Christopher R Taylor

Here's my solution to the "always hits" option:

Keep in mind that summoning inanimate objects probably ought to be considered a bit differently than creatures.  A lifeboat has no willpower and is incapable of fighting back, nor does it have any sense of loyalty or amicability.  So the time limits and difficulty of summoning is going to be a bit different than a creature.  I recommend picking a set time of service for each level of amicability and have it remain until that time, then vanish unless re-summoned before the time limit is up. For example: no amicability: 20 minutes service; first level: 1 hour, etc.

I kinda like what I see with Honey Badger, but I'd rather the white be more grayish, to match the creature

I'd have picked Indian. And I'm being completely cynical--there's a billion people on that subcontinent, and some of them have money.

 That actually was my variant when I worked on the alternate Champions comic I was doing, with Seeker.  He was Shiva instead, and had 4 arms.

First Avenger, Civil Var!

I guess Captain America is too... American.

First thing I thought of when I saw this was H Beam Piper's book Little Fuzzy about trying to determine the intelligence and self awareness of cute little teddy bear aliens.

Maybe INT limit should be more a scale rather than a multiplier.  Say, start at 10 for minor spells and cantrips (10 or lower active cost), then raise it by 5 points per 2 or 3 INT, so it takes some truly impressive INT to get those powerful spells out, but not a huge amount to do average spells.

Warning: costume includes usual needless details and design features as usual in movies.  I guess it gives the costume designers something to do.

I haven't done that, I just went with a magic skill roll, so you'll tend to have higher INT in order to cast the spell.

The thing with intelligence in Hero though, is that it isn't really a measure of IQ or genius, its just how perceptive and fast your mind is.  You can be incredibly brilliant and have only 5 INT because you are very methodical and unobservant.

Role playing whenever possible, although not everyone is up to it.  If someone has a character with 40 presence but is lousy at coming up with soliloquies or being impressive themselves, I give them the benefit of the doubt.  After all, I can't fly or juggle cars, but if my character can, why should the GM penalize him for my inability?

It depends on how the transform is purchased.  You'd have to buy it as AVAD: no effect vs life support poison, which makes sense if its venom based.

I thought about making Spellbinder turn into a girl, as that would be fun but I'm not sure it would appeal to many gamers.  What do people think?  I figure its hilarious and would be the equivalent of Vulcan turning into a guy no matter who played him, do you think that would go over well?

Burning Hands is actually really powerful too, but its pretty simple to simulate: short no range cone fire blast.  Pretty cheap.

I find no shortage of characters who make an investment in BOD.

Yes, but if you're basing your math on the presumption of buying another power that kind of skews things.

Perhaps when you write 7e. In 6e, however

Its a definitional issue.  People use "automaton" to define characters with "automaton" powers such as "Takes no Stun" and "Does Not Bleed."  I can't speak for the original poster, but I suspect that's what he meant by a Zombie PC.  Not a mindless lump of meat that is motivated by the commands of others, but guys with these sorts of powers.

SPELLBINDER

This character is based on the "Magic Girl" concept that comes up a lot in anime and Japanese comics (Manga).  She or he is an ordinary person with some unusual skills who can transform spectacularly into a powerful spellcaster in a special uniform.  Usually this means something incredibly schoolgirly, but very exaggerated and fancy.  She has pretty basic energy projector abilities to start with: blast, fly, shield, with a few alternate abilities such as healing and entangle.

BASIC STORY: Spellbinder always was lucky, or so it seemed.  Even as a child, everything always seemed to go right and strange things would happen in their favor.  At the age of ten, a trio of strangely dressed, spectacular looking teens appeared to Spellbinder as they were walking to school.  The trio told them that they were Spellbinders, a group of magic-using students and members of an extraordinary group hidden among the country.

Spellbinder joined this group and rapidly proved themselves to be one of the best of the group, progressing rapidly through studies and learning.  However, when one day a demon they had long hunted managed to infiltrate the team and destroy it from within, the Spellbinder was one of the few survivors.  Now scattered and their numbers greatly reduced, the group decided they could do more good acting directly in the world rather than behind the scenes, and the remaining members nominated Spellbinder to take their name and legacy into the world.

Unfortunately, as a teenager, Spellbinder has a hard time being taken seriously and is frustrated by this.  Incredibly brilliant and better educated than almost anyone their age, Spellbinder feels out of place with both peers and adults.  This results in them having an endless series of crushes on people, often absurdly unlikely and impossible choices.

Both male and female have the same basic story.

 

 

 

 

Floating city didn't bother me. Didn't bother me in the comics when Graviton did it, either.

I don't have a problem in principle with a floating city, but turning it into a world-destroying menace was just odd, it felt forced so there was more at stake like he had to shoehorn a threat into the story.  It just didn't seem like a real menace like they wanted it to seem.

Its always bothered me that studios will give some creative, interesting a project and when it does well, don't trust them any more.  So what got them there, they no longer like?  It just doesn't make any sense.

Its tough to get right in 30 active points.  Magic Missile is one of those powers that's more expensive than a level 1 spell but I came up with a "No Normal Evasion" variant for ACV so its a +1 advantage to require a stat roll to avoid the attack and not DCV.  Then you build it AVAD vs power defense or something alternate (magic defense, or something) at +1 and you can make a 1 or 2d6 blast work right.

The problems come when you want it to hit more than one target, and the price starts going nuts.  Autofire is +1 added because its against an alternate defense.  And its harder to simulate how Magic Missile works hitting varied targets at will with autofire.  Area Effect does it pretty well (AE any is good for strange configurations) but without the "accurate selective" advantage from the Advanced Player Guide it gets weird because you have to roll over and over to get what you want.

I agree, Life Support probably is the best approach, but if COIL uses drains without AVAD added on against life support, then I'd suggest maybe a 1/4 limitation, since they aren't going to be around much at this point.  Its worth something, but not much.

One of the different kinds of enchanted ores available for characters to make things from (and find things made from).  Working this kind of metal takes a specific skill called "Spellsmithing" which is basically applied magic.

I think the things Whedon did that I don't like in Ultron were making it way too bleak and introspective with angsty whiny heroes sitting around a farm and moping.    Not heroic, not fun, not very interesting.  And I wasn't super fond of the overall main story: the levitating town etc.  It was just a really weird storyline for anything, let alone an Avengers story.  But I think probably a lot of the other stuff that didn't work for me was imposed on him by the studio and producers.  Like Spider-Man 3, I would love to see the real Sandman story version that Sam Raimi intended instead of the crappy, confused mess that the studio forced on him.

If you can't hack a zombie apart, what's the point of even fighting one?

As a GM I have no problem with that, the Takes No Stun distinction is in how it affects them in game play, not what happens visually.  If you take the "loses no abilities" level, they can still lose parts, they just don't become any weaker as a result.  A zombie can still bite and kick with no arms!

(Mind you after 10 strength does get silly in a hurry, with a 'maximum human strength' 20 character able to throw a 330 pound refrigerator something like 24 feet).

but only if Indiana Jones is inside.