psyber624

Re: organizations Well, The ones I know about: DEMON: Pseudo-Satanic cult (actually much worse), has its own book. VIPER: High Tech Badguy Organization, has its own book ARGENT: Underworld Arms Dealers, doesn't have its own book and not sure where to get specific info on it, it is frequently mentioned in other products PSI: Evil Mentalists organization (might be more of a team, kinda blurs the line between team and organization), Found in CKC IHA: Anti-Super Activists. General information given in the Champions/CU generic books but I don't know if there is anything more specific on them. Of course on the good guy side you have PRIMUS: the USA's team of Supercops. There is an "official" book about them that wasn't written by the DOJ UNTIL: The UN's Supercops, they do have their own book. I know I am forgetting a few...

Re: "Must cross intervening space" Here is a copy of Nightwind's MCIS Teleport power from C:NOTW. Basically it's the classic Batman schtick of you turn your back on him for half a second and he disappears.

Re: Dispel Questions There are also things like "Dispel Technology", a common speedster trick where the speedster basically takes apart a Technological based Focus REALLY fast. It would stay broken till someone with the correct skill set took the time to put it back together/repair it (probably at least next session but if a player built it himself I would personally allow him some rolls with fairly steep penalties to put it back together on the spot. )

Re: Damaging a Focus And don't forget if its a focus someone can ALWAYS choose to target the armor specifically if they want. The optional rules above simply mean that an attack doesn't NORMALLY hit the armor, but if you want to simulate someone shooting off the armor, or the comic classic of a super strong guy ripping it off they just target the armor itself and not the wearer. You have the option for a F'ed up Ironman, without every battle resulting in a trip to the repair shop.

Re: Critique my base please I can flat out state that as a GM I would not let you normally get away with taking a focus bought as part of a base away from that base. That is a plain and simple points cheat. If it is something he has in his VPP then it can stay there and be used in the VPP. In this VERY SPECIFIC EXAMPLE I guess it is okay because of the "mechanics" of how you do it and the fact that you are using a VPP which already gives you access to pretty much any power in the book (yeah, not a huge fan of them) but RAW I would say that is definitely not allowed. I did check and you are right that you can take the OAF Immobile limitation on base items. I wasn't sure before. After further search the only thing I can still say I would object to is the Shining Trapezohedron (ST), The Key isn't that much different from a base teleporter (although I will state again it is NOT just a key and the fact that you are able to simulate it via your VPP is an allowable end run but anyone else using the Key in your base would not be able to "take it with them" and get back). The Lens is just a souped up version of a video camera system really. The ST however still causes issues for me. It might be technically legal but I would definitely say no to it as a GM because of balance issues. If you want to use it in your VPP that is fine but having a copy of this "power" exist on its own in the base causes way to many rules questions and has my GMdar flashing red. Of course again that's just me. I'm not your GM so its him/her you should ask about what is legal in the campaign.

Re: Campaign Guideline Help (Rule of X?) Actually if you look at your "average" numbers you are in for some really long fights. If your "average" attack is 12 DC vs 30 PD/ED then you are only getting 12 damage through per attack that actually hits, and dropping ANY dice from that quickly results in meaningless attacks (a +1/2 advantage drops you to 8 Dice which will fail to do a single point of damage over half the time to your average defenses). The rule of thumb I see quoted here most often is 2 DEF per DC so if your average is 12 DC your average PD/ED should be around 24. That puts you up to 18 damage standard (50% increase) and 8 DC still does 4 points (not much, but at least it can still affect them). Remember that if Average OCV and DCV are the same DCV gets a default +3 bonus (since everyone can dodge) leaving you with 25% chance to hit (assuming all other factors are equal). Even without dodging you only have a 62.5% chance to hit. I did notice your Average Stun is on the low end which will speed this up but it does have a number of ramifications. 1. Low Stun totals mean that small increments in damage dice will have a HUGE effect on effectiveness (currently 12 points means 3 attacks have to hit. 1 more DC takes that down to two attacks having to hit). It also means that a lucky die roll can quite easily 1 hit KO someone (12 DC maxes at 72, you only need 60 points on one roll to KO with your numbers. Not exactly likely but it WILL happen more often than you might think) and anyone who adds DC will make this an even bigger problem. 2. Getting stunned is a flat out death sentence. The next attack that hits will almost guarantee you are KO'ed. You are HIGHLY unlikely to ever get a chance to recover unless your SPD is greater than your opponents. this can lead to CONflation to prevent this from happening. 3. Combat will be far more random. That means that odds based defenses (such as DCV) are far less supportable than steady defenses (such as High Def). All it takes is one lucky roll to put someone down and when you are playing a campaign the simple fact is that one lucky roll happens FAR too often so MA/Speedster builds may feel far too fragile compared to other builds. I know it seems like I am talking to cross purposes here (stating that your defenses are too high, then stating that your Stun is too low) but the result you have has some hidden dangers which I thought I would point out for you.

