming you want Invisibilty: Sight Group, IR Only. I'd put that at -1 1/2 to -2 depending on how often IR will be used to track the character(s).

Re: Ripping Telephone Poles From The Ground That's completely in GM land ... based on telephone poles in the campaign, Cinematics, Drama, Coolness Factor etc.. A good guide is to decide how much STR is actually needed to rip a telephone pole out of the ground (which is mostly arbitrary and campaign based). After that if the Casual STR of the character ripping out the pole is equal to the STR required allow it for a 0-phase action. If it's less then either a 1/2 phase or if it's a lot less a full phase action. That's a suggestion at least.

Re: I need a library I'll run both past the GM.. The only thing about Extra Time on a skill roll is they are already "built in" to them, you can take extra time on many rolls to remove or decrease modifiers or add bonuses if no negatives exist. But, it does make sense that the Extra Time is actually required in this case to sort through the shelves and cross references etc... good idea. I was going with however much the Everything roll was made by is how much information is found and how specific, effects wise the character will then need to spend more time sorting through the information for relative parts. As for the immobility part - it's built into a Base, which already assumes you need to be there to use the skills.

Re: I need a library ok..... that works. when in doubt go for the blindingly obvious, if only I'd thought of that first. thank you.

How would one build a library? Basically I need a base that is nothing but a massive library of books, rare tomes, ancient scrolls .. that kind of thing. The thing I'm stuck on is how to properly simulate that the library does indeed have, if one spends enough time looking, a copy (or original) of nearly every book written, or at the least a selection of books on any given topic you can think of. I considering keeping it as a special effect, but that leaves to much room for the GM to just deny the character knowledge - and that's their mina power, knowing stuff and finding stuff. I also don't want to go the "buying massive numbers of KS" route because inevitably I will forget something.

Re: Other Battlemech Equipment Looks good, unforetunately I forget what half that crap actually does ... heh. I can figure most of it out from the name though. I noticed these are Prefab's that can be used to contrsuct Mechs and Vehicles, if I get time this week I'll convert what you've done so far into a Battle Tech Prefab file for HD. Your files have given me an excellent base to work from to create a homebrew B-tech campaign.. if I ever get the time to sit down and work it all out to my tastes I'll post results.

Re: Player-Built Characters... Well, the current GM I run with has only one problem: there is a possibility than anything can and will exist somewhere in creation/the-multiverse/reality. Since the GM has no limit on concept that leaves mechanics. His usual rule is 60 Active Points maximum on creation, running to about 75 or so after experience, topping out at 90ish at the absolute highest after much play and scrutiny. He also requests that 1/4-1/3 of the character involve non-combat related points (skills, perks, talents and even some powers). Some players get regularly smacked down because they simply want stuff to make them invulnerable. Some players get a lot of rope to go do things because he a) trusts them trusts them and c) believes they are almost genetically incapable of power-gaming/min-maxing (that would be me.) With the exception of one campaign where all the rules have been blown out of the water and we're going full tilt on everything, powers regularly top out around 100+ active points. But that is with a very small group of people, and the game is story driven to the point of several sessions going without dice being used. Creation works like this: Player thinks of concept. GM either builds character for the inexperienced player with input from them or Experienced Player builds character then hands to GM for approval. In some cases the GM goes "remove this, lower that." and it is done. (In my case the GM goes "why didn't you put all this in an EC? of course it makes sense." And then I come back with more background skills and an EC.) It's not a side-by-side thing, but there is input on both sides and rarely, if ever, is a concept or idea completely shot down.

Re: The great armour race... One thing a GM did in his FH campaign I ran in was disallowing Hardened for armor ... technology just didn't allow for it. But it did allow for the pentrating (or armor piercing) arrow. He didn't hit us with these very often, but just enough to remind the guy in Plate that there was indeed something out there that could hurt him. You never knew which sneak had one of them new fangled arrows that could punch through plate mail..... and magic of course, some magic just isn't very nice, metal armor was particularly ineffective against lightning attacks from mages.

Re: Balancing Attacks and Defences Power Levels While I'm at it... 1DC Normal Attack = 1D6, can do up to 6 points of damage = 5pts Completely Defend Against 1DC Normal Attack = 6 pts Defense = 6pts Defend Against Average Roll from 1DC Normal Attack = 3 Def = 3pts Looks like to completely defend against an attack you're spending more points and to defend against an average roll it's 1pt Def :: 1.5pg Att at a 1:1.5 you're spending point to block about half of an attacks possible maximum output. I'd call those ratios acceptable. the defender is paying to defend against most attacks, the attacker is paying for the chance that the defender didnt buy enough. Now Killing Attacks: 1D6 KA = 3 DC = 15pts To defend Completely Agsinst 3DC killing = 6 rDef = (by def power) -Dam Resistance: 6 Def + 3 Damage Resistance to Def = 9pts -Armor: 6 Def = 9 pts -Force Field: 6 Def = 6pts + 1 END/phase to maintain -Force Wall: 6 Def = 15pts + 1 END/phase to maintain Ratios: Damage Resistance: 1 to 1.6.. Armor: 1 to 1.6.. FF: 1 to 2.5 FW: 1 to 1 seems like Force Field is the cheaper option, if you've got the END to maintain it then go that route... other defense options are at a good ratio, but not to bad. Of course you also have to keep in mind that a defender is paying to defend against One type of attack in the above scenario, assuming you could face different kinds of attacks you usually want to buy PD, ED maybe Power Def and Mental Def, Flash Defense ... from a single character point of view to be ready for any kind of opponent even at cheap defense costs they're putting a lot of points into Defenses.

Re: Balancing Attacks and Defences Power Levels I'm not sure I see the problem... look at the attacks and defenses again: Force Fields: -Normal Attack 12D6 = 36 points of damage on average, 12 Body (but normally you don't expect to do Body w. an EB). vs 30 Defense means that on average you'll get 6 points through. A bad roll and nothing happens, a good roll and you do some good damage. -Killing attack 4D6 = 12 Body on average, but the Stun Lotto could potentially knock them into oblivion on one good hit. vs 30 rDef You aren't do Body with this attack, but you may knock them unconcious in one good hit, if the Stun Multiple is a 5 with an average roll you're doing 60 STUN to them. Also, the Force Field costs END to maintain - which means to block those attacks you're spending END every phase on top of any other actions you're taking - chances are you tire out first maintain those Def. Force Wall: -Normal Attack 12D6 = 36 Tun, 12 Body on average vs 12rPD nothing gets through on that at all, but a slightly higher roll on the Body and you do some damage. -Killing Attack 4D6 = 12 Body + Stun Lottery vs 12rPD again, nothing gets through but one above average roll and a good Stun Multiplier and you could send the defender into oblivion in one shot. Counter points on the Force Wall, it also requires END to maintain so like the FF chances are the Def will run out of energy first giving the attacker an open shot. An extra downside is that normally when a FW is pentrated it drops and you have to activate it again next available phase AND you can't attack through it since it blocks the defenders attacks as well. Now, let's look at the idea of them in a Multipower .. I noticed all those are Ultra Slots, and even if they weren't, you can't use more than one of them at a time, can't use any other power at a time either. The holder of that Multipower is "stuck" defending until he drops his defenses to attack, leaving him wide open for an opposing attack at that point in time. All in all defenses are cheaper point for point but mostly pros and cons even out in the end. And I don't know what "Defensive Power Adjustment" is, assuming it's something out of FH? I don't own that genre book yet.