Jaxom

Re: More private space-flight Look at it this way, EDP. This will simply providee one more means for rational people to escape the state.

Re: Aikido throw Ok, I think you have to go with the Triggered Martial Throw. The important thing to remember here is that this is probably *most* important when dealing with a speedster Move By or Move Through. The whole point is that the Aikidoka should probably be able to put such an attacker on his back, imo without additional damage or perhaps reduced damge if s/he so chooses. The problem I have with a Held Action is that it implies that your Aikidoka needs to buy up to some obscene speed to be able to use it against multiple attackers where a Throw Triggered by a successful Block would be much more successful at representing a grab by the Aikidoka and make it possible for a SPD 4 Aikidoka to deal with a pair of SPD 6 attackers (which seems reasonable to me).

Re: Vacuum power? Zero point energy?

Re: Build me an a'dam I think how you want to build this depends on how you are going to allow the PCs to interact with it. If there is any possibility that the collar will be used on a PC you want to avoid the Transform build because there are scenes described where people fight against the will of the Sul'dam and you want to allow that to happen. If you resort to the Transform though it will essentially boil down to an all or nothing (at least if memory serves, no partial transforms). On the other hand, if the PCs are only going to see the end result, the slave, then go ahead and use the Transform and call the "training" sfx.

Re: The building blocks of the universe.

Re: The building blocks of the universe. From your initial post: This is where things get dicey. Like everyone else, I agree that if you are comfortable with what you help him build, then go for it. Just make sure that before the first session he understands the boundaries on what you help him build. If this is just "see and understand" then I could see a multipower or even an EC built around powers like Find Weakness and Senses (and yes, I know you aren't suppose to do that but since we're already talking strange things and the GM is the one building the character you could grant the exception on the spot). When you start getting to "maybe you can change things" then you risk the pandora's box. Again, as SFX this is great. The risk is that the player asks "Well, can I use this to 'unmake' projectiles being fired at me?" and so you build Missile Deflection, SFX Projectile vanishes. Then he says, "I want to make all the bullets in his gun disappear." Hrmmm, that's not missile deflection but it is the same special effect... "Now I want to start removing bullet-sized chunks of *him*, starting with the primary motor centers of his brain." EEEEEP! So as SFX go, this is great but make sure that the player understands that this is a power and the rules of the power apply regardless of what the SFX could be used to do. If you and he agree that this character works, great! If you don't agree, then find common ground before you chase this too much.

Re: Unintentional Power-Gaming: How To Deal With It Ok, it is rare that I would say this, but... Forget the points. This is one of those times when you need to ask a couple of very different questions. 1) If you perform a Move By or Move Through, are you going to tear your own arm off? And what if that is a brick with some KB Resistance? 2) What does the GM have to build to fight you? If you are so nasty that he has to create the immovable object to give you a challenge, how are you fellows going to feel? 3) Does making something to deal with you imply that everyone else in your group is turned into a fine red mist? There are just some combinations that are not meant to be made. Most of them are marked with the "!" but everyone once in a while you run into something like "Tunnelling, Usable as an attack, Straight Down Only, Fills in behind". Sure, it's legal, but do you *really* want to invite your fellows and GM into that genre?

Re: The Use of a Focus for Teleportation...?

