unclevlad

CRT is closer here...the EC's core use case does seem to be to make up for the fact that figured characteristics lead to underpricing, and it's dramatic. 10 STR gives 31 points in quantifiable benefits; 10 DEX costs 30, but gives 50 (SPD, CV, acting first) along with a build-dependent value, for DEX skills; 10 CON gives 21 points in direct benefits (ED, REC, END, STUN) and a benefit for resisting getting stunned. That one's hard to quantify. With STR and DEX, too, the practical upper bound is high, so the impact shows more. Also note, it's not specifically ranged versus HTH. It's powers users versus heavily Characteristics based builds. In 6E, I can build a no-range, melee type with (at least) low STR...base it on Blast, No Range. I thought that was a bad choice, but you're getting 3d6 for 10 points. It can work out surprisingly well. In 5E...I doubt it. As noted, STR just gives too much. 12d6 Blast, no range, I'm only saving 20 points. That's 40 points. Say I'm starting with a 15 STR...it's 45 to take that to 12d6, but it comes with 9 PD, 9 REC, and 22 STUN. It's not a contest.

I said 18-, 7 levels, so 20-. -6 is 14-. 14- works 90% of the time. And if that's not good enough? Spend 2 points, it's 95%; spend 4, it's 98%. Also, you're wrong about the defenses. 6E1, 390: All the standard defense powers are persistent. The situation is actually the OPPOSITE...unless you want to say the character doesn't know that his skill roll failed, and the defense didn't activate, then the activation roll will generally be meaningless, UNLESS the defense power is itself readily apparent, or tied to something that's readily apparent. If the defense power can be activated far outside combat, then...ok, just try it again. Second point: nope, it adds no costs. It means you buy a bigger pool size, but pool size is 1:1 for character points...just as buying it standalone would be. If you're happy with largely static defenses, sure, put them outside the VPP. If they're dynamic, then the VPP is better. Also note: powers outside the VPP can also take RSR, and use the Power skill. This is legal: Magical Defenses (all slots Requires a Skill Roll, -1/2) --Damage Reduction 50%, Resistant Physical (20) --Damage Reduction 50%, Resistant Energy (20) --Resistant Protection, 10/10 Hardened (24) This may allow the VPP to be attack powers...Blast, Flash, RKA. That buys a bigger Limited Powers limitation for the VPP, plus it allows both RSR and Limited Range as required limitations, which shaves more points off the control cost, and guarantees you don't need a huge pool size. 62 points would be 10d6 with 1/2 END; a pool size of 36 accommodates that, given the -3/4 limitation. Control max 62 starts at 31 points. Let's go for 0 Phase to switch, so it's 62. Limited Power: blasts, flashes, RKAs. If they can attack a fairly wide swath...PD, ED, Flash; different SFX...let's call that -3/4. With the common limitations, there's a net -1 1/2. Final cost for the control part is 40% of 62, or 25. Pool size is 36, as above. So the VPP, limited just to the attack powers, is 61 points. Now, if I want to add the defenses? Limited Range can't be a common limitation. The limited powers in the VPP drops from -3/4 to -1/2, at best, so the total limitations I can apply to the control side is -1, rather than -1/2, so now it's 31, rather than 25. (Alternately, I might go with 1/2 phase to switch instead.) The pool size would be 36 for the attack power (which will still have Limited Range), plus the same 64 for the defenses...100 points. The only difference in costs, for having the defenses inside or outside the VPP, is the impact of the common mods/limited powers when they're inside. What you *can't* do is Link powers within the framework...generally, should just stay outside the VPP tho, and you're good. Or you build along OIAID lines...with RSR as the starting point for your total limitations, the difference between -1/4 and -1/2 more isn't that much. Slight correction: it'd be 7 Ultra slots and 1 fixed slot. MP base 60, so 90 in slot costs at 12 per ultra slot and 6 for the fixed. In a VPP where pool size and control max are the same (the situation in an MP), then the pool sizes are direct offsets. The slot costs in the MP compare strictly to the final control cost of the VPP. Some of this, tho, begs the question: why pay for Ultra slots? If you're buying a 12d6 Blast in a fixed slot, that just always use up 60 points of your pool...but you can dial it back to an 8d6 blast when you use it, still. Ultra slots can be useful at times, like, say, this: Damage Negation 8d6 physical HA attack Healing The Healing can *easily* be 15-20 points more expensive than the HA...but you don't want to turn off the Negation altogether, if you have to heal while the fight's still going on around you. The HA and Healing get fixed slots, the Negation an Ultra. But, yes...the way many characters are written, does advocate for having VPPs. Supers, in comics or fiction, and even supernatural types in urban fantasy, very often have much more flexibility. It can be fine to allow a Power skill to tweak a power, but IMO that should be in fairly narrow ways. The source material, as noted, blows through this like it was nothing.

