TaxiMan

Re: Active Point Maxima?

Re: Active Point Maxima? Since an additional d6 "on top" adds directly to the damage taken after defenses, it's easy to CON Stun with very little extra. Hero is about fun, so ... whatever! However, if you want the math to "balance" things for you (and I like the "GM Approval" personally), you might try something serious like a mandatory Side Effect: 1d6 DRAIN CON / +1 DC. Of course, the value of such a limitation should be -0. That way, the character is paying a real price (risk of being CON Stunned himself) for "pushing" his power. Just don't save your big bad guy for the very, very end - BBG should always have a minion secreted away somewhere with a sniper rifle.

Re: Inherent, does anyone use it? How? Cool posts, made me think. If you want perfect defense against Drains etc., you could buy everything Inherent. So for a 350 pt character, you could end up spending 70 points for the +1/4 advantage (fuzzy due to beginning stats and Limitations applied). For 70 pts, you could buy a lot of Hardened PowD. But I guess Inherent also protects against NND Drains too....

Re: Altering rules: d20 style skill rolls? Ah, but the roll-high / roll-low mechanics prevent gamers from using loaded dice. You know, in those "Play For Cash!" RPGs.

Re: The Wisdom of Solomon? I'd say it works all the time, by leading Billy toward being a superhero instead of exploiting his powers to satisfy juvenile (or immature or even evil) impulses. I mean, if you were super-powerful, what are the chances you'd live like him?

Re: What is Munchkin? Uh, guys - I think it's a card game that makes fun of D&D...

Re: Why does drain cost more than suppress? 0 END Suppress is like Drain, in that there is no limit to how much can be Suppressed. The normal limit occurs when you can't pay the cumulative END cost for multiple Suppresses. Another difference might be range - if you get far enough away, the target might recover all the Suppressed points instantly. Not so for Drain.

Re: Movement in a Jetliner! Cool! I want a character with Regen from Death, and 0" Flight. Add a sense for Cosmically Aware of Motion of the Universe, if I want it to be useful. Get downstream of villian, fly 0" - which puts me at rest with the Universe. So now I'm moving at, like .99c and smear the first thing I hit! Whooo! The most powerful, cheapest Power EVER!! I WIN!!

Re: Ego Boost You guys make good points. I knew when I said "PRE = external appearance" I'd said it wrong, but left it for lack of desire to hammer out a better way to say it. I meant something more like PRE = external effect on others. PRE for defense only doesn't fit with that definition. It works in the game because it's costed appropriately to its value. As far as what it means, it seems wrong by my earlier take on EGO and PRE. David J. - very good thoughts! Maybe I can get accustomed to your definitions. Let's see... EGO is mental toughness acquired by training and hard work. PRE is an emotional attribute, one that's visible by others (social PRE) and useful internally (adrenaline-fueled bravery). OK! Your example about Major Termite takes the same path I took waaay back, but you attribute it to PRE. Given your definition, that works. Even better, your definition explains why EGO is dissed by 90% of heroes and only mentalists work it up! I bow to your convincing arguments and accept your definitions. Mark this day on your calendar - you won an Internet debate! LL - my "see what sticks" comment was more about "what makes sense to y'all & what generates feedback" than anything else. And though sometimes convinced of an opinion, I'll still try to listen. I guess I just need to hear an argument I can understand. The only nagging complaint I have remaining is the ludicrous level of Legendary human EGO. Wouldn't be so bad if there were any characters published that were anywhere near that limit. Just for fun, my next character might be such a man without mentalist powers. I'll try to buy +40 EGO, Only Because I'm Legendary (-1/2) and see if it flies.

