Rebar

You read/typed that wrong. ?

I considered this +1/4 addy on Focus. It makes no sense to me as an addy (since it limits), so I abandoned it. Instead, I bought the grenades with 'range based on STR', OIF. Then I bought grenade launcher: OAF; naked advantage: range (but only at +1/4, to cancel out the based-on-STR limit) along with a few OCV levels. So, he needs the grenades and the launcher to use the grenades to full effect.

But I cannot find this +1/4 addy in the rules anywhere. OK, I'll grant maybe I am using the Hero Designer subforum wrong. I thought that it would be a place where I could go to ask any questions about the software. I may have been presumptuous that I could ask 'Why am I not getting the results I expect', but it's possible that it's meant to be more of a support type forum, to-wit: 'why can I not load/save, etc.' Can you enlighten me as to how to properly use the HD forum? Then this won't keep happening.

Read my post: "I've looked in both FRed (5th Revised Edition) and the HD5 docs, to no avail." There is no mention of this in either the rules or the software docs, that I have been able to find. You could help by directing me to the appropriate section.

HGv5. If I were to build a Gadget Pool, only Grenades, how can I simulate the fact that he can only carry a maximum number of grenades at a time, but gets to choose the array? If I put charges on the VPP, do all the slots automatically get 0End? If I put charges on each slot, then I can't really pick and choose the number of charges each time he goes back to base - at least, not without rewriting the powers every time. Yesterday: 8D6 Explosion, 6 charges + 6D6 Area Effect, 6 charges Today: 8D6 Explosion, 2 charges + 6D6 Area Effect, 10 charges Tomorrow: 8D6 Explosion, 12 charges I'd have an infinite list! I considered an End Reserve, but that doesn't really solve the problem.

HDv5 has the following +1/4 reducer on Focus: "Requires Multiple Foci or functions at reduced effectiveness" i.e. If one were to buy OAF with this reducing adder, it would be only +3/4 instead of +1. I've looked in both FRed (5th Revised Edition) and the HD5 docs, to no avail. I would have thought that this would be a greater limitation, not a lesser one. I'm imagining someone needing to use, say, a staff and a potion. Or, say, a bunch of grenades with a grenade launching gun. If the gun were to be taken away, they could still be thrown, with, say, reduced range/OCV. How is "Requires Multiple Foci or functions at reduced effectiveness" less of a hindrance than the focus alone?

The running gag doesn't have to stop there. Some 2-bit flunky comes along with his 15STR and a 2D6 billy club - does 10 body, smashing the glass in one blow. It shows up on the news and suddenly, the two 60AP superheroes look like pikers with nerf guns. They become the laughing stock, and have to prove their mettle.

That die was loaded. The chances of not rolling a 6 in 100 rolls - with a fair die - are 5/6 ^ 100, which is about 1 in 83 million. While it is quite possible that this just happened to be the time your friend "won a lottery", it is well known that dice are not accurate (someone did a study, with several dozen dice, each rolled thousands of times). That is - by many orders of magnitude - the most likely explanation.* And a cautionary tale: Choose your dice wisely. They are not fair by default. *not that you were suggesting otherwise. Your point stands: dice are not random.

Shoot. I always forget to mention 5thEd.

OK, so for an elephant form, he buys skills, powers and disads to simulate growth. The reason I wasn't sure is because it says, in more than one place, if the character can simply change into another form to escape the consequences (of say, weighing 10 tons), then the GM might rule it to be less of a disad.

I'm not sure what you're asking. His primary form is human, but he can turn into a bird, cat or elephant, etc.

I'm reading through both Growth and Multiform, but find no explicit mention of the other re: how to buy Growth in a MF. I have a Multiforming character where only one or two of several forms have growth (and one or two might have shrinking). Is a Multiform form considered to have Inherent size? i.e. Do I buy it as a bunch of power and characteristics, and a disad for the size? Or do I buy Growth for the forms? Probably going to have 'change forms as a zero phase action', and 'reverts when stunned', if that makes any diff. I'm gonna place a bet on it being Inherent - as in: I buy powers and disads to simulate inherent size.

