Sean

Re: My Faithful Steed Well, flip it around. Keep the horse in a pocket dimension with a nice little stream and lots of grass and sunshine, have a psychic bond mind link (which spans to that dimension) and buy EDM for the horse. or does the horse have a secret ID it's maintaining when it's not busy helping out?

Re: Character Background Help If a child was born to Mr. & Mrs. Foolery and a) they had not changed their last name prior to his birth and actually named their child Tom, Thomas, etc. Then that's pretty much license to put on a clown costume and go nuts right there. He can team up with his childhood sweetheart, Anita Bath.

Re: Special effect or something else? Power Question. I believe that as a persistant power, Armor starts off as being intrinsically invisible. I've seen a bunch of uses of the Visibility (-1/4) disadvantage on it at any rate. [Just checked and yes, Armor is listed under the Visibility disadv. on pg. 202 of FREd.] In FREd on P169 under the description of Invisible Power Effects, it talks about "While the source and the special effects of a Power may not be visible, its effects on a target will be. ... At the GM's discretion, the effects (as well as the source and special effects) of a power can be made Invisible if the value of the advantage is doubled. The victim still feels the effects of the Power, but other characters will not perceive them." So, given that it doesn't strike me as a hugely unbalancing application, if I were your GM I'd simply charge you the base cost of IPE (without the 2x thing since the power starts off with invisible source and special effects).

Re: Hero Character Portfolio -- What Do *You* Want To See? I'm with the other HD folks -- having got used to HD I can't see myself going back to paper forms. It's just too convenient. On the other hand, the people who hang out here are not a representative sample of the player base when it comes to this issue. We're all using computers after all and that'd be a pretty significant factor when it comes to who would or would not buy this. I'd also note that unless this is a dirt cheap item, it'll likely be used as a master for photocopying. I don't know if I could bring myself to use pen on a $5 (and that's Canadian money) item for a single character.

Re: Looking for ideas for my campaign (Danger: Long) It's been a long time since I've collected comics, but one FF adventure sticks in my mind (might've only been 1 or 2 of 'em in this scenario -- heck might've just been the Thing /shrug). They come across a town where the people are acting mighty strange. They seem to have this odd fixation about milk. Push comes to shove and I think it ends up that the town is working on taking over the rest of the country with their contaiminated milk that seems to have this odd mind controlling effect. In the end they discover that skrulls had crashed to earth and somehow assumed the form of the milk cows. That or I had a really bizarre dream one night. Anyway, do something like that if you like the "Invasion of the Body Snatcher" scenario. The Inhumans were pretty cool too. A misguided Inhuman like Medusa coming to the outside world is another plot hook. Just read through the Champions book a lil while ago and noticed the powers in the sidebar.

Re: Lumberjane - Critique this Character Chain saws use gas so you could consider an end reserve if you wanted to be super authentic. They also can be a bit tempermental to start (though I'm sure when the person's an expert much less so) so there's a possible activation roll if you want to go that route. I don't really get exactly what you've got in mind with this power either: Tree Sense: Retrocognitive Clairsentience (Sight, Hearing And Smell/Taste Groups And Danger Sense), Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees) (70 Active Points); Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (0 DCV; -1), Precognition/Retrocognition Only (-1), Blackout (-1/2), No Range (-1/2), OIF (Tree of Opportunity; -1/2)* Is it to predict tree felling activities and uncover what happened when she comes across a clear cut area of forest? Also what is the OIF? Any tree? Cool concept overall. I'll feel paranoid the next time I walk into the forest...

Re: Detect Emotions This seems fine to me per my understanding of how detect works. It's subject to GM interpretation at any rate so milage varies depending on who that is. The way detect works with adders like discriminatory and analyze is pretty amazingly flexible. Mental darkness/flash/invis would knock this ability out. You can always buy it with some limitation to mental defense if you wanted to. Another comment is that I'd say the detect you defined would have some rudimentary ability to discern the general location/source of the emotions as source of sounds and odors are discernable. You can always choose to limit it if you don't want that ability.

