psyber624

Re: Super Group utility powers You would just define the clairsentience as only working through a "Camera" button or some such (similar to "Only works through the senses of others", just change that to "Only works through Camera Device".) You then add the mobile perception point and multiple perception point modifiers. Buy the whole thing as OAF Bulky (the clairsentience is a monitor with the screens, the "cameras" are just perception points for it and don't have to be bought as such) and flashable as sight and radio and your good to go.

Re: Sound of one hand clapping KS: Pointless Philosophical Debates 13-

Re: Outside the Box powers honestly it sounds like one of those weird powers that authors might create to show how "unique" and "clever" they are. And this guy would have a fight in some weird environment where one of his former "clients" just happened to show up in pure defiance of the laws of probability. Things like a deflected blow while fighting in Atlantis is diverted into a guy who happens to be on the surface on a cruise ship. If he was on the moon the "attack" magically has the ability to fly all the way to earth and we see a caption "8 minutes later...." as the attack strikes down some poor guy on the street. Dark humor kind of thing.

Re: Tracking Bugs I like that build but I do not think that the Bug itself is a Focus. It messes with the way the concept of focus works. You are stating that it gives the user of the tracking device +2 to the roll, but if it is a focus then by the rules the fact that they do not have the bug means they do not get the bonus. This is something I have seen several times. Not all "items" are foci. This power cannot be "removed" from the person using it by using the focus rules (it can be removed from the target, but that is very different). Of course you can fudge the focus rules in your games to make something like this work if you wish but it is definitely not RAW.

Re: "Neat" Pictures The second video on there worked for me (much better than the one linked here, all I got there was one bad case of big eyes)

Re: Foods for those that just don't care anymore A chain in my area was recently advertising this on the TV: [ATTACH=CONFIG]45569[/ATTACH] Thats a hamburger with pulled pork, onion rings, sliced cheese, and barbeque sauce. Now I am massively overweight and in general will eat anything, but even I looked at that and thought "heartattack on a bun". Of course there is something to be said for dying happy so I may just have to try it.

Re: "Neat" Pictures Either I dont know what that is supposed to do, or it doesn't work for me. Other than the eyes looking a little oversized after a while nothing struck me as odd.

Re: Campaign Damage Caps, Code vs. Killing & Pulling a Punch My only problem with that is that it doesn't really affect the balance of the game. Someone with 12d6 (a common cap) will kill someone already so hero's are already having to hold back when they face weaker opponents. All you are doing by allowing 16d6 (or more) powers in the game is ensuring that the player that bought it gets to dominate any combat where it DOESN'T guarantee a kill. So I really don't see how complications lead to a solution to power levels "in game". Especially when you are talking about Standard attacks (vs killing attacks). Vs. your standard power supervillain (around 20 def) you need 20+DC of damage before you are running a real risk of doing ANY BODY damage to them, and if the rest of the game is built normally you can therefore throw 20d6 and either insta-KO or at the very least easily keep him stunned for an entire combat, and never worry about any possibilites of "ramifications". And as far as Superman being used as an example, one of the biggest problems I have with the Man of Steel is that if you suspend "disbelief" for a moment the guy is an idiot. If he actually had the power to KILL these guys without trying then knocking them out should be easy as pie. Yet he routinely beats the snot out of the badguy for entire fight scenes, pounding and pounding and pounding away at them till they are KO'd or he is KO'd. I get that he can't precisely measure his strength to their defenses, so he has to hold back, but he sets his measure WAY too far on the safe side of the line, to the point where he is putting innocent lives at risk because he is afraid that he "might" actually hurt the badguy. He has no problem knocking a villain through 6 skyscrapers with a punch (he obviously used his X-ray vision to check that there were no innocents in the line of fire, or anywhere nearby where falling debris might hurt them right?) but yet he wont hit them hard enough to actually KO them before they can start shooting at innocents to get away. The actual point I am trying to make with this is that "pulling his punches" is a plot device that allows the writers of Superman to "occasionally" have him be way more powerful that he is normally depicted. Which is fine for a comic book. And if that is what you are trying to run in a game then that's fine too, to each his own. But at that point in time your not running a game that cares about point totals, balance issues, or anything else, so you don't NEED a way to restrain your characters. Either all your players are on board or you don't have a game, PERIOD. In a campaign that is more about being a "game" than a "comic simulator" (and I don't intend any disrespect for either style with this, just pointing out a difference) then complications don't actually do the job at all.

