Doc Samson

Re: Looking for Advice on a "Buffer/ Healer" Superhero I think most would classify him primarily as a martial artist, but my point was that some really good characters have powers that may not entirely be within their theme. Another example would be Mr. Fantastic. He a super-inventor with stretching powers. His original "theme" was water related, but I think he's more well known for his intelligence and inventions now. Anyway, if I had to pick a common special effect for all my powers, I think I would go with swarms of nanobots. The biggest change I think would be how the Force Wall and Missle Deflection look.

Re: Looking for Advice on a "Buffer/ Healer" Superhero Hmm...Darkness and Change Environment are intriguing ideas. For some reason this has made me think of some kind of Transform to cure poisons or diseases.

Re: Looking for Advice on a "Buffer/ Healer" Superhero Some good ideas here. Invisibility, UBO and a team Teleport could be very useful.

Re: Looking for Advice on a "Buffer/ Healer" Superhero You hit the nail on the head here. This has proven to be very true in the past, but in game it actually isn't so bad. If I am getting ganged up on, that leaves my companions free to act or even defend me in return!

Re: Looking for Advice on a "Buffer/ Healer" Superhero The character's "theme" is that of a Super Combat Medic. He's technology based so pitcure an EMT from the far future. His powers are technological in origin but can effect the body (like a Doctor can today). The END Aid is a stimulant type injection, like a super adrenaline shot. The Healing is a swarm of nano-surgeons (tiny robots that can repair tissues very fast). The Force Field type powers are also technological in origin, allowing him to defend his comrades in battle (like a medieval hospitaler who can wear armor and shield but is prohibited from shedding blood). I hope that clears my goals up a bit. As far as all powers having to be of the same theme, what do you think of Batman? His Gadgets and Martial Arts are quite different and not all are "bat-like" (bat knockout gas?) As far as other types of Aids, we have a well balanced group at the moment and I didn't want to do anything that would ruin another character's schtick, such as give everyone else the same (max) speed our speedster has. I am hoping to find some useful ideas that boost each character, but without making them all too similar. Thanks for the ideas, your questions have helped flesh the character's role out a bit more. The other ideas are also very good (and in fact I did have some attack powers, like a super anesthetic NND, on the last incarnation) but I want to try to stay away from powers that target villains for conceptual reasons. I am hoping to continue in the direction of powers that target my companions.

Hi all. I am thinking about trying my hand (again) at a purely defensive/ healing and buffing type character. The character is a total pacifist and will not have any offensive capability (including powers that target enemies such as Entangle) whatsoever. I have tried this in the past and was pleasantly surprised that it was so fun. The problem actually turned out to be that the character quickly broke the game. His buffs caused the other character's to exceed the attack and defense caps (not to mention that Aid was half the cost in 4E). As a house rule, the GM has ruled that no power I use can help the other characters exceed the campaign AP attack and defense caps. For example, I could not use a STR Aid on the Brick's STR (as he is already at our max) or a ED Force Wall to stack with our Energy Projector's ED (he also is at max ED). I am looking for suggestions in other directions to go in. Here is what I have so far: Powers - Healing, Simplified Healing, Tracks Individual Wounds, (This is a very powerful option as it allows me to use repeated heals on the same character), Ranged - END Aid, Ranged (Though this doesn't allow the PCs to break the caps, the GM has agreed to allow them to Push their powers at will (10 AP max) with the excess END as the special effect is that of a Super-Stimulant.) - Missile Deflection, Any Ranged Attack, Useable at Range (+1) (The special effect is a ranged "Repulsion Field".) - Mental, Power, and Flash Defense Force Wall (None of the PCs are even close to capped in these Defenses. The Special Effect is a "Suppression Field". As is an Exotic Defense only Field, I don't need to buy it Transparent against Normal attacks) The character's personal Defenses are all bought through an OAF Shield. I though it was only fair to give the villains a fighting chance to take me down, as they probably won't be able to take down anyone else until I am out. Skills/ Talents/ Perks Doctor Package Deal, including Paramedic, SS (Medicine), Perk (Licensed MD) Disadvantages "Code vs. Killing (Common, Total) "Hippocratic Oath (Actively Protects Others)" (Very Common, Total) Thanks in advance for any suggestions. All input is welcome.