Re: M&M: this is a Nightmare? FREd is rather intimidating to first timers. I'd say check out the new Sidekick expansion if you have a few dollars (euros?) to spend. It reminded me hugely of the very first edition of Champions but with the consistancy of 5th ed. rules (i.e. a complete enough system to play.) I think it'd make a great starting place for any group new to the system and still provide them with lots of flexibility in how they designed characters.

Re: Is It Worth The Points? I generally end up with a few things that are effectively wasted points but they advance the character concept and make me happy. Knowledge skills and languages come to mind as good examples. Various skills and perqs are also possibilities. I'd imagine that skills would likely be the biggest rub when it comes to this problem. Powers are pretty well defined by in game consequences. Skills often to relate to areas that the GM might not have even considered when developing a scenario -- i.e. After a bank robbery, Player tries to use bureaucratics to find out more info from head office to help solve the crime. Some GMs would roll with this, others would simply disallow it. Seems to me the fairest thing would be for a GM to give a player the heads up that certain skills (or other places points spent) will not be useful and let them reallocate 'em. Preferably at startup but if not that then later in the game. Upside with Hero's rules is that it's easy enough to allow this. As far as GM's obligation to build scenarios to showcase odd and quirky abilities, I think that's an admirable goal for a GM, but it doesn't seem fair to me to expect such treatment. Especially if a lot of advance work went into preparing an adventure before the GM knew about the character.

Re: Sneak vs Mental Awareness? I'd agree with your interpretation. As far as exceptions go ... here's some possibilities if you really want to push it: - Crowded room - lots of other minds around. Especially if her sense does not include discriminatory - Ninja is aware of her ability and has aquired some tool to help with his. I.e. finding some way to flood her view with other minds -- group of people, or creatures that register as minds - flock of birds, pack of superintelligent monkeys? - Perhaps sneak might work if the Ninja somehow was aware of what she was sensing himself - requiring that ninja to have a similar sense of their own (i.e. hard to figure out where shadows are if you're blind) and some source of mental shadow - either a group or an extremely powerful mind that radiates mental energy? Otherwise it seems that trying to use stealth on a mentally "sighted" person still puts one in the position of trying to hide when blind or sneak quietly if completely deaf. Even worse since it's a sense that doesn't even exist for mundane humans. Edit typo

Re: Limitation punishment Keep in mind the authors of comic books don't base their decisions upon Hero rules. The context of a point based RPG is different than creative decisions made by writers. Though should a GM and players agree they're free to do so. With due respect, this strikes me as a disingeniuous opinion. This is an RPG not a physics lab. There's no natural law in operation that causes a limitation to manifest itself. Either a GM enacts a situation where it becomes so, or in rarer circumstance a player voluntarily takes a penalty to remain true to character concept. This is even moreso the case when by Hero rules special effects are clearly open to individual interpretation, i.e. you are free in this game to buy a 1d6 HKA without limitations and define it as an ancestral sword, yadda yadda and you can talk as much about details as you care to do so. Buying limitations means that you're accepting some IN GAME limit on how useful that ability will be and get handed back a chunk of points to spend elsewhere. How a GM handles these matters is their own choice. But a GM that never enforces limitations is going to end up with a lot of focus using, limitation ridden heroes in the long run. That or if only some of the players do this then in essence he's handed those individuals a bonus set of points. If you would be comfortable playing a game where people generated characters with different start up points: 1 person with a 300+150 char, 1 with 200+150, 1 with 100+150, etc. then that's fine. However if that would be upsetting to you then consider the implications of limitations without real IN GAME consequence.

