unclevlad

<BLEEP>ing idiot. The Nets might not be in a great place to do much, but he had endorsement deals with Nike and Pepsi. I'm not sure if he still does; his stunt last year alienated plenty of people. But after this, ya gotta figure if they bailed on Kanye? They'll bail on him. Actually, it's plausible the Nets will bail on him; he's in the last year of his deal, so it might be acceptable to swallow $30M in dead money. The idiot's probably made himself nearly unsignable...not just from this, but this might be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Let's hope. And the Nets are 1-5. They were described as a disaster, not a team...or something like that, I don't recall exactly. And getting worse. They're showing the same problems...next to last in defensive rating. If they stay on their present course, I could see major moves by Thanksgiving...like cutting Irving. Figure that Nash's future is tenuous, but I'd also point the finger squarely at whomever signed Kyrie and Simmons. If they're even still there. Lakers are a disaster too...not quite the same flavor, but Mostly Hopeless. Some writers say it's a bright spot that LBJ and AD are averaging a ton, but I look at it the other way: DESPITE their play, they're losing all the time. So how bad do they lose if either one has an off-game? SCARY!!! fact for Laker fans...they're 2nd in the league on defense, but 0-5...AND AD and LBJ are averaging almost 50 a game, each playing 35 minutes a game. AD has too much of an injury history to make anyone sanguine with that, and LBJ is too old to do that all year...he has faded in the past.

Just switched to it. 2 HUGE!!! mistakes on one play. Inside 20 seconds, up 6...and the Falcons give up a 62 yard TD? Massive mistake somewhere...shades of, what was it, Broncos-Ravens, IIRC. Then, the receiver, after the TD, takes off his helmet on the field of play. Illegal. Celebration foul, 15 yards on the extra point. Makes it a 45 yard attempt. It drifts left...not clear it would've been good from 30, but it's also a different kick from 30. So it's a tie game, and goes into OT. Shows me why these teams are 5-9 combined. OT gets booted by the afternoon slot. I'll root for the tie, but won't hold my breath.

I think the walking guy's gonna claim it. The BRONCOS go 80 yards in 2 minutes for a go-ahead TD? Yeah. There's shameful, and there's that........ I think I said, Hackett might well be gone if he lost today. BUT, if there's any substance to that, well, the plank he's on is getting sawn through as we speak in any case. Eagles look scary good. Score suggests the Raiders look scary bad. Detroit gets the early Turkey Day game...well, it'll be entertaining. 31-27 Fins, very early 4th. ONE punt so far. One TO. 10 scores. Jets gonna Jet. Thrown 3 picks in, for them, what I like to call a contender-pretender game...which they're losing, which suggests pretender. Panthers have tied the Falcons...go Panthers! If they can sneak this one out...the Saints are beating the Raiders comfortably...every team in the NFC South will be 3-5. There really should be a rule that a division winner doesn't automatically get a playoff berth, if they're below .500...........

