Crimson Arrow

Re: Yet Another "Name This Character" thread. Xolotl was the Aztec god of lightning and was apparently viewed as the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl. He was also the lord of the evening star and pushed the Sun at sunset towards the ocean and guarded it during the night, when it passed through the Underworld. He also guides the dead there. So, as your character has an interest in the culture, how about calling himself Xolotl, or even Dr. Xolotl. He would inevitably be nicknamed 'Dr. X', of course! The Aztecs also had a god called Chac, but while he was lord of lightning, his primary speheres of influence seem to have been rain and vegetation.

Re: Girl Fight: The Talent Scout I note it's a special arena. Special in what way? The environment will greatly help certain characters. If it's like a jungle gym, then an acrobat might have an advantage over a brick (all other things being equal). Also, are characters from Digital Hero allowed? I suspect not, because you've referred to supplements. Off the top of my head, I can't recall too many 350 point female characters in the books.

Re: Effective Concepts Your GM WON'T Allow. I hope he's got Personal Immunity (or No Sense Of Smell). What, no Eggman? Did they get by with a little help from their friends? Sounds like a fun group, a little reminiscent of the Crazy Gang from Excalibur.

Re: Effective Concepts Your GM WON'T Allow. Yes, quite so. My character was a little different, in intention (people would be subconsciously reluctant to hit her), but your way is good. Bet her teammates try to keep their distance, though (unless they are robots, aliens, etc). I agree. She could be good in a 'Mystery Men' campaign, for example.

Re: Need help with modern pirate concept It's Dirty Infighting you want surely? Buy some moves for that and for Fencing. Allow him to use Clubs as well as Blades and you've got a great basis. I'm not too good with vehicles, but really you should be able to build something perfectly serviceable using the 5th Ed rules. As to Skills or skill-like Powers, consider Environmental Movement: On The Water, possibly even In The Water, some extra Swimming, TF with types of water craft, PS: Sailor, KS: Sailing, possibly Oratory (he's the cap'n), maybe some underlings (no matter how good he is, he'll need some back-up), Acrobatics, Climbing, possibly Systems Operation, WF with a variety of weapons, including ship-mounted ones, possibly Seduction, maybe Gambling (card games and/or dice). That's kind of a mish-mash of old-fashioned and modern day superhero pirates, though. There are lots of pirates still. They are indeed a bunch of very nasty people and a distant relative of mine was involved in advising on ways to tackle the problem. Because he only ever attacks other pirates, or, as was suggested above, because he's sponsored by a local government.

Re: Effective Concepts Your GM WON'T Allow. I have a similar construct in mind for a character, except it's built as DCV levels. For 10 Active Points, you get the +2 DCV (functionally the same as applying -2 OCV to everyone). It applies to people outside the area, doesn't cost any END and you can still apply the Limitation to it that it only affects people who'd care to drop the Real Cost to 5 points. Your one would work even if the person were unconscious, I suppose, but then how tough is it to hit someone who's out cold, even with a -2 OCV? Another advantage is that it wouldn't strictly count towards the maximum DCV in the campaign, but that would be a bit of a munchkin point. I don't think The Voice is such a terrible character, because people would start using automata, or take him out up front, before he makes his PRE PRE Attack. I wouldn't allow him because he's a one-trick pony and not in an interesting way. He'd make an interesting villain, perhaps. There was, of course, a villain called just this in the 60s, except his was more Mind Control than a PRE Attack.

Re: The Ultimate Mystic:A Subjective Review I sympathise more with this, but then there is 'The Bestiary' and magical characters in other products (in different genres). I think having a scattering of samples would have been nice. I never got 'The Ultimate Super-Mage' because it wasn't available in hard copy in my game store, so I'm pleased to be able to get something similar, at long last.