Re: Ego Boost Just to be clear, I'm saying EGO = internal strength of will PRE = external appearance

Re: Ego Boost Thanks David! Thinking as I type here, but while Presence is good it doesn't IMO cover bravery. That seems like an internal thing, not an external thing. Still, we use PRE to defend against being scared (PRE attacks)... We also use EGO to defend (IDHMBIFOM). So maybe you defend with PRE if you are used to scaring others, and experiencing a PRE attack only stirs up professional interest in how it was done? While defending against a PRE attack with EGO represents just plain being strong willed. Makes sense to me & I like it - but we're way outside published explanations here. Yeah, I'd say confidence and bravery are EGO where they help you, and PRE where those traits are visible to others (who are impressed by said traits). LL - also true that in comics humans shine when it comes to EGO. It's a little off-topic, but I'd guess that's because (a) willpower is one of a very few traits that has stayed important for heroes over the last 40+ years, and ( it'd suck if there weren't any human heroes. I mean, really - don't we all secretly believe that Superman is human? Anyway, granting for the moment that humans are sorta super-powered as a racial characteristic when it comes to EGO, where are the super-charged radioactive mutant descendants of the gods with super EGO? Maybe there is no such thing as a Mega-EGO superpower? So we can have super-human physical traits (STR, DEX, COM) and a super-human mental trait (INT), but the people playing games all unconciously agree that they can't relate to a character with super-human EGO. Yeah, I'm throwin' a lot of stuff at the wall to see if any sticks - but I solidly convinced that EGO is one messed up stat.

Re: How would you use Gravitar? "Extra Limbs, +40 STR, Only to ...." Can't go there.

Re: Ego Boost Good points LL! I'll support the other side, 'cause if I just agreed, there would be no discussion. That, and I still think it smells. Are you agreeing that the Legendary EGO range is wrong? I couldn't really tell. If only gods and cosmic entities exceed a normal human's potential EGO, what's so super about the rest of 'em? Judging from the actual range of EGO in published characters, I still think the chart in 5er showing a human can have 50 EGO ... is wrong. Comparing EGO to DEX still supports having it be 1 cp. DEX actually only costs 2 cp since no one - no one - fails to by SPD beyond that provided by DEX. (I know, state an absolute and somebody will find an exception. That's cool, I wonder if there is one.) Since DEX is uber-useful and EGO ain't, I'll stand by pricing it at 1 cp. Finally, stats are who you are inside. Skill levels represent training. The fact Menton has so many freakin' skill levels makes it seem like he should have had more EGO - except the Powers That Be wanted EGO to track DEX. With 60 EGO (at 1 cp) and ECV = EGO/5 he would have 12 ECV that easily would hit a normal maxed out at 30 EGO, 6 ECV. Since he's a top dog Mentalist, maybe he should have 75 EGO. Heck, he could still have some CSLs, but he wouldn't have needed 10 skill levels.

Re: Stretching a point OK, this doesn't help the conversation at all BUT - When I read the title, I thought "A point has no dimensions - how can you stretch it?". Please ignore. Just another speedbump along an otherwise friendly thread.

Re: Ego Boost I was taking the Legendary levels from 5ER - I was shocked when I saw EGO at 50! Something is definitely unhinged there. I understand a desire to keep characters human, it's hard to relate to playing characters who are gods. We have no points in common with gods - so how do we relate to our characters? We want to keep them like the old Greek gods, full of normal human failings but loaded with Awesome Power ! But as I think about it, I think there is merit to scaling EGO to match STR. Normal people go to 20 EGO / STR regularly, and once in a generation someone gets to 30 EGO / STR. Superpowered characters can get to 60 EGO / STR, and cosmic-level characters reach 75+. All that seems to fit my take on EGO. Make EGO 1 cp instead of 2. Make ECV = EGO/5. It seems like it'd work out just fine.

Re: Ego Boost Yeah, 'mind control' happens. BUT, this is could be a scaling error in Hero. I mean, we've got the by-far uber mentalist Menton, right? And his EGO is only 30?!? Much less than a Legendary normal (50!)?!!? So here's the best in the world, and he only "hits" a normal ~0% of the time, and said Legendary normal shrugs off illusions and commands typically in seconds? Seems like a scaling problem to me. Make EGO 1 cp and have supers with EGO of 60+ (Menton maybe 75). Max for Legendary normals of 30. Now it's scaled properly. OR, say that Normals have 20 EGO absolute max, leave the rest alone? Anyway, I'm not really trying to suggest a rules change ('cause the game is fun and fine as is), just point out that EGO isn't exactly what it's described to be in the manual.

