esampson

Re: HKA's and STR in Champions Complete

That's irrelevant to the issue and dodging the question. Take any 90 STR character and give him a 1d6HKA (OAF' date=' -1). Does he get to add his full STR to that?[/quote']

Yes. According to the RAW he gets to add his full strength to them, but before you get too freaked out I'll point out that according to the RAW pretty much any character would also be able to pick up the same 'dagger' and have a better than even chance of cutting a man-sized hole in the outside wall of your average home (exterior home wall is rated as 4 PD and 3 Body and I'm assuming most character can probably bring at least 3 extra DC to bear for a 2d6 HKA).

 

In short, a weapon that only has the OAF limitation on it is not a normal weapon. It's an adamantium knife or one forged from a super-sekrit high tech alloy or made by the dark elves of Anaheim or something equivalent.

 

If a knife is suppose to be a regular knife and not be able to cut man-sized holes in walls or be wielded by people like Grond then you give it the additional -1/4 limitation for 'real weapon'.

Re: HKA's and STR in Champions Complete

Only if they are super-special daggers. As Lord Liaden stated a regular dagger with the 'real weapon' limitation is limited to twice the base damage (or at GMs option it can do more than that but then takes full damage itself and probably breaks).

This is why the Hulk actually used weapons on and off during the Planet Hulk story arc but there's no point in him using mundane Earth weapons.

Re: Australian Supervillains

Angeroo, Mr. Furious' Australian cousin.

Re: VPP Active Points

I can certainly see limiting AP of the VPP/MP user to lower than single power users' max AP, assuming you are using AP as your yardstick. I can also see a similar approach to DC or other limits. This allows greater flexibility at the cost of reduced raw power.

 

But I'm a Zen Balancer - I try to look at the overall character, not hard limits on specific items like AP, DC, etc.

Well, really that's a whole other issue and one of the big reasons I'm not in favor of an AP hard cap.

As an example, two characters with exactly the same levels, OCV, and DCV I would let the guy with lower defenses probably throw a few more dice of damage. If he's willing to make his character a little weaker in one area I have no problem with him being a little stronger in another.

Re: How do you feel about House Rules?

Nope. If your stun Total is 0 or below you are Knocked Out. There are Levels of being Knocked out ie Every Phase (inc Post Seg 12), Only Post Seg 12, Once a Minute, and GM's Option. These of course refer to when the KOed Character can get a Recovery. (ref 6e2 pg 107, and similar pages of every hero rules book since Champions 1st Edition).

 

You are only Stunned if your Con was exceeded by the attack.

 

If you are consistant with the way you use the terminology and make sure that everyone in your group understands the differences and why using the Terminology correctly is important. Then you have no confusion.

Yes, I know you are Knocked Out when you are at negative stun, even when your stun total is greater than or equal to -10. However there's the condition of being 'barely knocked out' or 'deeply stunned' mentioned in 6E2, pg. 106. Yes, you are still Knocked Out when you are in that state, I'm not arguing that. I'm simply suggesting that the term 'Con Stunned' may have been created by some people who wanted to avoid confusion between Stunned and Knocked Out (but not really knocked out).

I never really use the term 'Con Stunned' myself unless I'm dealing with a group where that really is the standard. Then I'll adopt the term simply to avoid confusion of me using a (to them) non-standard term (odds are pretty good that the group is using 'Con Stunned' because they are using 'Stunned' to mean something else, like the aforementioned Knocked Out (but not really knocked out), though there's plenty of times when that's not true).

Re: First time Champions GM - advice needed

. . .Also' date=' is there a pre calculated dcv vs ocv chart out there or should I produce my own to cut down on maths time during combat. . .[/quote']

My advice on DCV vs OCV is to change the formula. Rather than the complex formula that is in the book just compare the DCV and OCV before you even roll. If the DCV is higher than the OCV then the roll needed is 11 - the difference. If the DCV is lower than the OCV then the roll needed is 11 + the difference.

 

My personal experience is that people can really quickly compare the two stats and tell the difference and also very quickly learn that if the DCV is 2 points higher you need a 9- and if the OCV 3 points higher you need a 14- (learn as in they aren't even doing the math in their head. They just know that 3 points more OCV is 14-).

