Crusher Bob

There are several problems of allowing characters to trade 'wealth' for power: 1. characters never want to spend wealth on anything but more power Why are you living in the woods and eating bark like a crazy man? Because living in town and buying food costs money, and I'm saving up for a +2 sword 2. it encourages the PCs to loot everything Hmm, if we stole all of this farmers turnips, we could sell them in the next town over for 1/100 of the cost of another wand of fireballs... So we totally steal that farmers turnips. 3. it reduces the ability of the GM to have fantastic, or even 'nice' environements. Smaug can't be sleeping on a mountain of gold, because the PCs won't spend that gold on redeveloping Laketown, they'll spend it on more magic swords. DM:The evil king has imprisoned you in this pretty castle on the lake. PC: While I'm plotting my escape, I also use my appraise skill to determine which of the (paintings, tapestries, furniture, etc) has the best encumberance to value ratio and I take the most possible value of that stuff away with me when I escape. ---------------- If you are going to still want 'money' to still be able to buy 'power', the you probably want some sort of tiered economy. (See, for example, Frank Trollman's turnip economy -> gold economy -> wish economy) Can be reached via the wayback machine hopefully, here

The problem with mind link as the base power is that you normally have to be within LOS to establish the mind link. You can buy the 'No LOS required' adder on mind link, but that just lets you link to the people you 'know', rather than (presumably) anyone else who happens to have a crystal ball. So you'd have to add, I dunno, mind scan or something to find the other crystal balls, so you could then use mind link on them. You have the same basic problem with the clairsentience build, you you could buy a megarange targeting detect that should let you place the viewpoint just fine. This build has the potential problem that you could end up 'calling' the wrong crystal ball, as the detect might not be that accurate, or it could be fooled somehow. I'd say we need a bit more information about the exact details of how they crystal balls are supposed to work first.

When buying a vehicle with a built in AI, are you supposed to just add INT, EGO, DMCV, etc to the vehicle? Or are you supposed to buy the AI and vehicle completely separately, so you end up paying 'twice' for things that the vehicle and AI have in common, like SPD and DEX?

Does the transform always give the same result? That is, If one person tried to write the name, and another tries to write the name, would they both get the same result? If it's also meant to be useable on other people, then you could try doing it as a cosmetic transform that is vs EGO or PRE and gives them some sort of 5 point paperwork related disadvantage.

Hmm, is the effect supposed to be specific to the name of the character? Since it sounds more like a 0 point cosmetic effect rather than an effect that does something. For example, if someone assembling information about them just calls them 'John Doe #15' then they may never even be aware that the effect exists. If it's supposed to scramble any 'name' that people attempt to write down to refer to your character, that sounds like a justification for the anonymity perk and a distinguishing feature. Since your character could be 'identified' under a pseudonym by having someone try to write down the name you just gave them.

I've found that 75 points in complications feels like the right amount. This gives the character something like 5-7 complications. The old 150 points in complications meant at least 10 of them, which was too hard to remember. I've also found that low point totals tend to mean that characters don't tend to have 'extra' abilities. Everyone gets attack, defense, and movement. So what really separates your character from the others is what you can do that's not attack, defense, and movement. And if you didn't have any points left over.

Well, on the plus side, your brick no longer needs to be an post human gymnast, as OCV and DCV are no longer tied to DEX. Also, standard characters are now 400 points. I'm not sure what they were in 5E, but remember the much earlier standard point total was 250.

I can get to the 63 active point cost: the 2d6 RKA with +1 total advantages is 60 points, the 2 points for a specific power OCV level, then 1 point for a single attack range penalty skill level, so 63 active points in total. The two levels would each cost 1 real point, so that means that the real cost of the RKA would have to be 17 points, which you would get at a total of 2.5 worth of limitations. So I'd guess that the original limitations build looks something like: OAF (-1) STR minimum 9 (-1/2) Requires Hands: 2 handed (-1/4) Beam (-1/4) No Knockback (-1/4) Real Weapon (-1/4) which gets you to -2.5. or maybe it was two hand (-1/2) and no real weapon?

Maybe implement the 'other body' as a high point follower, and have them both buy mind link?