From the description of EGO, why would any hero not have a ton of this? I know, I know "it's expensive & doesn't do much". But in describing your character, don't you have heroic willpower? If you get hurt, do you run away from a fight like some normal guy off the street? 20 EGO is really good for normals, and no normal has more than 30 EGO. So are there a bunch of normal guys running around in the world that have "More of what it takes!" than your character? Who's characters have respectable EGOs? Who's doesn't? Who shows their character progressing by increasing their confidence and heroic will power (buying EGO with XP)? I haven't seen it.

Re: Body crash, Superheaded barrier, and superheated hands Since Damage Shields are so expensive, you could have a very low powered one and also keep the AoE attack. The picture is that the character 'flares' when necessary, almost unconciously (explains why bullets & physical projectiles don't hit).

Re: How would you use Gravitar? Gravitar suffers a serious accident (radiation, virus, etc) that wildly affects her personality. Maybe it's in a battle with the PCs. The heros don't know this affects her, and are surprised to find they are fighting her later - when she was at the scene to help! Once the PCs accept that she's become good, she becomes callous, a prankster, etc. (whatever keeps the players puzzled) until the PCs know she's mentally unstable. During this time, her powers have been slowly and subtly escalating. When ready from a game-fun perspective, Gravitar's powers grow out of control. Violence & destruction follow (fill in the blank whether it's accidental / side effect / criminal). She is way powerful & unlikely to be stopped by the PCs. Stop her or not, she soon becomes incredibly massive and can't stop it. She sinks into the ground - by this time the PCs better have figured out what's happening. They either know (through good RP) or scientists explain she has run-away density increase that will (a) sink her into the Earth ( suck the planet into a black hole. Can the heros find the solution (antiviral, radiation neutralization, etc.) in time? Can they reach her as she sinks slowly down into the Earth? How do you reach someone that's 1,500' down? Is she still alive due to her crazy powers, or is she some horrible gravity-amplifying corpse?

Re: Total Darkness Sight Ah, I understand. My point was that Darkness is sorta an attack and should have some cheap defense. I suppose some weird sense fits that bill in a way.

Re: Total Darkness Sight OK, I'll buy that defenses aren't supposed to be absolute. I tried side-stepping that by proposing Darkness DEF based on AP in Darkness, but knew that was pretty lame. However, re: DEF is supposed to be cheaper than Attacks, this:

Re: Total Darkness Sight Why isn't there a DEF vs. the unusual attack "Darkness"? Defenses are supposed to be cheaper than the attack. Since Darkness doesn't have Xd6, how about saying Darkness DEF works against Darkness that has an AP < 1.25 * ? Or figure some other reasonable cost.

Re: Tunneling Question. If an RKA to open a hole in a wall costs more than Ranged Tunneling UUA to do the same thing, I think the Hero metarule is to use the RKA. If the AP of the RKA is too high, then how will a character justify his character having that level of power? Example: If you can "blow a hole" in an 9 DEF 9 BODY wall with a single shot, do you have a 5d6 RKA? 5d6 RKA averages 18 BODY, same as the Tunneling. True, you could say a perfect 3d6 RKA can do 18 BODY, but the Tunneling build works 100% of the time. If you can reliably destroy 18 BODY worth of inanimate objects, why can't you dish out that damage vs. villians? Do you have a Psych Lim: Berserk vs. Walls? I apologize for the snippy tone of the above, it isn't meant that way but I don't have the time right now to rewrite it tactfully. If your co-players & GM are happy with the build, enjoy! Looking at it as a rules-only question, the Ranged Tunneling UUA just looks wrong. There is a cleaner, more consistent way to do it - the only problem is, it costs more.

Re: Stone Fist Whatever, but I know it's not as good as having fists .... like unto a thing of iron!

Re: Question: Must I model everything I own? I GM a group that was too cheap (ok, and too inexperienced) to buy a base. I had them meet in an abandoned warehouse, and described in detail how the roof leaked they had to sit on the cold / wet concrete floor normal guards would walk by all the time it stank (by the wharf) they had nothing of use there; no TV, no radio, no food It sucked for them (in game, not out of game - out of game must be fun, or there's no point). I explained that a 0-pt base had disadvantages that made up for the advantage of being able to meet and talk in private. They got a base soon. All that because I was trying to show a new group of players what they could spend experience points on, besides starting some kind of superpower growth spurt. Did about the same thing with skills ("You don't have ? Oh, roll 3d6, see if you get a natural 3.")