Manic Typist

Links below, make your own determination, but a super quick summary is: 1) Wendy's has a mustache-twirling level of bad behavior with respect to human and workers rights 2) Wendy's used their corporate rivals AND the UN as their main villains -Using your rivals is kind of crass/on the nose, and more a criticism of the lack of imagination/choice of going a low road instead of simply making something awesome. I view it as "blue" humor - I see why it's funny, but I also recognize it as not creative or clever. I am also less and less inclined to view "clapback culture" as something worth my esteem - and they literally call Wendy the queen of clapback. -The UN is an organization that has called out Wendy's on their business involvement with supply chains that use child/labor exploitation, so Wendy's going after the UN goes from "random" to "AYFKM?" 3) They didn't credit any of the game designers. That is a big deal in the creative community. One of the designers even quit as a result of some of the stuff above. 4) The game gives you buffs/debuffs based on the real world consumer behavior you do during the day. You want a +1? Go buy a Wendy's burger for lunch! Beyond the standard problem of not rewarding in-game for out of game behavior as an unhealthy practice, this is egregious in that it's a brazen attempt to take our hobby and make it about their business. It's not just a clever marketing move, where they show "Hey, we love nerd stuff too!" It tries to replace what our hobby is about with their products. There will be at least one group of young, impressionable kids who will think it's ok to "game" the system in this way - who will devote time, energy, and money to buying Wendy's "in order to" play an RPG, when this hobby is about pen, paper, and friends (dice optional). Not trying to be a downer - at first I was excited/amused, and then I grew annoyed and angry as I read about them and skimmed the PDF. I like it when companies show that they consist of people - I don't like it when companies try to co-opt someone else's culture, and this extends to the RPG culture. But it is laughable for a company that conducts itself the way they do to put out a marketing campaign leveraging a medium that focuses on the fight between good and evil - it's like Sauron standing up his own Habitat for Orc-Manity, in the hopes that no one will stop and think about who is doing this and why. Bonus links that flesh out some of the above: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/why-boycott-wendy-s-ask-women-farmworkers/?fbclid=IwAR1hMoaG6E0vORvSlFGdVVXBCKk8RMaz5gi2LmTCsasLDT_6b9vKk8gE0q8 http://ciw-online.org/wendys/?fbclid=IwAR1NRq6MVwQ8rqpoRFyM2Pq_zyfoh9Ae5BcLUFzGjM1R1VmMRDRf5ABR8OA

I actually find it extremely distasteful on several fronts. I was excited by the cleverness of it when I first saw it, but when I actually read it and learned more about the sketch practices of Wendy's - such that one one the RPG designers quit as a result. So, I think it's unfortunate that such a clever idea was executed by this company, and that it was executed in a way that's against the spirit of what we do.

The Cover maneuver does not prevent Aborting, period. However, isn't intuitive narratively, as has been seen. Narratively, the difference between the two scenes is writing. In one, the heroes use their powers to prevent the danger. In another, they pause because they KNOW (or at least worried enough to give them pause) that they can't successfully use their ability before the target from being hurt. They exchange tense looks and begin to plan on how to get out of this situation. Meanwhile, on reddit, fans are engaged in debates about how plausible it is - some defend it, some think it's ridiculous, others thing you should just go with it for the sake of telling a more interesting story and aren't worried about consistency. Put another way: it's the same as "Why don't 99% of fights versus the Flash end before they even begin, since most opponents shouldn't even be able to realize he's there before he's beaten them senseless?" The reason is because of The Writers. If Cover hits, then the Writers wanted it that way. If Cover misses (or is thwarted), it's because the Writers wanted it that way. To Chris' example - situations in which the hero stomps a foot/thwarts the cover are situations in which Cover missed, or even because the hero aborted to a Block/Dodge when Cover was being used and that's how it played out.

