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Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... For some reason' date=' I immediately imagined Master Yoda replying, "Hmph! If Frank Oz's hand and arm up your @$$ [b']you[/b] have, speak coherently you will not!" Franklin

Re: WWYD if you could recieve ONE super power FLIGHT!!! No doubt about it, Flight's the power for me! To soar like an eagle (or like an angel, to borrow someone else's idea)! Get wherever I'm going faster and easier, because of NO MORE TRAFFIC JAMS!! Of course, I'll need to update my eyeglass prescription, and get goggles (two sets: one of them with darkened lenses, the goggle-equivalent of sunglasses). Hmmm.... How many Active Points are we allowed? Franklin

Re: my version of "Combat Luck"...

Re: WWYD: The Perfect Partner I'll take the "Brad Pitt's Dilemma" Special, please! That's a Jennifer Anniston clone (minus the cigarette dependency) teamed up with an Angelina Jolie clone (minus the tattoos and minus the more "punk"-ish elements of her personality). Franklin

This is how I'll permit characters to have the "Talent"/(Power) called Combat Luck, which I'll call "It Just Grazed Me". Base Power: Armor (1 DEF for 3 pts.). Note that this defense is subject to any max. DEF for campaign. So if the campaign's limit is a total of 10 DEF, then if your PC has this power at 4 DEF, then he cannot wear any armor better than 6 DEF (for 10 DEF total)... Use the following Limitations: Must be aware of attack (effectively includes the "Non-Persistent" Limit; -1/2) Note that TUMA lists this Limitation as being worth -1/4 for Damage Reduction, but since "Must be aware of attack" is more limiting than "Not Persistent" I'm increasing the value of "Must be aware of attack" to -1/2. Restrainable (must be able to dodge/avoid attack; -1/2) Minimum result of 1 BODY suffered (i.e.: no matter how much DEF you buy, you're still going to get scratched; -1/2) Total Limits comes to -1.5, giving a Final Cost of 1.2 points per DEF of protection. Feedback shamelessly solicited! Franklin

Re: How to handle Western Hero Duels/Showdowns Tsk, tsk, tsk. Sometimes, the hero doesn't have a choice. Westerns frequently have "The Reluctant Combatant" as one of their archetypes, and he's almost always a hero/good guy/white hat. Here are two quick examples off the top of my head: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance The Big Country (...And for a non-Western example, there's always Back to the Future Part III) Franklin

Re: How to handle Western Hero Duels/Showdowns (or Fast Draw skill roll, as per 5th Ed., page 40.)

Re: Almost anything that loops is a problem Actually, I don't see how this is "infinite." It will eventually reach the point of diminishing returns. A 2d6 Absorption can add a maximum of +12 Active Points (unless you spend extra points specifically to increase this max., which you didn't do in your write-up). The active cost for one of these Absorptions is 40 points for 2d6. That means you can add an extra +1/2d6 for every increase of +10 Active Points, which in turn will increase your "max absorbed" by another +3 points. Since not everyone is comfortable with calculus I'll do the rest of my math in long-hand form. (base) active=40...2d6, max. of +12 (52 total) current active=50...2.5d6, max. of +15 (55 total) Hmmm, looks like we "tap out" at 2.5d6, which is quite a bit sooner than I had expected. (Note that the "+15" adds to the original Active Cost of 40 points, not to the current Active Cost of 50+...) Furthermore, this is presuming that your GM will permit you to increase either Absorption write-up in half-die increments; if he insists on whole-die increments, you'll never get an increase at all... Thanks, Franklin

Here is how I usually permit a character to have a "feint" maneuver... "Feint": Up to +4 OCV with Melee/HTH Combat, RSR: Acting or Sleight of Hand (skill has -1 penalty per attempted +1 OCV; resisted by PER roll or Analyze Style; -1), Limit: Subsequent attempts have cumulative -1 penalty to Skill Roll (-1/4), Side Effects: up to -4 DCV penalty (equal to attempted OCV bonus; -1/4). (Active Cost: 20; Final Cost: 8.) The base/active cost is 20 points because it is four 5-point levels. Almost without exception, these levels apply to Melee or Hand-to-Hand Combat. The RSR limit I calculated as follows: (base) . . . -1/2 penalty is -1 per 5 active points . . . 1/2 more RSR uses variable skills . . . 1/4 less RSR skill is opposed . . . . 1/4 more Thus, the total limit for RSR is -1. Since Side Effects is less than 15 active points (when trying for just +1 or +2 OCV), it is a "minor/trivial effect." Therefore, the limit for this Side Effect is -1/4. The increasing penalty is because, once you've done this trick, your opponent will begin to expect it again. This penalty should re-set for a new fight with new opponents. The DCV penalty Side Effect is usually explained as "he saw through your feint" or "you accidentally over-extended yourself, leaving an opening he could exploit." Feedback shamelessly solicited! Thanks, Franklin

