Utech

Re: "Stun Target" power -- what am I doing wrong? I respectfully disagree that my thinking was faulty. I'm well aware of what the term means and I'm not confusing "real world" effects with game mechanics. I'm talking about a "game world" effect that is advantageous. That's that the term "Advantage" is all about. I don't think we're getting anywhere here. Shall we just agree to disagree and move on?

Short story version Here's the question: Is it really the same thing to put someone to sleep as it is to drop their STUN to zero or below? It may not be worth bothering about. If you're not interested, feel free to stop reading here. Long story version Recent discussion in another thread suggested a Stun-only EB with the SFX: Spell of Sleep. (A Sleep Spell on 5ER page 157 does the same sort of thing with Ego Attack; Sleep Poison Darts on 5ER page 297 use a NND EB.) I accepted this without a thought. Then I got thinking. Is knocking someone out really the same as putting them to sleep? Five points... The Knockout rules on 5ER pages 411 and 412 are clear about what happens when your STUN total to zero or below. 5ER page 373 (the DCV Modifiers Table) notes that sleeping people have the same DCV and Hit Locations modifiers as people who are knocked out (or affected by PRE/EGO +30 Presence Attack). The Lightsleep Telent (5ER page 90) notes how one can make a PER Roll to wake up when someone enters the room -- clearly not something an unconscious person can do. The Unconscious And Sleeping Minds rules under the Telepathy power (5ER page 232) make it clear that the two sorts of minds are not the same. I've been asleep and I've been knocked out. I didn't enter the two conditions the same way. I didn't exit them the same way. They seemed different to me. So here's the question again: Is it really the same thing to put someone to sleep as it is to drop their STUN to zero or below? If no, is there a better way to build Powers that put someone to sleep?

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

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

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

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

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

Re: "Stun Target" power -- what am I doing wrong? Just so. While I appreciate that many people play as though no Body damage is equal to not hurting someone, I don't. You can't walk around shooting people with a taser, rendering them unconscious and then insisting you didn't assault them. If you had the amazing weapon being suggested here, however, you could stun people without a bit of injury. Not unlike the active denial system. I consider it a much, much better weapon than one that knocks people out. But whatever strokes your folk is good with me.

Re: "Stun Target" power -- what am I doing wrong? Because you are not harming them in any way. You're not even causing STUN damage! You can fire indiscriminately into a crowd of people without a care in the world. Slap AOE on the power and you can happily target the one terrorist in a group of nuns or schoolchildren. There are close to no ethical or legal issues to worry about. I'm not saying it would always be an Advantage. But it might be for some campaigns.

Re: "Stun Target" power -- what am I doing wrong? Funny. I see it as an Advantage.

Re: How do you visualize combat? I can understand that -- though I don't feel the same way. I don't much care for clues when it comes to die rolls in combat. I prefer player-schtick-specific descriptive language that lets the characters shine. And then -- if it's at all important -- I dispel all mystery by making it quite clear what just happened. I have no problem letting my players know what a bad guy's DCV is, that he just Blocked an attack, and so on and so forth. Part of the understanding at the gaming table is that I won't unfairly use what I know about the PCs; and that the players won't unfairly use what they know about the NPCs. I apologize if anything I've written here comes across as insulting. I assure you that's not my intent.

Re: How do you visualize combat? I'm much more interested in telling the sort of story the Players want to tell than setting in stone how we describe the results of a roll of the dice. If one character's schtick is being nearly invulnerable, then I'm going to help tell that story. When a bad guy misses Mr. Invulnerable, I might describe it as a hit. A hit that Mr. Invulnerable barely notices. Hooray! If one character's schtick is being able to take a licking and keep on ticking, then I'm going to help tell that story. When a bad guy misses Timex, I might describe it as a hit. A hit that staggers Timex for a moment before he shakes it off and returns his steely glare back to the man who struck him. If one character's schtick is being able to dodge pretty much anything in Dodge, then I'm going to help tell that story. When a bad guy misses Dodgy by just a tad, I might describe it as missing by a mile. Etc. At no time will I allow the descriptions to confuse my players. I'll keep them up to date on what the dice said. But I've little interest in telling a story composed entirely of "He missed you! He missed you again! He hit you!"

Blink has teleportation with enough increased mass multiplier. He comes upon an unconscious girl. Blink wishes to teleport this girl to another location. The two have never met before. She might be willing to teleport somewhere with Blink. She might not. It has never crossed her mind that the situation could come up. Does he need Usable As Attack to teleport her?

Re: How do you visualize combat? I think you're really limiting yourself and your GM here. But to each his own.

Re: Character Effectiveness

Re: Character Effectiveness I don't think it's possible to evaluate the effectiveness of two characters by looking at the numbers. The game world and storyline the GM has in mind have a tremendous impact on effectiveness. Consider what sort of numbers would make a character most effective for... a dungeon crawl a supernatural mystery a game based on Harry Potter a game based on Blazing Saddles a Golden Age/Silver Age/Iron Age/Stone Age Champions game featuring VIPER a Golden Age/Silver Age/Iron Age/Stone Age Champions game featuring PSI a Golden Age/Silver Age/Iron Age/Stone Age Champions game featuring CLOWN etc.