Part of why I think the build should be 'power based' is that 'technology' as sfx (in a supers game) should not be some sort of inherent weakness. So, for example, I'd expect hacking you 'magic scroll' based communication system to be as difficult as hacking you 'cellphone'. Something like: remote rooting of your device 1d6 Severe transform (effectively enslavement) (defined as being obvious to: sight group, radio group) Invisible power effects: invisible to sight group (+1/2) invisible power effects: inobvious to radio group (+1/4) Limited target: computerized devices that accept wireless communications, or you are connected to by hardline (-1/2) May have: AVAD: Mental Defense (+0) and works against INT, not BODY (+0?) as adders, depending on how stuff is supposed to be implemented. But it looks like computers are all supposed to have INT, so that might work. May also be a workable implementation. But that doesn't seem to let you 'fabricate' phone calls, as that's not really something the phone can do normally. But this would seem to cover the 'hacking' of the phone itself.

Adding the useable at range power to something makes it a ranged attack for any limitations. So if the person being attacked by the power has, for example, DCV (only vs ranged attacks), then that bonus DCV would apply. Or are you asking about your skill levels? Since you never mentioned your opponent (who you are hitting with HKA (usable at range)), then your DCV doesn't seem to be applicable. Or do you mean your character is supposed to have DCV (only applies when I make a ranged attack)?

Well, I mostly wanted to avoid any encryption arguments. 'Secure' communications are normally implemented as mind link, with the power shifted over into the radio group instead. In addition, other images automatically defeat 'appearance'. For example, if I make an image of someone and the viewer fails the PER roll, then they would recognize the image if that was a person they were familiar with. And that's technically a form of defeating encryption. [edit] That's also one of the advantages of mental illusions over images. To make an image of something, I need to be 'familiar' with that something. But for mental illusions, the target needs to be familiar with that thing. So a mental illusion of 'I give you the password' works. Hmm, so I guess mental illusions (machine class minds) might be a better implementation? Since that does get around encryption type problems. But that seems to have problems with changing the contents of a phone conversation while it is happening, because mental illusions only effect one target at once. Of course, since the target is technically the phone, I'm not sure how that would work. [edit 2] And the mental illusions implementation also runs into the +20 to make the target think the illusion was real after it ends problem. Since what happens is a 'real event', that for example, people tapping the phone would also notice then images seems be be the better base power.

One of the characters I've been working on is supposed to be able to either alter cell phone transmissions in real time, or create them whole cloth. I've bought this as radio group images. Combined with the characters HRRP, which should let her perceive cell phone signals, I think it should work like this: (using HRRP) I hear the cell phone in the characters pocket (as long as it's on and not in airplane mode) Then I can use radio group images to do things like: give the cell phone altered GPS signals, so it thinks it's somewhere else. create a phone call out of whole cloth (i.e. the phone thinks someone in specific is calling, and then the phone user, assuming they answer (and were fooled by the images) would think they were having a conversation with whoever is calling. To do this believably, you'd have to 'know' things like the purported caller's phone number, voice, etc. alter a phone conversation in real time. the two people think they are having a phone conversation, but what each one actually hears can be changed, added to, removed, etc by the images. This would presumably also work on cellular Internet connections, and over wireless networks. You could also spoof someone's cars wireless entry fob. Or set off the shoplifting scanners when they walk trough. Or make it look like they had a cell phone active, with GPS enabled, if you wanted some third party to try following them with it. ------------------------- Did anyone have any comments on this power construct? would you let HRRP (to perceive the phone signals) and radio group images (to generate false signals) do this? ------------------------ What about for more in depth phone hacking? The suggested course seems to be mind control (machine minds) to take control of machines and telepathy (machine minds) to read data off them. Of course, since most devices are wireless 'send me all of your files' would seem to be a valid mind control command. How would you be able to 'target' someone's phone? If the phone is in a pocket, you can't target it with your normal sight, so some other targeting sense seems to be required. HRRP + targeting? just HRRP? Mind scan (vs machine minds)? Mind scan vs machine minds let's you 'find' computers that don't even have any connections, so would either have to have a lot of limitations on it, or isn't the right power. Mind scan also has the very odd range. Would discriminatory or analyze on HRRP be required? But all HRRP signals would normally be pretty 'complex'... Then, how much mind control do you need to get someone's cell phone to do stuff for you? Or should this be some sort of transform, to represent you doing something like compromising the cell phone, and it's not 'mind control' anymore? But then, how much transform do you need?

