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Tom Cowan

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Posts posted by Tom Cowan

  7. Armor Piercing vs Penetrating

    in Champions

    Posted

    31 minutes ago, Grailknight said:

     

    What DC levels and velocities are we talking about in these cases? I can see the how it could happen in the first case but the second baffles me. Your defenses last until the end of the segment when stunned so the crash shouldn't be fatal unless you are moving at NCM speeds (which I wouldn't allow or attempt in a forest) and didn't strike something until the next segment. In scenario 3, you're again moving at NCM speeds and hitting each other is ... challenging. Also, unless you were descending at speed, it takes 45 seconds to fall 10 km. You'd have to have been knocked out to -21 or more to not get a recovery. I'm not saying these things are impossible because I know the game is played and not scripted but I don't think that AP was the direct cause of the deaths in the second and third cases.

    yeah, it was the more STUN damage then then you would like lot of 6s and a bit of STUN lotto.

    who puts a 103 year old normal in new power armor? 

    note the 2nd player had a TK MP with the shield Costs Endurance (-1/2), Instant (-1/2) :( and Flight 30-40m?, No Turn Mode (+1/4), Combat Acceleration/Deceleration (+1/4) no Noncombat movement (-1/4)

    3rd one the player was burning stun to push his move so low on stun and was hit by the grav tank's cannon (the 6 of us had stopped the bad guy's plan, trashed his war bots and the bad guy was booking it even if my PC was down and the brick was 1-2 hit from a KO to, so our only fast flyer/blaster chased... all the rest of us had a WTF are you thinking. RIP the Grand Sky Knight)

  8. Armor Piercing vs Penetrating

    in Champions

    Posted · Edited by Tom Cowan

    21 hours ago, Grailknight said:

     

    Well, that's 37 DC if Penetrating is a +1/4 advantage and 45 DC if it is +1/2. The only genre I've seen that I might place at that level is anime akin to DBZ.

     

    And yes, you want Penetrating to be a +1/2 advantage on killing damage at the low end of the power scale. Entangles give you some DEF against AP attacks but they are transparent to Penetrating. Barriers generally fall faster also. Since AP is only 1/2 the cost on Penetrating, Hardened is slightly more than twice as common as Impenetrable. I like the balance but YMMV.

     

    And there our experiences differ. I've seen STUN from AP and rarely BODY. Penetrating KA's have been the cause of far more BODY damage over that same span.

    It is the one shot 'oh cr@p, that was a good roll' with AP attacks that I have seen kill (one a low body power armor guy, two flyers (one got stunned flying fast in a forest with TK shield that dropped when STUNNED the other got knocked out at over the speed of sound and 10 km up chasing a running bad guy) maybe it is the flying? move through earth is painful) but people see the 'death by Penetrating' well before it will kill (2 last hit, 2 this hit, 2 next hit, I can take 6 more hits, new plan, drop the Tim). 

    Not sure why Entangle would not stop a Penetrating attack, the base 1 PD/1 ED Entangle gets 1d6 body that you have to get through,

  9. Armor Piercing vs Penetrating

    in Champions

    Posted · Edited by Tom Cowan

    32 minutes ago, Grailknight said:

     

    Possibly true balance wise but remember this game is played, not scripted. There can be sessions with incredibly skewed die rolls and an unintentional character death could result. Remember, Penetrating does 1 BODY per die on average. Lowering the price ups the number of dice rolled, making it more deadly, and that is usually undesirable in Supers.

    Well, even a 10d Penetrating killing attack's max Penetrating BODY is 20.  At that point the max 60 BODY of the killing attack would likely be deadly too. (Got 40r def to lower the body to 20?)

    Penetrating attacks are normally for low and slow, not one and done. 

  15. Who is the MOST Annoying Villain you have Encountered?

    in Champions

    Posted · Edited by Tom Cowan

    1 hour ago, Hugh Neilson said:

    Maybe I'll cross-post him here.  No one will ever let him into a game, though, and he's unpublished. But in the honour of the late Jimmy Buffet, I re-present:

     

     

    I'm sure he could win "most annoying" if he could be bothered to put some effort into it.

    Yes, he would make a most annoying villain.  hmm, low on salt and cash... the bounty on Seeker would fix that...  I think he is going to call out Firewing

  16. Armor Piercing vs Penetrating

    in Champions

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, Gauntlet said:

     

    You do realize that would take 10 phases to be able to affect a normal person with the most basic of effects (base EGO). Unless you are a speedster mentalist it will take you about two turns to have an effect. And they will know you are attacking them so they can nail you for an entire turn before you have any effect. And if they manager to get you to stop your attack for even one phase, perhaps by stunning you or forcing you to take a defensive action, you have to start all over.

     

    So, while it might look good on paper, for reality, it is pretty useless.

    hmm, that is way you have the IPE - inobvious to target

  17. Who is the MOST Annoying Villain you have Encountered?

    in Champions

    Posted · Edited by Tom Cowan

    It was a un-named villain in one game that was the most ANNOYING for me. 

    the villain had something like

    Mental Illusions 1d6, Invisible Power Effects (Invisible to Mental Group; +1/4), Penetrating (+1/2), Constant (+1/2), Cumulative (384 points; +2) (21 Active Points) (GM said he used 25 points for the Mental Illusions power...better Invisible Power Effect 0-END or more Cumulative?)

    and Mind Scan or maybe a good view of somewhere the heroes would be.

  18. Armor Piercing vs Penetrating

    in Champions

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Gauntlet said:

     

    Plus, Penetrating, and even Armor Piercing, is almost useless on a mental attack. You are much better off just having the extra dice.

    it is the Penetrating (+1/2), Constant (+1/2), Cumulative (384 points; +2) that make it good.  Hit once out of combat, pay the END for each action for 192 rounds (speed 2 not in combat type speed) or less then 40 mins then let the madness start (well, after a few days with no sleep).  Mental Defense is normally zero or good and Penetrating slips 1 point through even if the hero has 25 MD

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