 

This is mathematically exactly the same as the formula written in the book, so I'm not really proposing you change the rule so much as the way of looking at things.

Re: How do you feel about House Rules?

Just as an aside' date=' HERO doesn't refer to anything as "CON Stunned," and it never has, in any edition of the rules. I've known countless people who use this term, but have always been a bit puzzled at how it got so widespread, considering that it doesn't appear anywhere in the rules... Anyone know? [/quote']

It may also exist to help separate characters who were stunned because their constitution was exceeded from those who were "deeply stunned" because they are at negative stun that is -10 or greater.

Re: VPP Active Points

So lets say you have a 50 active point limit in your game and Joe needs to buy a VPP for his character, you play RAW and Joe designs for his character a Reality Alteration VPP with +1 No skill roll and +1 0-phase change. Is he allowed to have a 50 point pool for 125 total cost or a 20 point pool for a 50 point total cost?

 

I have always assumed it was the latter, however based on conversations on the board it sounds like most people understand it to be the former.

Version of the rules the question is for might be good.

As I think about it though, RAW he can probably have whatever he pleases. Typically an active point limit applies to a power or characteristic. A VPP is a framework. Now none of the effects of his VPP can exceed 50AP (which means there's no point in him buying base control cost higher than 25 points) but he could have a 275 point VPP that lets him run 4 powers at 50 AP all at the same time.

Of course that's RAW. The real answer is that the GM needs to make a call about what he's going to allow.

Re: Australian Supervillains

I'm thinking that the problem with a name like 'Kangaroo Man' is that it just doesn't have enough 'zip' to it. You need a name that embodies that icon of Australia while having more of an 'edge'. Something that says that this is no mere man with the powers of a kangaroo. This is a man who is tenacious and skilled. A man who will never back down. A leader among men who all people can look up to and admire.

I'm thinking 'Captain Kangaroo'. How's that sound?

Re: Recommendations and Reviews of Superhero products both old and new

I think one of my all time favorites was Organization Book 3: The Blood and Doctor McQuark. I didn't always like the way a lot of the character's powers were defined but there was just something interesting about the idea of this loosely knit extended family of super-people with common yet distinctively different abilities with their highly in-depth history. (I have long suspected they were inspired but Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber but Bradley did a great job of capturing that feel without making it feel ripped off and updating it to the superhero genre).

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

Diamonds need great pressure as well as heat to form. Heating a diamond in oxygen would probably just make it burn (they are just crystalized carbon).

You have to heat a diamond quite a lot to get it to burn. If his melting ability is 'heatless' then its possible he could melt the diamonds together (although it is also possible he would reduce the diamonds to lower energy alleotropes like graphene). However, even excluding diamonds there are other gemstones like sapphires that could be joined together.

Of course this assumes that whatever he's touching re-solidifies after he's done touching it. If that isn't the case he could quite possibly find a career producing unique materials such as lead which is liquid at room temperature and which might have some interesting uses.

Re: Future Guns: Projectile Obsolete?

Speed of sound in the earth atmosphere.

The speed of sound varries greatly on the medium. It is 4 times faster in the water, for example.

 

I clearly stated "speed of sound in the propelling explosion".

Ah. I misunderstood.

Re: Future Guns: Projectile Obsolete?

Right now the limiting factor of Slug-throwers is the propellant. A bullet can't go faster than the speed of sound in the propelling explosion.

Railguns do not have this limit. They however might hit a different one: recoil. . .

Most rifle bullets travel faster than the speed of sound. The M40A1 for instance has a muzzle velocity of about 1750 mile per hour or 2.4x the speed of sound. Railguns do, however, seem to offer higher speeds.

In the case of your average man-portable weapon though I'm not that sure its that big a deal. Yes, ultimately it is more desirable to have the higher muzzle velocity but the final effect winds up being only a marginal improvement. If a conventional firearm has a 90% chance of rendering an opponent incapable of continuing combat (which I admit is just a number I'm pulling out of the air) then even under the best case scenario a railgun would only offer a little over 10% advantage for incapacitating an opponent.

