DasBroot

Oh, it's definitely cheaper to just be able to breath water and it's his per turn variable heal so it's 'only' 2d6 (basically 15 end recovered for 6 end and an action ... not exactly devastating).  I really did find it more amusing and creative than anything else - but it did get me thinking about a non-variable one with 0 end instead.  That's 15 end for 0 end and an action, which is getting into 'hard to interupt recovery action' territory - at least for endurance purposes.

I suppose Aid Endurance in the pool instead for the same point value gets you a pool of 150 in two applications using standard effect (30 halved to 15 twice to hit the full 10d6 potential) which is a lot better than any END reserve you can buy for 6 points and is usable (completely fades) every two and a half minutes.  That's probably more useful to keep on blasting than a 15 point endurance recovery break.

In my last session someone used Heal with variable effect "Any characteristic below its starting value" (straight from the example in CC) on someone who was almost out of endurance due to holding their breath. They were trying not to drown and the Heal refilled a large part of their END pool so they could hold their breath longer.

It was a quick thinking and clever use of the power, in my books, so we joked that the person kept turning more and more purple regardless as they burned through the Healed END and moved on. 

It was amusing, though - according to the rules you burn through end, then stun, then body... so healing END functionally could allow someone to hold their breath forever, if it restored more than they expend while holding their breath.  I guess breathing is over-rated?

Anyone else run across a situation like this? Is there a specific rule against heal END in 6e that didn't hit CC? Not so much because I'm against saving drowning people as needing to do pointed out to him that he can restore more END than the power costs to use once per turn....

(Meant to put this in system discussion.)

I don't think I've ever made a character who could do anything that could save a city from a falling skyship.

All of them could punch Vanguard, though.

So, punch Vanguard.

The one thing that makes me uneasy, is if NK sold one of their nukes to a terror group, or even a government that couldn't secure them well enough.  These sanctions are making it harder to make ends meet in a responsible way . . . 

This is my greatest sense of unease as well - though I have my concerns that *North Korea* could secure them well enough.  I've never really been concerned that they'll nuke Seoul or Guam pre-emptively - though honestly I am not sure these days if we'd be 'allowed' to retaliate with military force (to disarm and disable, not invade) even if they did.

And once he's making multiple nukes per year (seriously, won't stop at one) selling a few might look appealing.

As for the 'false flag' suitcase nuke? In addition to what Ranxerox said don't every countries (or even places within a country) radioactive materials (enriched uranium) have their own unique signature because nobody shares the exact details of their enrichment process?

edit: Thank you, professor Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_forensics

Somebody would talk.  We live in a society where people who blow the lid off of government schemes or practices in any way shape or form get movies made about them.  To be the person who 'saved the world'? People recruited for this scheme would be climbing over each other to get to the media.

This exactly.  Dexterity's overall awesomeness was my great annoyance - though its effects on OCV an DCV and the cost associated with it DID make combat skill levels more appealing.

That all makes more sense if you actually pay attention and watch to the end of the movie. I'm not saying you have to, just that this particular criticism isn't entirely accurate. You may not like enough other things about it to get that far, and that's fair.

I would hope it makes more sense in context than as a 30+ year old memory from a daydreaming 8 year old.  Frankly remembering that much indicates it left *some* sort of impression on me.

In just remembering that much I also remember a scene in a cave with an underground lake (on fire?) and the wizard's voice, an escape from a castle, and a woman in white being surrounded by baby dragons.  So I'm guessing it's an Obi Wan Kenobi type situation - to spur the protagonist to action and provide assistance - classic in movies like this because the hero's journey lets the audience learn about the story as the protagonist learns about the story. 

The turning in of geek cred is that I've never cared enough to go back and find out what I missed as a kid for the majority of the ones I thought had neat posters, didn't understand fully, or only saw bits of.  It's not so much criticism as a confession.

Though I did go back and watch Beastmaster and Masters of the Universe (the live action one) and wished I hadn't.  Maybe they ruined the entire 80s fantasy genre for me.

I have no stomach nor nostalgia for most 'cult classics' of science fiction or fantasy from the 80s. I guess I preferred cartoons over live action (probably still do, if my Netflix history is any indication).

I have only seen parts of Krull, the first Conan, Ladyhawke, and Dragonslayer (mostly a bit where an old wizard lets himself get stabbed in the chest to prove a point or something and dies? I remember thinking 'that was a pretty dumb idea' even when I was 8. Oh, and a prince or king claims credit for the dragon kill. Typical.). 

I haven't seen Conan the Destroyer, Red Sonja, Dark Crystal, Legend, Flash Gordon, Tron, They Live, Dune... the list is endless.

