Alverant

Re: Intelligent multipowers Well I used this example because it was from the book so it's "official" which is also why I asked the question "what happens to the burning man?" But to be devil's advocate (not the superteam), how often will this happen? If it's once-a-game, then pay the points, but if it's a once-in-a-blue-moon, like a power stunt, save the rules mongering and let it stand. Why spend the points for a rare event? I revise my position, the best situation is to buy both powers linked together if it will be used often. But my own example of the "disruptor" stands, it really is different effects for different situations. I'd go with Supreme Serpent's suggestion but it's expensive and puts more weight on the GM.

Re: Intelligent multipowers

Re: Intelligent multipowers I don't have that book either. But in any case the Fire Truck in Villainy Unbound is a better example. The water is a multipower with 2 slots, a Dispell vs all Fire Powers and an EB with double KB. Now lets say the fireman is trying to extinguish a fire imp running around a crowd. So initially the hose is using the dispell slot. But he misses and hits a bystander. According to a strict interpertation of the rules since the first slot is used nothing should happen except the guy's cigar is put out. But logically the guy should be soaked and go flying back a few hexes as if hit by the second slot. Or if you want a more likely example, an illusionist has disguised a weakened support as being part of the blaze. The fireman blasts the "fire" with dispell. What should happen? I will also point out that there was no extra Advantage to the multipower for having this auto-switch. I'd say it should be allowed provided it doesn't become abusive. But this does raise the question of what happens if the target fulfills both requirements, like Feur? Would he be subject to both effects (dispell AND EB) or half and half or what? I had my own idea for a logical intelligent multipower. A launched projectile intended to disrupt the first "para-real" thing it encounters. The first slot would be an RKA with Affects Desolid and Only Affects Desolid, the second would Dispell Visual Images (effect dependent) because an illusion would also count as "para-real", then because the projectile is heavy and moving fast, a physical EB for when it finally hits something.

Re: Only In Hero ID questions Actually I'm talking about one XP out of 3 or 4 so 33% or 25% of XP being automatically allocated. So yes, I'd call that minor. Also since the player (me) chooses to take this disad, all I really loose is the ability to change my mind later and that's why it's worth just 5 points.

Re: Only In Hero ID questions How many disads have a "cancel" talent or power? I can't think of any. Unluck and Luck come close but you can have both and rolling one level of luck does not counter one level of unluck, just that something good came out of something bad. To continue your example, if I can have Hunted by Viper can I buy a "Viper isn't interested in character" talent? I can understand the logic of how Disads are meant to limit the character and not the player, but so do other disads. Nothing a player does will change the result if they take a Hunted or Watched. It's totally out of his hands. The character's normal progress is preemptied by the continuning transformation. Would it be better if I called it, "Transformation slowly becoming permenent" with the effect that the OIHID lim must be bought off? There are other disads that partially dictate how the character progresses. For example in a Teen Hero campaing most players would have the Social Limitation: Minor. But depending on their ages and how long the campaign lasts, at some point the characters will turn 18 and have to reduce or buy it off (until they turn 21 and become a full adult legally). Also a "Driven to learn Martial Arts" psych lim would mean that occasionally the character would have to buy another MA maneuver. Almost any character disad can be used to push character development. I don't see what's wrong with spelling out how in a minor way.

Re: Only In Hero ID questions About the regen limitation, my character isn't likely to change back into his human form during combat. Also as a brick he's not likely to take Body damage in the first place. I'm not even sure how often it will be needed since some groups have a healer of some sort. How often do superheroes take body and how does it affect them between adventurers and from one adventure to another? If I take 5 body one session, will I still have that damage the next or will it be healed via GM's fait?

Re: Only In Hero ID questions prestidigitator, I think part of the confusion is that this is a disad the player chose, not the GM. By taking it the player willingly surrenders part of how the character acts. Just as Code Against Killing should prevent a character from executing street punks, this disad limits the character's actions. Disadvantages limit what a character can do in one way or another, this is basically a new way. I can take a "total" psychological limitation or choose to play the character as if he had one. I don't see a fundamental difference between that and my own disad. If you're worried about the GM controlling the character, what about Unluck? It gives the GM special permission to mess with the character in new ways. Having it affect XP is unconventional and new, but I think it's similar to a psych lim. Both direct how the character will act, the difference is psych lims affect a particular situation and the other affects progress. This disad can delay buying a new skill for example. Don't I deserve points for loosing some RP freedom?