Re: No damage from falling Because Gliding and Flight, when used to "go upwards," just reduce your downward velocity by an amount equal to the combat move. So, your power write-up would knock off -1" from the 30" terminal velocity. Even worse, falling occurs -EVERY SEGMENT-, while this power write-up works only on your Phase. Now, if you bumped it up to a full 30" of Gliding (not just 1"), that should do the trick... Franklin

Re: Falling into a vat of chocolate Heh. This reminds me of one of my favorite [ethnicity] jokes. To keep it (somewhat) on-topic, I've made slight changes to the joke. "Mrs. [Hershey], I've got terrible news for you. Your husband fell into a vat of [chocolate] at the factory and drowned." "What? Didn't anyone pull him out in time?" "Ah, lass, we fished him out three times, I'll have you know, but the blasted fool kept jumping back in!" Franklin

Re: What kind of aliens?

Re: What kind of aliens? Then I imagine that homo sapiens would be a nightmare-made-flesh to them: a race of sentient meat-eaters who evolved through vicious competition instead of co-operation, with a history of self-aggression and self-destruction. I imagine they'd be terrified of us. And what does a rational, co-operative people do about something that terrifies them?... Franklin

Re: How to build: instant learning Transform (minor), Self to Self with New Skill... Add the appropriate Limits (Self Only; Must Observe Skill to be Acquired), and away you go!... Franklin

Re: x3 What?!? I missed a scene?!? ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK, give, what was it? (Usually, I stay until the very, very, VERY end of a film. But this time, I was with friends, and they wanted to leave "early.") Franklin

Re: Namedropping He didn't want the competition! Franklin

Re: Cold Sleep Capsules/Low Berths

Re: Cold Sleep Capsules/Low Berths According to my copy of 5E' date=' all that Simulate Death does is make it harder to read your vital signs. It does [b']not[/b] stop your need to eat/breath/(etc.), whereas with a cold sleep capsule, you can hibernate (for centuries, if need be) with no ill effects (presuming you survive the wake-up procedure, of course). The Simulate Death talent does not cover this. If you use Simulate Death, you won't be "simulating" any more once your character has starved to death... (In any case, I don't use "Talents" as such in my game. If you want one, it's a Power, and belongs in the Powers section of the character write-up. That way, I can verify the Limitations for the "talent" and ensure it's in compliance with my standards for my game...) Franklin

Re: Cold Sleep Capsules/Low Berths How about this? (This was under 4th Edition, so the Base, Active, and Final costs may need to be recalculated...) Edit: OK, I've updated the prices for 5th Edition. Would someone double-check my figures, please? Thanks, Franklin

Re: Suggest a Name? Here are a few more suggestions: The Astrologist Professor Zodiac (someone else already suggested "Dr." so "Prof." is a logical variation...) Franklin

Re: Dyson Spheres

Re: Superhero Images Should be OK now. Franklin

Re: Superhero Images I use HeroMachine to create images of my characters. Here are some of my characters: Paragon, a biophysicist/inventor who uses force field/beams... [ATTACH]21774[/ATTACH] Iceman (no relation to the X-Man of the same codename)... [ATTACH]21773[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]21775[/ATTACH] Captain Quicksilver, a flying "brick" (with a little too much love of publicity)... [ATTACH]21771[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]21777[/ATTACH] Franklin PS, Of the two costumes for Capt. Quicksilver, which do y'all think is better? Thanks... Franklin

Re: Dyson Spheres Uhhh...

Re: What power would you buy (with a twist) Flight. Any amount, it doesn't matter, just let me FLY! Franklin