If no one has see it before, here's one of the 'classic' outlines about how to create mysteries in RPGs. Short version: you don't 'create' the clues, the GM has how the mystery happened. The PCs then create ideas about what happened, and look for clues that support that case. That way, the GM doesn't have to have a list of clues for the PCs to discover. The idea the PCs create about what happened will then suggest the clue for them to look for. ---------------- As for the deduction skill, I'd let it let the skill user quickly extract useful information from a large sea of stuff. Example: GM: the police have collected 73 witness interviews... PC: I roll deduction to try to extract useful information from all that. GM: OK, you have stolen the last to years of the companies financial records, they don't quite fill up the bed of your pickup truck, but they come close. PC: I roll deduction to try to extract useful information from all that.

You can use the 'code' tag to preserve spacing. Example: value cost STR 15 5 DEX 24 42 CON 18 16 BODY 13 6 INT 18 8 EGO 18 16 PRE 16 6 COM 14 2 Comments: The airgun and entangle can be put into a multipower together, to save 19 points, which would let you buy up other things. active cost Gadget Belt 50 pt multipower (All: OIF (-1/2)) 50 33 Airgun 10d6 Blast vs PD 50 3 f Balloon Trap Entangle 5 PD, 5 ED, 5d6 Entangle 50 3 f Total: 39 This would make the points available for whatever other balloon related tricks you wanted. Flight, usable against others, linked to then entangles? (to lift the people entangled in balloons straight up) Realistic inflatable animatronics? (summoning?, images?, triggered teleportation (that was just a inflatable copy of me, I'm really over here)?)

Here's what the book says happens at zeros for the mental characteristics: - - And remember that that's a 9 or less roll (so you'll only succeed 37.5% of the time). Drain EGO can be a pretty good poor man's mind control. ---------------- Drain END, REC, INT, and EGO all tend to be a fight winning moves. I'd recommend that all stats (not just the defensive ones) be drained at 1/2 value, and that END be draint at 1/5 (so 2 points of drain for most stat points, and 1 points of drain per point of END).

I can imagine a life support linked to resistant defenses that I'd allow in an instant. I'm on fire! Resistant PD and ED Damage shield life support: no breathing, heat protection (some collection of linked and side effect disads) Since there's an immediate disadvantage to being able to use the linked power, you can get the points. It's easy to see where you would like to have LS: no breathing or LS: protection from heat and not be on fire. But there seems to be no point that I'd want to use the life support (provided by my focus: armor) without also wanting to use the otherwise non-disadvantaged armor (also provided by my focus: armor). Or even something like: Extra efficient breath holding: Life support: no breathing Extra time: full phase (only to start) (-1/4) Time limit: 5 minutes (-3/2) Limited power: must be able to breathe normally for the extra time charge up, any NND gas like effects can't be avoided unless the hero can find a place to take a breath not effected by the gas (-1/4) Active points: 10 Real points: 3 So I could take a full phase to take a deep breath, and then hold my breath for 5 minutes. And the difference between this and regular breath holding would be that I could take recoveries during that 5 minutes, which you can't normally do while holding your breath. The extra time: only to start is an obvious disad on this power construction, since I can't just have LS active all the time, and if I find a time that I want to not breathe, I need at least a full phase where I can breathe before I stop breathing.

Armor that takes 'a little while to put on' already has that 'time to put on' covered by the focus or OHID limitation. IMHO, the amount of time that a focus takes to 'put on' should also have some reflection on how long the focus takes to remove from you. So that's the unspoken advantage of foci that take a while to put on. So saying your armor takes around 5 minutes to put on should say to the GM that someone trying to take your armor off should take closer to 5 minutes than the 12 seconds written into the disad. Resistant defenses with Life Support (linked) would generally not be allowed, either. There's no situation where you wouldn't want to use resistant defenses, so linking life support to them isn't a disadvantage. It may be a unified power, depending on the SFX.

