BNakagawa

That having been said, there is a common dramatic device where a cop uses lethal force in a questionable manner early in their career, after which they become gun shy and relegated to desk work or other less critical duty. They then get embroiled in something dramatic which forces them to deal with their inner demons and get things worked out enough to do the right thing (blow the bad guy away) in the final act.

The arrow sacrifices half its shooter's DCV.

A bullet might pass completely through a body, imparting less than 100% of its kinetic energy. This scenario is somewhat less likely for an arrow. (especially a broadhead) I'm not very interested in getting hit with either, really. I don't care what the writeup says.

The pertinent question is: is +2 Stun mod worth the same as AP?

5 or 6 floating robots that shoot people? One shoots at a time: Multipower All can shoot at the same time: Followers.

I don't think making the +1 Stun Multiple a +1/4 advantage was a very good idea. $0.02

IMO, this should probably be bought only as a Psych Lim. If there is no actual mechanical limitation, then your character would have no problem using his power on a living target if: He has been mentally compelled (taking the psych lim into consideration) into doing it. He has been tricked (having been convinced that the target is in fact an automaton or construct) He is unaware, there might be a living being between himself and his intended target, but the living being is invisible. All of these things represent cases where the character's reluctance is the only barrier to using the power in question. Sounds like a disad and not a limitation. $0.02

Might be also worth a reputation, if it's really bad press.

I thought the punchline was going to involve the Tigers and the Pirates.

You can also give them a lump Watched: Internal Affairs/ACLU/media to represent their being held accountable (at least in theory) by various groups that might jump on them if they weren't acting in the best interest of the public. It won't stop them from acting inappropriately, but it can be used to give them grief if they do.

5 points of wealth RSR Gambling + KS Appropriate sport (e.g. football baseball, horse racing) + Side Effects major (summon thugs to break your legs) = Your bookies cel phone #.

Yeah, How do you stat out a continuous transformation attack of hydrogen atoms into helium atoms and so on? Man, that's gotta hurt.

Mentallists - eww. Depending on the style and scope of the powers, this is an ugly can of worms. Superiority complex? There isn't anything complex about it. I AM superior to the rest of you monkeys. Martial Artists - Depending on the context, martial artists can range from the noble protectors of the weak and innocent to the worst kinds of thugs.

So make it 2, then. Most of the people who would be affected by this are agents and thugs and cops.

Assume I have FW that applies to all attacks. 1: I buy an EB AE 1 hex Triggered (somebody steps in that hex) call it a land mine. I place the land mine. Later in the combat, I FW somebody who subsequently steps on my land mine. Are his defenses halved? 2: I FW somebody who subsequently goes invisible. I toss a grenade at somebody else and catch the invisible guy in the blast. Are his defenses halved? 3: In the above scenario, does it matter if he has purchased no fringe on the invisibility? 4: I FW somebody and target someone else with an attack. The first guy dives for cover to take the shot. are his defenses halved? 5: I FW somebody and back a car over them. Are their defenses halved? 6: I FW somebody three times and have a killing attack that has standard effect but must be used at maximum output and cannot be spread. I want to inflict a 1 BODY wound. Can I select any amount of defense for the target to have between full and 1/8th ? Or Am I limited to either Full, 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8? Or am I limited to Full or 1/8th? 7: If I buy multiple instances of FW, (one is with guns, one is with martial arts) I make one FW roll with guns. Then I fail a second roll with guns. Can I still attempt the roll for Martial Arts? If so, is it at -0 or is it -4? 8: I FW somebody and then use Mental Illusions to do STUN to them. Are their defenses halved? 9: I FW somebody and then hit them with an autofire attack that hits three times. Are his defenses halved for each hit? 10: I FW somebody and then hit them with a multi-Power Attack. Are their defenses halved for each hit? 11: I am being affected by mental illusions and FW a target that I percieve as an enemy but is actually a PC. I break out of the effect and get mind controlled to attack the PC later. Are his defenses halved?

What nobody really focusses on is the distibution curve. While it's true that for equal active points, a normal attack will generate more stun, what is rarely realized is that once you've subtracted defenses, the reverse is often true. Consider: you could either take an attack that always does 35 stun or an attack that does either 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 60 Stun with equal frequency. Both do 35 Stun on the average. Which does more damage once defenses are introduced? Well, if you're hitting somebody with 20 defenses, the first attack averages 15 stun per hit and the random one averages (0+0+10+20+30+40)/6 or about 17 points per hit. Not a huge difference. If you bump the defenses to 30, then the first attack averages 5 points per hit and the other one averages 10 per hit. Lastly, if you jump to 40 defenses, then the first attack is useless and the second one averages 5 points per hit. In addition to this, if you're interested in achieving a Con Stun result (and who isn't) then you're almost always better off with the second type of attack. If your opponent has an 18 Con, then if he has a 20 def, then the first attack has no chance to stun him, while the second attack has a 50% chance to stun him. So, in actual usage, it can be shown that Killing Attacks actually average more damage per hit than an EB of equal size once defenses are introduced to the equation. I don't know about you guys, but I rarely find myself attacking things with 0 defenses. In addition to doing more damage, it does them in bigger chunks. This can be a tactical advantage in that an opponent can adjust their tactics when being nibbled away with a steady barrage of normal attacks. Once they are low on stun and within a few hits of going under, they can start to dodge, shift levels, use missile deflection or whatever to buy some time. If you're using the Stun Lottery and you bounce one or two attacks and then Con Stun them, they don't have an opportunity to go defensive. They're now at 1/2 DCV with no force field. buh-bye. Killing Attacks also benefit from the extremely cheap +1 Stun Multiple. There is no corresponding advantage for the EB. Killing Attacks are superior to Energy Blasts. (assuming you want to do damage versus targets with defenses)