Re: The Use of a Focus for Teleportation...? Depends on how big a stickler your GM is for rubber science. I agree with Presto that you want a Fixed Location (one for each device). Second, I would make it "Independent" instead of "Focus" based on what I am hearing (although you may want specific game effects that would change that answer). Rules for a Focus say, in general, that it may or may not be obvious what it is doing (as a GM, I'd want this to be obvious to the right senses, radio or whatever) and then whether or not the object can easily be taken away. They can also be destroyed if targetted and hit for enough BODY and given that this is going to be a *really* cheap item that means it's going to be fragile unless you explicitly armor it. The rules for an Independent power are a bit less clear. See the notes in the text on this one that describe how to allow a wizard to build a wand of fireballs. The big thing to note here is that *anyone* can use it, not just your teammates. So what happens if the Big Bad grabs the "focus" and tries to summon you? At 10,000 ft? With some kind of nasty taser/T-port-blocker in hand? The good news is that you *can* do something like making these hard-wired neural implants (indestructible and can't be stolen) by making them inaccessible, unbreakable foci. I don't know if that is even worth any point off the top of my head. Might be a -0 Limitation. Base cost for each Fixed Location is 1 point so the cost per teammate is small. There is an additional can of worms that I don't have an answer to though. If you can teleport 10,000 km (halfway around the world) should you take Position Change and No Relative Velocity to keep from meeting a solid object at high speed when you get there? Your GM will have to answer that one. If not, then taking the proposed Multipower build is not too bad. On the other hand, taking Megascale 1" = 1000km or 10,000km with that 15 points of adders on it gets relatively expensive pretty quickly.

Re: The building blocks of the universe. Oh, don't get me wrong. I *love* the concept. But the problem is that if he's going where I think he is, then he's going to want an unbounded character and that will cause everyone problems. On the other hand, if he's willing to accept limitations on what actual applications he's mastered, then he's fine. Some really straight forward effects that could be purchased with this as the SFX that come to mind include... RKA(NND) - yes, this needs warning signs, but if I can manipulate their uberDNA at will I can just break down molecular cohesion Armor - Make my clothing temporarily rigid Missile Deflection - Missile? What missile? The problem is making sure that everyone understand that purchasing Missile Deflection as the ability to "unwrite" a projectile out of the universe does not provide the ability to unwrite your neighbors as well.

Re: The building blocks of the universe. Ok, let's run this down right quick... Much as I hate the idea behind the build, let's say you make the main effect a Transform... Give him a big Find Weakness, maybe a mind-reading effect and a couple of forms for the "attack" Transform power. Assume that you are playing Standard Supers so you've got an 80-point AP limit (which is the only hope you have of reining this character in)... Say he's relatively fast at SPD 6... The best he can do with the Transform (with the variable advantage and variable SFX) is probably going to be 2d6. Maybe 4d6 at the outside. Are you going to be the on that tells him it is a painstakingly long process to actually Transform anyone and that the target is going to know what is going on the whole time? I certainly hesitate to think what happens the first time he tries to use it on a guy with a gun... Even with a mundane target with SPD of 2 he's going to find himself under fire before he can turn the poor sod into a toad. This character is designed to be a god, not a superhero. Ask him if the character has any kind of an Achilles' Heel. Is there any way that he can imagine this character failing? If the answer is no then someone is going to be very unhappy with the gaming experience, be it the player, his fellow players or the GM. I just think you're playing with dynamite here and should be avoiding it like the plague. By comparison, as an exercise... Try building Magneto as defined/reflected in the movies and comics. It's probably one massive EC - Magnetic Powers and it includes all the fun stuff like Flight, RKA(NND), Telekinesis, Force Wall, Energy Blast, Tunnelling... I don't think I can do it justice for less than 450 points and probably not even then. Then realize that the image your player has for this character probably swats Magneto like a bug. I mean, Magneto can "throw" a whole bridge with TK... That means his effective TK is something like 60-80 STR with advantages. Probably 120 APs minimum... Based on your first post here, if you threw Magneto at this character I would fully expect him to say, "I tailor his DNA to make him a mundane and turn off all his powers." Seems to me the most obvious (if not very subtle) application of his powers... So if that TK really is indicative of the size of the proposed EC, then your player is going to expect to make a 1-phase attack which is essentially "Drain EC (any SFX)" and get an average result of 120 points. Assume you only call "any SFX" a +1 Advantage (which is low), at standard effect that is a whopping 40d6 Drain with an AP cost of 800 points. Where the heck is that stop-sign icon?