Re: Trying to run a game for my old GM -- My apologies, I wasn't trying to imply anything more than my experiences with what I consider a demanding (yet very rewarding) group. I yield to your greater epxerience as I have not been playing Champs for nearly that long. No GM can prepare for everything and "winging it" to save a scene (or to enhance the fun) is sometimes necessary.

Re: Trying to run a game for my old GM -- I also have been playing Champions for many years. In my current game, almost all the players are equally proud of their Roleplaying AND Powergaming skills. If they feel I am "winging" a villian or a story, then I will often get an earful. They want a challenge (and gloat when things are too easy) but they don't like the feeling that a villian's stats are changing based on what attack they are using. For these reasons, I always try to have a full sheet for my villains. IMHO the biggest part of designing a villain (well, second biggest after concept) is making sure you understand how his powers work within the system and in relation to the PCs defenses. This comes with time and experience (in other words, just have fun playing and the skill will come). I design my villains in several ways, based on how crtical their defeat/ or victory is to the story. 1. For any villain upto the power level of the heroes, I design them the same way I would a character. Yes it takes alot of time, but having a developed character (including a backstory) for the PCs to learn about, can often be just as fun for the players as smashing them. For these types of characters, I stat them as balanced characters, and if they happen to have a vulnerability to one of the players attacks, then so be it. The fight may be easier than I hoped, but I won't alter the character to make him more challenging (the challenge is often based on how well you "play" him anyway). Over sveral campaigns, you will have a decent sized stable of NPC to draw from. 2. For Master Villains or Re-occuring Villains that I want to be able to escape a battle (if needed for the story), I pay special attention to make sure they have complete defenses (Power, Mental, Flash, Knockback, ect.) so that the battle is a challenge, even if the players roll exceptionally well or use superior tactics (my current groups was designed with a common origin so Teamwork and Coordinated Attacks are constant). I frequently design these types of villains with more points and make sure they are very difficult to Stun (my players will try to chain Stun if possible) and are capable of frequently stunning the PCs (to force the PCs to spread out the damage, protect eachother, ect.) 3. I most frequently design Supervillain Teams as complete individual characters (see #1) but pay special attention to making sure they form a balanced team. Individual weaknesses are fine, but I make sure they add up to a cohesive group without a glaring flaw (like having no Brick). I plan out tactics ahead of time and make sure they have Teamwork and SPDs that facilitate Coordinated Attacks. 4. I design Giant Monster type villains to be able to withstand a tremendous pounding by all the players at the same time. They almost universally have Damage Reduction and a complete set of Defenses. I won't make their Attacks as powerful as a master Villain's (i.e. enough to Stun even the group's Brick), but I usually make them AE or Explosion so they can effect multiple PCs at once. Though our current playstyle is pretty aggressive compared to other groups I have played in, I think starting with written guidelines and an idea of specific power levels for your villains, is useful even for the newest GMs (perhaps even more so).

Re: Cartoonist Stuck In Own Creation Power Build 0 6) Cut from the Story: 3d6+1 HKA, OAF: Giant Eraser (50 Active Points) Real Cost: 25

Re: Hair Tricks? That's a cool idea. This I would buy as TK I think, or maybe additional Indirect on the Stretching.

Re: Hair Tricks? This isn't a bad idea, except that TK will yield a lower max STR if the campaign has a strict max AP limit.

Re: Hair Tricks? Great name. Narcissus's identity was the male supermodel Adonis Samson. Now I can't stop thinking about Zoolander...

