Lairian

Re: Building a collapsing/recharging force field. That's a really neat way to go about it, actually. You'd have to make sure all attacks you buy afterwards would be indirect, and find a way to breathe, but it's a whole lot cheaper (and closer to SFX description) to build it as layered Force Walls.

Re: Building a collapsing/recharging force field. Fair enough then. So long as you and the GM agree that it's a Vehicle, a Vehicle it shall be.

Re: Some Villain Powers Help? Just to add to the confusion of the Earthquake villian, you could make a small attack damage wise (KA or EB) with NND Does Body, Defense is earthquake reinforced masonry. This simulates a prolonged quake that will eventually tear apart any building not specifically built to resist earthquakes, so long as the villian can keep the quake going. Modern contruction ignores earthquakes pretty well save superficial damage at best. Problem is, most buildings not on the West Coast aren't built to ignore earthquakes. Unless, of course, the villian is throwing out Richter 8+ earthquakes...

Re: Building a collapsing/recharging force field. Using Trigger is clever; hadn't thought to do that. Keeps it much more hands-free on the part of the character. Remember to link the armor to the BOD somehow, otherwise even when the shield is shot off you damage continues to be reduced. I don't remember if Master Chief takes more damage when his shields drop or not. If he doesn't ignore that part. Been a while since HALO 1 where you can see the health bar. Plus it's cheaper that way since it's only protecting the BOD from the shield and not the wearer's personal BOD. I would still classify the shield as a Focus and not a Vehicle, myself, since vehicles are larger than people in my brain. That's arguing semantics, however, so my definition isn't nearly as important as the GM's definition.

Re: Transform vs SFX It was an existing Transform with normal healing rate described as "long and difficult repairs to fix the massive damage".

Re: Building a collapsing/recharging force field. Shield Damage Absorbtion 15 BOD Characteristic (30 AP), OIF (-1/2 power armor and force shield array) RP: 20 Shield Damage Reduction 3/3 DEF Force Field, Persistant(+1/2), 0 END (+1/2) (12 AP), OIF (-1/2 power armor and force shield array), Limited Power (-1/4 Only when Shield Damage Absorbtion is Not Depleted) RP: 7 Shield Recharge 10d6 BOD Heal, 0 END (+1/2), Standard Effect (+0), (150 AP), OIF (-1/2 power armor and force shield array), Limited Power (-1 Only for Shield Damage Absorbtion), Extra Time (-1 1/4 Full Turn Post 12) RP: 40 This models a shield that drops a small amount of damage off every attack, until it stops 15 BOD, after which it no longer reduces damage. The shield comes back after a round of not-getting-attacked. The 150 AP Heal is going to red flag like crazy. If anyone can come up with a cheaper modeled heal, that'd be good. Incidently, Limited Power values based on Linked in the FF (done this way so the FF turns off when out of BOD, since it wouldn't with a persistant Characteristic with Linked), and with "power losing half effect" on the heal, since I'll assume the character has about as much personal BOD as shield BOD. Exact values on those may vary.

Re: Building a collapsing/recharging force field. Initial thought is 15 BOD, with a 3/3 FF linked to it, and an Extra Time Heal (full round) with Only for Force Field BOD. Edit after referencing book: Further thought is that since Characteristics are Persistant, linked probably should be replaced by Limited Power: only when Force Field BOD are not depleted. If you want the recovery of the BOD and defense to be hands off (rather than assuming Master Chief is messing with the field "when you're not looking" out of combat, you could use a Regeneration with Limited Power: only out of combat and only for force field BOD. I'd use an obvious inaccessable Focus for all of this rather than a vehicle (power armor is too small to imply vehicle to me).

Re: Transform vs SFX Wow...lots of responses. Thanks all! The "mental block" on the armor coming back makes perfect sense to me, and seems to fit the feel and setting very well; I'll bring it up first and formost since it meshes so well with the superhero genre and offers roleplay potential. Failing acceptance of that, I think RDU Neil is hitting right on the crux of the issue, and in hindsight, a persistant 0 END Force Field would probably make a much better representation of the "solidified light armor" as far as vulnerabilities go. I think discussion will open up with a quick rebuild to use that model, since it more faithfully represents the idea the player wants. If that suggestion is met with resistance, I think the Sean Waters method of a new and previously unknown power awakening will be enacted; highly utilitarian. So terribly much the case...serves me right for thinking anything is a straightforward SFX...

Okay, so I ran into a problem running game last night that I was hoping to get input on to be able to make a fair and balanced decision (I'm a newbie Champions gm). The group has a character that consolidates light in the area into matter to create armor, change his physical makeup. This also changes his mental state slightly, and has other minor affects. We built this through Multiform due to mental changes, rather than building everything with Only in Heroic Identity. In fighting The Chemist last night, a splash of Armor Eating Acid destroyed the armor (modeled with Transform for a semi-permanent change). The problem came up when the Transform stated that the armor comes back at REC/Month, and the SFX said that he could drop out of the Multiform, and then change back in and resolidify light into the armor once more. I appreciate that the genre hinges a lot on SFX and they should be given a lot of leeway. However, I also don't want to trivialize an 'attack' that was meant to cause a mission-long problem. Can I get some advice on how more experienced gms would arbitrate this SFX vs Transform conflict?

Experience points function as character points for the purposes of buying new powers, skills, and so forth. Usually very straightforward. However, I'm somewhat confused on the interactions with experience and Elemental Controls. Can an Elemental Control's base cost (pool) be increased after character creation (assuming, of course, that the framework remains a legal framework)? If so, when it is increased does one go through the slots and recalculate the Active Points of all powers based on what the new Real Cost has paid for, or is this handled in some other way?