psyber624

Re: Attacks of Opportunity (d20) in Hero There are optional rules to cover this sort of thing in 6e. From 6e22 128: As far as both melee and ranged attacks on the same character if you feel that is needed you can create rules to that effect. For instance in real world combat all ranged attacks require charges (bullets, arrows, whatever). Melee attacks however do not require charges (for the most part). You could institute such a rule in your campaign and now there is a reason to have both. Otherwise you are right there is rarely a reason to pay points for both, however that is pretty much how it works in the comics too. You don't see many people go from shooting something at range to getting close and personal unless its with their base STR (and possibly some MA moves). Right now melee and ranged are fairly balanced, anything you do to change that (bonuses to melee of some sort for instance) would likely tilt the scales in favor of melee combatants (or FORCE players to buy both to be effective.)

Re: Combat Value Regulation I generally use caps and maxes. So OCV is capped at 12 (you cannot purchase more than 12 base OCV) and caps at 16 (no matter what combination of Base + CSL + Maneuver + Modifiers can get you higher than 16). I then have base DCV at around the same level, but MAX DCV is 3 points higher (12/19 in the above example). This means that when dodging (for instance) a maxed OCV is still -3 to hit a maxed DCV, and where you get that is up to you. With this everyone knows what they will possibly be up against so they can decide exactly how important OCV/DCV/CSL's are to their concept. It also keeps dodge as a viable maneuver that is worth giving up an action for in almost all cases (unless you are a LOW DCV vs capped OCV). This, IMHO, helps to manage Martial Artists. They can get to the max a bit cheaper than others (with the appropriate maneuvers) but they cannot innately gain more than anyone (A non martial artist could buy OCV/DCV 12 and 4 CSL's and hit the same numbers without a single martial art. MA's just get to have lower OCV/DCV and rely more on maneuvers which feels right to me.)

Re: Armor (Clarification needed) tcabril, your forgetting that Armor is a constant power so you add 1/2 to the limitation since it has to be rolled every use. Also, the Required Roll (-1/2) for Anti-Laser Armor is a typo. It has been errata-ed to the correct -1/4 value (-1/2 for unmodified, -1/2 for each use, +3/4 for 14-)

Re: Looking for Rule of "X" Examples Thats the other thing, speed is relative. If the "average" is 2, then 3 is high and 4 is insane. If the "average" is 5 however 6 is somewhat more minor, and its only around 8 or so that the differences really start piling up. Generally speaking what I have seen is that for 350/400 (depending on 5e/6e) average seems to be around 5, with 4-6 being almost a set range. Under 4 becomes almost unplayable, and 7-8 are the upper limits of speed (and usually out of starting PC reach, although that varies). As far as the total goes that is really up to you. Look at the averages you want, plug the numbers into the formula then see what you get. Then possibly add a few points so that players can feel "super" in at least one area without having to gimp themselves in others. Also make sure you know what your numbers represent. Opinions vary. Some say that its base stats, some say that its max possible (IE if you have 60 STR and "Offensive Strike" thats 16 DC, not 12. If you have 8 base OCV and 4 CSL's and Legsweep thats 14 OCV). It can really get confusing tho (does everyone have to add 3 DCV because they can dodge? if not does "Martial Dodge" add +2 to DCV for RoX calculations? etc. etc.) Make sure you can answer these types of questions.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Sorry for the delay. Lets try this: The Prime Times: This group of 5 villains are all based on popular TV shows. Obsessed with the persona's presented on the small screen, they decided to bring these fictional characters to life. The villains can be based upon any TV character whether they are good or evil on the air, and the power set does NOT have to match what the TV persona has (just reference it in some way).