Re: Speed Zone? I agree with Baloo. While I appreciate that there was a desire to have a power in that vein created and available it is ridiculously overpowered for a game. It is one of those things that works in the comics but not in a game. That doesn't mean you can't use it of course. There are many proponents of the storytelling style of play that eschews any thoughts of balance in order to pursue different goals, such as capturing the feel of a comic book more completely. If that is your cup of tea then more power to you but asking balance questions isn't really important. The other key problem with the power as written is not balance issues, but fun issues. Unless your entire team has the ability to enter the speed zone then time is effectively frozen for the rest of the PC's, but not for the rest of the players. While your speedster PC is gaming in the Speed Zone they can't do anything else. This can quickly lead to boredom, especially if your speedster PC can also easily and effectively handle any problems that arise because of access to the Speed Zone. If you really want to use this power it should really only be used as a GM Plot Device. Use it to tell a story, making sure all the PC's travel into and out of the Speed Zone as a group. Other than that I feel that Speedster Powers should be just like anyone elses. Normal powers from the book just with Superspeed as their special effect. You can simulate almost all of the powers of a classic speedster without having to use the Speed Zone (and to note even the authors of characters like "The Flash" didn't leave it as a standard, go to power that the hero would use to solve any and all problems. It was always a major plot point. )

Re: Tracking Bugs then they are using the "radio image" differently than how images are described in a book (honestly tracking an image doesn't really work in the game rules by a RAW interpretation, you are percieving the image as a whole, not tracking a particular point in that image area, but that is a very legalistic interpretation of the rules and using them to let it work like that makes sense.

Re: Tracking Bugs Yes, but then you aren't using the whole aoe of your image. That is similar to only using 6d6 of Blast when you purchased 12d6. You don't have to use the whole area, but if you don't use it you don't have its benefits (if you have a 1 hex image vs sight, for instance, someone 1 mile away cant see it even tho you have a 1 mile AOE on your image, the "image" only exists in that one hex. You could have created an image that covered the whole mile AOE, and then could be seen with that as the baseline, but you chose not to do it, someone a mile away doesn't suddenly get to see it just because you COULD have created it larger. The same reasoning applies to your Image vs Radio Perception. You might set the AOE for your radio transmitter to 2m, but then normal PER modifiers would apply from that point and the fact that you BOUGHT a huge AOE doesn't apply, its not what you buy, its what you USE that matters in this situation.

Re: Short Term Time Travel Replay is exactly what you are looking for, but don't forget to consider simpler alternatives (that a GM might be more willing to allow... Replay is an incredibly overpowered ability and one that could quickly get both annoying and out of hand). A simpler, more game friendly way to mimic this sort of power is with CSL's, possibly Overall CSL's, and the "special effect" is that you kept doing something till you succeed, if at all possible. If your roll still fails then it wasn't doable no matter how many times you tried using the power. OCV becomes "I used the power to go back till I hit", DCV "I went back in time and moved out of the path", and Skill rolls "I tried doing this till I got it right". This is simple, easy, and allows you to have most of the "game effects" that you are likely interested in. There are any number of other possibilities along this same line, all using your power description as "Special Effect". Having to actually redo a segment or more of combat could get highly frustrating, both for the GM and for your fellow players. Using the above you avoid the frustration but still have an interesting flavor for your character.

Re: Looking for Feed back on Sat guide lines most of the villains in the villain books are either designed to be taken down by a team of players or using special tactics. There is a moderately deep tactical level to HERO that new players often are not aware of. Especially if the GM IS aware and uses maneuvers and tactics then point values may not always come out the same. Also, many book villains have power constructs that are flat out cheap (one of the villains in Arcane Adversaries has over 25 slots in a multipower for instance). They are usually designed to be a challenge (at least the named ones.) Post some actual builds on here and we will gladly review them for you (although make sure you have a thick skin first, some people can be downright nasty when it comes to ripping apart a character (heck I have to watch what I post myself from time to time.....))

