Grailknight

IME, people play RPGs to be something other than themselves or at least to be their ideal selves. You'll probably get much happier players if you at least let them use their ideals in context with the power level you want to run. They can be flawed in real life, let them have their fantasies(within limits of course).

You'll like it. It's as good as 3 and 4.

Summons does it best but you could make them Followers.

Yeah the DCU is still making their Ang Lee Hulk versions of their characters. Someday, hopefully, they'll realize the should be making Jurassic World with superheroes instead of art house versions.

It has a scene during the credits.

For my part, MoS was decent, I didn't like the somber tone or him killing Zod at the end but it worked. Lois was a great character and Clark was fine considering this was his debut as Superman. BvS could have dropped the V. Affleck's Batman was an unabashed killer and had no clue about the metahumans in the world. Superman was dull, joyless and never tried to embrace the public. And for some reason, the US Government and Military let a civilian have unsupervised, and unlimited access to an alien spacecraft crashed into the middle of Metropolis. Wonder Woman and Lois to a lesser extent were the only good things in the movie. A Superman Movie with only one happy scene, I wouldn't have thought it possible until I saw it.

Just saw SS and I can only say that the critics are way off on this one. This movie is as good as anything the MCU has put out and if Warner had any sense they'd put the team behind this movie in charge of everything to come. On the good side( and it's 90% good): The actors nail their characters. Waller has the biggest brass ones of anyone in the movie, Harley is straight from the DCAU and steals all her scenes, Lawton and Flagg play off each other perfectly and the others play their lesser roles just as well. Leto's Joker is well done with more of an emphasis on the violent crazy. The plot is well setup and flows smoothly. Any critic who couldn't follow it is just straight out dumb or was doing something else while watching. The action is well done and fits the characters; The bad: People walk away uninjured from helicopter crashes a little too frequently. Batman: His appearances actually fit well and advance the story but I finally realize what I don't like about this version(besides the guns and disregard for life in BvS). He doesn't know anything. Batman doesn't go to people for information, he tells them when he fells like it. It's jarring and takes away from the credits scene. Go see this one, you won't be disappointed.

Adding Stop and Warning signs seems like the best solution. I just wish there was some way to add examples of "what not to do" in some type of errata document. Maybe I'll start a thread for this when I have time.

I could do it but if it was caterpillars...

CE is more similar to a Suppress than a Drain but given that there is no Active Point difference between the two, you can use either for comparison here. To Suppress or Drain 20 Active Points from that 12d6 Firebolt would be a 60 Active Point Power. The wizard is less effective but still gets some use from his power. He would have to be hit by this twice or more to be rendered totally powerless. Your example uses a 9 Active Point CE and takes the wizard from an 80 percent chance to a 50 percent chance. Using the equivalent 60 Active Points in CE makes the roll a -7 or less. So no possibility of using the power without large bonuses or moving 10 steps up the time chart just to get a chance at a roll of a 3. Let's use half those Active Points. A 30 point CE means that wizard needs to roll a 3 to use his 60 Active Point power so from 80 percent to .5 percent chance. Though it follows RAW, I can't find equivalence here. I keep coming back to:CC page 53 "Change Environment should not do as much damage, or have as strong an effect, as a similar Power for the same amount of CP. The GM should establish a maximum effect for Change Environment (or change its cost) if necessary for game balance." That's also RAW. There seems to be a conflict here that everyone can(and should) resolve to their own interpretation of RAW and game balance. Was this power discussed by SETAC? It did undergo several changes in the transition.

I have no problem with the Ice Sheet use. That's something that can be encountered as part of the normal environment. I'm trying to express a fine distinction. CE bought as penalties should make applicable powers harder to use. It should not change how the power functions. The Ice Sheet doesn't take away my ability to stand it just makes it harder as would a naturally occurring Ice Sheet. To actually reduce my running you would have to buy the CE as minuses to my Running Power. It makes it harder to see but I'm not blind to everything because of CE, I just don't perceive as well. It should affect active uses of an ability not take away passive states as if it were an AVAD Drain. The CE power says it shouldn't be used to simulate Drain or other Powers at a reduced cost(and makes a specific ruling for movement powers). Forcing a roll should be disallowed by the Metarule that Defenses should be less expensive than the Attacks they apply against. At -1 for 3 points, CE is less expensive than buying up DC's in any power because it takes 5 points to counter that penalty.