Re: Dispel Questions I really don't see a need to change the way Dispel works. It is what it is. It may not be of the greatest utility in a Supers game but considering what it CAN do it does quite a lot. As has been mentioned it can shut down defensive powers. It can break Foci (at least for a scene). It can also work wonders on people who abuse "Costs End Only to Activate" abilities combined with the "Increased END" Limitation. Dispel is also quite cheap for what it does. Yes, you have to hold an action and win a Dex roll but if successful you can CANCEL AN ATTACK! with the appropriate effect. This is why you frequently see Dispel Magic on many published characters. In a magical Duel a Player with a Max AP Dispel will almost ALWAYS be able to cancel the attack of a character with a Max AP Magic attack. The dispel requires no attack roll, ignores Power Defense when targeting an incoming attack, and is only countered by a rare advantage (which only makes a power harder to dispel, not impossible). It is also possible to apply the SER rule to Dispel and have it be GUARANTEED to stop the incoming power (60 AP of Dispel is 20d6 which is SER 60 AP worth of effect). The ONLY roll you have to make is the Dex Roll to go first. If you eliminate that roll (and especially if you allow aborting) then it is a way to guaranteed nullify any appropriate attack. And since it is most often found in a multipower the cost is extremely negligible. That honestly seems appropriately powerful to me. Holding attacks is generally speaking advantageous in most situations anyway so the fact that you can't abort to it isn't really that big of an issue. The other desire expressed herein (shutting off a power longer) are already handled by Drain/Suppress with the appropriate advantages/limitations.

Re: Lex Luthor Is Worse Than Useless Haven't read Wild Cards, although I have heard about it in various posts on here. Ill have to pick it up sometime and give it a read.

Re: Critique my base please The only problem I can see from a straight up rules point of view is that the Shining Key will transport you somewhere but not back (it has to stay at the base if you are pointing it out as part of it so when you are in the other dimension you cant use it anymore). And the fact that generally speaking items in a base should be considered Immobile already (and thus not be able to take an additional -1 limitation on the focus limitation) but I am not sure about it. From a GM's perspective I have a number of issues with it, but then that is just me and opinions may vary. The Key, the glass, and the trapezohedron don't feel like base powers to me. The rest looks fine.

Re: Stunning Environment option w/in "Change Environment" Basically it allows for a power that causes a character to be "Stunned" (the same effect as if they take more STUN damage than their CON) without ever actually taking any stun damage. Things like "Dizzy" attacks and such. It is incredibly powerful, however the target does get a CON roll to resist the effects every phase (with a cumulative +1 per phase). However APG lists it as 30 points, not 20. Not sure why the points cost is different. (its not listed as errata either).

Re: A base with stuff, or just a bunh of Immobile Foci? The point difference isn't really all that much as well. Your "Base" version of the summon costs 6 points. If it was OAF Immobile its 20 points. That's only 14 points difference. The functionality is about the same (being a part of a base doesn't really give or take anything away from the power itself). So I would think that either would be acceptable, although I second Bolon's comments about where the powers are useable.

Re: Low-point characters, intelligence doesn't benefit knowledges? The pricing structure is more about balance than anything else. You can buy lots of skills cheap (2 points each) that do not depend on your INT or you can spend 1 more point per skill and gain the benefits of your intelligence on your use of the skill. It costs more to allow INT to be used because of the value that could potentially be gained by doing so (if you have an INT of 40 that is WAY better than an 11- roll, but still only costs 1 extra point on the skill). As for the disconnect do not forget that knowledge and intellect are very different things. Yes, Intellect can help with the gaining of knowledge, but even people with very small INT scores can have extensive knowledge. As an example I know several "Jocks" with near encyclopedic knowledge of all things football, however they are considered far less than smart by any standards. If they were to be created in Hero they might have INT 7 and then buy KS: Football at the 11- value, and then buy up lots of +'s for it (at 1 pt each) so they could have KS: Football at 17- even tho their INT is only a 7. As always HERO is about options. If you want the power that can come from having a High INT to apply to your KS rolls you can, but it costs more. Or if you have a low INT score (or don't want your INT to benefit your ability) you can buy the skills cheaper, but they will not change based on your INT.

Re: Multipower Variable Slots, ever use one? Actually I like the concept of Multi better than I do fixed (personal opinion). Fixed is usually used as a justification to buy lots of powers on the cheap. Multi however is really the only way to represent certain power constructs (such as the various power armor examples given above). Also, using one END reserve for them allows them to all be used at full power if you want, but the Multi slot Multipowers better represent the idea that you have a finite amount of "power" that can be directed to different powers at one time.

Re: "Must cross intervening space" I'd personally allow the base limitation to mean that there cannot be any barriers between the two points and then allow another modifier (something like "Must be able to reach location with normal running) to be applied if the player wanted that to apply as well. Of course I would NOT allow the new modifier if the player had other movement forms (or at least they would not be able to use those forms to determine where they could teleport to. IE if they also had Flight they couldn't use flight as an excuse to teleport into mid air if they took the 2nd limitation on their teleport)).