Re: Decoupling Movement from Speed or Segement moviement Multiply your movement in inches by your Speed. Divide by 12. That is how far your character can move each phase. Attacks are still limited to phases shown on the Speed Chart. They can be held as normal. Example: Running 6" Speed 4 6 x 4 / 12 = 2 Phase 1: You can move up to 2" Phase 2: You can move up to 2" Phase 3: You can move up to 2" and attack (or hold that attack) Phase 4: You can move up to 2" etc. Special problems: You need to keep track of total movement over several phases to ensure that you have not moved more than half your movement before making an attack. (Extra Time attacks change this, of course) You need to keep track of total movement over several phases to know your total velocity for Move By and/or Move Through attacks. Haymakers are pretty much useless. Leaping requires you to declare a target hex and spend several phases in the air. Teleporting characters can make multiple short-range ports or (if you'll allow), declare a target hex and spend several phases 'saving up' movement until they've banked enough to make their port.

Re: Personal Sacrifice

Re: Personal Sacrifice

Re: Personal Sacrifice

Re: Machine Class of Minds

Re: Personal Sacrifice Here are two more takes on using Side Effects on a set of powers: 1) EGO Drain While I appreciate the idea of a BODY Drain (since losing BODY can lead to death), I'm not sure that it best represents the "life force". An EGO Drain better fits the bill for me. As you use your powers, you lose your ability to exercise free will. Overuse of your powers would leave you a zombie. Alive, perhaps, in a medical sense, but lacking the "life force" that makes life worthwhile. If the Drain has a normal return rate, this Side Effect would have little impact on most games. If the Drain has a longer than normal return rate, this Side Effect might really give the player reason to pause. If the Drain has a return rate of, say, a million years, the player will have to spend XP to replace lost EGO. 2) Cumulative Transform OK, so this might feel a bit of a cheat. But it fits the bill nicely. Each Player could define precisely what it means to lose "life force". As the Transform takes greater hold, the player suffers more and more changes. These might include changes to Characteristics. They also might be less tangible changes -- made clear through role play but not on the character sheet. The character might become lethargic, listless, depressed, morbid, uncreative, etc.

Re: How do you visualize combat? Regarding DCV = dodging bullets: Only if you insist that all to-hit rolls produce a clean hit or a clean miss. In this case, it's entirely reasonable to say that V had all of his levels in DCV and that he used a Martial Dodge when he was shot at. "Miss" results indicated shots that struck the metal plate and either failed to penetrate or were deflected. "Hit" results indicated shots that pierced the metal plate or struck an unarmored location.

Re: Balancing various challenges. By far the most important thing is to be unafraid to make changes on the fly. You never need to mention to your players that you changed things. Getting things exactly right before the encounter is hard. Don't get hung up on it. Start your encounter. If it becomes obvious that the PCs are going to stomp the bad guys with such ease that no one has any fun, make things harder. You might... ...bump up their damage a little. If anyone asks about the extra damage, say that the PCs got lucky on earlier rolls. ...bump up CVs a little. If anyone asks why identical rolls to-hit do not produce identical results, say that the bad guys have some Skill Levels that you've assigned differently. ...bump up defenses a little. ...have another bad guy or two suddenly enter the fray. ...have an innocent bystander (DNPC?) become endangered by the bad guys and/or environment. ...have the bad guys use the environment to their advantage in a surprising way. (One of those cars on the street was rigged with a bomb last night. Now the bad guy presses a button...) On the other hand, if it becomes obvious that your PCs are overmatched and no one is going to have any fun, make things easier. You might... ...lower the effectiveness of bad guy weapons. Have them run out of charges of that higher damage ammo they were using. ...lower bad guy CVs. ...lower bad guy defenses and/or STUN. ...have another good guy enter the fray. Be very careful that this good guy helps but does not overshadow the PCs. A simple off-duty cop that gets in a lucky shot or a kid that screams and distracts the bad guys may be all that's required. ...give the PCs an opportunity to use something in the environment to their advantage. Is there an awning that might be dropped over the bad guys? Is there a fire hydrant that might shoot a spray of high-powered water at the bad guys if you shot it just right? Is there something that offers cover or could be used as a shield?

Re: How do you visualize combat? I try to match up my description with the way the player envisions his character. For example, an agent pulls out an automatic weapon and sends a spray of lead at our heroes. I make a to-hit roll and come up with nada. Not a single shot hits. I might say to... ...Brick Man, "The five slugs smack into your chest like gnats. There's not a scratch on you. Still, you're aware that a lucky shot might really cause you harm. You're not invulnerable. Not quite." ...Speedster Man, "The five slugs zip toward you faster than any human eye can follow. But you're so much more than human. Totally prepared for the barrage, you thread your way through them as easily as a New York cabbie heading uptown. Still, you're aware that even New York cabbies have accidents. If you somehow lost your concentration -- or your footing -- this might not be so easy." ...Mentalist Man, "Instinctively, you step into his thoughts. See what he sees. Know where he's shooting. And you make sure you aren't there. All five slugs zip past you. Still, you're aware that you were acing in instinct. You might not step into his mind so thoroughly next time. Or he might not be aiming quite where he thinks he is..." ...Energy Projector Man, "He sends five shots in your direction. Like many people, you instinctively raise your arm to shield yourself. Unlike many people, you're able to project waves of plasma. Instinct takes over and the blast of high energy meets the bullets before they can find you. The hot lead gets even hotter. Three melt outright. The flight path of the other two is so distorted that they never pass within a meter of you. Still, you know that the accidental discharge of plasma was lucky. You might not manage it again. Or you might not get all those bullets..." And so on and so forth. Of course you can have too much of a good thing. So I have no problem with saying, "He swings at you, but misses by a mile" as well. What's important to me is making sure that each character gets to shine in the way each player intended.