Ockham's Spoon

Re: Does Range play a big part in your games? I think maps and range really add to a combat. That said, limited time for prep often has me skimping on the maps, which is a pity. I will have to check out some of the map resources mentioned.

Re: need more than plot hooks! That is a good point. But it depends on the level of the campaign as to whether that is a problem or not. If you want your heroes to bounce bullets, either let them buy their defenses up or tone down the weapons. But if you don't want the heroes ignoring the average thug because he isn't a credible threat, then let him have that high-powered weapon. For a specific exampe (one I remember) in the 5e Hero Equipment Guide, a taser is built as a 8d6 NND attack. That is 80 active points which is pretty hefty for something a little old lady might have in her purse (whether she can hit with it is another issue). In a low-powered game, some of the heroes might be asking themselves why they don't carry a taser themselves. That is something the GM and players are going to have to hash out before they start playing. Maybe tone down the taser (a 4d6 NND is probably enough to stun most people with one hit; repeated hits could knock them out), maybe introduce legislation in the campaign that discourages their use, maybe let the heroes have an equipment Multipower with taser, hand cuffs, and walkie-talkie. As long as everyone is on the same page when you start.

Re: need more than plot hooks! First off let me second everything Lord Liaden said - you should check it out. If you are comfortable using the undead cult as a starting point, go with it. To make it work better in a superhero campaign consider the following: 1. The individual cultists need to be a credible threat to the supers. Either start with a low-level campaign so that the heroes can be challenged by highly skilled/well-equipped foes, or make the cultists magically enhanced so that they are borderline superhuman themselves. 2. In the modern world, evil magical cultists will still probably have cell phones, cars, and firearms. Maybe magically enhanced ones, but they aren't coming out of Amish country. 3. In most settings, the cultists aren't running the government, or if they are it is secretly. They have to protect their Secret ID's just like the heroes. Use this to let the heroes interact with cultists while everyone is playing the civilian - it will make for richer confrontations later on. 4. Comic book organizations tend to have a lot more layers than fantasy ones, and part of the fun is peeling back each layer and seeing what is underneath. 5. One major difference between swords and sorcery fantasy and comic book superheroes is that the latter have no moral authority to mete out capital punishment. The cultists may use this to bait the heroes, and the heroes may have to deal with the consequences of killing them. How you want to handle that may depend on the tone and such, but it is something to consider.

Re: Adjusting DCV

Re: Arabic/Middle Eastern based Character If you want a basic brick or martial artist, how about Gilgamesh? I know he was Babylonian, but nowadays that is called Iraq. Not Arabic strictly speaking, but maybe close enough for your concept.

Re: Cyberkinetic Remote Control I think it depends on how the cyberkinesis is supposed to work. If Magneto is operating a crane magnetically, that is really just TK with Fine Manipulation. If the Psychic Hacker controls the on-board computer to make it perform whatever functions he wants (within its normal operation), that is Mind Control. If the character can do either, then put the two powers in a Multipower. The Advanced Players Guide gives some good guidelines on how to use cyberkinetic Mind Control and TK against various objects (including power armor) without disrupting game balance.

Re: Adjusting DCV A good point, but does that mean DCV is so much more valuable that adjustment powers shouldn't work as effectively on it? Maybe the martial artist thinks so, but the brick doesn't care.

Re: Adjusting DCV Aid works on anybody unless you buy it with the limitation "Self Only". Thanks Hugh for the numerical analysis and trenchant comments; I would rep you again if I could. But we might also want to take into account that because of the bell curve, you get more bang for the buck from a small CV adjustment than a big one, while a PD Drain is more linear. That means halving the effect for a CV adjustment won't impact the power as much as it does for adjusting other defenses. You could use that to argue for halving both or neither depending on your point of view. I don't think that the 5e DEX Drain was overpowered; in my experience it was probably a little underpowered. But that might be skewed by characters with combat levels that allowed some CV flexibility. Comparing 5e and 6e Drains vs. DEX is a bit tricky though because the break-points for DEX-figured CV don't line up with the points spent on 6e OCV and DCV, although with respect to adjustment powers I think it comes out pretty close.

Re: Adjusting DCV This was the driving reason for posting this thread - why should OCV and DCV be affected differently? In my mind it does boil down to whether DCV is really in the same catagory of defensive powers as PD, ED, etc. and whether OCV should be there too (since it is used for blocking, but mostly for symmetry). For a 12 DC power to modify OCV or DCV by 4 points is powerful, but the fade/return rate is fairly high unless the +1 Advantage to move it down the time chart to 1 minute is applied, which halves the effectiveness. Also, nobody ever won a combat with just a CV adjustment. It is a support power, and as such the character has to spend a action to activate it and then have a follow up attack to make it worthwhile (of course on a team this is less of a problem since the teammates benefit too). Personally I like to encourage the use of support powers, because it makes for more interesting combats than a simple exchanging of blows.