Re: Welcome to the Silver Screen Psyber couldn't even fathom someone wanting to make a movie about him. Flambe would be all for it as long as he could be assured that A. They would be sensitive to his homosexuality and B. That they made sure it had the correct moral tone. As far as costuming goes if anything they would have to tone his DOWN for the big screen.

Re: Ultraman: My own take on the Man of Steel, sort of... Also, is this 5th or 6th? The stat calculations seem to be 6th, but is his Nigh Invulnerability supposed to be an EC or am I reading it wrong? (EC was removed for 6th).

Re: Lex Luthor Is Worse Than Useless Another theory that I have adopted for my games is the concept of "super science" as another form of magic (I know I got this from somewhere but can't remember where exactly). Basically it means that when a Superscientist invents something he is accessing some sort of magic/mutant/whatever ability to allow his creation to function. Someone else, taking IDENTICAL blueprints and building an exact duplicate of his invention would not be able to make it work at all. In many cases an examination of the invention by others in the field would have them swearing that it cannot actually work, except that it does. The inventions is repairable and possibly even modifiable, but it cannot be recreated (except possibly by the original inventor.)

Re: Unified Power Speedster Also remember that unified power doesn't require the powers to be tied together thematically. It just means that if ANY of those powers are drained they all are. Now rationalizing that in your "game world" may lend you (as a GM) to disallow some uses of it. As an example if the player you are talking about bought his SPD and Running with Unified Power, thats one thing, but if he then adds the Teleport (which makes sense since it is basically an sfx of "really REALLY fast running") weird things happen if someone comes along with "Drain Teleport". Now his SPD and Running are also drained and from an SFX perspective it may be hard to explain why.

Re: Campaign Guideline Help (Rule of X?) With 400 points to spend DC 12 isnt bad, its only 50 to 60 points and thats BEFORE any limitations you take. Overall with rules such as these I believe you should decide how you want your players to interact with the real world more than how you want them to interact with each other. 12 OCV may be alot, but if eveyone has 12 DCV then its pretty bad. However, OCV 6 gives you the best possible attack roll against DCV 0, and OCV 9 gives you the best possible roll against stationary targets (who have DCV 3). If you set your guidelines lower than that your characters have trouble hitting stationary targets, higher than that however only helps them hit other supers. Also compare those numbers to what your "normals" have. If the average "normal" person has OCV/DCV 4 he basically CANNOT hit anyone with DCV of 11 (less than 2% chance) and even DCV 7 only gives him a 25% chance. Conversely someone with an OCV of 10 will almost never miss him. The same thing can be applied to DC's. If you allow characters to buy the appropriate amount of PD/ED, Stun, Body etc then DC's don't really change the "balance" of a campaign when you look at Super vs. Super, but it does affect the way the Heroes interact with the game world. The table on pg 171 lists the defenses of common objects and DC's can easily be compared to these. 12 DC's will easily penetrate safe doors (PD 10) and have a decent chance at getting through a large vault door (PD 16) especially if its Killing Damage. If you drop the DC's for your campaign you change how the characters interact with these items (unless you also change their values). DC 8 as a cap breaks a lot less than DC 12.

Re: Existing Character Write Ups Uber forgot to add the link so here it is: http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/archive.html

Re: invisible only to the minds eye 6th edition also includes an option for GM's to allow a player to use a Mental Shapeshift to change himself to a different class of minds, but warns that it is unbalancing because he can become immune to mental powers. This is gone in CC as class of minds has been removed as a concept. Other than that I agree that Ockham's MDCV option is the better way to go. Allow the character to buy it fairly high, and with appropriate limitations (Costs End, Extra Time, Etc.) and you get a much better effect that does a good job of mimicking the sfx the character wants without being unbalancing.

Re: Counterstrike (and the lack thereis) I'm sure it has appeared elsewhere, but its on pg 7 of HSMA. That's the only thing that I have that it is in tho.

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing Okay, somewhat true guys but: 1. Transform is permanent until some outside condition is met (frequently "another application of this power".) It is the only way to change ANOTHER character that does not have a finite time limit on it. 2. XP, Cybernetic Implants you buy, etc are all things you do to YOURSELF. You cannot spend XP to give someone else a power. That's what I meant, sorry if I didn't specify that.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Toga is the team's brick. For some reason that noone knows whenever Tom Garret drinks a beer he gains an immense amount of strength, and when he gets REALLY drunk his body actually transforms into living beer, with no loss in his Strength. He usually likes to pull fairly simple pranks, like moving the science building across campus while everyone is sleeping. Once, on a serious bender, he actually managed to move the entire campus across town (where it now resides, noone has ever been able to come up with a way to move all the buildings back). Why is he called Toga? Ever since he saw "that movie" its all he ever wears........ New Team: Revenge of the NERDS! These 5 geeks banded together to wreak havoc on all those who had put them down, mistreated them, etc. They consider Fraternity Row to be their arch nemesis and will go to any length to humiliate, upstage, or otherwise aggravate them. So far they have stopped just shy of killing anyone, but it is only a matter of time........

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Nice one Bolo. You must spread yada yada yada