ideasmith

Re: Why the dislike for Find Weakness?

Don't forget that it takes an Attack action to use' date=' [/quote']

 

The rule book says "Half Phase Action". (5ER page 174)

Re: Nnd

You know you could ditch EGO attacks and BOECV under this system. Give them "Reduced by common exotic defense (+1)" and "No Range Modifier (+½)" to represent the LOS aspect. Yes that would make them more expensive' date=' but I have always thought EGO attacks weren't really on par with a standard EB anyway.[/quote']

 

A power with "reduced by common exotic defense" and "No Range Modifier" would have DEX based OCV/DCV. I'm sure than most want mental attacks to have EGO based OCV/DCV.

Re: Balancing Mental Powers

IIRC' date=' the EGO + 20 section has the example of making friends look and act like enemies. So the EGO + 10 result would have a flying Abomination shooting fireballs, much more incongruous.[/quote']

 

In general, when someone cites a page number, it indicates that that someone looked it up.

 

When I checked the same page that handleyj looked up and cited, I found the same wording that handleyj looked up and quoted.

Re: Balancing Mental Powers

Just to clarify a rule, Mental Illusions make a target see what they want to see? If the mentalist doesn't specify does it make him hear it as well or smell it?

 

For example, The mentalist fights a Daredevil like character. Remember in the early days of Marvel most people didn't know Daredevil was blind. So when Mr Mentalist says, "You see the enemies over there." His sonar tells him that the enemy hasn't moved. "I don't see anything."

 

Or another one. Wolverine for example can smell different targets. Even if the illusion goes past his nose, he can still smell the original targets. "Sorry bub, I'm not buying it."

 

Also if the mentalist's favourite move is making the enemies fight each other why not use one big enemy rather then a group? Or one huge enemy who is an animal or an alien (Firewing) and the rest are much weaker human agents he has hired. If any of the agents turn on him, He fireballs them. So heroes with code vs Killing won't want humans (no matter how villainous) killing each other.

 

Was this any help?

Per 5ER, page 201, Mental Illusions affect all the target's sense groups, and the attacker does not need to know about the senses affected.

So, unless the mentalist is deliberately limiting what senses are affected, or some unusual limitation or house rule is involved, no.

Re: Home on the Range

I'm not sure I understand the question.

 

Normal Attack is Hand To Hand, if you want STR to Add to it (like it does now) you must add an Advantage. If you want it Ranged (like Energy Blast) you must add an Advantage.

Make all attacks the same, Drain, blah, etc yadda.

 

that's what I proposed. I've not idea what the heck you're talking about.

I was suggesting that while we were expanding what expanding STR could be added to, we could also expand what could be added to attacks.

Re: Home on the Range

Make all attacks Hand To Hand, STR Does Not Add.

 

Now adding either Ranged or STR Adds is an equal Advantage modifier.

 

Pay for what you get across the board.

Why limit the x Adds to STR? Why not EGO Adds or PRE Adds or Energy Blast Adds?

Re: Home on the Range

 

Drain is a bit of an odd one: it has no range and costs no END: the answer would seem to be you make it cost END and give it range - the balance is preserved and it works like other attack powers (in the main). I can not really work out why it is the way it is.

5ER pages 129, 151. Drain does cost END to use.

Re: Psychological Limitation: Dangerous When Bored....

This isn't a player character is it?

Judging by the first sentence of the OP, it indeed isn't a player character.

Re: Psychological Limitation: Dangerous When Bored....

This is something that may be on the sheet for some henchers I'm creating (they'll be members of various villains' Quirky Mini-Boss Squads):

 

Psychological Limitation: Dangerous When Bored

 

Description: Boredom is never a good thing in anyone, but while most normal people usually find constructive (or at least, harmless) things to do when bored, a character with this Disadvantage instead experiences a kind of mania and will engage in some truly bizarre and dangerous antics. Note that this is not the same thing as Psychological Limitation: Prankster, even the most irksome of pranksters is still a rational enough individual to recognize that there are lines you just don't cross, no matter how restless and bored you might get. At the Strong Level, the character can keep these tendancies in check with an EGO roll when necessary, at Total Level they simply can't help themselves. There is no Moderate level for this Disadvantage; a person who is Dangerous When Bored at Moderate Level is merely a jackass.