Re: New group of characters. GM characters are very convenient for the GM to help steer the group and stimulate conversation. And it makes things more fun for the GM. But the GM character can't dominate play or it will ruin the game for the players. The GM's character also has to make mistakes or the rest of the group will start to think that the GM's character always knows the right decision to make which tends to kill creativity in the players. I guess like most aspects of the game, if handled correctly it can be a real asset, but if bumbled it can torpedo the campaign.

Re: Adjusting DCV Good point about Power Defense. That makes the using the Advantage to lump adjustment powers together seem a bit more reasonable.

Re: Adjusting DCV For an Aid I agree, but the Drain will have the same issue. On the one hand, DCV being a defensive power against a Drain is totally justifiable - it would be like giving everyone fighting that opponent a bonus to their OCV. On the other hand, if a character gets an OCV bonus it is numerically just like all his opponents getting hit with a DCV Drain. So which is better, OCV bonus or DCV penalty? Sort of depends on which side is outnumbered. When fighting a single major bad guy, the DCV Drain is certainly better. But when fighting a horde it is easier to buff you and your friends. On that note, I didn't want to go with just extra DCV only useable when Aided because this is supposed to work on teammates as well. If this was only going to boost the one character, I just would have let him buy extra DEX, OCV, DCV, and SPD with an activation cost and be done with it.

I have a player who wants his character to be able to manipulate time so as to boost or drain DEX, OCV,DCV, and SPD simultaneously (a +1½ Advantage). His beef is that for say 3d6 Aid (or Drain) which rolls an average of10, he gets +2 OCV but only +1 DCV, because DCV is a “defensive" power in 6e. That is for balance of course, but from a sfx standpoint it doesn’t make sense. So Iam looking for suggestions. He could just by 4 linked Aids, with the DCV Aid having twice as many dice, but that is significantly more expensive than using the Advantaged Aid, even if he buys a separate Aid to add to the DCV Aid. Also it is clutters the character sheet. He suggested that for a +½ Advantage, he could apply the Aid to DCV twice, essentially buying the Advantage for another stat, but applying it to one stat two times. That sounds reasonable, until you consider someone building just a DCV Drain and buying the Advantage that way instead of paying for the extra dice. I suggested that we could house-rule OCV to work like DCV and both would only receive half effect. This mirrors the 5e cost structure in that 10 points to DEX would essentially give you +1 OCV and +1 DCV. He countered that we could house-rule DCV not to be a defensive power. That would also mirror 5e rules, since DEX was affected at the normal rate. I am thinking that DCV was ruled to be a defensive power for good reason, but I haven’t exactly play-tested this. So any thoughts, suggestions,or comments?

Re: My Elves Are Different! The problem with "different" elves is that you can only do so much before they are unrecognizable as elves. Sure you can call them elves, but really they are your own creation. Why not create the race and give them their own name? Probably for the same reason Hollywood makes movies "based on the book" which are nothing like the book except for the title character. Name recognition. The real trick is not making the most divergent elves possible, but taking the concept of elf and giving it a unique twist to make it your own without twisting it so much you break it. That will depend on the campaign tone and setting, and how much of a stickler you and your players are for historical/mythological accuracy.

Re: Flash Vs Darkness I think your build is okay (I'd have to check the book for exact values, but that looks close), but there are a few other points to consider. First, any UAA power has to have a way for the victim to shut it off. Flash "damage" doesn't. Second, the victim may not be able to see out, but nobody can see the victim's exact location either, which makes targeting him more difficult. That might fit the sfx well, but with a Flash only the victim is inconvenienced. Third, the GM has to okay a continuous power with Cost END only to activate. For defensive powers this isn't usually an issue, but as a GM I don't allow this for attack powers unless there is a predefined duration or some other limit to the attack power, otherwise it is just too abusive. You wouldn't allow a 1 pip KA NND Does BODY Continuous Cost END only to Activate would you? Same issue.

Re: Eyes up here, soldier! PRE does seem like an appropriate way to model this, but if you think that is too clunky, how about 2d6 Luck Only to influence combat with potentially distractable people? That is simple and flexible, especially if you want the comedic effect of opponents tripping over stuff because they aren't paying attention. Or maybe +1 Level All Combat, only vs. leering opponents, only once per opponent per combat, if you want something a bit more concrete.