Re: Looking for Rule of "X" Examples The problem with speed at *2 is that he doesn't have to be far below in ANY stat to get greatly increased speed. With the example I gave earlier I can drop 2 Stun (20 Stun), 4 PD +4 ED (taking me to 20/20), and get 6 speed. I still have average OCV/DCV and attacks, and can attack 50% more often than the average super in this campaign. I only take 4 more STUN from an attack than the average, and while I have a lower STUN total to worry about there are a TON of ways to get around that which are not included in the Rule of X. Of course no matter what you create for a rule of X it can be broken. Rule of X is just one tool in a GM's box to try and keep games balanced.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Oh god, I forgot to count before posting (not really good at coming up with Team Themes).... ummm let me think about it for a bit and I'll get back to you:P (couple of hours at the most I promise).

Re: Remote Control Sounds like mind control with (-1) Limitation "Only to Control Drones". Then you build the Drones as a Universal Focus. Possibly add in Lockout to the drone to represent that if he is controlling his drone he can't try to control someone else's. That build basically allows him to control his own drone with no need for mind control rolls or the like, but trying to control someone else's drone requires the mind control rolls (and he can use his mind control to fight someone else attempting to gain control of his drone.

Re: Simple summoning question Of course if you read further along on that page you come to a very interesting distinction. The max number of "Summoned" creatures is actually the maximum number of creatures the caster can "Control". Any summoned beings that he no longer controls (such as once they run out of tasks on a failed Ego Roll or anything like that) do not count towards that limit. This does leave the possibility open of creating large numbers of creatures if you do not try to control them (and can deal with the resulting chaos).... Unless of course your GM sees through this and decides to put a stop to it.......

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Death was once one of the heralds of the apocalypse, but times have changed. No more does the fear of death inspire the same terror it once did. Countless religions paint pretty pictures of the afterlife for those who believe in them. In fact many in modern society have sought out death, even worship it, for this life seems to them to be far worse than anything that could come after. So a new horseman was needed for the New Apocalypse. Revenant was his name. Where this fell apparition rides the solace of death is removed. No peaceful afterlife awaits his victims. No surcease of the pain and suffering this life can bring. For all those whom his dread gaze falls upon are doomed to never die, to spend eternity as a withered mind trapped within a decaying body. Nothing can kill them for long, and where they go they spread the dread curse. For the New Apocalypse is upon us. And not even Death will allow you to escape it.

Re: Elemental Planes in the CU Yes, Very Very cool, and now I want the Viper book as it is mentioned in here several times. Also, I have no trouble believing that the loss of The Edomite would have little to no immediate effect on DEMON, the way it is structured it could take a decade or more for any real effect to be felt (as various Morbanes and members of the Inner Circle realize they are not under the same level of scrutiny that they once were). I was afraid CO-MMORPG would be involved, I swear I need to get back to playing it but I really didn't enjoy that game as much as CoH. And give me some credit... I can think of FAR FAR better plans for Luther Black than moving his birthday back four to eight years. The fact that his death was supposed to occur in the same year as the whole Mayan Apocalypse did not escape my notice and diabolical thoughts have been percolating along these lines in my head since I first read about him. Especially when you realize that "death" in a comic book sense of the word, is really a relative thing. I was considering going all Obi-Wan with him as well....

Re: Superhero Characteristics Templates Your forgetting that comic book characters exist in a world where the "GM" is known as "the Author" and can therefore allow anything he wishes as a standard GM Fiat. Any GM can create a scenario where any given character can defeat any other given character. It will not happen in a straight "points per points by RAW" interpretation, but nothing restrains a GM (and even less restrains an Author) from allowing such an event to occur in his game/comic.

Re: Surveillance Gear Question I agree with Greywind, Focus based Clairsentience is usually the way to go.