The other advantages of a higher speed are probably only marginal in general combat conditions. While the railgun might have a better range in a general firefight the weak point would be the ability of the soldier to aim effectively. Of course there are going to be edge cases such as snipers where that better range might make a real difference but edge cases aren't what will generally propel development.

Re: Are starship deckplans with a 1 inch grid usable?

rough conversion= 2 Hero Hexes equal 1 Traveller Square

Maybe it's changed because it's been so long since I've looked at Traveller but I thought that the scale for Traveller deck plans were two squares of floor space to a ton of liquid helium displacement. Since each floor square was assumed to be 2 meters high that meant that each square was 1.5 meters on a side. (The actual math would be 1.4m on a side but it was moved up to 1.5 for convenience)

Re: Future Guns: Projectile Obsolete?

So here's the basic situation; for a new weapon to replace an old weapon it has to offer an advantage over the old weapon.

Now this is a little tricky because a lot of times the new weapon when it first evolves may be overall inferior. Crossbows were in many ways inferior to longbows, cannons were in many ways inferior to trebuchets. However in each case the new weapon had some kind of advantage that was significant enough that they were worth the drawbacks they came with. In the case of the crossbow it was vastly easier to learn to use. In the case of the cannon it had massive psychological impact.

If a new weapon doesn't offer some kind of advantage over, or is at least equal to, its predecessor there's no reason for people to switch over to it. You'll always have edge cases, of course, where people are using something because of personal interest but real implementation won't exist.

To put it in other terms which weapon would your character arm themselves with, a 2d6+1 assault rifle or a 2d6 laser rifle with otherwise identical characteristics?

Now here's the thing, chemically propelled firearms are relatively easy to use, fairly inexpensive, generally reliable, and are rather good at making people dead.

Expense is largely a result of manufacturing processes. Until your production of future weapons (lasers, railguns, caseless ammo, etc.) is roughly on par with your production of common chemically propelled firearms it isn't likely that the costs will become equivalent. That means that at the beginning they are going to cost more than conventional firearms, probably by a good margin.

So if the cost is initially higher then the weapon would need to be superior in one of the other categories just to get to the point where you start getting enough adoption for manufacturing to ramp up and drive the price down. That means it's going to have to be either easier to use, more reliable, or better at making people dead, and not by just a little bit but by a good margin because its got the cost hanging over it as a negative.

However, currently guns are pretty good at all those categories, so its going to be unlikely that a new weapon will be developed that has a clear advantage in any of those categories anytime soon. You might see some special cases such as sniping weapons since a laser weapon has some clear advantages over a projectile weapon at extreme ranges (which falls under the 'easier to use' category to my thinking) but for the down and dirty fighting that most guns are meant for you're going to be hard pressed to demonstrate a clear advantage in any area.

Re: Herocentral

We should try playing here?

Just checking [PER, 11-]

What about trying Roll20? (http://roll20.net/)

It's free, supports hex maps (as well as maps without a grid), doesn't require anything to be installed, and has the Looking For Group feature to help people find campaigns.

Re: Champions Complete

Champions Complete basically is 6th edition champions with some very minor changes (advantages, limitations, and adders were all moved to one section, the absolute effect 'rule' seems to be gone, there's only 1 type of mind now, Naked Advantages were renamed to something else, etc.). The majority of the changes are organizational, which is how they fit all the rules into 240 pages. Details for powers are a lot shorter and things like that. The majority of remaining changes are either cosmetic (e.g. renaming Naked Advantage) or affected rules that were largely ignored (e.g. multiple types of minds for mental powers, Absolute Effect).

Re: Generic Super Agent Template

. . .

16 COM 16

. . .

The Evil Overlords have a strict 'no uglies' rule on hiring?