Re: Help me build a power I'd point out that if your concept is a speedster character then when you find the item you are at the least within sight of it, if not in the object's immediate vicinity. Seems to me that a linkage between the sense and the teleport that puts you in sight of it makes sense. You should then be able to port back next phase to where you started. On a different matter: Some thoughts on how rapid your sense should be for the power. Start off by considering the situation where you were simply running a straight line (i.e. one side of the square area you were searching). Assign a multiplier to performing that task, 10x rapid for instance. This now represents in effect the length of one side of the search area. From that, you can then assume if you want to search the flat square area that at a minimum that would require (10x) x (10x) = 100x which would cover the surface. Now, if you forsee using this in buildings where there's now another dimension (up and down), it should be (10x) x (10x) x (10x) = 1000x which should minimally cover a once over of the volume of the cubic area you search. There's one justification for how to figure out the proper amount of rapid modifier to buy. I'm sure there's others. Here's an alternate point of view depending on what you think are the details of this power. As a speedster you aren't necessarily memorizing everything you see. If you are just running around at top speed, keeping the image of the item at the front of your mind, ignoring any other detail than running your search pattern, then a simple 10x or no rapid modifier might be justifiable. It would seem to me that if you take the 1000x modifier it would stand to reason you should have access to 1000x the normal sensory information, i.e. a picture of everyone and every item you see while you buzz around searching. If that's the case go with the first concept of 1000x. If you fail to notice all that stuff (say, not noticing a bank holdup or a wanted supervillian sitting at a desk in a building while you search for a time bomb) in your mad rush to find the item, then I'd say you should be able to skip taking the rapid adder.

Re: Is your voice a "sense"? And if the person struck is in a suit of powered armor? or any of a multitude of other logical exceptions? I'd say it largely depends on the campaign. If Incantations is a common limitation then that kind of special effect is very powerful if used to incapacitate spellcasters. I'd say it depends on the campaign context.

Re: a VPP for bricks. Multipower is much less of a headache than VPP in my opinion. Plus, really, is there an infinite variety of strength tricks that you know, or is it more logical that you have a fixed repertoire of moves? You can always buy new moves later with experience. The variable advantage on STR idea is also very clever. I just hate VPPs unless circumstances really call for one.

Re: Can you suggest some powers for these images? Stripperella just found her backup team. The Jugstice League of America. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Re: Please help with this character Personally I think you're getting too complex for your character concept. I know that I felt a headache coming on trying to puzzle out your power section. This is what I'd tell you if I was GM for your campaign. My summary: Luck based & spiritually based power. Highly trained soldier with some nice pieces of equipment. Problems I see: 1. EC with Skill levels and Find Weakness. Seems pretty iffy to me. I'm pretty picky on any modifiers to skills. I'd disallow it without a better tie in to character concept. And seeing 6 levels of combat skill like that raises the first red flag for me. There's also the side effect that isn't really documented out with concrete examples. Plus there seems to be some overlap in side effect with the 2nd VPP (Point 3 below) 2. VPP with soldier equipment - that seems ok to me. 3. 47 VPP “Spiritual Assistance II†- This is what keeps giving me that headachy feeling. First off - try doing it with a multipower. I'm assuming the abilities listed below it are example powers for the VPP. - Side Effects Major Always (variable Mental or Social Disad)(-1) -- After putting it in a multipower, I'd want to know exactly what side effect you envisoned for each slot. And just how much of a disadvantage it would really be. - Only Powers that Mimic Trained Abilities and Powers that Mimic Martial Arts Maneuvers (-3/4) -- I'm not really seeing how a soldier type needs to rely on spirit guides for basic martial arts moves and exactly what skills a spiritual avatar would be able to help you out with. Hence the request for a multipower that states things explicitly. If those 4 "Spirit of" powers shown below the VPP are example powers, then 3/4 don't seem to fit anyway: Life Support, Presence and Invis. And for Skills I want to see a *really* good reason for trying to buy down their cost in any way. 4. The end reserve - it's not clear what this applies to - I'm assuming the two previous Spiritual Assistance (EC then VPP) items. It should be mentioned explicitly. 5. For a lucky character it seems a bit odd he doesn't have any luck at all - though that's your choice. 6. For a soldier it's odd that he has no innate skill with martial arts whatsoever. Conclusion I agree with you that it's an interesting character concept. I really don't agree with some of your choices for power frameworks and when you were putting skills in there. The side effect limitation as well needs more documentation regarding what limitation relates to what set of abilities. I'd recommend drawing up a multipower and see what comes of that. What you can do with skills really depends on your GM. I'd want to see a very very very clear reason why a particular spirit would give you any skill abilities. An example would be "Spirit of the Prey" - Concealment +. I'd still rather see invisibility used for that though. Skills really don't belong in power structures to my mind without some superb rationale.