Not as written. Per RAW: The Discriminatory effect provided by the <X> Group is not the full Discriminatory obtained by buying that Sense Modifier, but rather an effect of somewhat cruder degree. and Characters can make Normal <X> (or the entire <X> Sense Group) fully Discriminatory by paying the usual cost. Sight, touch and hearing have a lesser form of Discriminatory. The book examples: --hearing...can tell a bird's song from a trumpet; can't necessarily distinguish between the bird calls of diff species. Discrim would; Analyze likely would mean distinguishing between 2 birds of the *same* species. --Sight's example is bad. Can tell 2 people apart...but can't tell ethnicity or religion. Barring specific markers, that's true no matter what. --Touch isn't a lot better, as it says you can't tell a $1 bill from a $5 bill *by touch*. DUH!!! I wouldn't expect to, at least not without Analyze. It's not relief, as on a coin. That said, it feels like they're seriously splitting hairs where they'd likely be better off NOT doing that, but what they give with Discriminatory is quite a bit. Their Detect Metals example: Discrim gives you a pretty accurate general composition, Analyze a *detailed* one, including fairly low-abundance ones. Not necessarily TINY amounts...from the Wikipedia article, the average composition of granite is SiO2 72.04% (silica) Al2O3 14.42% (alumina) K2O 4.12% Na2O 3.69% CaO 1.82% FeO 1.68% Fe2O3 1.22% MgO 0.71% TiO2 0.30% P2O5 0.12% MnO 0.05% When you're getting down to the phosphorus and manganese, you might need Microscopic. Normal air might be worse; carbon dioxide is 400 parts per million. Worse: helium is about 5 parts per million, and methane (fortunately) is about 2 parts per million. Even with purely normal Sight...there's arguably 6 "white metals" in jewelry: cobalt-chrome, steel, platinum, and silver, and with white gold there's regular white gold (albeit of course, the composition matters), and there's white gold that's been rhodium-plated (pretty common). (Titanium isn't a white metal, it's gray.) When they're all polished, to a similar level...even an amateur can distinguish silver. Clearly, the rhodium plating creates some visual alteration over the typical 75-25 (silver) 18K white gold. I think someone decently trained can tell many of these apart with at least fair accuracy. I knew my mother's 2 rings weren't gold...they were platinum. I'm no expert, either. So why NOT just simplify everyone's lives and just give the 3 senses the full modifier??? Cuz they want Analyze to be expensive. SILLINESS.

Uh oh. Here we go. Phillies have em right where they want em. 5-0 Astros...just like last night.......... <cue Toccata & Fugue in D Minor intro...>

I dunno, looks like they had a good 10 minute stretch or so, in the 3rd. No effort looks to be OK State against K-State. Hey, what's this? NMSU managed another win! Granted...it's UMass. They've been pretty poor...and sat out the last 2 years altogether, so this season, they're more or less in the middle of a restart for the whole program.

If you had ANY doubts about Citizens For Sanity... Twice now during the Series game 1, they've run a "with all the problems, Biden's spent $66B on Ukraine, rather than at home. And now he's talking about armageddon. Stop the insanity!" Or close to that. Even most of the Congressional Republicans have backed off from this line, but they're doubling down. This one makes me feel a tiny bit nauseous... I dropped my ballot in the mail the other day. Went straight Democrat. Intelligent voting? No. IMO there's no choice right now. The Republican positions on too many positions are simply abhorrent. EDIT: my gosh, half the ads tonight are political. Most have been for the House seat...Yvette Herrell's less outspoken but she's largely in the Greene camp. But that also means the ads against the Dem candidate are fast and furious, as the Pubs try to hold the seat.

The workaround would be to make the base senses something like a "package deal power" where the mods that exist already are made explicit adders, and at the end there's a "package discount" that covers the base cost. So now, if you buy new adders (senses) or slap on advantages, they apply to the power as a whole, as with any other power, and the package discount is applied *at the end.* So you can't put +3 advantages on the IR, it'd have to be on the entire thing...rather more expensive. That said, you COULD put Ranged and Indirect, for example, on Normal Taste or Smell...for dirt cheap. On Normal Touch, for pretty cheap. But thinking about this and with the PDF open...there's another wrinkle. Sight, Hearing, and Touch all have Discriminatory...but a lesser form. Horrible writing...don't use the same term for 2 different things in the same rules section. But it makes pricing them...awkward, as they really shouldn't be the full cost. It is, tho; the only modifier that's different between Smell/Taste and Touch is Discriminatory, and it's listed as a 5 point difference. As was noted: senses are really given their own, separate subsystem. It's VERY easy for players, and it works in MOST cases. These are highly desirable. It feels very difficult, if not impossible, to modify the base senses to be more flexible, without losing those aspects.

