JasonPacker

I voted Rules are Rules, as it was the closest to my way of thinking, which actually marches closely with many others on the board here. The rules are there for a reason. Use them as written. Add rules for things that aren't covered by the existing rules. Then play with the rules you have.

I'm always surprised when I hear people say they handwave things to keep them "fun" - fast, smoothly flowing, without delays in play, those are things I get, but playing by the rules as written is already fun, isn't it?

wouldn't any known mages have the appropriate reputation, irrespective of how affected they are.

Some manner of social complication is warranted, whether it be "he's a wizard and could go bad" or "he's a wizard who has already gone bad"

My mind definitely went to the Transform Side Effect - one with a cumulative effect, so that the first few spells do nothing, then suddenly you've accrued enough points to have added a 10 or 15 point psych lim. Maybe have it heal like BODY until the threshold is hit, upon which point some sort of permanent corrective action is required to remove the complication.

BODY damage is too severe (yes, it takes a while to heal that stuff up!) but STUN or END damage is too ephemeral - "give me a second to take a recover or two..." in all but the lowest-powered games (and even those, in non-stressful situations). Add in the vague "lasts as long as appropriate" for non-damage effects, then coupled with "about as long as it would take to heal that many points of BODY" and we're back in the territory of "I botched one spell, and I'm going to look like a rat terrier mix for three weeks..."

The closest you get is a Held Action, where you can interrupt and attack someone as they come into range. This only allows it to happen once, and only after you've effectively given up acting proactively instead of reactively.

I've considered using a limited form of SPD just for such things. Make the character SPD 3, but buy +3 SPD, "Only for attack of opportunity" which are automatically held and used only if someone tries to sneak past.

One problem in superheroic games with a Hit Location chart in Hero is that, assuming you are allowed to aim, you are swapping skill for power: someone with a decent OCV martial artist or blaster can often hit the low DCV Brick type in the head, effectively hugely increasing their damage output.  That is not balanced as putting in the hit location chart changes the cost/utility of OCV and DCV.  (It is much less of a problem in heroic games because the CV difference is usually much less.)

 

Then you wind up with people buying +DCV only to negate aimed attacks, and you are running into logical inconsistency.  The hit location chart was not designed for use with superheroic games.  that does not mean you can not use it, just that you should be aware of the consequences.

Not only was the Hit Location Chart not designed for superheroic games, it didn't even exist when Champions originally came out.  It was added for the heroic level games.  It is highly recommended to not use it with superheroic games.  

Those of us who played the older versions probably remember when hit locations were added, but Sean's post above is the first substantive explanation for why it might be dangerous/genre-breaking to do so, and I'm still digesting the consequences. It would almost demand sectional defenses for superheroic games, to provide the Brick with an easy means of having a hard head. Also probably needs some GM oversight on preventing PSLs from eliminating more than half the aimed shot penalty for location.

You may want to be more explicit that the 8-10/20/21+ breakdown of characteristics is for the first six, not for things like OCV and SPD, lest anyone get confused. And if you're allowing flexibility in how they're being used, more detail on CLs and how they're used.

I am fond of the "fan theory" that the little boy at the end of Captain America I, the one playing at being the Captain with his garage can lid shield, is little Phil Coulson. But wait, you say, that'd make him remarkably older than he appears in the modern movies and show. Well, what if he was one of the experimental subjects in attempts to reproduce the Super Soldier serum? It didn't quite have all the same effects, but a remarkable hardiness, longevity and enhanced senses of loyalty to his country and his fellow man might have been the result.

Would you allow someone to buy "+1 level with All Combat, only to increase OCV (-1)" or "+1 level with All Combat, only to increase DCV (-1)"? Be much the same thing without the CV associated with it...

Yeah, I think I'm going to need to know what you'd replace OCV, DCV, MOCV and MDCV with, exactly.

From 6E1, page 88

With the GM’s permission, characters

can put Limitations on Skill Levels. The

GM may restrict which types of Skill

Levels a character can Limit; for example

he might rule that only 3-point Skill

Levels can have Limitations.