Re: Istvatha V'han - why can't she conquer Earth? I love villains like this (and BotE is steadily clawing its way higher on my wish list). Ones where Good and Evil are not glaringly black and white, but grey. Ones that make you ask tough philosophical questions. If she makes life better for those she conquers, is she right to conquer? If she really does have "a Billion Dimensions" under her rule then is she really a villain when she wipes out civilizations that might pose a threat to all those people? And many of these questions are even more relevant to real life in the post 9/11 world we live in today. Exploring them in a role playing game really sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

Re: 12 months, 12 characters. January. The Speedster For skills: Breakfall is almost mandatory to avoid damage if we are forced to loose control at high speeds. And a Speedster Power Skill is likewise very important (there are just too many things you can do with superspeed to NOT have this as and option.) Acrobatics and Sleight of Hand are also easily justifiable. The rest fall more into what his background is which is entirely independent of his speedster power itself and we really haven't defined. For Perks: The same thing basically applies. Nothing seems overly appropriate for "Whirling Speedster" itself, we can definitely add some flavor to the character here of course but that all depends on things that haven't been determined yet. For Talents: Any of the SPD related ones would be appropriate, Lightning Calculator, Lightning Reflexes, Speed Reading, etc. Combat Luck is a good defense as well (as already noted above). Danger Sense/Combat Sense can also be added to the pot with speedster-centric SFX (Danger Sense being that he can "sense" an attack right before it happens and still have time to react to it sort of thing)

Re: Looking for Rule of "X" Examples What he is saying there is that you use this formula, then determine what the answer should be based upon the combat level you want your game to be. All this really does is allow the various elements that affect combat to be weighted against each other. Breaking it down we get that OCV and DCV are a "1", Spd counts double, and your total DEF/4 is relative to that (so you should have 2 PD+ED per DC or CV if you were going total middle of the road). Take your campain "average" values and plug them into the formula for your Rule of X for that campaign. For instance, some standard averages are: SPD 4, OCV/DCV 10, 12 DC's, 24 PD/ED, 60 STUN. If that looked right to you then you get: (4*2 + 10 + 12) + (10 + (24+24)/4 + 60/10)= (8+10+12) + (10 + 12 +6) = 58 So if you wanted a full average PC to be the baseline you would use 58-60 as your "rule of X". if you wanted your PC's to be slightly above the campaign average (IE they should be higher in their chosen specialty without having to be lower everywhere across the board) you might set it at 60-64. Note: I am not saying I agree with his numbers, just explaining how to use his system. This comparison is based ENTIRELY upon the points cost in the HERO system and while I do feel that the various powers are costed appropriately I do not believe that they fall into corresponding slots in a "rule of X" style comparison. SPD especially needs to have a more than *2 multiplier in my opinion as it multiplies the effectiveness of all the others as well.

Re: But I don't want Grond to be a pushover... As previously stated its your campaign, but some villains aren't appropriate for some PC groups. To note if your Mentalist dominated the previous adventure I would definitely not put someone at all susceptible to Mental Powers as the focus of the next one. That really isn't good GMing. All of your PC's should get a chance to shine and if any one PC is allowed to dominate frequently you could have a problem. Maybe shelve Grond for this battle and find someone else to be the patsy this time? You can always bring Grond out later. If you do use him make sure that whatever method you use to reduce the effectiveness isn't easily overcome (otherwise the Mentalist still winds up under the spotlight). And you can look at the math to determine what you need to do to make Grond tougher in that fight if you do decide to use him. 12d6 averages 42 and wont stray to far from that. Grond has 8 EGO so an average roll is going to be EGO + 34 for him. Her power only affects emotions so pretty much anything but "anger" should be at least +20, and anything passive in nature should be +30. However +20 is REALLY easy for her to get, and +30 will happen more often than not, so if you use MD you are going to need quite a lot (15 MD or more to make non-passive emotions less likely, and probably at least +10 to ensure the Mentalist can't pull him out of the fight). 10 MD also reduces her Continuous EGO attack to a level that shouldn't knock him out too quickly (around 11 STUN per phase) And since using either of those unsuccessfully against him should really get his attention, her 14 PD makes her a juicy target for him so she should be wary. Of course alot of this depends on how much info you give your players in a combat and how well they know the CU. (If they know Grond, and know he should be a pushover for a mentalist, then when her Mind Control fails they will be looking for a reason. If you don't tell them whats going on (or how much damage he is ACTUALLY taking from her EGO attack) then they may not look for an "MD" source at all.