Re: "Can normally reach" Limitation

The difference between 'must pass through intervening space' and 'must be able to reach' is this:

Character A is on the rooftop of a high building. He wants to go to the rooftop of another high building across the street. With 'must pass through intervening space' there can be no barrier between the two buildings. This is useful for things like a character who can briefly turn into light or a lightning bolt or something else where they can instantly go from A to B. With 'must be able to reach' he's going to have to either have a jump large enough to clear the street or flight or enough movement to run down to the first floor, run across the street, and run up to the roof of the other building (assuming there's no locked doors in the way). This is useful for representing superfast forms of movement the character already has.

Re: Cool characters from goofy concepts

Dazzler came out first by probably about a year. In theory they both came out in 1980 but since Dazzler was in the February 1980 issue of X-Men that was probably released a few months earlier than February. Xanadu was released in November of 1980.

The story behind the creation of Dazzler is actually sort of interesting. It was originally suppose to be a cross-media product between Marvel and Casablanca Records with Marvel providing the comic books and Casablanca Records producing an 'Alison Blaire' who would perform in concert. Casablanca backed out at the last minute, however, leaving Marvel with the character.

(edit: Log-Man beat me to it, and with the correct release date for Xanadu.)

Re: [New Product] Champions Complete

HAP are part of 6e.

Re: [New Product] Champions Complete

Eh? Brick and mortar is dodgy? What the hey? . . .

I think what he means is that life is pretty tough for a lot of brick and mortar game stores.

Pre-ordered my hard copy and free PDF last night. I've got to say I am really happy with the PDF being included for free. When I'm gaming I prefer hard copy since it just seems easier to flip around and find pages but I really like having PDFs on my Nook so if I suddenly want to look something up in a given rules system I don't have to be lugging around 100 lbs of books.

I'm also really happy that new players can see an easy path to getting into Champions that is only $40 and 240 pages. I've been worried that 6e has presented something of an obstacle for new players in terms of both the monetary cost and the sheer mass of the books.

Re: [New Product] Champions Complete

. . .From what I read in the first 10 pages of this chat' date=' it says 4 books (one of which I have found out is 400 odd pages) down into 240. How did it fit that much in there? Is it in really tiny font? Did it completely skip the description of powers from Volume 1?. . .[/quote']

When originally written Champions was less than 100 pages in length. Now obviously there have been additional powers, skills, and combat maneuvers added since then but not 900+ pages worth.

 

That isn't to imply that 6e is bloated. It is simply that within those 4 volumes there's a lot more depth than is absolutely required for learning the game (expanded descriptions of powers, explanation of edge cases, campaign suggestions for non-Champions campaigns, detailed suggestions for Champions campaigns, detailed world information for the Champion's universe, etc.).

 

To put it in terms of D&D, since nearly everyone is familiar with it, those four books represent your Player's Handbook, Player's Handbook II, DM's Guide, DM's Guide II, Monster Manual, Monster Manual II and Forgotten Realms. That's really much more than what you need to get into the game. CC is more like a concise version of the Player's Handbook and DM's Guide, as I understand it.

 

(N.B.: This is far from a perfect analogy. D&D's rigid structure means that without the PHB II you won't have all of the character classes and races to choose from which does not occur in the case of going from 6e to CC. The four books also don't really include a 'Monster Manual' among them, but while that's viewed as an essential part of a D&D game it is really an optional part that isn't that hard to do without).

 

I've actually thought for a while that a reworking of the books into something more concise was a good idea, not because the current rules are bloated but simply because they provided more data than was necessary and all that extra data, while useful, presented both a monetary barrier (buying all 4 books was very expensive) and a psychological barrier (wow, that's a lot of pages) to someone trying to enter the game.

Re: Australian Supervillains

A boomerang is also sometimes knows as a 'kiley' or 'kylie'.

King Kiley?

Re: Australian Supervillains

Megalania - A large scaled villain with a venomous bite.

Uluru - Growth powers and a rocky hide

Echidna - A female geneticist who has transformed herself into a monstrous half-woman/half-snake. Has lots of genetically created monsters which she uses as shock troops.

Thylacine - Heightened strength and speed. Animal-like senses. Claws and fangs.

Drop Bear - High levels of climbing and stealth. Drops on characters from above for a move-through attack, then uses martial arts grappling maneuvers.