Re: Only In Hero ID questions I had planned out the "Required to Spend XP on ..." Character Disadvangage to balance against potential abuse. The concept is that the player is required to take some of his XP and put it towards canceling a limitation or buying off another disadvantage. Other examples would be working off a probationary period by an organization (Watched), adapting to a given enviroment (Suseptable) or attack (Vulurnability). If used against a disad, the effect is gradual. A 14-watched becomes 11- then 8- as more points are spent on it. The big problem I see is what happens when this Disadvantage has run its course? Will the Required To Spend have to be bought off? Changed to another limitation/disad? Replaced with something new entirely (like a 0pt disad earned in the course of the campaign). Using the same concept, this could be used to put extra points into a hidden power the GM picks. My GM saves one point of XP then gives us a big mystery power. Now this disad is different from the rest since it affects the player instead of the character so would need GM approval. It's worth 5pts per point of XP set aside; double that if the GM picks where it's spent. I'd include a 10pt Variable XP option where how much XP is allocated depends on how much the limitation/disad was used in the session. For example if the entire session was spent in Guardian mode, all the XP would go towards buying off the limitation. But if it was a pure role play session without the Guardian, all that XP would be under my control to spend how I want. When maxed out (3XP under GM's control) it's a 30pt disadvantage which is pretty heavy. Plus don't forget once the disad is used up, it must be bought off or replaced so we don't want it to cost too much.

I'm working on a character concept and have some questions about OIHID. The character is a new member of an interstellar organization of Guardians. By focusing, saying the Guardian's mantra, and being in a situaion where his powers will be needed to help others he is transformed into a brick hero. Now my questions: 1) Since the OIHID requires time and a way to stop the transformation, is what I have enough (focus, incantations, and situation) not enough or even too much? 2) In his human form his powers are in "stand by" mode and perform repair and maintenance duties. I bought this as Regerative Healing, only in normal ID. How much of a limitation is it worth? I figure 3/4 since when combined with OIHID we have an even -1. It's like the Lockout limitation, either brick or healing. 3) With each good deed he does, he gets to use the Guardian powers whenever he wants. In game terms, some of the OIHID is bought off. Eventually he'll have his super-stats at human maximum and have the less-obvious powers (IR vision, etc). To use his full Guardian powers, he'll have to change but it would be instant and unstoppable; hense no limitation. Since he HAS to spend some XP this way each session could I take a character disadvantage "Must spend at least 1 XP per game session on average to buy off OIHID" for 5 points? (I figure on 5 disad points for each XP, double disad points if the GM picks how to spend them.) Thanks in advance. If you need me to clairfy anything, just ask. Jason

In the FAQ you say we should have disadvantages on a Summoned creature because it's a game not a tax return. Is a self-destruct or dispell disadvantage allowed? I remember reading about missles who have "using power destroys missle" or something like that, but most have been limitations on a power and not a disadvantage. If I summon a weapon could I have a "dispelled when charges are used up" or another built-in mechanism to undo the summon so another creature/object can be summoned? On a related note, if summon has continuing charges, is the creature unsummoned when the charge is up? What about having a mind link to the summoner and the disadvantage "dispelled on command from summoner"?

Re: Ceator God, Destroyer God, Sub-Gods and their priests A good system, but one suggestion is to have some the sub-gods be neither good nor evil. Death can be welcome after a long full life and the person is ready. Love can turn to jealousy and obsession. It may help to have more abstract sub-gods, a sub-god of plants instead of agriculture. Plants can be poisonous, weeds can take over fields, trees compete with each other for sunlight. Agriculture doesn't have much of a dark side. A sub-god of weather, sun/fire, night/cold, and so on. Also you could expand the motivations of the creator/destroyer gods. Why does one create and the other destroy? All the destroyer has to do is succeed once and then what? This may not be the first world. Maybe the destroyer won once and there are "leftovers" from the pervious world(s). They can even be the same one. How can there be death without life? The creator plants the seeds of destruction in each of his worlds. Why? Entertainment, challenge, balance, built in obsolence, this is a god the real reason could be beyond that of us mortals. That would be interesting, a creater/destroyer god who recreates the world as he develops his skills (this god may not be perfect and has the gift to grow and learn). There could be remenants of previous worlds, old sub-gods, primal magics, monsters, etc. OK I'm getting a little off track here... Since these are gods under your control, I'd try to make them to encompass as much as possible. A learning creator god could make a new sub-god if the need arises. (If the current world lasts long enough to develop technology there may be a sub-god appointed who controls it.)