Re: The building blocks of the universe. Hrmmm, why can't I seem to find a little stop-sign icon to include here? We have a caution icon, we need a stop-sign icon (so I can paste it in here 300 times). So here's the short-hand. Run screaming. Outlaw the generic form of the power. Your player is not going to be happy with anything that can be implemented within the limits of a Superhero campaign. He or she will eventually determine that it is possible to simply eliminate someone's uberDNA and that is essentially a limitless power that cannot be described in points, much less within the limits of an 80 or 90 point AP cap. In more detail... Don't get me wrong... The power defined makes a great backstory. It also empowers essentially anything that the player (or you) can possibly imagine. The problem is that when you start manipulating the underlying rules of the universe you find youself set up for a character like Dark Phoenix or Dr. Manhattan. Someone who is bored with the universe and everything in it. Not exactly the best gaming experience and also a GMs worst nightmare. Find a nice way to tell the player that they need to pick some specific power stunts and that those are really the only tricks that they have mastered for manipulating uberDNA at this point. Also point out that it is going to be a slow process learning other manipulations because of the associated cost. Maybe allow variable advantages or the like... Otherwise be prepared the first time your player says, "I turn off his cellular metabolism," and expect your 750 point archvillain to fall down. Or maybe he'll take a code against killing and it'll just be, "I neutralize all the sodium ions in his body below the neck," and expects you to render him paralized because he cannot transmit electical signals (and hence neural impulses). Trust me on this one. I speak from experience. For obvious reasons I refuse to post The Alchemist (who had the ability to re-arrange sub-atomic particles into new atoms at his whim).

Re: AstroSynthesis? Never seen it myself but it looks interesting. Let us know what you think if you decide to be a guinea pig.

Re: Move Throughs Ok, but I am calling you bullet-head. Let's see if I can get a 10-point Rivalry disad!

Re: Clinging plasma? Looks like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_%28physics%29#Ranges_of_plasma_parameters has a reasonably accurate description of plasmas (it is not the top page for plasma, it's a subpage). Generally, the only reason a plasma would do damage is if it is particularly hot or had particularly nasty ions (not generally the case) in it. The hotter the plasma is, though, the less likely it is to stay localized and clingy unless you had some kind of bottle around it. Because of its charged nature you can bottle pretty easily with a magnetic bottle although using that as a weapon could be hard. I'd be pretty careful with the comment about "flame" though. What is meant there is literally the bright stuff that we think of as the flame which is not required for combustion (the damaging stuff). It is a side effect of heat in the gaseous medium. By all means, build a power if you like... There are a number of viable ways to build the effects you want. They just don't really model the behavior of real plasmas.

Re: Move Throughs I'd say depends on SFX. Someone like Juggernaut who could take AP by dint of his nice ballistic helmet could argue it protects him while shredding them. Someone who says I just run fast enough to punch through sheet-metal is going to eat pain.

Re: VPP Question Actually, Steve Long addressed Continuing Charges in the Q&A forum. Someone pointed out that for a relatively small +2 Advantage a player could set up a 60 point VPP with continuing charges that were a century long (not my math, taken from the example in the other thread) and then build a whole host of pet bots with 20-point effects. This is my flight backpack, this is my taser, this is my rebreather, this is my ... It was pointed out that this could be very easily abused and should be watched closely by a GM although it was not a direct violation of the rules.

If so, what is the build for it? My searches have turned up various references, usually to "Based on Luck (-1/2)" but I have not seen that officially defined. I ask in reference to a Speedster I saw built with 5 levels of Combat Luck, Restrainable (-1/2). My immediate thought was that Restrainable is a part of the definition of Combat Luck and that as the GM I would not have allowed it. Is this explicitly spelled out anywhere? Are you willing to explicitly spell out a build for Combat Luck using Armor?