For your own situation, Lucius, does Turakian Age provide a Language Table akin to the one on 6E1 80 for the languages presented in those rules? Between that, and Linguist, it might just be cheaper to put a few points into the Mother Tongues and a single point at best in each of the others and see what that winds up costing you.

Dunno if there's an 'official" answer to this, but I'd not add much for the stockless - maybe two or three STR to the requirement for 12 gauge, and then reduce it by one if the folding front grip is employed.

I had intended it to be set to "on" and be forgotten. Does Damage Shield affect ranged powers?

Also of relevance - are you looking for an active or passive defense? Active might be either of these, but if it's something that can be set to "on" and forgotten, any of the actual defense powers could have the necessary SFX for what you're intending.

I have all the muscle tone of over-cooked spaghetti and I've kicked in metal doors set in metal frames. The catch was engaged, but not the deadbolt, like bigbywolfe stated.

Wish there was a mechanical way to represent that, rather than the GM Invoked Reality clause.

Remember Rule #6 in role-playing games: the gamemaster always has the right to say no. He never has to allow you to do anything that is logically impossible.

Oh thank god. I was sure I'd seen both of these things before, but I was AFB and debating with someone who tried to convince me that Hero did a terrible job with physical attacks against inanimate objects.

I feel certain this has been covered, but searching has proved less than fruitful. Has there been any discussion about the radical damage associated with Offensive Strike + Haymaker (+8 DCs)?

Lisiteing to this now as I type in the public libary. So far, I'm "less than 3" for it.

 

Wow...almost half done, and all the focus is on 6ed, and nothing mentioned about Champions Complete. Why?

Lisiteing to this now as I type in the public libary. So far, I'm "less than 3" for it.

 

Wow...almost half done, and all the focus is on 6ed, and nothing mentioned about Champions Complete. Why?

Maybe I am just not getting something yall are discussing here but it seems like people are going through massive hoops and suggesting tons of house rules and entire house systems for something that isn't broken. I don't get the aversion to selling back some of the free Run/Swim if you want to keep your per turn movement the same. Yes, it makes that extra SPD slightly cheaper (slightly) but then you ARE making it less valuable (since you no longer get to move that extra amount for free anyway). The aversion to selling back stats from 5E came from the fact that you could basically get certain stats at a HUGE discount by selling back their granted figured characteristics that could make the primaries almost free. Since buying up your SPD doesn't in ANY way increase your Run/Swim (it just lets you use it more often) you don't have the issue that was present before.

 

What strikes me as funny is that this is the opposite of the NORMAL SPD vs Movement argument, which is about SPD being a cheap way to INCREASE your movement after a certain point.

There IS a really really easy, book-legal way to deal with this.

 

When you buy SPD up to 3, buy Running DOWN to 8.

 

When you by SPD up to 4, buy Running DOWN to 6, and perhaps buy Swim down as well. Leaping is probably not as much of an issue.

 

 

When a player buys their SPD up, tell them they must buy their Running down if you feel that's necessary, or else remind them that they are also increasing their velocity.

Personally, on the Heroic level, I almost always buy Running down somewhat but not necessarily down so far as to not be able to outrun a normal. I think a hero SHOULD be able to outrun a normal, even if they shouldn't quite be moving at half again the speed.

 

I don't know why people keep overlooking the fact that you can buy movement Powers down as well as up, but I suppose it's not that obvious especially as you can't do it in most games. But it's something I strongly recommend.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

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SPD		Running			Net Cost		Cost / Point of SPD > 2
1		24			2			NA
2		12			0			NA
3		8			6			6
4		6			14			7
5		5			23			7.67
6		4			32			8
7		4			42			8.4
8		3			51			8.5
9		3			61			8.71
10		3			71			8.88
11		3			81			9
12		2			90			9

Just for reference, it's APG 160-1 where this issue is discussed, under Segmented Movement and specifically Decoupling Movement and Speed.

I think I'd go with the 1d6 K, with the caveat that STR can not add to damage.