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! Jeff Voight woke up from a terrible dream. In it unspeakable horrors were swarming over our planet. Death and destruction ruled. Madness reined and all of mankind drank from a cup of fear and feasted on madness. He thought nothing could be more frightening. Until he realized he wasn't alone in his bedroom. Fear gripped him, remnants of the terrors his mind had imagined flooded his brain, dripping like hot wax down his eyes as he cried and screamed in mortal terror. He had no idea what was in the room with him. It had no form or shape that his mind could comprehend. It lacked size or definition, yet was massively powerful. For one small moment he was forced to bear witness to something that was beyond mortal understanding. He knew then that he was in the presence of the Creator. No mere God, or extradimensional conqueror, this was the formless timeless EVERYTHING that gave birth to existence itself and it was manifesting a tiny fraction of its power into his bedroom. It reached out to him, although how he knew this he couldn't say for it had no arms, or limbs, or even body. It touched his forehead and his mind exploded in pain. Words and symbols, Images and forms seared themselves into his brain. The darkness was coming as a tide to wash away all of creation. This insignificant planet would bear forth the destruction of existence if it was not stopped. And if the plans of the madman known as The Edomite were not halted, Creation was well prepared to do away with this entire world to spare the rest. For the Kings of Edom were coming, and reality itself shuddered in terror. The next morning Jeff woke up with a massive headache. He tried to dismiss it all as a crazy dream. Some bad reaction to something he ate. Until words came to his lips unbidden. "Qultothi Maygyashi Moras" and his hands waved out a sigil in the air of their own volition. To his surprise a faint light could be seen in the air where he had drawn with his hands. In the lines he could see images of 5 people, slowly resolving into focus. He knew he must gather these 5 together to stop The Edomite and save the world. As the hero Omen he must use his newfound powers of divination to see through the lies, to shine light into the darkness, and to create a new team, known as Hexagram, to stand against the tide. Others would join, but by the time they understood what he had seen it would be too late. He had to start now. (can you tell i just finished reading DEMON:SOD?)

Re: Looking for Feed back on Sat guide lines Generally you do not include maneuvers, although opinions differ (anyone can get +4 DC's with a Haymaker for instance, and that requires 24m of movement for Move Through to match). My current solution is to use Caps and Maxes (12 DC cap, 16 DC Max). Basically you can have 12 DC in standard abilities (STR, KA, Blast, whatever), that doesnt include modifiers from maneuvers, CSL's, etc, but you can NEVER roll more than 16 DC, no matter how you do it. This gives me a good range so I can create/modify/use villains that wont be perma-stunned by someone "gaming" the cap system (12 DC +6 CSL all on damage + Movethrough at max speed or some other insanity like that.) But thats just me, and I am very "balance" focused as a GM. Many other players have different ways of doing things.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Laffy Taffy had won the race. She was the first to reach San Francisco. She had heard about the attacks but figured her rubberized body made her immune to anything Protector could throw at her. And if he tried a stunt like what he did with Hodag, well, everyone knows nothing is stickier than taffy and Mr. High-and-Mighty would find himself in one hell of a mess before he even knew it. So, she sat there, at the last stop of her Run Winning Crime Spree, with a Candy Truck full of Stolen Sweets. She had the awning up and was handing them out to all the underprivileged kids in the area as usual. That's when he struck. No one saw it coming. No one expected him to go this far. The authorities all claimed it could not have been done by him, because no SUPERVILLAIN would sink that low, much less a hero. But the boom was heard from miles around. The San Francisco PD was quickly on the scene. They had heard about what was happening and had just gotten word on Laffy's location and were going to take her into "protective custody" to protect her from whatever was ACTUALLY happening (most members of the force believed it was some kind of setup.) When they arrived at the location all that was left of the truck was a sweet, sticky pool of candied goo. Dozens of local children were covered in a blend of confectionery shrapnel. Many were temporarily deafened and suffered from vision lost. Taffy was presumed dead at the scene. The struggles of the children would continue for many years. The recent autobiography of one of the survivors "Death by Chocolate" was published two years ago on the 15th anniversary of the incident. To this day no child in that neighborhood will touch anything sweet. New Team: Multiplicity: These 5-7 Villains (I will leave it up to you guys for an exact number, anyone after 5 can start a new team) are actually ONE PERSON! This person is a metamorph with Multiple Personality Disorder. Each "form" looks different, has different powers and abilities. All of the forms "Believe" they are part of a team that work together but are on seperate tasks most of the time (group time always happens "in the head"). The forms can be different sexes, races, etc., literally ANYTHING goes!