 

The question is: Should I make it Uncommon or Common?

That depends. How often do you want the character to get bored?

I'm not entirely sure I understand the thrust of the question. The text you're referring to is to explain that characters who are always large/small/heavy shouldn't use those Powers; they should be the relevant abilities with the appropriate special effects (the Size Templates in the Appendix cover this). So, those Power shouldn't be bought Always On. Nothing about that would prevent a character from buying one of them with No Conscious Control, if for some reason he has no control over his size.

 

If that doesn't answer your question, please post a follow-up and I'll try again.

The procedure for always-the-same-size/density characters won't work for these cases, since it makes the bookkeeping for the size/density changes prohibitive. I am attempting to find out whether Density Increase/Growth/Shrinking can be used in such cases.

According to pages 146, 183, 218, the powers Density Increase, Growth, and Shrinking can only be used by characters able to alter their size &/or density. This raises some questions.

1. Does a character have to be able to alter size/density voluntarily to take these powers?

more specifically:

2. Is applying No Conscious Control to these powers allowed?

3. If the special effects of the power make Dispelling/Draining/Suppressing/Transferring these powers appropriate, can you apply Always On to these powers?

Re: Ogrecave 6E interview

Didn't really answer the question but to yours 'just that and the rules for negative COM'. Seems like about the right level of detail for appearance.

If I understand you correctly:

Two Presence Skill Levels with 'Only When Appearance Matters' and 'Activation Roll' does everything you want positive Comeliness to do. (And costs a lot less.)

Presence with 'Only for Fear Based Presence Attacks' does everything you want negative Comeliness to do.

Do I understand you correctly?

Re: It all hit the fan...

why woul the deceased PC'Shunters be after trank and tru? with their targets dead their hunt should be over

The other heroes probably didn't stay dead.

Re: Superhero Generator Project

I rolled the "Curse" Disadvantage Set which really doesn't work for the power armor character and the "Standard Set" Disadvantage twice' date=' which is the one I listed.[/quote']

 

Malfunctioning or alien very-high-tech armor lands on earth (sans proper wearer).

 

Character touches armor and it mistakes him/her for proper wearer, melding with him.

 

Armor often appears/disappears/attacks per intended wearer's programming.

 

Seems workable to me.

Re: Regenerating defences

So, walking the dog again, and thinking about an effect that is pretty difficult to do in Hero: defences that are reduced by attacks that hit them but which, left to their own devices, recover quite quickly.

I came to the conclusion that this was best accomplished by a limitation: defences that can be worn away are not as useful as those that can not. I’m thinking -1/4 to -1/2. What do you think, given this ‘mechanic’:

 

1.Defences are reduced by the DC of incoming attacks, each attack that is stopped, even in part, by the defence is reduced by the DC of that attack: a 12d6 EB or 4d6 HKA would reduce the defence by 12, an 8d6 AP EB would reduce the defence by 8.

2.You recover DEF/SPD per phase to each defence, at the start of your phase, as a free action, if the defence is below maximum. You can not recover damage taken after the start of your phase, even if you delay your action, until your next phase. E.G. if you have a SPD of 5 and a regenerating 30pd/30ed force field, any reduction to your force field through damage recovers at a maximum of 6pd and 6ed at the start of each phase. NB if you are using the defence at less than full value then the recovery is based on the amount you are using. Recovery takes place whether or not the defence is active (you can not restore the defence by simply switching it off and on again).

3.Autofire attacks do the DC of the attack +1 per attack that hits

Example:

Amazing Amazon has a 30 pd regenerating force field she defines as defence manoeuvres (she parries blows). She has a SPD of 5, so recovers 8/phase. She is fighting a 5 SPD opponent with a lower DEX.

PH3: Hit v 30 PD and PD reduced to 18.

PH5: PD recovers to 26. Hit v 26 PD and PD reduced to 14.