Re: Speed Typing If you're talking about insanely fast Flash/Superman speed stuff Change Environment with (+1 Permanent Duration) has been used for buying the speedster effect of accomplishing a number of routine tasks in a blink of an eye. So if you want to type out a book report in a second flat this is an option. That or get your housecleaning done.

Re: Speedster Concept and Creation Question It's been mentioned before, but it'd probably help to talk more with the player to flesh out what the concrete limitations are going to be for this concept. I like the graduated idea mentioned above - base power level is safe, then next 10 pts has a minor side effect, next 10 major and last 10 extreme side effect or something similar. I'd skip using aid and just buy the extra points as the power. There's lots of permutations you could experiement with. The disadvantage Dependence would also be a good thing to check out. That's actually a pretty neat character conception. Imagine what a bummer it'd be to lose your intergalactic drug pusher. That or have someone steal your stash.

Re: Help: Sniper Syndrome Along the lines of being alone and vulnerable, if he has any hunted disadvantages he's leaving himself a bit exposed. If he has any DNPC disadvantages he's also a long way off from being able to help them out when they stumble into the field of battle. Unless the team is in radio contact with each other, mind linked etc. then he's also out of range of hearing what's being talked about (unless parabolic hearing) and even then unable to provide any input. If that's the case it'd be interesting to set things up so he sees some approaching menace but is hard pressed (or unable) to arrive in time to give warning to the group. Hmm, another idea is that if this guy never shows his face in a fight, a copy cat villian could really wreck his rep very easily. Just give the villian the same gun and start him off terrorizing people off to one side of where your hero is set up. Your loner will be suspect #1 without an alibi.

Re: LOS Bouncing Clairsentience Line of Sight seems mostly an issue for mental powers. I'm assuming the designers wanted Mind Scan to be used to get a lock on targets for mental attacks rather than allow a back door for Clairsentience to get such a LOS lock. If your character isn't using mental powers LOS shouldn't be an issue. Hero Designer gives Clairsentience an option for Mobile Perception Point. Extra points seem to add to the speed you can move around with your "Clairsentience eye". There's also the Targeting Sense Modifier you can add into Clairsentience. I'm not sure if that's absolutely necessary, but it makes sense to me that if you had that you should be able to target another spot ahead to look at with another use of Clairsentience (assuming that your range permits.) I'm also a bit confused by the sensory power stuff. I assume some of the Sense Modifiers showing for Clairsentience in Hero Designer are documented in one of the expansions... the Mentalist one perhaps? This may be of interest to you -- it's a half done character I've been fiddling with on hero designer (assuming I can get this file to attach ). The concept is a man bonded to a mirror in the magical equivalent of The Fly, Codename: Flex. Some of the wackier power ideas I tried to implement were: Awareness of Mirrors - Idea here is that Flex is mystically aware of the various mirrors/reflective surfaces all around him. A form of sympathetic magic to his own condition. Hence the 360 deg modifier and the rapid mod. This power ties in for some other abilities. Commune with Reflections - Tied into the previous power, here I wanted to give Flex the ability to scan through lots of different reflective surfaces and see what was reflected in them. A woman's face in a compact's mirror, Driver in car mirror, Pedestrians reflected in dark glass on side of building, etc. The multiple perception points and rapid were meant to give this ability some zip in scanning through all these images quickly. Mirror Refuge - This power was meant to model Flex being able to hide out within a mirrored surface -- become a reflection himself in a discorporated state. Someone who realizes this can punch the mirror and hit Flex. Awareness of Mirrors helps Flex to spot such a hiding spot. The teleport ability also needs a mirrored surface around for the destination. Several of the powers have the Requires Light to Use disadvantage. The concept behind that is Flex can create tiny mirrorred flecks or bits to manipulate existing light, but cannot create light to fuel those effects. Any comments on implementing these concepts more accurately'd be appreciated.