Re: Hair Tricks? I played a male character similar to Medusa a long time ago named Narcissus. He was the team's brick so I concentrated on STR tricks and defenses with his hair Powers. Here's what I can remember. - Extra Limbs - +STR, Only With Extra Limbs - Stretching, Limited Body Parts (Hair), No Velocity Damage - Clinging - HKA (It was a rough campaign) We didn't have Restrainable back then, so I just bought his defense powers non-persistent. I think Restrainable, in addition, works much better to simulate that his hair is blocking or tangling up any attacks that hit him. - Armor, Restrainable, Non-persistent, Visible - KB Resistance, Restrainable, Non-persistent, Visible - Missile Deflection, Any Physical Projectile, At Range (Restricted by Stretching), Costs END Most of his Disads involved his vanity, which caused him to cover his face with an impenetrable mask so it wouldn't get scarred. He was, of course, a professional model. It was short lived but fun character. - 75% Resistant PD and ED Damage Reduction, 8- Activation (Face Only), OAF (Mask) EDIT Mattingly has alot of great stuff there. It's inspired me to recreate this guy at some point. I especially love the... - Normal Touch, Range, 360o, Targeting, Visible, Limited Range and I would write the movement powers up as... - Running, Position Shift, Useable as Swinging

Re: Campaign Limits: what's your formula? We basically use the chart from 5ER pg. 28, with a few small modifications. Stacking does not let the PCs exceed these levels. For example, in a 250 pt. campaign (with a max AP of 50)... - No PC can have higher tha 25 PD or ED, no matter what combination of powers they take (we allow this to be Resistant, Hardened, ect. as an exception to the above). - Attack Damage is capped at 10d6, or less with advantages (STR + HA cannot exceed 10d6 for example). - Max SPD is 6 (we kind of look at this like 5 SPD is 50 AP and you get 1 for free). - Max OCV and DCV would be 9 (so a DEX 20 character can have 2 CSLs and Dex 26 Char can't have any). The OCV limit auto regulates our max DEX to 26 (which also fits the 50 AP limit if you don't count the 10 base DEX). - We usually do not limit skill point totals or max skill levels as we encourage character growth in these areas (though if anyone abused it we probably would).

Re: Ablative on an entangle There is a modified version of the -1 Ablative Limitation (power loses 5 APs every time it get hit with an attack that COULD do body) under the Defense Powers section on page 116, that says it can be used with non-defense powers with the GMs permission.

Re: An Immaterial Question I don't think there is any difference except cost as you didn't buy the second Desol UAA. [edit]I will try to help finish the question if I can. First off, UAA follows the basic rules of UOO. UAA makes Self-Only powers into No Range attacks that require LOS, so we will need both 0 END and Persistent, according to the Power text, to effect things you cannot see (note this will not make the power persistent). I also do not think you can use Megascale to replace both the Range and the Mass requirements. I think Megascale would allow you to target everyone on the planet, but I think you would need many x2 Mass adders to effect the planet itself. (Need a GM ruling on this if anyone else wants to help). So, If the second Desol was bought UAA, 0 END, Persistent, AE, Megascale, x(enough to cover the planet) Mass, Personal Immunity... Then I think you would be pulled through the planet into space by the Sun's gravity and die as you didn't say you bought any Life Support.

Re: Neck breaking I would like to politely disagree with a few things... The fact the Power Defense works against Transform is a limitation of the game mechanic, not this power build. permenant blindness and paralyzation are both listed as examples of Major Transforms. Even the Hulk had his neck broken with a simple combat maneuver. Batman, his spine. There are plenty of comic book examples of this type of attack.

Re: Neck breaking I think to represent that it is an attack that can be used on anyone and to give the heroes a chance to survive, I would buy it as a Transform Linked to a Grab and Squeeze. Norms will probably die anyway from the Grab damage (as it may take a few phases of sqeezing for the Transform to work) but heroes will only be left paralyzed. Assuming a 60 AP campaign, here is how I would write it up. 4d6 Major Transform (target to paralyzed target), No Range(-1/2), Linked to Grab(-1/4) 34 pts. To represent that permenancy of the situation, I would make the healing requirement the "Can Heal Limbs" adder from the Healing/ Regeneration Power or a very high (superhuman) Paramedics roll.