PH8: PD recovers to 22. Hit v 22 PD and PD reduced to 10.

PH10: PD recovers to 18. Missed.

PH12: PD recovers to 24. Missed.

PH3: PD recovers to 30. Hit v 30 PD and PD reduced to 18.

Rinse and repeat.

Ablative (5ER page 115) seems a good starting point here.

I was also thinking' date=' on a related track, that there are only 3 ‘meta-effects’ for damage: physical, energy or mental. Every attack that causes damage of any sort (including adjustment powers) have to have one of those meta-effects from which they may derive more specific sfx. Is that right, do you think?[/quote']

 

I would add at least five more: sensory overload, mystic, quantum, biochemical, and deprivation.

 

Another effect that is quite awkward to do is only using a defence when it is needed: you can accomplish that with a trigger' date=' of course, but what I’m envisaging is, say, a force field that switches on when you are hit, protecting you, but is basically quiescent when not needed, so it doesn’t use END and is not visible. Trigger is simply too expensive for the effect: the trouble is that trigger is relatively poor value for non-attack powers. I’m thinking, perhaps, a +1/4 advantage: only used when needed.[/quote']

 

Buy your forcefield with a Limited Advantage: 'No END Cost' with 'still costs END if defence used' If the power has penalties for use other than END cost, apply similar adjustments.

Re: Transdimensional PREsence

At this point, I think the interesting question is - Does Presence have some, or enough, inherently Indirect properties to not require the Indirect Advantage?

 

A good point has certainly been brought up, a verbal PRE Attack doesn't require you be seen to have an effect.

Also:

One can make a PRE attack through a window.

One can make a PRE attack over the telephone, or over closed-circuit television.

One can make a PRE attack through a Mind Link using Telepathy.

One can make a PRE attack to a movie camera, and possible have it affect the audience of the movie.

Re: Transdimensional PREsence

No - Desolid does nothing to prevent you from performing a PRE Attack.

5ER pp. 147-148: Indeed it doesn't.

Why would you need Indirect? That's the part I'm not getting from some posts...

 

I can see the logic behind wanting Transdimensional, I don't agree but I see the logic.

 

But Indirect? Not seeing a Rules Reason at all for it.

5ER, Page 268: Transdimensional can only be applied to indirect powers, although that indirectness need not be due to the Advantage.

Re: Transdimensional PREsence

Not only would I require Transdimensional, since I consider characters in different dimensions inherently Desolid to one another, I would also require Affects Real World, since Presence attacks are attacks. On the other hand, I would count Presence attacks as already Indirect.

Re: Non Combat Movement

For what it's worth, my current ruling is that characters attacking while moving at noncombat are at 0 OCV, and limited to maneuvers with Fmove (such as Move Through and Move By).

Re: Ultimate Suppresser

hahaha' date=' woah! So is there [b']any[/b] reason to take just a base power when you can take a VPP?!

A VPP costs more points than a single base power. A lot more points.

Re: Unmaking

Dandelion is convinced that she can't be killed. With some (but not all that much) supporting evidence.

She would head into the anomaly looking for the supervillain.

Re: The Super Darwin Awards

Here's a thought though. Would the revolving door death policies in most comics universes mean that death doesn't necessarily score a Darwin? *ponders*

That revolving door death policy seems not to apply to most Champions campaigns. IIRC, the only HERO System mechanic for coming back from the dead is the Resurrection option for Healing, which I believe to be quite rare in Champions. I suggested a 'fix' for this somewhere in the Sixth Edition Forum.

Re: "Stun Target" power -- what am I doing wrong?

What's a CON Stun?

 

It's an unofficial alternative to 'stun', for the apparent purpose of reducing confusion between stunning and Stun damage.

Re: "Stun Target" power -- what am I doing wrong?

If you don't mind using a house rule: Flash with Causes Unusual Disability.

(In case the link doesn't work for you: That's post#133 of the Powers Issues -- F-K Page 9)

Re: Susano's Eight Steps To Character Building

I recommend that step six be moved to before step three, or even to before step two.