It's responding based on what was included, and plenty of geeks love John Galt. Altho Rand would've put it differently. And far, far more harshly.

Or they did factor it in...as a nice little bonus. Clearly, a woman getting an abortion is Not Our Kind of People, so at the least...who cares? This is particularly true where they're aiming to make what the victim did, by traveling out of state, a crime in itself. They have clearly established the precedent that the life of the child has near-absolute priority over almost anything. An event like this is rare, fortunately, but that means it's an acceptable consequence.

focaccia with rosemary

Nah, they need a Wednesday Night Game, the night before. And a turkey giveaway to go with it.

CRT, not the point. HD is supposed to embody the RAW. Suppress is not an option on Dispel. In my HD, it's there, under Drain...it just doesn't use the word "Suppress." The Limitation is "Costs END (to maintain)"...same as it's listed for Dispel. I'm not seeing anything in APG that adds a suppress option to Dispel, nor anything in the 2020 version of the errata file. The definition for the Dispel suppress in Main6E is This means the character has to continue to pay END every Phase to keep the Suppressed Characteristic or Power at its Suppressed level (doing this is an Action that takes no time). As long as the character pays END, the Suppress doesn't fade at the usual rate of 5 Character Points per Turn. Once the character stops paying END, the Character Points lost from Suppress return immediately. That doesn't fit the mechanics of Dispel. It also has EXCLUDES DelayedReturnRate...which isn't a modifier for Dispel. (That isn't that surprising, pretty sure I've found a few cut/paste errors related to REQUIRES and EXCLUDES as I've been tearing the template apart.) So yeah, I think there's a template editing problem. Also, there's NO WAY Costs END to maintain can be applied *as a Limitation* to Dispel...which is an Instant. Fine, you can add Constant, no problem, but by definition, you're paying END to maintain it. So it's a template mistake, it looks like. Good catch.

Delmonico steak

Hey, Logan, can you feel the burn? I mean........that was from a BRONCO fan.......

"Be careful what you wish for. You might get it."

So it's like this with you....? I'm pickin' up good vibrations She's giving me excitations (oom bop bop) I'm pickin' up good vibrations (good vibrations, oom bop bop) She's giving me excitations (excitations, oom bop bop) Good, good, good, good vibrations (oom bop bop)

Well, if one is realistic, it means you have until the second half kickoff of week 1......................... <walks away whistling.....>

Well, sure, but buy the gasoline and flares now, before supplies run out when the purchasing rush starts. Prior planning prevents poor performance. --Margaret Hoolihan Elsewhere, we get to see the degree to which the NFL owners can fast track the formalities of a franchise sale. The Snyders made the announcement that the agreement had been finalized, so now it goes to the finance committee, then the owners. Given just how much everyone wants Snyder booted to the curb, I expect it'd take a pretty massive set of red flags to block this one. Interesting point just now on PTI, about Brady. "It's what these mega athletes do." Wilbon gave a list of em, with shares in various teams. Rather a long one. Makes sense, too, as, if they're smart, those guys are insanely cash-flush.

I'd offer a snide remark about what that says about your feelings for that team in the Swamp...but...it just can't be done. They're still a dump truck. We all know power rankings right now are nothing but giggle fodder, but...it's still time for giggling. So: https://sportsnaut.com/nfl-power-rankings-all-32-teams-updated-weekly/ Packers in Denver...the early reviews put em adjacent. At the Bears, they're #29. At the Texans, who are #27. And hey, ANY team should be able to take 1 of 2 from the Derps.

