The Main Man

Re: Rifts HERO? Good call on the Independent (-2) Limitation on Cybernetics and Bionics. I think that I will try that out.

Re: Rifts HERO? One of my longstanding conundrums has been Cybernetics and Bionics (C&. Right now, I have decided to treat C&B as the thin line between Equipment and Powers, so they cost half in Money, half in Character Points. But with my "anything goes" approach, what about new C&B installations? I think that this would take some extra thought on a GM's part to create Cyber-Docs (if there are any in town) with specific ranges of budget and ability, and that dictates what they can make, giving them not only a mechanic-like feel, but also engineer extraordinaire; Techno-Wizards also would fall into this same mold.

Re: Standard Effect Idea That's a different way of looking at it. I notice that everyone only uses the Aid SPD idea, but doesn't address things like Draining Energy Blasts, or Suppressing Darkness, etc, in the case of Aid SPD, it may be a lot easier to gain +1 SPD with that Aid, but the inverse is true too: if someone Drains with this advantage at 2d6, it will do the same.

Re: Rifts HERO? I think Magic and Psionics should be addressed. First off, Potential Psychic Energy would probably be an END Reserve. Inner Strength Points has an unwritten appearance of just being half as potent as PPE, so just take a Psychic's ISP total and halve it to PPE. I would prefer to compare a PPE total to the Geometric Scale, and then using those corresponding Active Points as a budget between the END and the REC. Ex. An average beginning Ley Line Walker gets 3d6 x10 +20 +PE (average 9) = 119 --> 2^7 = 128 --> 35 Active Points in an END Reserve. Some ways to split it up are 300 END and 5 REC, or 50 END, 30 REC, but there are many other ways, as long as it is 35 Active Points, assuming strict conversion. This brings me to another point: I do not think that there should be any actual Package deals to represent every single Magic OCC or Psychic PCC. The numerous books make it pretty obvious that much of it is actually up to your imagination. For example, a Master Psychic is just a character with numerous, powerful Psionic powers, while a Minor one is someone who has a few tricks up their sleeve. The same goes for Magic OCCs, except maybe a base class that gives the bare necessities of Magic Users, but then all else is variation.

Re: The astonishing powers of Kelvarite!

Re: The astonishing powers of Kelvarite! I took it to another level in my campaign, which is possibly campier. There are other colors of kelvarite 3 Basic kinds (the primary colors) 1. Red - grants energy projection 2. Blue - grants super-strength 3. Yellow - grants super-speed They can be compounded, but averaged (Tachyon and Thunderbolt 2 were exposed to green kelvarite). This can even extend to a brown kelvarite, which 1/3 as potent, but has all three. Then there are three others: 1. White - temporarily enhances kelvarite powers 2. Black - absorbs kelvarite powers, and harms kelvarite-endowed characters 3. Grey - kelvarite that has been tapped of its powers. I haven't decided on an origin, but I lean on fragments of dead cosmic beings.

Re: Standard Effect Idea The idea behind the second was to make keeping track easier.

Re: Quick Question Awesome. There should be a book that touches on the Military/Espionage world of Champions. Project Sunburst would fit in great there I think.

I was just thinking about Standard Effect advantage variants. The first one is Selective (+1/4), which allows a player to opt for a standard effect or just roll. The second, which even I somewhat question, is Incremental (+1/4), which allows an Adjustment power to round off if the Standard Effect is applied. For example, if you are using an Aid SPD 3d6, the Standard Effect is 9, which adds 0.9 to your SPD CHAR. With Incremental (+1/4), it would add 10 instead. In addition, perhaps there could be a possible setback to this advantage, such as only rounding off to the nearest increment, but not allowing any more points to go past. IOW, it can only add whole increments, no surplus points. Do your worst.

Re: Quick Question Aren't Armadillo and Radium also survivors?

Re: Mini Review: The Ultimate Metamorph & Until Superpowers Database II I liked both books, but I have been waiting more for TUM for a long time. I am pleased to finally see the Macroverse text, which helps me tremendously with designing an evil snowman type that can expand into an enormous blizzard.

Re: An Experiment In Effectiveness That's neat.

Re: An Experiment In Effectiveness I do recall you mentioning that rule before, and perhaps I will try that, maybe even replace the original, because of the apparent flaws that have been pointed out. Maybe to keep in the spirit of our democratic group, I'll just put all of them to a vote on a case by case basis. Thanks for the tips.

Re: An Experiment In Effectiveness Yeah, the Rule of X as stated in the Champions 5/e book seemed to have some inherent weaknesses that I thought could be improved upon. Maybe I'll try much of this advice.

Re: An Experiment In Effectiveness Actually, I like that one. I'll test it out.