This is the reasoning I was using in the Suffocation Thread. I guess I should have expressed myself better. It's not the penalty to a required roll, it's the ability to force a roll at penalties where one wasn't required before. Basically this gives CE the ability to give any of the targets powers the Requires a Roll Disadvantage at penalties. At -1 per 3 points, that's a 9 or less roll to any 50 Active Point power(more for smaller powers) for 30 Active points of CE. I think that's out of the scope of CE and more inline with a Severe Transform. Mechanically, there is no difference by RAW and there should be when that EGO or INT roll was not part of the target's powers. If A paid full points for his powers then B shouldn't be allowed to put a Disadvantage on them without paying for it. CE is too cheap, it should be a Transform.

I'd do it with a Transform(to add a Psychological Limitation) and add Partial Transform and Rapid Healing. That doesn't enslave them and lets it wear off after they aren't around for a short time(as you define).

Don't go there.... But if you do bring back pictures.

The Palace Job and The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes. Two fantasy caper novels with large and engaging characters and an interesting setting and unique take on unicorns.

The text of CE forces a roll but does not give the consequences of that forced roll. My interpretation is that it does not include the potential failure of passive CHAR. Lacking word of Steve, I concede that your interpretation is equally valid. By your interpretation, just for one example, you could have a CE that says that a targets CON doesn't function and they would then be Stunned by any subsequent attack that did damage. I don't think CE should be an AVAD Suppress against any CHAR that instantly takes that CHAR to 0 regardless of value but that's the interpretation you're advocating.

Never said A would auto-win just that he had a chance. If I had to bet, I'd bet on G. But that doesn't mean that running till a more powerful opponent exhausts himself is a strategy that never works. Yeah, the 3d6 END and STUN Drain is a better power. It also costs almost twice as much and has a more common defense. How much cheaper should it be? The thing is, you can't come close to building it on 20 Active point. I've tried starting with CE, Suppress and Drain and Drain comes closest. If you go with CE, you have to realize that you can't take away REC or END. CE can give you a penalty for a task that requires a roll but it has no effect on things that don't. There is no circumstance in Hero that requires a REC roll except Drain and while CE can do damage it doesn't do Drain. If you handwave that then you get to making the target spend END. What does your power do if he just sits and meditates. Again, nothing by RAW unless you make it into a type of Drain. There are 3 flaws in trying Suppress. Suppress is an Adjustment Power and all of the CHAR affected by Suffocation are Defensive. That means all the points are doubled and you need 3d6 to reliably reduce the REC of a Normal NPC and larger amounts of dice to do the subsequent CHAR which will all be higher. You also need to add Variable Effect to change between CHAR so that means more Active Points. You could do it with repeated 1d6 attacks but you have to spend END to maintain each one's effect and Suppress cannot have reduced END in any form by RAW. That will exhaust you long before the target. Third, Suppress cannot actually kill you with reduced BODY. Steve has ruled that you go into a deathlike coma but you pop up as good as new when the Suppress stops no matter how negative you are. Finally, you can build it with Drain and I actually got closer to 20 Active than I thought I could this way. 1d6 Drain vs STUN and BODY,(+1/2 Variable Effect), (+1/2 Constant), (+1 1/4 Reduced Return Rate, so you don't recover before the Drain is finished) the AVAD portion goes as +0 and then Disadvantages of (-1/2 Must be Maintained) (-1/4 must Drain STUN to zero before Draining BODY) so 32 Active Points and 18 Real Points. Add the Darkness and you get a 35 Active Point Power and 20 Real Points. You still have to hit in each successive phase and the problems with the END expenditure are still there. You could add DOT(adding +5 1/2 Advantage and reducing Must Be Maintained to +0) but that gives you 87 Active and 70 Real Points Oh and Desolid has has enough problems since there's an advantage that negates in addition to to the defined weakness and the +2 cost if you want to affect something. I don't allow AOE accurate because it negates DCV. AOE is good enough

One of the optional rules in The Ultimate Mentalist allowed combing powers from different sources. The most powerful was at full strength and the rest could add 25% of their power to the total. So two 12 DC mentalists could combine for a 15 DC attack(12 DC from first 3 DC from second(.