Re: X-men on 350 You can free up some points by making use of the Everyman Skills. I'm inclined to agree that he can't have two lots of DF, at least not on this basis. What you are effectively saying is that because he feels different as well as looks different, he can have two lots of DF for effectively the same, but I can't say that I agree. The accent seems wrong as a DF to me too, but it would depend on the campaign. I'd drop the rapier and give Kurt some other form of Martial Arts, reflecting his X-Man training. Nightcrawler didn't carry round a sword as a matter of course in this period, that I can recall (but I didn't read many comics then). If you like, allow him to keep the ability to fence, but incorporate that into his unarmed MA (for example, the Block Maneuver could be used armed or unarmed), as can the Dodge. I wouldn't bother with Takeaway at this stage of his career. I'd say Disarm was more the sort of thing Kurt did, but that's just quibbling on my part. I can't remember a lot about the Image Inducer, but is it really a form of Shape Shift? I suppose it works quite well, though. It's a good write-up.

Re: Computer Programming Maybe I'm being stupid, but why can't there be a PS: Technical Support, which covers all the day-to-day aspects of doing the job? You can even have KS: Computers and Operating Systems (or something along those lines), if you want to get more specific. Anyone whose job (such as a lawyer, or architect) would normally have a familiarity with the basics of relevant packages, such as word processing, CAD, sending e-mails, that sort of thing. A secretary would know more about WP, than the lawyer (probably), but still knows much less than the people in the IT department. I can't see much justification for a brand new Skill. I really don't know that much about the field, but is there really anything which couldn't be handled by a PS?

Re: Blake's 7 Avon wasn't killed in the firefight and it's possible no one was. I seem to recall there was a radio series later where Avon and Villa got up to some scheme or other. However, there had already been some major cast changes throughout the series, for one reason or another. Roj Blake himself left the group after two series (or was it three?). It would be a great campaign setting for just the reaons you specified. However, the players might find it a little frustrating not being able to make much of a difference. The best things were Avon, a spectacularly louche mathematics expert and the person who effectively took over as leader after Blake left and Orac, a super computer (actually more of an artificial intelligence) who was extremely clever and knew it. Orac was originally portrayed with stochastic capabilities and able to predict the future, but this seemed to get dropped, presumably for the same reason precognition causes problems in games; it doesn't half make it difficult to have surprises.

Re: Ultimate Thief/Scout Actually, I forgot to mention Power alternatives to the skills in the fifth part of my earlier post. Shapeshifting is the obvious Power to allow for a super disguise (it could even be built as a Super Disguise skill, as per 'Mission: Impossible' or 'Darkman'). For PRE-based Skills, Mind Control could work well, as has since been mentioned. One of the nice things about HERO is that there are some powers which can create a similar effect, but all slightly different. For example, a stealthy character could have Stealth, Invisiblity, Images, Mental Illusions, Change Environment or Darkness as ways to avoid (or reduce the chances of) being seen.

Re: Need help with a "Forge" power set Actually, that's a great point. I'm not sure it's necessarily a Psych Lim; it could be that he simply doesn't have the Sciences at very high levels (or maybe at all), but has Inventor bought up.

Re: Early "What do you want to see?" for Teen Champions

Re: Name Help: Teen Legacy Hero How about Sprawl (like an urban sprawl)? In the UK, if people add a bit onto their houses, it's called an extension. That ties in with buildings and stretching, but I don't know if it's a term used in the USA.

Re: Need help with a "Forge" power set If he’s an intuitive gadgeteer, try for a Power Pool without the restriction that changes can only be made in a laboratory, just as Metaphysician suggested. I suspect that was what you had in mind anyway. I’d also consider giving him Overall Skill Levels. There’s no reason why his DEX should be amazing, but I bet he is a crack shot with guns he’s created, plus the Levels will help him with his other Skills. I like some of the other ideas people have posted, especially being able to upgrade other devices and talking to machines, as Lightray said. Don't forget to give him Weaponsmith and maybe the 'Super Sciences' detailed in Champions (unless he's never going to build things like size changing rays, or you think that's too much for a guy with essentially no training).