Re: Looking for Feed back on Sat guide lines Well, PD/ED 40 is not brick, its basically invulnerable brick (generally 30 is considered the top for 400 pts). If you are playing a more combat focused campaign then it may be appropriate (if average attacks are around 16d6) but in the standard 8-12 DC world (which most villains seem to be geared towards fighting) that level of defense makes them untouchable (12d6 averages 42 damage, so your brick will take a whopping 2 points of stun, and anything less than that will simply tickle.) Also, unless KA's are a VERY common feature 1/2 resistant is usually more than enough (15 rPD means you take no body from the average 4d6 KA (60 AP)). Again everything is relative to what the rest of your stats are (combat heavy games may have 80 AP caps so 16d6 becomes common and 40 DEF is brick territory). Also CON 40 is just ridiculous. In 6e it only prevents stunning (and some forms of attacks that work vs CON not BODY which are not likely to be common. Of course it doesn't hurt but its really just wasted points. These are all just opinions of course, your milage may vary, but overall you seem to be favoring stats WAY too high (most of your numbers seem high to me, other than CV, generally CV averages to about 8 (which gives you +5 over DCV 3 meaning you can easily hit "a spot on the ground", and only fail to hit DCV 0 on a crit fail).

Re: [New Product] Champions Complete if its been two weeks it should arrive soon. The average for my purchases has been about 2-3 weeks

Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See? STR 15 (and it will do 6d6 base damage if used as a weapon). At this rate you will need to rename it to "Encyclopedia Mythica"

Re: Tracking Bugs The problem with that build is that, with a VERY literal RAW interpretation, the closest you could narrow your search down to would be 1024" (2048 Meters, or about 1.2 miles) your "signal" covers an area that large and so once you are inside that area you cannot narrow it down any further. By contrast the book example creates a 64 meter radius image. By the time you get in range of that you should be able to see your target and no longer need a tracking signal. When you use AOE you are creating a radio "image" the size of the AOE, once you are inside the area of the image any device would tell you "you are here" even if you are still a mile away from your tracker.

Re: 5e Rules question Forcewall and damage shield No, you cannot make attacks with Defensive Powers *unless you buy UAA for them for some odd reason. Buying a Damage Shield for a Force Wall would probably not require the offensive advantage, but "bumping into someone" with your Force Wall wont cause damage to them. If you want to simulate something like that you should buy a Blast with the appropriate advantages and link it to your force wall (which will then determine how to roll for damage). Trying to make a Damage Shield Force Wall attack otherwise is trying to do an end run on the rules and I personally would never allow it.

Re: EB vs EB Contests of Power is in APG1 pgs 174-176 (seems too large a sample for me to cut and paste here, sorry).

Re: Superhero Characteristics Templates Yeah, but then so can any number of the JL guys if they really let loose.

Re: Ares Saves the World! MAD hasn't really proven to be all that effective at stopping wars, only at preventing the use of Nukes in them so my character would probably make sure it was just bombs (and not nuclear physics in general which would stop power plants and the like and could have all sorts of unforseen complications on the universe) and then be okay with it.

Re: Requires a Roll question The book uses the terms "Less Limitation/More Limitation" to try to avoid rules confusion. Less Limitation means that you reduce the base limitation absolute value, so if your base limitation is -1/2, and you are modifying it by something that is "1/4 LESS Limitation" you wind up with -1/4. LESS Limitations REDUCE the value of the limitation. If its a MORE Limitation it adds to the value of the limitation (so, in your example, if you wanted a 10- roll that would be -1/2 (for base unmodified 11-), then 1/4 MORE Limitation giving you -3/4 total. The important thing to remember is that in HERO notation on Modifiers "-" does not mean minus, it is not a mathematical symbol. It simply means "Limitation". Likewise, "+" means Advantage. If you learn to not think of them as plus and minus you may find it easier to understand. If you are confused still (which is quite possible, this can muddle the brain) you are perfectly correct in looking at what "makes sense". 12- is a better roll than 11-, so the power will work more often, so it should be worth less points off (and should wind up costing more). If its not coming out like that you made a mistake somewhere. Of course the easiest way to handle that is to get HERO Designer and let it deal with the math migraines