Perhaps, but right now I suspect that you're in a fairly small minority. I don't think that many people do that kind of time-shifting. If there are? Then, yeah, I could see, say, getting NFL Network to hold off until Friday afternoon...which, in fact, is one of the replay slots now. They had 2 early AM replays; to slow down someone like you, those would preferably get pulled. But there's a replay starting at 3 Eastern that shouldn't be an issue. But I suspect they already knew that. I would think they've been doing same-night replays on TNF before this year. I note, looking at the NFL Network schedule, they don't do it Sunday night, but they wouldn't likely want to. And they *do* have an SNF replay starting at 3:30 AM Eastern, which'd likely work for you. Same for MNF...the first replay is 3:15 AM. But obviously, TNF is different; they've had several days to pick apart every game from the prior week, and it's the only new game.

Regen is a Special power. Can't be put into a framework. I agree that the RAW limitations are not well-considered, tho; as I wrote, I build along different notions. The comparison between an MP and a VPP, and the most efficient methods to construct them...that's a whole nuther topic. I *rarely* use variable slots in an MP; same with 0 Phase, same with No Skill Roll. I don't think they're too low, myself; I think it's more likely that you're considering variable slots. We all have our build patterns, tho, and aren't necessarily good at shifting away from them.

That is it, in a nutshell, I expect. The basic senses cost 90 points...so what are you gonna do, give everyone 90 more? That are spent at the start? It kinda feels like saying every characteristic starts at 0...but requiring all of them to be bought to at least 1....and giving everyone that many more points. That would be a weird approach to me. And it feels like a way some people would try to game the system, trying to give back some of the senses for more, direct character points (rather than Complications). Maybe not all that many, but I think it is a legitimate system concern. Another aspect is that the base senses never cost END...and never should, IMO, as they're passive. (Maybe barring bizarre aliens or some automata, but those would be few and far between. And I'd need convincing that it made sense.) That makes advantages somewhat cheaper, arguably, than they should be, as they never carry the additional END cost. Also, there's a technical aspect. You'd have to buy any advantages on a sense, as naked advantages, most likely. Remember the rule: adders can be active or not at will, but advantages are always active when the power is in use. UGH! Not my preference.

There's only 2 reasons why I can't write off the Bucs after tonight. 1. The division they're in is terrible. TB was #18 at NFL.com, and that was the highest. NO/Atl are 21-22; Carolina is #30 with a bullet...hole. Or 6. After trading McCaffrey, ya gotta figure wins the rest of the way will be few and far between. 2. They only have 1 more game against a team with a winning record, and 3 division games. FiveThirtyEight still projects them going 8-9...and winning the division on tiebreakers. That's counting tonight. The problem, of course, is they've already lost to Carolina (#30) and Pittsburgh (#24), so they've shown they can lose to anyone. They're still grossly dysfunctional...just too many plays that can't happen this late into the season. The Ravens scored on their first 4 possessions in the second half...and the only other one was when they ran the clock out. First 3 drives, 33 plays, 250 yards, 3 TDs...so the defense is struggling to keep their heads above water.

At one time I worked in a group where 3 different people had bad motorcycle accidents...altho mostly off-road. In one case, the guy was out for multiple months, IIRC. The other two were before I joined that group...but one of them had a permanently mangled, only barely usable left hand. I agree that kids (and young adults) and motorcycles don't mix. Football...for multiple reasons, actually. Only some of them are safety related. I might throw mountain biking into that mix, as that's quite risky. I would at least insist on helmets.

Quite a few years ago now, I remember...I think he was an assistant manager at a local supermarket I went to enough, so got to know most of the regulars. Saw him in there, shopping, when I realized...I'd not seen him in quite a while. Turned out? He rode. With bike leathers and a helmet. He got hit by a truck that ran a light, or couldn't stop in time...I forget. But the truck's fault. Extensive injuries...but obviously, he lived, and it wasn't worse because he was wearing his helmet, and semi-protective clothing. OK, road rash might've been the least of his problems but it's no joke either. Infection is definitely a non-trivial risk, and that can complicate everything else that has to be done.