Re: Post Apocalyptic Hero

Re: Question about the legality of a weapon/focus build The multi makes sense and I can probably do it cheap (since the Hammer is the focus). The MA was frosting in any case... The Hammer is intentionally bought small since I don't *want* to hit the DC cap for the campaign. I figure throwing in linked attacks the last thing I want to do is 20 DCs *and* a 6d6 drain. The GM would come after me with antitank weapons in groups of 20. I'm happy to let the other brick in the group be the heavy hitter while I go for moderate damage and cool tricks... I dunno about bypassing Martial Dodge though. I have enough points of INT to know that I might just want that extra 2 DCV sometime.

Ok, so I am working on a brick and I got this idea for an interesting combination. HD3 allows me to build it but I am not sure about some of the minor points and am looking for clarification. The high-level idea is a CON/BODY brick in a Standard Superheroic campaign (80 AP powers, DC < 15, 40 point Chars). I want to build an artifact/focus/hammer for the brick. Rather than just making this a simple attack, I want to use the mystical nature of the hammer to invoke a combined attack. The more I think about it, the more I run into some interesting ideas and questions. First, can I build a "weapon" using a normal attack instead of a killing attack? I know it means all targets use full PD, etc. but that fits with the character concept. Seems kinda unorthodox, but I am not aware of anything that makes it illegal. (Maybe he naturally pulls blows against people wearing softer armor.) Second, is a normal HTH attack really an EB (No Range), the way HD3 builds it, or is it a separate, unique power? EB allows you to take the "STUN Only (+0)" Advantage which would be very interesting. If this is an EB, then I'd happily take it. If Hand-to-hand Attack is explicitly a different power then I cannot use EB to produce the effects of another power. (Yeah, think about that... A big, honkin' hammer which does no BODY and no Knockback...) Third is one I have just never been clear on... If I have STR 30 and a hammer with 4 DC, I know swinging my hammer is an 8 DC attack (STR boosting) and I believe that I use 7 END (4 for the weapon and 3 for the STR I think). With the same numbers, if I use Martial Strike (+2 Weapon DCs), what is the final attack value (i.e. where and when does the Martial Strike add in the formula) or another way of looking at it is how much END do I spend? And finally, I want to add a linked effect to this. In another thread, prestidigitator said that the way to use Linked is as follows... If you have two powers, A and B, if you can use A or use (A and then you put the Linked on power B. If you can only use (A and then you can put Linked on both powers. This is a direct contradiction of the 5Ed rules for Linked. Was Linked changed for 5ER? And for a linked pair of attacks if I take the limitation that Attack A Must Do STUN (on attack , do I always pay END for attack B whether it has effect or not? Or do I only pay for it when it actually goes off? (And is there a limitation or advantage to switch from one to the other already defined?)

Re: Speed and breaking a gravity well. Thank you, yes. Scurvy was what I had in mind. And thank you for picking up the next rubber mallet. By the by, can Dehydrated Space Gruel be used to patch stress cracks in the main hull caused by acceleration as well?

Re: Speed and breaking a gravity well. Ah yes, the special rubber room where time-travel saves us from speedsters. (If you move 5" per turn in the first hex that is clearly 1/5th of a turn. 10" in the second is 1/10th of a turn. Expand the series and sum and let's see how many turns one turn really is!) Actually, this misses my point. I took out the big rubber mallet and beat the rubber horse to death (and a bit beyond). I rubbered him out, so to speak. The whole point was to apply real physics to the game system and demonstrate that no matter how true to "reality" you try to get, somewhere you wave your hands and say, "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" Those of us who don't wave our hands are called physicists or engineers and playing one turn takes a *really* long time.

Re: Speed and breaking a gravity well. Ah, not my problem, just the particular place in the rubber that I chose to pull at for my example. This is *exactly* my point. In the absence of other factors, anything with flight can leave the gravity well. Arguing about whether or not a ship can reach "escape velocity" is a meaningless argument.

Re: Post Apocalyptic Hero