Yep. Jayson Tatum was a disaster for 3+ quarters for the Green Meanies, but nailed 16 in the 4th as the Sixers offense evaporated. The Nuggets were up 27-26 with 3 minutes left in the 1st...then *annihilated* the Suns. 81-51 at half. Suns never got closer than 21 until garbage time...it's 22 right now, coming down to 4 minutes left. Jokic is still in...but not for long. He just got his 10th rebound...giving him another triple double, the 3rd this series. It's curious: The box score on ESPN is about 30 seconds ahead of the broadcast. That's a pretty big delay. Now we'll have to see what happens with the Suns, what with a new owner. Adding Durant, but the defense was slipshod. Denver's only gonna finish with ~ 125, which isn't bad, but 81 in the first half darn sure is. Ball handling was a problem, and Denver feasted on easy points of turnovers, so Chris Paul was missed in that regard, but Cam Payne's shooting was keeping the Suns alive...for the period they were. Booker, Ayton, Paul, and Durant are all under contract for 2 more years...but they're also pulling down $146M combined for next season. The luxury tax threshold is expected to be around $162M. That may well change, but they're pretty darn close to it with just those 4. Shamet and Cam Payne eat all of that up...and you've still got to fund 9 players. They had the 6th highest payroll this season; each of the 4 big contracts jumps about $2M.

That's ONLY true if the MP is filled with 180 point slots...which is something the VPP could not have. The control cost is the bound there for individual powers, so you can't have anything more than 90 in any one power, as you wrote it. 180 MP? I'll set up 180 real that can be used simultaneously...they may not all make sense on one character, but we could work something out. 14d6 Blast, 1/2 END (87 active), No KB, Limited Range, 58 real Resistant Protection, 10 PD, 10 ED, 10 Mental, 10 Power, allocatable (75 active), Nonpersistent, 60 real +3 OCV, +3 DCV, +3 SPD (60 active), nonpersistent, 48 real Clinging, 10 points 176 real, 232 active, and nothing more than 90 active. Also note, I haven't tossed in a big one like Skill Roll. I've done a super-abusive VPP that was, IIRC, 210 pool size, 70 control cost...WITH RSR as a required modifier. It came out close to 350 active. A lot of it was that the baseline character had mostly human-level physical characteristics...until they got bumped, and that was in the VPP. I also posted the 130 pool / 30 control...that one has about 210 active at one time, IIRC. The major difference is, the one I posted has the concept that everything is No Range, the bigger one is a blaster. I could rebuild either of those in a 130 point MP...but the slot costs would be higher than the control cost. That's a pretty direct consequence of doing a VPP with a TINY control cost. But the issue here isn't the frameworks that much, it's the limitations first. Consider: 12d6 Blast, 1/2 END 15/15 Resistant Protection Flight, 26m, Position Shift, 1/2 END 75, 45, and 39 active. Now toss on OIAID, with Limited Range for the Blast, nonpersistent for the defense, and Restrainable for the Flight, so everything gets -1/2. 50, 30, 26. The only thing really arguable would be the Blast...if you strictly adhere to 60 active, it's too high, but if it's 12 DCs, it's fine. And I've shaved 53 character points off. No framework involved.

If there was to be a civics exam to be eligible to vote...what kind of requirement should be in place to be eligible to run for Congress?

Oh yeah. Definitely Marvin. Except I'd have tossed in a black obelisk into the imagery, just to REALLY mess with peoples' heads.

Remember that there's 20 MNF games, and that Fox and CBS won't like losing too many popular-team games...Chiefs, Pats, Steelers, Niners, Cowboys...divisional rivalry games like Eagles-Giants, or playoff matchups from last season...to MNF and TNF...and the international games, which grabbed the Chiefs, Pats, and Bills once already. Building the full NFL schedule now is likely VERY complicated because there are SO MANY stakeholders to try to keep happy.

Yeah, I gotta go with PG here. The gross misstatement in the headline is unforgivable. Article in Politico says even his staff thinks it's a terrible idea, so my feeling is, it's largely trolling the voters, just trying to get some buzz. No such thing as bad publicity, right? It's gotten him attention.