Aids aren't popular in my games for this reason (and I'm ok with that) but historically I will artificially cap the damage to 12d6 and the excess is wasted - regularly using Aid to 'go super saiyan' is just how you get to that 12d6.

It's cludgy and due to a bad experience with Aid in the past under another GM*  my group in general shies away from 'pre-battle buff' builds.

Instead of pushing something beyond the limits in my games they tend to be used defensively (though not so much for the standard defenses, which are also usually run near cap by most characters)  - a mentalist might have Aid Ego in their multipower to throw on the brick if they come across a powerful enemy psychic, etc.  Dexterity is another popular Aid target, as since it's decoupled from OCV/DCV/Speed in CC/6E there are a lot of people in my group, if they aren't taking many/any dex skills, who leave it at 10.  Con as well because nobody likes getting stunned but nobody likes spending a ton of points on it either 'just in case'.

* Someone created a small Aid that aided ALL characteristics for 24 hours, area of effect - and then created an *absolutely huge* Aid that Aided that Aid (OAF, single charge, extra time, the works) that they would use before using the All Characteristics Aid (the effects of which lasted a day - the decay rate didn't affect the buff itself because Aid is an instant: If you have a 4d6 aid str that you use to give an ally 14 strength and then your aid gets drained to 2d6 by an enemy the person currently with +14 str doesn't automatically lose half of it. It works in reverse as well.

 

The issue stems from inconsistent enforcement (or a complete lack) of campaign guidelines; not with Strength, Martial Arts, or any other source of Added Damage specifically. According to the Character Ability Guidelines Table, a Standard Superheroic Character is supposed to be dealing between 6 and 14 DCs, using no more than 80 APs. It doesn't matter how the character meets those standards, so long as they do, they'll be relatively balanced (even if they happen to be a Brick who learned Boxing). 

Exactly this.  If I say I want 12 DC for a cap I mean 12 DC from all sources. Maybe it's a 12d6 str 60 punch, maybe it's a 20 strength with four hth martial damage classes and a 24 m running Passing Strike (4+4+4) - how you get there isn't as important as respecting the intention to have the damage stop there.  An ally throwing a 30 point strength aid on the str 20 character in that example for 18d6 violates the intention, as does running 60 instead.

(Though I always allow haymaker to 'break' the DC cap - that's its special power)

Astronomy - Blue Oyster Cult

The version from Imaginos is my favorite - the 'Edge of 17' like drive in the background adds something to the original.

The world could recognise North Korea's legitimacy.  The US could unconditionally withdraw all troops from South Asia and swear they'll never return.  Russia and China could sign formal unconditional mutual defense pacts with Kim, including intervention in civil matters if needed should a rebellion rise up.

It wouldn't matter.

He's still going to build that bomb.  To prove he can and because it sets him apart - elevates him, in his own mind - from every other country with a chip on it's shoulder.

And he's not going to stop at one.

Rogue One is a hoot, and there are no characters to get attached to in some lame fictional future history that the fanboys have screaming fights over.

 

Haven't seen the other two.

I don't know. The Jyn and Cassian being Rey's parents group is pretty loud...

Deep Purple - Hush

A background NPC in my current game has this exact limitation... and a 120 str (when the campaign cap for players is 60).

The idea was inspired by Superman's "World of Cardboard" speech from the last episode of JLU where I thought 'but what if he couldn't?'

Since it's a background flavour NPC there's not a lot that needs to be done to address the problem for 'balance's' sake ... but basically he only ever uses his Flight to move and his sidekick, a robotic 'combat butler', helps him interact with the world when necessary by opening doors, rescuing cats from trees, pulling people from burning buildings, etc.

For the most part, though, he stays in his specially designed fortress floating above one of the city parks (a base with PD30 - usable on others for his guests) as it's the only place in the world where he can *almost* be 'normal').

Even in his base, though, he's incredibly lonely - the force field generator will (probably) keep his friends and company alive if he accidentally bumps into them but he's still likely to knock them out or stun them with a casual touch.

Even must use at full strength on a 10 is bad enough (though obviously not *as* bad).  You literally hit something as hard as the average guy can every time you apply your strength.  Grab a glass? Broken.  Kiss your girlfriend? You did on average 4 stun for touching her. On a 'good' roll you could inflict 1 or 2 BODY - bruises that take weeks to heal.  Picked up your cell phone? Cracked its screen.  Tried to button up your dress shirt? Tore each button off as you pulled.

Anything a normal person could do if they tried hard enough (without life or death pushing) is what you do EVERY time.  

I'm of a mixed opinion when designing characters because I keep this sort of thing in mind when doing so.

One the one hand I like building 'practical' uses of powers into characters to add dimension.

On the other hand if I make it 'too' useful (Healing, for example) I get stuck in a quagmire of 'why is he doing anything BUT this?'