You can unify the slots in a multipower. VPP slots usually not, because slots of a VPP should have their disadvantages carefully scrutinized. VPPs that have much more constrained change conditions should get the most 'allowance' for disads, while VPPs that are easy to change should generally be pretty disad free. Of course, VPPs that have a generally defined set of power limitaitons on what goes in the VPP get to use those limitations. Things that come from the same focus need not be unified, in fact that might not make much sense. For example, if my power armor (PD & ED), makes me strong, lets me fly, and is covered with guns, then getting drained of STR does not reduce the effectiveness of the armor, the flight jets, or the guns. You can't 'unify' a single power, because it doesn't make that power move vulnerable to being drained. So you need at least 2 powers in a unified power framework. What unified power really means is that if you drain one of the powers in the unified power framework, then all the powers in the unified power framework are drained too. Things to watch for from unified power frameworks: 'large' amounts of power defense should generally disallow unified power as a disad, as that greatly reduces the effectiveness of drains Unifying only things that aren't commonly drained. For example, life support + enhanced senses as a unified power framework probably wouldn't fly, because those types of power are almost never adjusted. But say, STR + life support + enhanced senses would be more acceptable, as STR is a commonly drained ability.

I'd argue that making powers that are normally 0 END persistent powers 'take extra time to start' generally automatically makes them non-persistent, just like making them 'Only cost END to start'. Otherwise it's not a disadvantage on the power, as you never have to turn the power off once you turn it on. If the power had other things added to it, like 'visible power effects' or 'side effects' or 'lockout' that meant that you might not want to keep the power on all the time, this might still be a viable disadvantage without the need to make the power non-persistent. But for a power that is otherwise 0 END, persistent, and invisible like life support, and with no other disads making you not want to otherwise have the power running all the time, it's not really a disadvantage. I can also see the 'extra time, only to start' disad being applied to a power that's the gatekeeper to a bunch of powers with the OHID disad. For example, if the hero's Hero ID is grown or shrunk, you could buy something like 'shrinking (0 END, persistent, extra time only to start) and have that power as the required time delayed gateway to the OHID powers.

IT looks like it's an attempt to let speedsers 'go fast' without them breaking the DC caps with their velocity. It would probably also make things like 'flying fast' cheaper, without having to resort to the hack of megascale movement. When the amount of extra damage you can deliver with your movement is the part that costs points, 'moving very fast' can be made much cheaper. Example problem: The 'combat speed' or a jet fighter is something between, say mach .75 0~925 km/h) and mach 1.5 (~1850 km/h). If we assume the jet is speed 4, and is making a full move with every action, that means the jet would need between 775m and 1550 m of flight, to be able to move that fast with non-combat movement. And that's 775/6 = 129 extra dice when you run into something (like the Earth), which goes boom... If we buy the jet up to speed 12, and make some of that speed 'only for movement' then it only needs a non-combat movement to start at around 257m which is still around 43 extra damage classes.

It sounds like the disadvantage you want is 'only in alternate (hero) ID (-1/4)' (6E1 p 386). The extra time disad is generally for things that take extra time to use, like an attack you have to charge up. If you take 'extra time, only to start' on all of your powers, this 'works' but it's different from wearing a suit of power armor that can't be taken away. Most notably, anything that turns your powers off (like being stunned for non-persistent powers) you would then need to take the time to start up again. If it was 'only in alternate ID', then even if your powers got turned off, then it takes no time to turn them on again.

Well, if the PCs all pile in to one guy, the other opponents could declare haymakers, since it won't matter if they are at 1/2 DCV.

GM: The rich man grins and the bodyguard advances, swinging this long sword towards you unarmored form. What do you do? PC: Hmm, I think the 18-pounder carronade, loaded with cannister is the appropriate response to this kind of GM dickery. I whip it out of my bag of holding and fire. Screw the bodyguard, the rich guy, the marketplace, and this general area of the town too. If the rest of the townsfolk give me any trouble, remember that I have a whole ships worth of looted cannons in here.