The fallout from Kanye's self-destructive comment continues. He ran a 'school'...a private, non-accredited academy, where parents had to sign NDAs. Little or nothing known about its internal workings...like what it might even be teaching. Huh...suspicious, much? https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/27/kanye-west-donda-academy-school-closes Points: --the school had invites to some basketball tournaments rescinded...these tend to be all-star type events, almost up there with Nike or Adidas summer camps for recruits. --another story says at least one faculty member resigned, on the basis of refusing to continue associating with West --he's bleeding sponsors and partners faster than Robert Sarver and the Suns The school itself has shut down for the year. They claim he's planning to reopen next year...but we'll see. Maybe this remark might become defused, but...it's inconceivable he won't make more.

The Giants can't play the Seahawks in the SB, no matter what. It'd have to be the Jets.

I agree with LL. McCarthy's a weasel, saying whatever it takes to satisfy his constituency of the moment...here, of course, it's the rest of the House Republican Caucus.

You're still misreading the rules about a VPP. The baseline is any power, any special effect. The wording you cite does not change this; it says that it's commonly done, but it doesn't create a requirement to do so. It's commentary, not rules text. 1. 6E VPPs have the flexibility to replace elemental controls, and have, IMO, been constructed to do that, by decoupling pool size from control cost. ECs are designed for powers linked by a special effect. 2. It allows a significant cost savings, particularly when it's a combat-switchable pool (0 phase or half phase to switch). If the control cost is 60 and you're going the half phase to switch...that's 45 points. A -1/2 limit for the specific powers/SFX available, shaves 15 points off. You may have other limitations; I use the common modifier Requires a Skill Roll (because the Power skill used to manipulate the pool, can be used to activate the powers). That's another -1/2. Common mods also decrease the control cost...so 45 would --> 22. Still, the powers/SFX limitation is saving 8. 3. I organize powers into 7 categories in my build process: offense, defense, movement, senses, health (life support and regen), and special (invis, desolid, shape shift, and utility stuff like Create Object or Extra-Dimensional Storage from the APGs). The 7th category is broad-scale multipliers...big Summons, Multiform, and Duplication. Those dictate special handling. Of these, having multiple offensive or movement powers is somewhat, to largely, redundant...you only use 1 at a time. Having different classes of attack powers...a Flash and a Blast, say...is generally better than having 2 Blasts. The value of the VPP "class of powers" limitation starts here. Which of these are allowed? Which attack styles (hamper vs. damage) are allowed? It's far less about the flexibility you *lose*...it's the flexibility you retain. The most restrictive interpretation for Mental Powers Only would be the explicitly defined Mental Powers in RAW: Mental Blast and Illusions, Mind Control, Link, and Scan, and Telepathy. This is sharply limited. Mind Control, Mental Blast, and Mental Illusions are largely offensive powers. Mind Scan, Mind Link, and Telepathy are all special powers. No defense powers. No movement powers. Also, the powers share common weaknesses, such as the breakout roll that's common to most. Personally, I'd consider this to be a rather large limitation. -1/2 at least, and arguably even -3/4 because they so strongly overlap. The more you start adding...the less this would go. Telekinesis? It has some value for offense (it's extremely expensive for an attack power, tho, which limits things), and has utility applications. LOTS of powers can be given a "mental power makeover"...Entangle's explicit, and mental Entangles are nasty. Mental Flash...OMCV vs. DMCV, goes against Mental Def, not Flash Def, IPE...but still executes as a, say, sight and sound flash attack. Nice! Completely different style of hampering. No breakout roll. But they won't last as long because you can't buy as many dice, due to the advantages. These are common psionic powers in multiple genres, or have their mechanics strongly linked by explicit rules, to the notion of a mental power. The there's the power tricks. If TK is allowed...a TK power trick is the TK blast. It's a Blast; at most, it'll tend to have OMCV vs. DCV. Telekinetic Flight is opening up a whole new category: a movement power. (In fact, it's instructive, IMO, to consider a VPP where the powers limitation is Telekinetics...it allows offensive and defensive powers, and movement...the 3 big groups for a VPP. So while Telekinetics sounds like a tighter limit than the restrictive Mental Powers...in functionality, it probably is more relaxed.) Telepathy has a bonus to DCV based on reading the target's plan of attack from his surface thoughts. And so on. Then there's the loosely associated "psionic powers" like psionic teleport. How often does a mentalist do this in comics or literature? Forget D&D; things might be thrown in simply to avoid gimping the psion. Conversely, perhaps you feel that making short leaps...combat movements only...is fitting, but a 300 mile jump doesn't fit. Final point: always remember that a class-of-powers limitation on the VPP, only applies to the VPP. If you want a mental teleport, and you'll pay for it outside the VPP...fine. You can keep the VPP narrowly defined, and thus get a decently-sized limitation for it.