My solution is usually to limit the 'too useful' powers with charges (especially Healing, but sometimes even things like Mind Scan, with which with a character with a high enough scan bonus to OMCV could easily spend every waking moment of their entire lives locating missing people with) and avoid megascale on travel powers so they *can't* be everywhere their power would be useful in short order.

Pink Floyd - The Great Gig in the Sky

Finished S1 Stranger Things.

Despite it being outside my wheelhouse I liked it overall - but thought the resolution to the government plot was the weakest point.

Old Man, on 20 Sept 2017 - 6:01 PM, said:

 

I didn't read any snark into DasBroot's statement at all.  I thought he was complaining about the dismissive attitude expressed by total strangers on the bus.

I was. To these people, as well as many others I'm sure,  7.1 is less than 8.2 therefore 7.1 is not as bad.

This is only one factor of an earthquakes effects, but it's the one that pop culture has ingrained as being the most significant so its the one that people just reading headlines assign the most value to.

I just like people to try and look beyond the buzzwords before speaking (as difficult as it is in today's buzzword driven society): a fishing shack fire isn't as bad as a forest fire but you'd be hard pressed to convince the people trapped in the fishing shack of that.  

Or in other words...

Any stat at 0 tends to be 'fight over' (except strength if you have teleport and use mental attacks, I guess).  I've had paranoid players try and buy Inherent on 1 point of each of them a few times (and a player who added up the points of doing that and shoved them into power defense instead.)

I think your interpretation is correct - since Ressurrection is already present they could specify 50 points past body being the condition that kills them forever (it's actually a more common condition than what most people would choose) and not spend any points on Body to lower the threshold - it's redundant.

However, if you *don't* take Resurrection it's actually a neat way to stay alive past when you'd normally be dead.

Unless the GM awarded it a -1 limitation or more, though (and in a superhero game it *could* be worth more - how often are superheroes actually at negative body in a reasonably balanced game?)  I think I'd rather just buy 25 body.  

That also changes the amount of damage you can take before dying by 50 points (25 on the positive side, 25 on the negative) AND is more useful because it slows you getting to -BOD in the first place. 

There's so much more to an earthquake than the magnitude number.  I overheard people talking on the bus about it not being as bad as the one they just had.  

It's an earthquake.  They're all serious.

In the US, yes.  Other places are supposedly getting it on their science fiction channels or Netflix.

Completely outclassed?  I don't agree.  So long as the brick's speed is not known by the speedster (to prevent meta-gaming), the brick has a fighting chance because the speedster has no idea how many actions the brick gets (could be 2, 3, 4, 5 ... maybe even 6 per turn depending on the kind of brick it is) or when they occur ... until after a full turn of combat ... and, thus, no idea when to 'safely' switch from offense to defense in the first turn of combat.

 

Now if you're allowing meta-gaming wherein the brick and speedster both know one another's speeds, then yes, the brick can't win ... but only because the speedster is meta-gaming (read ... basically, cheating ... unless the speedster has Sense SPD bought as Discriminatory with Analyze, in which case the speedster actually paid to know SPD at the meta-game detail level and it's not cheating ... but when have you seen a speedster with that?)

I would just take my chances and throw a punch on 1 and then Hold every segment after until the brick goes and attack the next segment (except 7, just in case).  The metagame element is that as a player you're aware of the segment/phase number at all.  The moment the brick Holds or throws his first punch the player has a good sense of the bricks speed.  Two or three in and he's got it all figured out.

Unless you can't tell your opponent is holding an action.  I guess that's valid but I feel a trained combatant should be able to tell when an opponent is ready and waiting to act vs unprepared.

(I guess you could also take Analyse: Reaction time (how else would you describe speed?) and make a roll at the start of a fight to get an ok to great idea of how much 'faster' you are)

Alternatively - assuming the other guy wants to fight at all - Full move away on segment 1 and see when he gets to pursue you.  More meta, yes, but no more than getting to know how much damage you are hit for and how much you can take.

The rules don't cover brain dead in the slightest.  There's only dead-dead (-Bod).  

The closest they come is GM discretion as to recovery time when their stun is below -10.

If the GM says 'He never recovers from being at -30 stun after that fight' then he could be considered brain dead.

It could always be added into the effects of damage rules... and it could already be considered a discretion result of a Disabling hit to the head with Impaired rolled.

As for drains and everything else that might do it... nothing has been said as far as I can tell.

Also getting the cost to 'hit hard' down isn't difficult if you're using a standard DC game.  For 200 points (before limitations) you can get a 12 speed, a 60 base cost DC 12 attack, and 30 dexterity.

Is 200 a lot? Yes... but the brick with speed 4 will end up spending that easily on his attributes as well if you let him on str, con, body, and stun.

And be completely outclassed in a fight.