Re: Where is your campaign based? Since the heroes are around to fight evil, most of our campaigns have been set in the capital of greed, vice, and corruption. By which I mean Washington D.C. D.C. has the advantage of being at least somewhat familiar to all the players with lots of good landmarks. Including the surrounding areas (Fairfax, Alexandria, etc.) it has a lot of commercial industries in addition to being the seat of government, which makes it easy to introduce almost any type of plot. D.C. also has planes, trains, automobiles, boats, and a subway system which lend a lot of variation there too. And of course it is the bedrock of all sorts of conspiracy theories which are fun to bring to life in a campaign.

Re: Limited Missile Deflection using Trigger... How about build it as +20 PD/ED Resistant Protection, Only vs. Ranged Attacks (-½), Only works once per PHA (-½), IIF (Shoulder Guard). That is cheaper and simpler and should pretty well stop any mundane attacks cold.

Re: How to handle the Clash of the Titans Not one Charge, but Burnout upon successful use so the heroes don't have to worry about missing (not that hitting something as big as the Kraken should be difficult, even when targeting its eyes specifically). To a large degree, you are right that this really is just a plot device, so I shouldn't get so hung up on it. But then I started thinking about this all-or-nothing effect on big creatures in general and wondered if there was a better way to handle it. The irony is that this only raised a red flag in my head because 40d6 Transform seemed too big; the HERO system has that built-in balance. If this were some other system, the effect would just be handwaved anyway with little regard for the potential consequences, but then I wouldn't have realized what a powerful effect it really was.

Re: How to handle the Clash of the Titans Well, that is a good point, and technically by the size template a colossal-sized monster has only +18 BODY. That seems pretty piddling for something over 100m tall to my thinking though. Of course the gorgon is still going to need something on the order of a 20d6 Transform which is still awfully high, but not ridiculously so. Still, worth considering.

Re: Agnès de Chastillon I am not familiar with this character, but now having seen the write-up and background, I will have to do so. Nice

Re: Archery question The setting would play a large role to be sure. Making a PER roll to find lost arrows is a good idea too, although I might want to do it on a bell curve with a single PER roll so they don't have to roll for each individual arrow. I think the likelihood of someone breaking an arrow shaft sticking out of their body depends on the situation. If one were to take a full PHA and use both hands I could see doing so with minimal extra injury, but I don't think most would try it unless the arrow were in the way so they couldn't fight or run without banging it. That is perhaps more complex than I want to go in general, though I might toss it in for color (especially for a case where a troll or something equally big and tough casually snaps the shafts off in irritation).

Re: What's *your* superpower? I have +2d6 Striking Appearance, only vs. gay men. This would be sweet, if I were gay. +3 levels with pouring liquids so that they don't spill, even into narrow necked bottles. Eidetic Memory, only to recall where things are. I never misplace my keys, but oddly my memory sucks for things like birthdays and places and such. (My wife has the reverse; she can tell you the exact date we went on vacation 10 years ago, but she spends several minutes every morning trying to find her keys/purse/security badge or whatever). LS: Immunity to poison ivy. (I have never had a case of poison ivy, but I haven't purposedly rolled in it either to test this out. But my father can weed poison ivy with his bare hands without effect, so I like to think I inherited that trait).

I am planning to shamelessly rip off the Clash of the Titans climax where Perseus defeats the monstrously huge Kraken using Medusa's severed head to turn it into stone for a Fantasy Hero campaign. The problem is that I figure the Kraken has about 60 BODY minimum. The standard gorgon has an 8d6 all-or-nothing transformation attack into stone which isn't going to cut it. I could just fiat the scene, but I'd like to have some mechanics behind it, so I'm looking for some feedback on how others might handle it. The obvious first choice is just to boost the gorgon's attack to 40+d6. A little over the top maybe, but it works. However, I can easily see the players wanting to find a ward against petrification so they don't have to battle the gorgon with mirrors. I could give them something like an amulet Proof Against Petrification with 150pts Power Defense only vs. stoning attacks, but that seems almost silly in a game where most defenses are in the single digits. I could also throw another limition on the Transform so that it doesn't work against any Power Defense or something, which could also work although it is a bit ad hoc. I could give the Kraken (and all big creatures really; an 8d6 Transform isn't likely to work even on your average ogre) a limitation on their extra BODY that it doesn't work vs. Transforms, but that seems clunky at best. I thought of a couple of other ways, X-D Transport UAA weirdness and such, but nothing that sits well with me. So how would you handle this? BTW, for game balance this severed gorgon head will only have enough magical malice to work once before becomign inert.

Re: Flash in a cone AoE Whoops, my bad. I best go back and read over that section again. Thanks for the correction.