Heh. Of course, for any non-mentalist, OMCV is a near-universal dump stat. HD says BoECV (which is 5E only, it was completely reworked for 6E) can't be applied to Teleport. Stated reason is, it can't be applied to self-only abilities...which is derived from the basis (5E 253) that a non-ranged power doesn't become ranged. The max distance you can move, is not the same as the power range of, let's say, a Blast. In 6E, it'd be ACV, alternate combat value. OMCV vs. DCV is +0 for a non-mental power, but it does NOT grant LOS or negate the range mods. (6E1 p. 318) And....nahhh, you won't need LS. I'm sure the air on Mars is just fine to breathe!!! Go for it!!! NICE!!!! range on that Teleport too, man!!! HMMMmm...current distance, Earth to Mars, is shown as 60 million miles...convenient. That's 100,000,000 km. Note that's shorter than usual; the average distance is about 140M miles. But, ok...10m, all we need is MegaScale at + 2 3/4 (1m = 10,000,000 km). The Range Mod for 100,000,000 km is only -67. No Problem, you can do it!!!!

The shape-shifter question is explicitly covered here: https://www.amazon.com/Law-Superheroes-James-Daily/dp/1592407269 This is actually a tremendous book to show the underpinnings of the legal system. The writers are lawyers, and they're arguing from real case law. Granted, no, superpowers aren't directly equivalent, but they use analogous situations. When is telepathy...or for that matter, potentially, even just empathy...an illegal search? Would heroes be allowed to testify while wearing a mask, or would this violate due process? It's detailed, nit-picking, deep stuff...but I'm loving it. About 2/3 of the way through at this point.

Actually, if you don't have a targeting sense spotting the hex...can't be perceived, or it's obscured...you DO need to make an attack roll against DCV 3...with various penalties. But DCV 3 is 'hit the hex.' Nothing about Teleportation suggests there is a "mental teleportation" that is in any way distinct; I'm not sure what advantages you're considering, other than perhaps "uses OMCV vs DCV"? In itself that wouldn't change anything else...

Only 13 teams have winning records...and 2 are on a bye. 17 teams have losing records, and 2 teams are at .500. The Seahawks are currently the #3 seed. How scary is that? That, of course, makes it perfectly appropriate for Halloween weekend. This entire season has been a horrible masquerade.

It's not allowed. See The Cost of Standard Senses, 6E1 209. Last paragraph.

Mental Entangle doesn't have LOS range, nor does Telekinesis. Neither would a Blast, AVAD vs. Mental Defense, OMCV vs. DMCV, Does Body.

Hey!!! My favorite t-shirt is from Rogue Brewing. Tie-dye Dead Guy...in rainbow colors. Got another in blue-black. THAT one is...almost discreet. Sad part...they're not replaceable. Which holds true for a distressing number of my favorites.