Uhhhhh...... No. Sorry, Grail, but that's not even close to correct with the VPP. A VPP has 2 starting numbers: pool size and control cost. Pool size is the maximum number of real points that can be kept selected and ready in the pool at any one time. Control cost is the active point limit. For an MP, it's better to think of it as pool size ONLY, while imposing an additional condition on the powers that can be included in the framework. A 90 size/90 control VPP starts at 135 character points because the control cost (in CP) is 1 per 2 points. It is important to remember tho: they are NOT coupled in 6E, as they were in 5E. You can have a pool size of 80 with a control cost of 50...10d6 Blast with Limited Range (40 points), 14 hardened rPD with Nonpersistent (21), and 6d6 physical Damage Negation, STUN Only, nonpersistent (17). 78 real points for the 3 combined. I can also do a pool size 41, control cost 62...the intent being 10d6 Blast at 1/2 END, or 12d6 Blast at full END, where maybe I've got one targeting PD, another ED. And Flash attacks built the same. Fine...everything must have -1/2 in limitations. But they don't have to be the SAME limitations, as they would have to be in an MP. But this is only a problem when you're planning a framework where you'll use one full-sized power at a time. The major difference between a VPP and an MP, for costing, is that the MP doesn't have a pre-defined control cost; the slot costs replace the character points spent on the control cost in the VPP. EVERYTHING you can do in a VPP to reduce active costs, you can do in an MP...and it's very easy to do if you treat the MP as purely pool size, where the max points in a slot is always going to be smaller. Also note that if your VPP requires a Power skill roll, the total cost TO YOU must include the cost of the Power Skill. It's also important to remember that the VPP can't be changed in combat without sharp increases to the control cost. Large cosmic power pools force a MASSIVE expenditure on the control cost...if the basis is 75 points (12d6 blast, 1/2 END), then +2 takes the control cost from 37 character points, to 111. That's a huge expenditure. The VPP does support one particular abuse, as I mentioned: RSR. GMs aren't likely to balk when your Power skill roll, to manipulate your pool in combat, is pretty high like 15-, even manipulating max points at a time. Some might balk at 17-...that's something to discuss in advance. The rules allow the power skill to be used to activate your powers too...and by definition, none of these can be any higher. OK...you can buy a Power skill for an MP, as a common modifier, and scale it similarly...but in the VPP, the cost of the Power skill is already covered by NOT having to put No Skill Roll onto the VPP control cost. What the VPP absolutely requires, that the MP doesn't, is a thorough discussion of what can, and can't, be done.

Not surprised that ESPN pushes for a few more games. The Black Friday game isn't even slightly surprising, and it'll be a day where Amazon blasts out a ton of promo stuff, I'm sure. And note that none of the Thanksgiving games are TNF...they're Fox, CBS, and NBC. So Amazon wants a game that week for their billions. I wonder if any of the Monday doubleheaders will be during the flex part for MNF, weeks 12-17. If so, well, could be more cases of fans irate because their game attendance plans get tossed at a whim. But hey, we all know the NFL doesn't care about fans in seats, it figures they're replaceable.

Is inspirobot's real name, perhaps, Marvin?

The Trop's rather old and dated now, so...that's not terribly surprising, they might get rid of it. VERY central location with expansive grounds, going back to its early days. But it's 60+ years old now, and Vegas doesn't treat its elders with respect. I'd also be a bit worried about the complexities underpinning this. The buildings are owned by Bally's, and they're not great, now...Bally's only paid $150M. But the land is owned by a separate group. This kinda feels like an internal squabble just waiting to happen, with the A's stuck in the middle...again. But I suppose there's no such thing as a 'simple' billion-dollar deal. Face masks and college softball...they're optional. I don't watch much softball, but when I do catch it...yeah, pitchers and hitters often have em, and apparently corner infielders at times too. Can't recall about college baseball...hm. The playoff selection show is the 28th, with the regionals the first weekend in June. That puts the conference championships starting in less than 2 weeks, most likely. ESPN's tended to show the ACC and SEC tournaments, at least some of the games, and they're during the day. Probably catch some of em, and may try to watch. Certainly, I don't recall many players wearing any optional protection....

Ehhhh....I really dislike time travel, and multiple timelines isn't a favorite either. Going animated makes sense for this. Probably a good idea connect to the original fans with the original cast, as best one can...and they'd all be obviously MUCH older. If you wanna play with timelines...makeup is less flexible. Claudia Christian returning...hey, that fight was over 20 years ago.