Re: Dimensional Exiles Yep, powers is usually the easiest way to help them survive. If they get rescued then it's not as much fun. In the Viper book there is a campain idea where a whole nest gets transfered so you do have your guns until you run out of ammo. So maybe a military group is brought over with all their weapons. They get their magic boosts as the guns run dry. Stargate SG-1 is kind of like that. Ordinary people against aliens with superior firepower, but they are able to win through stradgy and courage. To quote O'Neil, "You have weapons designed to scare the enemy. We have weapons designed to KILL the enemy."

Re: Dimensional Exiles It sounds like some fun campaigns. I wonder why they're not more popular. Do they blur the line between fantasy and reality too much for some players? It damages the suspision of disbelief by having real people in a fantasy world? The Fantasy Hero book talks about some of the problems with modern knowledge (gun powder and scientific knowledge for example). But are they really problems? The same thing that makes magic possible can make gun powder impossible. In the Galactic Champions book they do talk about the hero out of time. There's really no difference between that and this. Someone from another world/time adapting to the culture difference. Most people in today's world will adapt just as well (or poorly) if they were sent to Fantasy world as a thousand years in the future.

I was wondering if anyone ran a cross-world/dimensional-exiles Hero Fantasy game. Where the PCs are ordinary earth people drawn into the fantasy world. It's been done in some fantasy novels and is lightly touched on in the Fantasy Hero book, but I've seen little of it here. In any campaings you are a part of, do the characters get back, gain special powers, have any special difficulities, etc? I'm curious about your experiences. Thanks Moquif

Re: godless fantasy One solution I like is having magic be a force of nature. Nonintelligent (or at best semi-intelligent), not aligned to good or evil, it simply is. Animals and plants have evolved to use this energy like how birds evolved to use flight (hence dragons, beholders, krakens, umber hulks, etc). Magic is used by force of will, generally on an instinctive or genetic level (a gene that directly taps the power with other genes channeling it). That's why the powers of monsters are mostly simple and unrefined except for the intelligent ones who have learned how to adapt. Humanoids access to magic is also through will, but without the adaptations of monsters, they have to do it differently. Think of spells like a computer program. Different computer languages are better in different areas. SQL is for databases, COBOL for businesses, and so on. Because of the complexities of the "languages" most people specialize in one particular area. Divine, shamanic, sorcery, witchcraft, ... are all different ways of accessing the same force. This would mean that with enough time and patience, a wizard could turn undead or heal wounds while a cleric can cast fireballs. All the limitations are rooted in society and the philosophies behind the different schools. The gods are manifestations of their followers. Figments of the imagination come to life. They have no real power. If the gods were to kill each other, they would just remanifest when they have enough "prayer power" to do so. While the gods may exist, they are but glorified ghosts with about as much power in the physical world. The only way to kill a god would be to kill or convert enough worshipers to make cohesion impossible. The gods would discourage it to keep the balance of power. If one got too powerful the others would unite to knock it down out of a sense of self-preservation.

Re: Pirates {er, HEROES!} of Dark Water !

It is my understanding that Boostable Charges are meant to simulate a controlled overload of a focus. But that overload damages the focus so it may break. I'm trying to simulate something like that. Could Boostable Charges be used to simulate a pool of charges where you can use as many or fiew as you like but without the Burnout. Like a canister of healing slave, one dose for cuts, a glob for something more serious. Or a backyard grill, keeping it on High will use the fuel faster than Low. What I was thinking is to take an extra 1/4 you can use up to 8 extra charges (8DC/40pts) with no chance of a Burnout.

Is there a default class of objects the Healing power affects. By the rules, a potion that heals people could be applied to objects. Was this intentional or is the power restricted to a certain group of targets? What kind of advantage or adder is there so it could heal people and objects equally. (Say nanobots that repair flesh as well as metal.)

If the special FXs of a power require a limitation, does that limitation count towards the Variable Limitation? Or can a player elected to have a fixed limitation that will always be used? For example, if a spell multipower had -1/2 Variable Limitations and it had the Animate Cables (Ultimate Supermage) as a slot, would the -1/2 only on cables limitation be enough or would I need an additional -1/2? Also since Limitations are suppose to reduce a power's effectivness, are limitations like Roll 2/3 Dice (-1/2) or Roll Half Dice (-1) be allowed? {Full endurance would have to be paid though.} Thank you.