Have you seen the Wearing the Cape series by Marion G. Harmon. The science and magic of that series work on a similar principle to what you describe.

It has to be applied to the Movement Power not the Advantage. As you built it the Naked Modifier has No Turn Mode, the Movement is unchanged.

First off, we never said this was a typical combat but it was a one on one fight. Here's a scenario; Apprentice is sent to die in the arena vs a Gladiator. A only knows one spell, Suffocation because he's an apprentice. He hits with it as G closes and then spends the rest of the fight blocking, dodging and fleeing for his life. G may corner and kill A or A may evade until G drops. But A only needs Suffocation to win. Secondly, I made the power example AVAD to be comparable to Suffocation. Did you pay attention to the note that it would be less expensive (32 points for 1d6 Supers version and 16 points for the 1/2d6 Fantasy/Heroic version) Of course it's abusive but that wasn't the contention. You said DOT wasn't fast enough in combat time so I gave an example to counter your argument. But it does appear that it's possible to look at a power without seeing it in play and say that it's under priced doesn't it? Thirdly, though Hero does a very good job of balance, all Powers are not equally effective for their point cost. I concede that Suffocation doesn't work quickly on its own. But just like the target of Suffocation can fight back so can the user. If Suffocation is followed by an END Drain that lack of REC means you have to burn STUN to stay alive. 20 points is too little to negate any value of REC from 4 to 400 in one blow. It allows you to maintain Suffocation for only 2 END outside of your other attacks. It's that aspect that makes it too under price to me but YMMV. Lastly, I came up with a ballpark figure of closely 50 Active Points with built in Disadvantages getting the cost to 25-37 Real Points. The DOT is a clearly superior power(as I said in Post 31) and can cost as little 16 Active points for the 1/2d6 Fantasy/Heroic version. I'm not comparing one at AP to another at RP. And yes, your 6d6 STUN & END Drain will be more effective. That's a 75 Active Point power, no matter how you reduce it to 36 Real Points.

Your alternatives can be effective delaying tactics but they don't end the fight by themselves. Suffocation can As for your assertion that DOT is too slow for combat, look here: Blast 1d6, Attack Versus Alternate Defense (Power Defense; All Or Nothing; +1/2), Does BODY (+1), Damage Over Time, Target's defenses only apply once, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (33-64 damage increments, damage occurs every Segment, +5 1/2) (40 Active Points) Note that the AVAD and Does Body are only here to make it work against a lesser defense. Take them out and it becomes a 32 AP power. That's for a Supers game. Assuming a hit in the initial segment 12, the target has taken 24 BODY and 84 STUN less defenses(once) at the end of turn 2. Before it runs out in 1 minute 4 seconds, it totals 64 BODY and 224 STUN. For a Fantasy or Heroic game cut it to 1/2d6 and you get 12 BODY and 48 STUN less defenses(once) and 32 BODY and 128 STUN at conclusion. IME, combats last 2 turns which makes this an effective power in combat. If your experience is shorter combats then I agree that it's slow however if your combats last longer this is really nasty in combat. In all cases it's nasty if the means of stopping it aren't readily available afterwards. I've tried pricing Suffocation in HD but I haven't got a model I'm satisfied with. For what its contributes, my attempts come in around 50 AP and 25-37 RP. It's not that expensive but it's not 20 AP either.

Okay, I reread the entire thread. It seems that we are evenly split on the under priced or just right opinion. That's great, one style does not fit all games. Except for DOT(which does not have to be slow), all of your examples require a character to constantly hit with attacks over the course of the combat. Suffocation(and DOT) is a hit once and win without the need of any other powers much less the teammates you dragged into the one on one fight. So I'll wait for examples of 20 AP powers that only require one hit from only that power before I concede that point. Sorry if you took my post as implying that your opinion was inferior to mine. I meant it as to say that some of us look at the power and reason that it is under priced. Nothing more.

One explanation, is that some of us can see that it is under priced without needing to see it in play. My post acknowledged that DOT was more under priced. Saying that Suffocation is okay because another construct is more broken is kinda weak as a defensive argument.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/bullet-that-struck-caregiver-was-meant-to-protect-him-police-union-president-says/ar-BBuCQMF?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=UP97DHP Looks like the officer has admitted fault. He may be a good cop but I'm curious how he made the SWAT team with that kind of marksmanship.