DasBroot

I like the idea.

The higher the speed caps / base, the more attractive reduced endurance looks.

I've used 'set speeds' in games before - people were mostly thankful that everyone acted at roughly the same time and nobody felt a 'point tax' to keep their speed near campaign average when they had things more in line with their concept to do with their points.

40 points on speed 6, for example, is a sizeable investment even in a 400 point game - but if you don't pay it you might be put on the defensive or be out of play more than you'd like.  Campaign speeds are good at alleviating that. 

There's one in Champions Complete.  It's pretty similar to Massey's from what I recall though it throws in a lot of 'lockout' limitations as well (you can't use anything else if the shield is over there now because you threw it, etc).

Not sure I understand the design philosophy behind this... if it's to overwhelm a flash defense higher than your base dice why not not take a 3d6 flash?

If it's to keep them blinded forever then why not 

You are probably be better off buying a Constant Flash with enough dice of Effect to keep the target blinded between your phases instead.

yeah, that.

The cumulative thing Cantriped points out aside (limited to maximum able to be rolled on one dice) it just wouldn't make 'sense' for a flash to be cumulative.

"Ah! Ze first flashbang has hit! I can see or hear nothing!"

*boom*

"Noo! A second flashbang that I neither saw nor heard because I'm already dazzled has hit! I am blinded longer!"

*boom*

"Make it stop! I can't stand not being able to see or hear zee additional flashbangs that are impacting near me!"

Colossus might be a bad example.  Didn't his powers first manifest when he ran in front of a tractor to save his sister?

He was only a humorous example but yes they did. Though I suspect that may be different than not flinching when someone opens fire on you with a machine gun.

People flinch away from flies, mosquitos, and moths instictively - none of those things can (directly) hurt you, either - it's a reflex.  A beekeeper can learn to not even flinch when stung so instincts can be overcome but I think it would be fun to see them having to be every once in a while in a flashback or something.

The Greatest American Hero. The suit makes Ralph completely bulletproof, but he never got over throwing his arms over his face when the shooting started.

Nicely done.

The palindromedary has a good point ... I wonder how long it DOES take the average bullet proof superhero to overcome their body's natural reflexes to avoid danger?

"Colossus ... why are you under the table?"

"Sorry, comrade - shooting started and I dove for cover."

I blame the exceptionally poor CGI.  The gun itself looked pretty realistic but clearly the item they used for motion capture for its trajectory was too large or bulky for the actor to safely ignore.

But can he take a pistol shot to the eyeball without harm like in Superman Returns?  There were a couple good scenes in the film, like him saving the car and posing like the Action Comics cover.

6 levels (6DC) of physical damage negation.  The gun can't hurt him, knock him back, do stun even on a called shot to the head - anything.

Of course then the 15DC 4d6 explosive mortar shell comes along and does 3d6 Killing (maybe 2.5)  and nearly kills him.

The discussion in the martial arts damage class thread reminded me of this beauty:

Knock it off:  Teleportation 2m, Armor Piercing (x2; +1/2) (3 Active Points)

Cheaper than martial escape and effective against any strength score or hth DC boosted grab as well as thin entangles or barriers that don't have "cannot escape with teleportation x3" (pretty niche).

Don't damage classes add to the active cost of the power they're modifying and change the endurance cost?  Or is that a fever dream / houserule I pulled out of the ether?

In any case if allowed in the game the hth DC are arguably 'better' than hand attack for a lot of situations (especially if you spend a lot of points on martial maneuvers - but if you do then you're comparing apples to oranges).

However, unlike HtH DC you can advantage and limit Hand Attack (and these advantages get pro-rated into your strength damage).  Penetrating and armor piercing, for example, offer advantages in attacking that martial maneuvers  (at least the core ones) can't match.

Six months is seeming like six years.  We all knew that things wouldn't settle down once he took office but this is ridiculous.

As ridiculous as it is, though, I don't want investigators to do anything less than their best in this case just because of public fatigue and national embarrassment. 

I also don't want them to do 'more' than their best - no show boaters, no half allegations, no circumstantial double talk.  There's already been too much hyperbole on this matter from all sides.

 

Alternatively, you could require Persuasion to inherently take extra time. I know that RAW you can recite Hamlet in one phase as a free action, but actual persuasion takes time and back-and-forth interaction where you listen as often as you speak. If baseline persuasion took a minute or ten minutes, then trying to do it in one phase would be at a penalty for rushing. Skill monkeys could do a better rush job than a normal person, but they would no longer walk around with the equivalent of Jedi Mind tricks.

You can recite Hamlet ias a free action if it's not relevant to anything, sure, but if you're trying to convince a crowd with it (acting, oratory, etc) then I feel it definitely should fall under the rules that govern complex skill use time, such as computer programming, mechanic, etc.

Non-combat skills aren't meant to be used in the combat scale time system - a quick 'what's that behind you?' roll, maybe (though say that out loud - it probably took you two or three segments), but 'Have you ever given thought to what will happen to your loved ones when you pass...." not so much.

That's how I've always interpreted it as well -- how long will your message last after you leave?

Charm - not long.  They were interested in you, not the message.  A cult leader whose members lose interest in what the cult's about whenever they stop to think about it or whenever the skill user isn't around.

Oratory - Long lasting, but mostly used on people who are inclined (or at least not dis-inclined) to already believe in what you're saying.  A pastor preaching to the congregation - he doesn't need to persuade them (they already believe) - he just re-affirms what they already know and makes them feel proud about their choice.