Oh. That's the first time I've heard a reason to upgrade to 6th.

Double knockback is a +3/4 adv. 1 1/2x knockback is a +1/2. Since he's running, there's no reason to limit it to a straight line. I bought it as 'any area'. Still, your construct is encountering the same problem as mine. For all the extra knockback you get, the points you spend on it might as well just go straight into STR.

Tried that. One of the nice things about the DS is that it more closely simulates what I'm looking for. This is one of those powers that - due to its SFX should have multiple simultaneous effects happening. See, can also use it as a force-field. but it's not like he is switching between different techniques - when he's whirling, all whirling effects should happen simultaneously. If a brick tried to step in and punch him while he was whirling along, the brick would logically take damage too. Unfortunately, DS, like the others, is prohibitively expensive for this campaign.

Heh. I suppose that's one way to do it.

I will. But after batting the idea around for a while, I'm come to realize why it is hard to do. It's actually pretty powerful. Imagine how my GM will feel if, in one phase, I've managed to send 3 or 4 of his agents - even spaced strategically apart - all flying several inches backwards, landing on their butts - weapons akimbo. That could be a pretty powerful game-changer in a combat. I think that's why there's no such thing as a Multiple Move Through, and why Multiple Move By does so much less damage. This may well be the very kind of mega-attack he's trying to discourage. But I'll take it up with him.

Well, he doesn't create a tornado - he is a whirling tornado - of fists. I'm imagining getting hit by a dozen small punches in a second would accelerate you to flying, without actually doing a vast amount of damage. But your construct should still work.

It's confusing. At least the way Hero Designer has it. 'always occurs whenever power is used' is a 2x factor. So the -1/4 would become a -1/2. but 'does predefined damage' is a +1/4 - and is applied first. So the -1/4 becomes 0. Which, x2, is still zero.

I was thinking of saddling my Growth character with Side Effects. He's got 6 levels of Growth w/ 1/2 End (40AP), and his other powers (armour, running, CON, etc) are proportional to the number of levels he uses. I bought this as a -1/4 limitation. I thought I'd apply an Int Drain. So, at full growth (actually, with any growth, since it has a minimum effect), he'll be hit with the minimum 15 points of effect, which would be 1 1/2D6 Drain . Minor SE is only a -1/4 limitation. So I take the 'always occurs whenever power is used' which will make it a -1/2. But then I take the 'predefined damage' (+1/4) and it's back to zero (because 2x0 is zero) So I'm going to have to go with a Major SE. I'll have it affect INT and DEX. (This kinda sucks, really. 1] I'm buying a side effect that applies to his entire power set. He doesn't have the option to avoid it except by not using any of his powers. 2] It kicks in at full effect, even if he only uses one level of growth.) Anyway, I could not find any mention of what happens to figured characteristics when a primary characteristic is drained. I'm sure it's mentioned, I just don't know where. Does his SPD drop? In the past, I've bought DEX without the figured characteristics, which I put at a -1/2 lim. So would it be kosher to buy Drain DEX as if it were 2CP per point of DEX instead of 3? Bah. Maybe I should make it simple and just buy it as a disad: loses 1 pt of INT/DEX per level of growth.

But double knockback plus AF on STR turns it into a 110AP power.

Oooh! I didn't see what you were trying to do before. Yeah! That's cool.

Yeah, but that'll only apply to one hit. If I wanted to do only one hit, I'd just build it around a Move Through.

..oh... :tries to crawl into woodwork:

You know what the irony here is? One of the things that attracted me to this was how simple the character concept is. He has one trick. He runs and he knocks agents down like bowling pins. That's it. I am a menace at making fabulously complex characters, both conceptually and mechanically. I find SFX that are so flexible, I end up just buying a giant VPP, and then writing up a separate sheet of 2 dozen pre-made powers I can use. A real headache for a GM, and a bit of a teasing target from my teammates. But this new GM for this new campaign has been making noises about dramatically simplifying the rules to make game play go faster. So I thought I'd make a character that's really simple in execution. A simple brick with one move. A refreshing change from my usual. Who'd'a thunk that simple execution would require so much complexity to design?