massey

Re: SPD Standards I would not build established supers on 350 points. After one adventure, the PCs will all be "tougher" than the established characters. If Spider-Man is 350, then the players will be higher points than him as soon as you assign them experience points. Also, established characters usually have lots of extras (Batman has his Batcave, Spider-Man has his spider-tracers, Superman has his Fortress of Solitude) that will take up lots of points. You can do a bare-bones writeup of a character, but do not be surprised when your 350 point Spider-Man finds himself to be too weak to effectively compete with a character like Ankylosaur.

Re: Worst comic book superfight ever I have not read this entire thread, but I would like to chip in. I have always thought Superman's magic vulnerability SHOULD be (not that it is--it's never been consistent enough to properly gauge) that he is no more resistant to magic than a normal creature that can shrug off nuclear bombs and exploding stars. In other words, his Power Defense has the "not vs magic" limitation. Re: Spider-Man vs Firelord. I have not read this comic, but I will give my opinion anyway. It seems possible that Spider-Man was able to seriously annoy Firelord. I believe all sides have agreed to this. It has been said that Firelord once set a doctor on fire for daring to ask him to leave a hospital. Firelord may qualify for an "enraged" disadvantage. At least, his psychological limitations indicate that he takes himself quite seriously and tends to respond to annoyances with violence. It was also said that Firelord was angry enough with Spider-Man that he threatened to blow up the Earth. So, what happened? There seems to be an answer. Firelord, enraged by Spider-Man (if not the Champions definition of enraged, at least the common usage of it is appropriate), begins shooting at him. He continually misses due to Spider-Man's combat value advantage. Firelord will not resort to his area effect attacks, because if he destroys the Earth, there will be no pizza for Firelord. He is very angry, however, and spends all of his energy blasting at Spider-Man. I think he may have run out of Endurance, but continued attacking, burning Stun in place of End so that he could shoot the cursed web-crawler. Eventually Firelord knocks himself out, trying to kill Spider-Man, while not blowing up the only place in the universe one can get a good deep-dish pizza. Spider-Man's punches? Merely an annoyance, something to ensure that Firelord's self-restraint goes out the window.

Re: Sports HERO How many xp to get rid of "throws up on the field" anyway?

Re: DC Universe Overview Superman has been tougher than Darkseid for several years now. He got a big power upgrade post-Our Worlds At War, and he hasn't given it up yet. He's kicked Darkseid around a few times. Superman appears to have returned to Pre-Crisis levels.

Re: Late Golden/Early Silver Age Champions It's the "Marvel Family" in the US. Marvelman is English, and quite a bit different (at least, post-Moore). I don't think a shared origin is necessary. Look at Kurt Busiek's 1950s Avengers story. It had a goddess of love, a boy from Uranus, a robot, and a talking gorilla. In fact, I'd say the less sense the characters make, the better. Which really, means that it's ideal for the way most players try to build their characters.

Re: Professor X vs Hector Hammond I don't know. I was thinking of him shouting out "Take THAT, cripple!" and I laughed out loud. Ah, good times. But actually, I don't know enough about Hammond's power level to compare the two.

Re: Professor X vs Hector Hammond Is this Professor X who can walk, or wheelchair-bound Professor X? Cuz, you know, if he can walk, he'll just stroll over to Hammond and kick him in the head. Hammond's head has to have like a -3 DCV.

Re: Simplification of Combat Riiiiiight.

Re: Super-Villain Showdown: The Taskmaster vs Deathstroke the Terminator.

Re: *inspired my other threads* Gravitar vs Crowns of Krim Gravitar has to fight a running battle with the Crowns. She needs to put her levels into DCV, keep range, and spread her attacks to hit. She'd have to fight smart and keep moving, which, given her psychological limitations, she probably wouldn't. I don't think Overconfidence means she's stupid, or won't fight in a tactically sound manner. I just think it means she's not going to realize that she really needs to NOT GET HIT by some of Dark Seraph's attacks.