Persuasion - Longest lasting.  Over time you fundamentally change someone's mind.  As Derek said - converting a non-believer with many rolls over a long time.  In a short time it can convince someone to do something they're not particularly adverse to (letting you go with a warning for a minor infraction). Over a long time a cult leader could use it to create zealots who continue his cause after he's gone.

I would say the biggest difference between Persuassion and a low powered mind control is the targets acceptance of consequences:

For example when dealing with a goon guard at an organised crime hideout.

Persuasion: "I haven't touched anything.  I'll leave. I promise." *successful roll*

Goon: "You seem like a good guy.  I'd like to let you go but the boss would literally kill me. Sorry pal. You're coming with me."

(Or, if he doesn't particularly care one way or another "Yeah, sure. Get out of here before you get me in trouble.")

Mind control: "You will let me go." *bucket of dice*

Goon: "Yes, my dark master."

(Though if he was terrified enough or loyal enough to his boss to have a complication based around it he'd have a little more defense against the Bucket of Dice)

Palpatine *is* a great example of high levels of Persuassion, though - he worked on Anakin for years with the skill without mind controlling him (often) with the Force.

Is Senator McCain unaware that you can have multiple investigations into related matters close at different times? That was painful to watch.

Senator, the Clinton investigation was NOT about Russia: it was about Clinton's use of an unsecured mail server and improper handling of classified documents.  It also was not about whether anyone on her team leaked unsecured classified information to a foreign power - that would be *another* investigation - which would be opened if sufficient evidence to warrant such an investigation came to light.

All in all there were no surprises there - but ti was still potentially bad for the President: Comey is clearly not a 'nut job' 

And the whole 'clear the room' 'I hope....' thing could be torn out of any pulp gangster movie if you moved it from the Oval Office to the back room of a night club somewhere.  If my boss at work, upon hearing we're running behind schedule, says  "I hope your team can make this projects deadline." you better believe he means "Get it done."

Exactly.  Nothing will change unless there's a violation so blatant the the justice system has no choice but to prosecute - and I don't see that happening.  A few of his staff might have to fall on their sword (might - the FBI's credibility is pretty low in the court of public opinion right now) but I don't think any of this will reach the oval office. 

Hulk rolls 100

 

Hulk is victorious

 

"Hulk is highest roller there is!"

Rush - The Spirit of Radio

Not really, if a squid sprays ink in the water, you know where the ink is.  That's how darkness work, it obscures an area, it doesn't make the area hard to find.

I could see that.  It might somewhat mollify the table-grumbles if you could infer where the target was by what information you DIDN'T get - if ultimately Darkness to the Mental Group's biggest pek was toprevent a lock on  

That does leave invisibility vs the mental group as the superior defense against mind scan - but at a higher cost that's probably for the best.  

Though one player realise that shape shift can fool the mental group as well (in the character builder):

Homer? Who is 'Homer'? I am Guy Incognito:  Shape Shift  (Mental Group), Persistent (+1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (3 Active Points)

And seriously ticked off the group psychic who had spent 80 AP on mind scan.  

Personally I just couldn't figure out how that would work, exactly - if you're looking for DasBroot with mind scan but he's mentally shape shifted into Generic Male does your mind scan fail if you don't have line of sight (which changes the targeting from DasBroot to 'that guy right there' no matter who they're mentally shape shifted to)? Would you have to look for Generic Male instead (who is not specific enough to require Imitation)?  How would you ever know who to look for? (I think locking on once would be enough to give it away - though they could then buy more 'shapes' when the jig was up).   

I meant to ask Steve when it happened, but the player who created the power decided it wasn't worth the table debate and didn't buy it.

I totally stole a variation on it for a super-villain later, though - a bunch of minions were wearing helmets with it limited to one shape only (their boss) and Imitation.  "I mind scan for Doctor Deathtrap." "He's in Queens. And the Bronx. Wait... he's in Times Square...."

Even that was a one shot because while we found it funny I still wasn't sure it was a fair representation of the effect.

But since it's on topic...

In my game I handled the darkness to mental perception group as a 'hole' in the mind scan .... but didn't give them the exact location of the hole without them narrowing it down first in some manner.

For example (from actual play) - scanning the country for the big bad revealed a strange hole in the perception.  They didn't know where (not even distance - otherwise it defeats the point of buying the power to hide from mind scan) but it indirectly revealed that the target was somewhere in said darkness (which is probably borderline too much information if not over the line).

Later on, after several clues, they went to Arizona and scanned the state and found the same black hole but again no sense of distance or location... but at least they were in the right geographical area to start their detailed search.

Another time they pretty much knew where exactly a darkness field was because they scanned a building within visual distance and found a hole.

Incoming presidential tweet in 3 ... 2 ... 1.....

20 or 30 years ago I would have given this to J'onn without a second thought.

These days, though...

When Odin slumbers or is dead Thor wields the Odinpower

Odin never wields the Thorpower.

In the immortal words of Stan Lee ... "Nuff said".

Once again... venue.  I think away from Olympus the Sorcerer Supreme has a chance.  Zeus is a hell of a magical threat but he IS a magical threat and Dr Strange's rogue gallery has a lot of beings others would call 'gods' in it.

Plus... cooler cloak.

Can we photo shop out the Infinity Gauntlet if it's not in play?  It's scary.

Without the Gauntlet I'll go with the Power Cosmic beating cosmic power.

Wow.  No matter who wins, Superman loses.  I did not expect that so early.