Re: I made some martial manuvers into magic cards I have to agree with Ock, although I haven't played in a number of years I used to play all the time in tournaments and stuff. ANY card that allowed you to replace it when used was incredibly powerful and many of those cards would be easily abuseable in a variety of formats, especially as all of them have really low mana costs.

Re: Non-Damaging Susceptibilities & Vulnerabilities Just remember that if you do your GM is justified in having you face a villain with a KA based upon the type of damage you selected strong enough to ensure you will take BODY damage from it. One thing I would always explain to my players is that Limitations and Complications are you as a player asking to have to deal with this. If you dont want to deal with it, DONT take it!.

Re: Istvatha V'han - why can't she conquer Earth? Maybe there once were others of her, but she killed them off so that she could become "The One" and that's the source of her power (extending so far through time that even in OUR dimension where she is just a fictitious character we have no knowledge of her alternate dimensional selves)

Re: Elemental Planes in the CU Thanks Lord L. Still working my way through all the books in the Mystic Bundle I bought a while back and was wondering about them for a character concept I was creating (Mystic Martial Artist who has different "multiforms" based upon the four elements. I was toying with the idea of his elemental powers coming from mystical sojurns from the elemental planes and was wondering how that would work in the CU.) If you read this another question occured to me (as you and Dean seem to be the resident experts on all things CU Mystical) Just started reading DEMON: Servants of Darkness and was wondering if anything had been written about what happened with Luthor Black (he was supposed to die last february.......) and if this has had any effect on DEMON? Just curious, really enjoying reading about all this.

Re: 12 months, 12 characters. January. The Speedster Slapping unified power on everything seems weird, and several of those powers should probably have Linked instead of Unified Power, IE they can only be used if he is "Whirling", if he can't for some reason (such as an entangle) then his powers stop working. Not sure what I would use as the base power for the Link (probably the running, but it would have to be moved out of the Multipower for that to work.) Also, as it stands you have no skills at all but have already spent 390 points, so you have a pretty one dimensional character, just an opinion.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Natalia Verde was born in this country, but her parents were Mexican Natives who were here illegally. They were caught when she was 14 and deported but she chose to remain behind with her Aunt who had managed to obtain a Green Card to work in the country. As a youth Natalia was always envious of all the wealth and power of those around her. After dropping out of high school she found a job cleaning houses for the wealthy in her area and was frequently mistreated and looked down upon. One of her employers bought an antique Armoire at auction and tasked her with cleaning it up. While doing so she discovered a hidden compartment which contained a beautiful emerald necklace. Realizing that her employer had no idea that it existed she quickly pocketed it. Since no one knew about it no one would ever realize she had stolen it and she could sell it to get some money and finally leave this life of servitude. When she got home she decided to try it on before selling it because she was enchanted by its beauty. Upon putting it on she discovered that she could hear the thoughts of others and even manipulate them. Her destiny had been changed. She became the villaness known as Envy and used her powers to take what she wanted from those who had more than her. She joined the Gang Green after a desperate run in with a group of heroes, realizing that she would need help if she wanted to remain out of prison.

Re: [New Product] Champions Complete Its just a pdf so you know you can read it on any computer system right? even a laptop/tablet/etc?

Re: 12 months, 12 characters. January. The Speedster Mutant has always been one of my favorite origins (since it forces me to be more creative coming up with a background story) but Focus does have the benefit of giving us a built in Limitation to help reduce the cost of powers. Ever since I got "The Ultimate Speedster" I have wanted to play around with a highly "trick-centric" build and anything that can honestly reduce the cost of powers (without being abusive/cheesy) is always welcome.