Re: Opinion: EuroStar 1) Use their 4th edition writeups. Perhaps Fiacho undergoes the process that creates the Golden Avenger (or something similar) to raise to his previous levels. 2) Give Fiacho a gadget pool to represent devices he can gain from gadgetry and contacts. Perhaps he steals a teleport device which he leaves at their base and he (and other members of Eurostar) can activate from computerized wristbands. This gives them a very quick entry/exit. 3) Make liberal use of pawns. Mentalla vs Gravitar is not a fair fight, but then, neither is Mentalla vs Bulldozer. Quick mind control equals extra muscle. Alternatively, $$$ lets you bring Utility or Mechassassin to your side very quickly. 4) Increase the size of Ultrasonique's gadget pool and turn him into a full-fledged inventor. 5) They need more movement. Fiacho could get extra running and leaping, defined as "incredible acrobatics". Durak and Der Westgote could get more inches of leaping. Mentalla and Feurmacher need more flight. Ultrasonique could get a rocket pack. Scorpia could get a vanishing teleport.

Re: Opinion: EuroStar On phase 12, Scorpia goes on Dex 28. Her attack is meaningless. If Mentalla is on the field, visible, Gravitar can choose to Hipshot and go first. If Mentalla is not visible, and is in perfect sniping range, then she has a 2.6% chance (as shown in posts yesterday) of mind controlling Gravitar before Gravitar gets a chance to act. Or, she can have a 15% chance of stunning Gravitar with a pushed Ego Blast. If she fails, then she has made mental contact with Gravitar, and Gravitar knows exactly where she is (page 80 of 5th edition--I don't have revised). Gravitar will then move to attack Mentalla, which she should be able to do quite easily, given her power constructs. If she can get a shot at Mentalla, she will not worry about the Area Effect TK on the rest of Eurostar. She will simply multiple power attack Mentalla with her 18D6 Energy Blast and her 50 Str TK, Area Effect. She will miss Mentalla on a 19, minus range modifiers (after she takes her 15" of half movement). This will remove Mentalla from the fight immediately. An 18D6 Energy Blast will average 63 Stun, 39 past Mentalla's defense, which puts her at -9 Stun and stuns her. The Area Effect TK will average 11 Stun past, which puts her at -20 Stun. I will assume no knockback occurs due to the special effect of grabbing her with the TK. Then the rest of Eurostar attacks. ChuckG is incorrect--Fiacho's penetrating attack does 3 Body and 3 Stun, not 3 Body and 9 Stun. Eurostar cannot stun Gravitar without Mentalla. Gravitar's Overconfidence means that she ignores the rest of Eurostar while she dispatches Mentalla. Gravitar then, one phase at a time, turns her attention to each remaining member of Eurostar. She will probably begin with Fiacho or Der Westgote, as they can injure her to some degree. Note that she is a higher speed than Fiacho, so he will only get to shoot her once before she shoots him on segment 2. Can Eurostar get surprise on Gravitar? Certainly, as part of a campaign plotline. But their "ambush" requires the cooperation of the game world--this is something that needs to take place in the game as part of an ongoing story. Generic contacts need to be fully established. Alliances need to be formed. The members of Eurostar need to go out of their way in order to get gravity-nullifying equipment from research labs in order to fight her. Mentalla needs to begin moving through European social circles in order to find out who Gravitar could be. All of these things will attract as much attention (either to Gravitar or to the PCs) as the GM's plots require. It would not be inappropriate for Fiacho to appear with a load of specialized equipment (very similar to Lex Luthor), however, this is entirely in the realm of the needs of the story and the desires of the gamemaster. Also note that in Fiacho's description, it states that it would be difficult for him to hunt anyone on less than an 11- (due to his vengeful nature). If you look at Gravitar's character sheet, she is hunted by Eurostar on an 8-. I am an admitted genre fiend, but to me, this says that Eurostar is not hunting Gravitar very hard. In a straight-up combat, Gravitar has a huge advantage. Eurostar knows this. Until they find some way to even the odds, it seems they are not especially anxious to experience a repeat of their previous engagements. And honestly, I don't think Mentalla would go to Menton to get help. Menton is sick and scary, and Mentalla has a 20 comeliness. After reading what Menton does to those he meets, I am reminded of fanfiction stories I have read. Sane people do not seek out Menton for help, even if they are related. He is the reason supermodels dance topless in public while flying on cocaine. Yes, Gravitar might wake up 6 months later as a ten dollar whore in an alleyway in Vegas. However, she might be turning tricks with Mentalla standing by her side. With Durak and Fiacho in drag next to them. Sane people do not seek out Menton.

