Steve Long

If he rolls 9 or more, yes, he's Stunned.

You don't necessarily have to buy a Computer for every Skill you want to give a Vehicle. You could buy the Skill with the special effect "the vehicle has an autopilot system." The Supercar does this, for example. Obviously each GM is going to have his own comfort level as to how far this should go.

Just buy it as normal and declare that as part of the effect, if you want.

You might also want to take a look at the radio tracer in Champions, which has a breakdown of how difficult it becomes to sense the effect beyond the established radius. You could easily do something similar for a torch.

Well, sure -- the standard rule of "everything costs minimum of 1 point" applies.

Thanx for the kind words! Glad to hear you're enjoying TE.

Check out DH #8 and #9 (the March and April issues, respectively) for lots more stuff from TE, including expanded descriptions of several alien species and a bunch of psionic powers.

See 5E 44 (sidebar).

No, he can’t make them just go away. The GM could allow that if he wanted to, of course, but the default rule is that’s not possible. He’d need a way to damage the Entangle (an Attack Power of some sort) defined as “I make my Entangle vanish.” The same applies to Uncontrolled Powers — the character can’t just turn them off or “dispel” them at will once they’ve started to run, unless the GM chooses to permit this.

My previous answer still applies. I can't tell you how to run your game or design your characters. If they act like DNPCs, make 'em DNPCs; if they function like Followers, make 'em Followers. Depending on the nature of the campaign and the character, it could go either way.

Just use the animal’s total cost in that situation. It certainly wouldn't be fair to make the character pay for more than he's gettin'.

Sure, that sounds reasonable.

The first issue depends on how the NPCs function. If they function like DNPCs, make 'em DNPCs of the base; if they function like Followers (participate in combat away from the Base, help the character more than hinder him, etc.), then make 'em Followers.

You can build a Follower on less than the full points you've paid for, just as with a Vehicle (TUV 223).

I'd give 'em a Multiform. But other minds may differ. Since this is really a "how to" and not a rules question, I've moved it to "HERO System Discussion" so Herodom Assembled can offer advice.

In general, I'd consider that "defending himself," but it may depend on the nature of the character's powers. Does have have more powerful attacks that work when he's Desolidified? If so, maybe it would be OK for him to become intangible so he can hurt the target more.

It's a very interesting idea -- it's something I've toyed around with for years. I'm vaguely tempted to work on it further for FH, but I expect it will take more time to get right than I can afford to devote to it. It'll probably have to wait until some future point when I have more time to spend on such things. Or maybe, if I stretch the concept of "Base" a little, it would be suitable for The Ultimate Base.

The good thing about all these questions is that when the Superpowers Database is late, I can, completely unfairly and undeservedly, blame you.

4a. Yes, and yes.

4b. Yes, and yes.

There are no specific plans for a book just devoted to alien species. If the setting proves popular enough, we might consider producing one, but for now we'll see how the initial raft of supplements are received.

The real problem you’re having, I think, isn’t actually “your” problem at all — it’s that CSLs need greater granularity. As it is, things have to be wedged into too few categories, which makes it a little hinky at times. They need a thorough review, expansion, supplementation, whatever you want to call it — something I’ve made a start on for The Ultimate Skill, but haven’t finished yet.

1. No; by definition it should only apply to Strikes, and as you note Haymaker and Sweep are separate things. At that point the character ought to just upgrade to 5-point HTH Combat Levels.

2. Yes.

3. Yes.

4. I assume you are referring to 2-point OCV Levels with Punch. In that case, the answer is no. “Punch” refers to a specific attack in this case (a Strike made with the hand); it’s not a license to describe anything you can think of as a “punch” and apply the Level. That’d get waaayy too unbalancing too quickly, methinks.

5. No. Again, Move By and Move Through are not “Punch” as it’s defined for a 2-point Level.

6-7. As a default rule, no in both cases. However, the GM could certainly consider allowing it if he felt it made sense and wasn’t unbalancing.

8. I’d agree with your analysis as a default. Again, though, the GM could allow the Levels to apply if he felt it made sense and wasn’t unbalancing.

9. No. See 4-5.

What angle did the 16' tall guy hit him from? If he smashed him downwards, Flyboy hit the ground. If he uppercutted him, Flyboy went straight up (if Stunned or unconscious, he might plummet back to earth in later Segments). And so on.

As a default, it's best to assume Flyboy hits the ground. But don't apply the default in defiance of common sense.

Ah, I see. I guess the "why" boils down to "because there are these other ways to do the same thing, and it just doesn't seem logical."

I'm sure you could get a rollicking discussion going about the subject on "HERO System Discussion" if you wanted to.

From the Rules FAQ:

Q: Can a character apply the Ranged Advantage to an HA, thus creating an attack usable at Range to which he can add his STR?

 

A: No. Once he adds the Hand-To-Hand Attack Limitation, he’s signifying that the attack can’t be used at Range. Logically, the two Modifiers simply don’t mix.

 

To build such an attack, buy Energy Blast, with dice equal to the amount of damage you think the thrown weapon should do, and define the special effect as “throwing a weapon and using high STR to make it do more damage than it ordinarily would.” If you want to use the weapon in HTH Combat as well, buy the weapon as a Multipower — one slot with an HA, one slot with an EB, 1 Recoverable Charge, Lockout (can’t use other slot until Charge is recovered).

 

Another possibility would be to use the Throwing rules. Buy the club (or other weapon) has an HA, Focus. The character could then throw the object (the Focus) the same way he could any other object, doing damage equal to his STR dice or the DEF+BODY of the object, whichever was less.

The END cost would be 3. Technically you’re correct that the character only has to pay END once for all uses of STR in a Phase. However, the potential abusiveness of that rule in this situation is obvious (and with some Autofire HAs and HKAs as well, for that matter), and the GM may, at his option, charge the character the END cost per “shot” used.

It sounds like a pretty cool idea to me.

The big question is, does changing into super form really hinder or restrict the character? In many ways, it's better for him to become tougher and more powerful when danger threatens. That just sounds like a cool effect for a character's "activate superpowers!" schtick. But if he has a Social Limitation: Secret Identity or the like, the inability to control when he changes could definitely cause problems, so an Accidental Change would be warranted. Also, there may be some difficulties inherent in not being able to activate his powers in peaceful situations.

As long as your GM has no problems tying the Accidental Change to the Danger Sense roll, you should be fine. Just buy the Accidental Change roll to "match" the DS roll (if there's no exact match, use the next lowest category). The frequency (Common, Uncommon, etc.) I can't judge for you; only you and the GM know how often the character's likely to find himself exposed to danger.

No, no, and no. The latter is discussed in the Rules FAQ, IIRC.

The text does not say the most expensive form pays for the power. It says the true form pays for it, and the true form can be any of the character's forms. The "most expensive form" bit is something you're remembering from 4E that no longer applies.

If that doesn't clear up your confusion, please post a follow-up and I'll try to explain further.

I'd generally say that's correct, assuming you mean by "hazard of something without intent of mind" things like traps, thin ice, and so on.