An interesting point, but that's NOT what FW does. FW cuts down defenses. It has nothing to do with looking for weak spots. I can find weakness in defenses that aren't even there when I look. Even if something is defined as having no hit locations or discernable structure, if it has defenses, I can find a spot that is only a fraction as tough. I can find weakness on your SID, wait for you to change into your hero ID and still know where you're weak. I can find weakness on one of your multiforms, wait for you to change into something I've never seen before and still know where to hit it. If what you actually want is to study an opponent and figure out how to do damage better, buy extra DC rsr analyze. Buy levels vs activation rolls. You can't justify sticking your sword in a weak spot against a sphere of solid titanium with no holes in it. But with a decent FW roll, you can find a thin spot where there wasn't one before. And you can hit it every time you connect. FW forces weak points on characters that didn't previously have any. FW halves or quarters your defenses everywhere you get hit. Head, chest, toe, ankle, it doesn't matter. Your defenses now suck. Spend XP on LoW. If you survive.

Life gets much simpler if you simply redefine FW as Ap with rsr and extra time. As currently written, FW is rife with loopholes and inconsistencies that reek of cheese. If FW was factored into active point costs, then if you aided an attack power, then you wouldn't get 1DC/5 points. Since it doesn't affect the base power, then you do. You can't balance anyone who has FW with all attacks without affecting the entire campaign world. If PC 1 has FW with all attacks and PC 2 hands him his max DC weapon, then all bets are off. What are you going to do, limit PC2 because PC1 has FW? FW doesn't work against things it should. If I'm facing multiple identical opponents. (manufactured automatons, identically prepared turtle armor, etc) then making one FW roll ought to work against all of them. It doesn't. If you simply defined it as AP with the appropriate limitations, then it would. FW works against things it shouldn't. If you make a FW roll against me, and after that, somebody hands me a BPV, then its defense is halved. What's up with that? Or if I have some fully invisible defenses, they are halved, even if you have no idea they're there. ??? I made my Find Weakness roll against the Hero System and it detected Find Weakness...

I dislike Find Weakness. It is an orphan mechanic that exists nowhere else in the game system. If just one PC starts to abuse FW, then every other PC, NPC and villain must either be retrofitted with LoW or be potential dogfood. This is one case where the game system would be improved with the delete key. There are fairer ways of achieving this effect. FW is structurally flawed. LoW is nerfed. (what's up with that?) $0.02

Mittens: Hateshinai Toiki - GSC soundtrack Adeptus Mechanicus: Godzilla - BOC Sniper: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner - Warren Zevon 37: Space Lion - Cowboy Bebop OST

Yeah, but what if you're building a generic soldier, and the only resistant defenses he has is his helmet?

mental combat for dummies: I'm crushing your head, I'm crushing your head... ego attack, gestures, incantations...

If you're using hit locations, then you can typically get armor that covers only specific hit locations (e.g. a helmet) If you aren't, then how would you go about purchasing armor (e.g. a helmet) that gave protection only if you got hit in a vital spot (the damage roll was high) And, what limitation would you give for such an item? One definition of high might be the equivalent of the Head and Vitals Hit locations or 3-5 and 13. Assuming no called shots or altered targetting (high shot) then you're looking at slightly over 14% (31/216) Converting to generic damage you're looking at roughly 6 on a stunX roll or an average of 5 for a normal attack (depends on the # of dice, actually). The frequency is less than a 8- roll, but the utility is greater. (-1 1/2?) Another definition might be the 9-12 + 14 (all the x1 Body locations) 119/216 roughly 55%. An 11- is 62.5% and worth -1 limitation. Converting to generic damage and you're looking at any average or better roll. The limitation might fall in at -3/4 or so. Again, it's slightly less frequent, but more useful. Don't know why you'd need it, but you could also buy armor that covered only the x1/2 Body locations or 66/216 or about 30%. Slightly more frequent than 8-, not very useful to be buying armor that only works when they wimp out on damage...

I don't like this, either. Same issues: Can you buy this on an ego attack (eww) can you buy this advantage more than once (ewwwwwww) can you buy this on an NND/AVLD (ewww) I mean, worst case scenario: Buy a couple d6 of NND with fixed result, multiple purchases of stunning, uncontrolled continuous and your target will never get another phase. (ewwwwww) Alternately, buy 4d6 EGO attack with stunning 2x and you've got a 60 ap power that hits trivially and stuns Grond on an average roll. (ewwwww) I wouldn't allow this. $0.02

A rhetorical question: Isn't STUN essentially a defense? (it wards off unconsciousness) So wouldn't the suppress be halved? $0.02