Re: Opinion: EuroStar Well, they are Europeans.

Re: Opinion: EuroStar Read the section on mental powers and breakout rolls in general. You get the breakout roll before the power takes effect.

Re: Opinion: EuroStar Gravitar can use the Hipshot maneuver because it's a standard combat maneuver. It's like blocking or haymakering. Mentalla can also, but because using the Hipshot maneuver only increases your Dex by 1 (and doesn't increase your Ego for initiative purposes), it doesn't benefit her. Gravitar hipshots and goes to a 26 Dex, 13 OCV. Mentalla hipshots and goes to a 25 Ego, 21 Dex, and loses a point of OCV. If I were the gamemaster, I would say that a poisoned dart wouldn't affect someone with a force field protecting them. Perhaps I am unusual, though. And again, Gravitar still gets her breakout roll before she obeys any of Mentalla's commands.

Re: Opinion: EuroStar There is a MAJOR flaw in the pro-Mentalla camp argument here. Gravitar gets a breakout roll before the mental power takes effect. If Mentalla gets 30+, then Gravitar need only make a 14- Ego roll to escape. Mental powers take effect on the subject's next phase. If you tell Gravitar to "drop her force field", then Gravitar will wait until she can act before she does so, at which time she gets a breakout roll. As someone said earlier, with a 14- chance, the odds are pretty good. Mentalla must #1: Beat (or at least tie) Gravitar in a roll-off to see if she goes first. Going from earlier numbers, that's a 54.6% chance. #2: Hit. That's a 91% chance. #3: Roll 55 or more on her pushed effect. That's a 58.6% chance. #4: Have Gravitar roll 15+ on her breakout roll (which she gets before she suffers any effect). That's a 9% chance. .546 * .91 * .586 * .09 = .026204 Mentalla has a 2.6% chance of one-shot mind controlling Gravitar. If she fails, Gravitar wins. This is, of course, assuming that Gravitar does not use the Hipshot maneuver, which increases her Dex by one for purposes of initiative, while reducing her OCV by one. Given that she has an OCV of 14, and Mentalla has a 7 DCV, Gravitar needs an 18 to hit. Since she misses on an 18 anyway, she loses nothing by going for the Hipshot. This would make her Dex 26 for initiative, meaning she goes first. I didn't see a "Mental Hipshot" in the combat maneuvers. Solution? Eurostar HAS to attack Gravitar from ambush, otherwise they lose.

Re: Defending your base against EMP and other magnetic attacks... Run your base security system off of vacuum tubes.

Re: help me! Umm... how do you only have 1 post???

Re: Really Bizarre Armor Pondering

Re: Opinion: Double Damage Reduction Yeah, but he's spent 120 points in addition to his 10/10 Defense, and he can be whittled to death by a team of Viper agents.

Re: From the Guy who came up with Cumulative Luck.... This is like the Batman writeup I saw that had KS: Stuff on a 30 or less.

Re: I Need Some Thugs http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/twentieth_century_fox/the_transporter/jason_statham/transporter8.jpg Here's one of a shirtless Jason Statham. For the ladies.

Re: I Need Some Thugs http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~amardock/Thugs.jpg http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/a/e/aew174/amy%20and%20gabby%20thugs.jpg http://www.butler.edu/studentlife/deltagamma/Pictures/junior%20thugs.jpg http://orange-jello.com/batgrrrl/justin_joey/thugs.jpg I'm intimidated by all of these people.

Re: Retcon the CU I think his point was that they *don't* fade away in his game.

Re: WWYCD: think of the children Sentinal (genius in power armor) would use his gadgetry pool to create a number of small orbiting spy drones. He will then position one over the home of each remaining multiple offender. It will be programmed to alert him if anyone lingers in the area for more than a few minutes. Meanwhile, he will hack into the computer database and create a new pedophile identity with an incredible (10+) list of offenses, who has just "moved into the area". The home, a small shack on the edge of town (next door to an elementary school, no less) will be purchased discreetly by Sentinal's billionaire playboy secret ID. He will then monitor the trap... er, home, and await the vigilante. That's assuming, of course, he doesn't just nod his head and say "Oh, well, we superheroes are busy, you know. I'll make sure to give this all the attention that it deserves..."