Re: "So I die and then I download..." I think Regeneration with Resurrection would be the least clunky. I would then add limitations to create the special effect you want. For example, take Recoverable Charges on the Resurrection adder if you only have a limited number of bodies. That fact that you are resurrected so far away could be produced using a Teleportation Side Effect (or even a simple Limited Power though I think the Side Effect is a smoother mechanic). I would write it up like so... 1 BODY/ Turn Regeneration, Resurrection (+20), 0 End(+1/2), Persistent(+1/2), Extra Time: 1Turn(-1 ¼), Self Only(-1/2), Resurrection Only(-1/2), Side Effect: Minor (1" Teleport, Megascale: 1 Planet, 1 Fixed Location), Always Occurs(-1/2) 16 pts.

Re: Strangest Game Mechanic I Have Seen Yet And I thought it was original. The player did confess that he was inspired by Dead Man and was originally looking for a way to only have powers while he was "dead". The Resurrection was originally going to be the trigger for his Only In Heroic Identity. He would be alive and well again when he returned to his normal form. The closest I came to something like this was a Zombie Brick character I made (before Marvel Zombies ). His STR and powers were fuelled by an END Reserve that would only Recover while he ate people. It was for a Villain campaign but I never got a chance to play him.

Re: AARGH! How do I build this power without exceeding active point caps?

Re: AARGH! How do I build this power without exceeding active point caps? This is a very good point. It doesn't make sense to be able to fire 2 of the 3. Here is an Updated version. The NND Greater power linked to the lesser EDM will be a smaller limitation, however, so it may actually save pts. to try to build the UAA upto 60 pts. To keep it simple I will just add the Linked to the NND. [edit] To promote discussion, I'll ask those suggesting MPs or VPPs again; what happens if the target is an Evil Golem? What happens if you are fighting a Demon who is Shapeshifted into a statue or a Human? What happens if a Human reflects the attack at a wall? I think to always get the right effect, you have to fire all 3 attacks every time and let Limited Power sort out which one(s) apply.

Re: History of the Super-Soldier Serum (need suggestions!) Off the top of my head you may want to take a look at the myths surrounding Count St. Germain and Rasputin. They were in various folklore, attributed with be immortal or impossible to kill.

Re: AARGH! How do I build this power without exceeding active point caps? Actually it's as simple as you say, just write down exactly what you want it to do. I would buy all 3 attacks Linked together, each one at full active points, and Take Limited Power: Only Works on "Target" for each. The Limited Power, Focus, and Linked Limitations will make it cost effective. Here is an example for a 60 Max Active campaign. -6d6 EB, NND(+1), Limited Power "Animate Objects Only" (+0, because NNDs don't do body anyway), 16 Charges (+0), OAF "Gun" (-1) 30 pts. -12d6 EB, Limited Power "Inanimate Objects Only" (-2), Linked to NND (-1/2), 16 Charges (+0), OAF "Gun" (-1) 13 pts. -Extra Dimensional Movement, Single Location/ Single Dimension, "Hell", UAA(+1), Limited Power "undead and creatures of evil magic only" (-1, I'm calling it a -1 but this is based on how ofted you fight them), Linked to NND (-1/2), 16 Charges (+0), OAF "Gun" (-1) 16 pts. Total Cost 59 pts. What really makes it possible is the fact that it's a Gun, it saves you a ton of points. It's alot less clunky then say, letting a Trigger with Sense determine what Multipower Slot you are using. Also, notice how the use of Charges keeps you from paying 3 END costs each shot. [edit] Just to expand a little on the Multipower option, consider these situations. What If you are blasting an Undead or Creature of evil magic/ Inanimate Object, such as a Golem or a Zombie? He should be damaged and banished becasue he fits 2 criteria, right? A MP won't do that. How bout this one, what if the attack is deflected by a Human and hit's a Demon? He should be banished, but of the MP fired an NND or EB, you won't get the effect you want. Remember, in HERO, anything can and will happen.

Re: Strangest Game Mechanic I Have Seen Yet Heh, that's very close to what this character was like. He declares "I shut off my Suppression Field and step in front of the train.", while we were on route to the combat. I thought he was joking except nobody laughed. The GM rolled the damage and said, "Your dead". The players then says, "Great! I don't have to sit here bleeding to death again." They had a good laugh at my expense.