Most stats aren't relevant - only worry about the stats most likely to come up. Low level opposition - don't track their Endurance or Recovery, since the fight will be over before that could become relevant. Also, don't feel the need to build every ability out - you have an infinite budget and know you CAN achieve any build... so you don't need to do the homework. However, be generous in working with players to confront these abilities, so you don't accidentally create an impossible to beat build.

It sounds like you're in violent agreement with me, since that is an alternative way of stating what I said. You asked, after no one suggested this was the case, if PCs can't Abort when Cover is in play. I noted that, once a Cover is successful, that is the case... because that means the attack has happened, and the standard rules for Aborting apply (as always). That is all.

...actually, they kind of do. The player was told that their opponent was making an attack against them. If they don't declare Abort before the attack, then they don't get to do it afterward. You can't abort to a Dodge after you know the opponent hit you in the hopes that your DCV will make the difference. Remember, with Cover, the PC has already been hit. It's just damage hasn't been rolled yet. Also, as a general aside... I've only ever played Champions once. I was introduced, have GMed, and with one session exception only ever played NON-supers games. I view equating HERO with supers as erroneous - it's a legacy that's there, but Champions =/= HERO. Though I still do want to build a PC who can survive a fall at terminal velocity and then use it in a game...

Interesting, Duke. I do the DEX roll of currently but I hadn't considered checking the Activation time as a default litmus. And interesting... giving the Coverer a chance to "re-Cover" (groan) should they lose the DEX off but had a better chance of winning in the first place. At least, I think that's what you said? Could you do an example, from "Freeze!" to completion?

So NPCs have been using Cover a lot lately against the PCs. The rules clearly say you can't abort to a Dodge or a Block once you've been Covered, as the attack has already taken place. Obviously this should extend to Dive for Cover. However, what if the PC has some kind of Defensive Power they could activate, such as Desolid or a forcefield? I'm torn on it. I think a strict RAW approach would mean no, you can't do that before the damage is applied against you. You were hit without those defenses active. I also don't want to make Cover less desirable than it already tends to be, and this could set a precedent that would be reduce the tactical options employed by opponents and frustrate players when used against them. On the other hand... it feels dramatic to let powers like that do this sort of thing. I'm leaning toward... you have a negative to your DEX roll equal to how much the enemy beat their To Hit roll by, minimum -2. Enemy hit your DCV exactly? DEX roll-off to determine if the bullet hits you before your power's effect occurs, at a -2. Enemy beat your DCV by 4? -4 to your DEX roll. How have you all approached it?

No objection to any of what you said (what works is what works), but I just wanted to flag that this is substantively different from how Penetrating works. I understood it was meant as an analogy, but it's so different from how it actually works that I wanted to make sure you'd reviewed the rules on it recently so you're sure your target solution is what you think it is versus what a player reviewing the rules might think.

Wait... maybe I'm being dense here. Why not just use various levels of Hardened, Armor Piercing, and Penetrating? Base "small arms" have no AP, stuff not available to typical civilians has one level of AP, scale up from there.

Not actively looking at the moment; currently in the last legs of a 1+ year game I've been running ~2 times a month. Would like to look at virtual groups to move closer to achieving consistent gaming - even combined face-to-face/remote. Enjoy a good mix of narrative/combat - ideally, combats have lots of roleplaying in them to make the stakes feel real. Basically what you describe is exactly what I'm interested in, and therefore a good fit. I want to run a D&D 5E game just to use a rules set put out by Matt Colville - or maybe I'll use that to supplement a HERO game, etc. But HERO is my first love.

Gotta you beat - HD 6, 20170109. I guess I need to update it.

When I'm messing around with Desolid for a PC... it lists IPE under the non-allowed Advantages. I've reviewed the rules on Desolid and Invisible Power Effect, and unless I'm missing something... I can't seem to find why that would be the case. Any insights?

That someone is me, and so the fault is purely mine (and moreso for not remembering the Perceivable Limitation). And thanks for the reminder on Turn Modes - I'm not used to a lot of these Powers and I still have a lot to learn.

Keep it coming!