Re: "Mobility" as an Adder Giving it some thought, I'll agree that either option is pretty much equivalent. 4d6 Body, 4 DEF Entangle, Personal Immunity (+1/4) (50 Active Points), Self Only (-1/2) Total cost: 33 points 8 PD/ED Force Wall, Costs End only to Activate (+1/4) (50 Active Points), Self Only (-1/2) Total cost: 33 points The force wall shatters if breached, while the Entangle could be chipped away at. On average 4 DEF, 4 Body = 8 rPD/rED. You could get lucky or unlucky with the entangle's body. I'm assuming you're blocking Stun damage from passing through while the entangle exists? If not then the entangle is a lot weaker than the force wall option. Another differerence is that the entangle has a built in persistant effect missing from the force wall. I can see where it would fit in better with certain character conceptions. I'm actually rather impressed how nicely all this dovetails. Score one for the design of this game.

Re: Multipower and Experience

Re: Critique power please This should still leave your opponent around, now facing off versus a duplicate that matches his/her powers up to the points available to that duplicate. I think that the EDM should be triggered to return the character back to his/her home dimension if the Mind Control breaks or s/he is rendered unconscious. Bottom line for this power is a certain amount of flexibility from the GM. Personally I think I'd likely require such a power to be built with the character being knocked out if their host body was. That and considering carefully how they could be targetted for attack by other characters while possessing another's body--affects desolid, ego based attacks etc? I'd restate the 2nd half of that. I think it's more accurate to say that the character stays in the field of battle but is immune to most attacks and cannot be perceived by most senses. Using Extra Dimensional Movement is a good idea -- but there's a lot of benefit for the relatively low cost. I think I'm more inclined to say that Desolid + Mind Control with the Affects Physical World (+2) advantage + Invisibility might be a more fair implementation--though a heck of a lot more expensive. This power though is hugely effective though unless someone has an appropriate countermeasure, and eliminates a lot of the risk mentallists have of getting beaten up in a fight. In my opinion it should be very expensive.

Re: "Mobility" as an Adder Nice to see a fellow Edmontonian on the boards. (Figured I should put that first before objecting to a point. It seemed less sincere when placed at the end of this post. ) Hmm. I'm a bit skeptical when it comes to that one. I'd read those modifers resulting in an entangle that's only usable on yourself that won't work--my read on Personal Immunity. The previous discussions above don't apply either -- a "disadvantage" allowing movement wouldn't be a actual in-game disadvantage with the self-only and thus wouldn't pass muster. Entangle with No range, Only to form barriers to make a hill to hide behind makes sense to me though. The defensive shield idea seems better modelled through a self-only force wall. Goes to show that there's always a different opinion.

Re: Wall running I think it's a mostly a matter of considering how the effect is described for a character. The first thing that pops into my mind when seeing Is that the character is a super speedster type character a la Flash. In that case I'd waive the turn limits but also disallow any picnics on the sides of buildings. On the other hand if the hero bent gravity to walk on the side of buildings standing around would make sense. There's a No Turn Mode (+1/4) Advantage given for flight in Hero Designer v2.2. I suppose that could be required by the stricter GM regarding the 90 degree turn to head up a building.