Re: An Experiment In Effectiveness That's exactly the kind of thing I was asking about, thank you.

Re: An Experiment In Effectiveness 1. I actually was intending to limit combat effectiveness to a point. 2. Where is that at? I'd like to look at it. 3. It's not that characters cost 250 points, it's just that they are only allowed up to 250 Active Points in powers; Character Cost would mean little.

I am concocting a "Rule of X" that I will experiment with, and I want to know if anyone here can find any possible pitfalls. I have found some, but they are the usual circumstantial ones, like certain powers being more effective at times than others. I. There is no starting Character Point Limit, nor is there an Active Point Limit. Using the given parameters that I will name, a PC's Effectiveness Rating cannot add up to more than that. A Standard Superheroic PC has a starting maximum ER of 50 (a standard starting PC would have 10 in each category) 1. Maximum OCV with the PC's most powerful attack 2. Maximum DCV (without Dodge) 3. Maximum DCs (without Haymaker) 4. Sum (in Active Points) of Maximum Normal and Resistant Physical and Energy Defenses, divided by 5 5. Maximum SPD multiplied by 2, for Offense and Defense II. Then, to counteract the "unlimited" Active Points, a PC has an Active Point Allowance, which is a budget of Active Points they are allowed to have, regardless of Real Costs. A Standard Superheroic PC has a starting maximum ER x 5 in APA For example, if a PC has Desolidification (40 Active Points) and 30 STR that Affects the Physical World (60 Active Points), that would be a total of 100 Active Points, leaving their standard 250 - 100 = 150 Active Points left. For Elemental Controls, use their Active Points as they are (a 30 Point EC will take 30 Active Points, and the powers in the pool will only take up their individual Active Points without the EC) For Multipowers, the Reserve's Active Points count as normal, but divide the Active Points of the Slots as you did for the Real Points (an Ultra Slot of 60 Active Points will account for 6 Active Points, but a Multi Slot of 60 Active Points will account for 12) For Variable Power Pools, add the Pool + the Active Control Cost (this is the easiest one) III. A PC may trade 1 ER for + 5 APA, and vice versa. Every 10 Experience Points that a character gains gives them +1 ER or +5 APA, but not both. Some constructive criticism would be nice.

Re: A tidbit from "Hidden Lands" Why isn't there a character sheet for Kal-Turak the Ravager anywhere?

Re: THE ULTIMATE SPEEDSTER -- What Do *You* Want To See? I second all of the suggestions thus far. Some of my own: 1) Explain the use of the "Usable as [Other Movement]" Advantage; It really seems to cheapen other modes of movement 2) Movement Transition: I've had confused players before, so maybe some concrete text that I can point to. 3) Better Cover Art, if nothing else (Did we all see CW, TUM, and USPD2?) 4) A table that maps out KPH/MPH --> Movement x"

Re: Rifts HERO? *snorting laugh*

Re: Rifts HERO? Hell no. It's an Explosion!

Re: Rifts HERO? New Speed Conversions (i.e. Simplified) Speed x 0.918 = Active Points of Movement (assuming a SPD of 2) Ex. Spd 20 x 0.918 = 18.36 = 9" of Movement MPH x 0.67 = Movement x" Ex. 20 MPH x 0.67 = 13.4" Movement (assuming a SPD of 2)

Re: Rifts HERO? For Glitterboys, it does say that they take only half damage from lasers. I am assuming that they mean more than just weapons with the word 'laser' in them, so I would give them EDR for light based weapons, which usually means lasers anyway, at least. But for otherwise DR, I would reverse calculate the BODY by the DR rate until I got a viable number. Taking that 62 BODY into mind, if I gave it 50% DR, that would be (62 / 1.5) = 41, which is still a bit much, so lets go to 75% DR --> 35 BODY, which is a bit better if I went down that route.

Re: Rifts HERO? It looks like Damage and MDC are pretty much figured out (but reverse convert Dr. Destroyer to Rifts that way and see the results:eek: ) I'm figuring that any form of movement can easily be converted. Speed = x20 = x Yards in a Minute x 3 = x Feet x 60 = x" in an hour / 5280 = xMPH MPH x804.5 = x" / 60 = per minute / 5 = per Turn / SPD (I like to just use 2), and then factor out Non-Combat multiples as necessary So a Spd 20 Character is 20 x 20 = 440 x 3 = 1320 x 60 = 79,200 / 5,280 = 15 mph exactly 15mph x 804.5 = 12,068 (I rounded) / 60 = 201 / 5 = 40 / 2 = 20 = 20", which probably means 10" of movement. The more that I look into this, the more that Rifts and Palladium actually look puny compared to some of the things that I've seen in HERO System.