Steve Long

Unless noted otherwise by a more specific rule, when a character dies, all his powers stop functioning at the end of that Segment. (Regeneration with Resurrection is an obvious exception; by definition it has to work after the character is dead, or it would be useless.) As always, the GM should apply common sense when considering matters like this. For example, an Inherent Extra Limb (such as a tail) ceases functioning after death, but it doesn’t disappear — it’s a part of the character’s body and remains in (nonfunctioning) existence. The same would apply to, for example, an HKA defined as claws or fangs (which unlike an Extra Limb wouldn’t be bought as Inherent).

I’ll consider the issue of “powers that linger beyond death” for inclusion in APG3.

In both cases the answer is no. The loss of STUN due to the fading of an Adjustment Power isn't the same thing as inflicting STUN damage, and cannot Stun the target.

When characters exposed to high or low Temperature Levels lose REC as discussed on 6E2 145. Treat the REC as being “permanently” lost until the character spends time in an area that’s at the Comfort Zone — every 20 minutes spent at the Comfort Zone allows him to regain one lost increment of REC.
 
For example, suppose that a character spends 40 minutes in Temperature Level -3 conditions. That means he’s lost -6 REC (and -6 END, though that doesn’t matter for purposes of this question). Fortunately, he finds shelter that maintains Comfort Zone temperatures. After 20 minutes in this shelter he regains 3 REC; after 40 minutes he regains the remaining -3 and is now at full REC.

On September 7-9 I'll be up in Alexandria, VA as a guest at MAGLabs, a convention taking place at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. I'll be holding my Worldbuilding Workshop (and a much shorter one on building monsters) and my How To Write Elvish workshop, plus interacting with gamers and fans and just generally having an awesome time. If you're in the area, please come out and say howdy!
 
MAGLabs (Sept. 7-9, Alexandria, VA)

Neither Time Limit nor Fuel Charges are inherently illegal Power Modifiers for a VPP.
 
Based on your examples, I'd say that since most of the Powers you think you'll use for slots in the VPP will be Constant Powers, use that category to determine the value of Time Limit (i.e., make it a +3/4 Advantage. Since that may not always be the case, perhaps you can talk the GM into a small reduction to, say, +1/2.

On September 7-9 I'll be up in Alexandria, VA as a guest at MAGLabs, a convention taking place at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. I'll be holding my Worldbuilding Workshop (and a much shorter one on building monsters) and my How To Write Elvish workshop, plus interacting with gamers and fans and just generally having an awesome time. If you're in the area, please come out and say howdy!
 
MAGLabs (Sept. 7-9, Alexandria, VA)

On September 7-9 I'll be up in Alexandria, VA as a guest at MAGLabs, a convention taking place at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. I'll be holding my Worldbuilding Workshop (and a much shorter one on building monsters) and my How To Write Elvish workshop, plus interacting with gamers and fans and just generally having an awesome time. If you're in the area, please come out and say howdy!
 
MAGLabs (Sept. 7-9, Alexandria, VA)

On September 7-9 I'll be up in Alexandria, VA as a guest at MAGLabs, a convention taking place at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center. I'll be holding my Worldbuilding Workshop (and a much shorter one on building monsters) and my How To Write Elvish workshop, plus interacting with gamers and fans and just generally having an awesome time. If you're in the area, please come out and say howdy!
 
MAGLabs (Sept. 7-9, Alexandria, VA)

When characters exposed to high or low Temperature Levels lose REC as discussed on 6E2 145. Treat the REC as being “permanently” lost until the character spends time in an area that’s at the Comfort Zone — every 20 minutes spent at the Comfort Zone allows him to regain one lost increment of REC.
 
For example, suppose that a character spends 40 minutes in Temperature Level -3 conditions. That means he’s lost -6 REC (and -6 END, though that doesn’t matter for purposes of this question). Fortunately, he finds shelter that maintains Comfort Zone temperatures. After 20 minutes in this shelter he regains 3 REC; after 40 minutes he regains the remaining -3 and is now at full REC.

The starting Characteristics for Vehicles and Bases (see 6E2 186, 189) are "free" in the sense that you don't account for them when adding up the cost of a Vehicle/Base to determine what it costs a character in Character Points -- the character just pays for the costs for Characteristics beyond those starting totals. Thus, in your example, you build a Vehicle with 12 BODY. Since Vehicles start with 10 BODY, you've only spent 2 Character Points, so that Vehicle costs you (2 / 5 = 0.4) = 1 point (since, as you point out, the minimum cost of anything in the HERO System is 1 point).

When characters exposed to high or low Temperature Levels lose REC as discussed on 6E2 145. Treat the REC as being “permanently” lost until the character spends time in an area that’s at the Comfort Zone — every 20 minutes spent at the Comfort Zone allows him to regain one lost increment of REC.
 
For example, suppose that a character spends 40 minutes in Temperature Level -3 conditions. That means he’s lost -6 REC (and -6 END, though that doesn’t matter for purposes of this question). Fortunately, he finds shelter that maintains Comfort Zone temperatures. After 20 minutes in this shelter he regains 3 REC; after 40 minutes he regains the remaining -3 and is now at full REC.

See APG2 112 for optional rules regarding sleep and sleep deprivation.

There is a Limitation for doing this. It's called Delayed Use, and you can find the rules for it on page 162 of Fantasy Hero.

Assuming you are using the Size Templates from 6E1, then you can think of each level of Growth as adding one Template’s worth of size to whatever you start with. (Similarly, Shrinking subtracts one Template’s worth.) A dwarf or halfling is built with a Size Template that’s one level down from the default “Human” size, so one level of Growth would make him Human size, two levels of Growth would make him Large (up to twice Human size), and so on.
 
If you’re not using the 6E Size Templates, then it’s up to the GM to answer this question, based on how he wants larger and smaller than normal characters to be built in his campaign.

With the GM’s permission, a character can perform a Sucker Attack (6E2 128) with Teleportation, Usable As Attack — instead of positioning himself so that when he Dodges an incoming attack from Enemy 1, that attack hits Enemy 2, he Teleports Enemy 2 into the path of Enemy 1’s incoming attack. (Note that if Enemy 2 suffers Knockback from Enemy 1’s attack, there may be some risk of Enemy 2 hitting the character using Teleportation UAA. Caveat teleporter.)
 
To do this, a character must Hold his Action while he waits for Enemy 1 to attack. (Note that unlike a standard Sucker Attack, in this case Enemy 1 doesn’t necessarily have to be attacking the character using Teleportation UAA — the pertinent issues here are the Range of the Teleportation UAA attack, and how many meters of Teleportation are involved.) Then he must defeat Enemy 1 in a DEX Roll Versus DEX Roll Contest to time his use of Teleportation UAA precisely. Last but not least, he must succeed with an Attack Roll against Enemy 2 to hit him with the Teleportation UAA. (In some cases, and at the GM’s option, the character using Teleportation UAA may have to succeed with a PER Roll to Teleport Enemy 2 to the correct location; see 6E1 300.)

I could’ve sworn that I wrote something about this in the past, but if so I can’t find it right now. Still, I reserve the right to change my answer if I (or someone else) finds a prior ruling on this topic later.
 
As a default rule, a character cannot use an Adjustment Power to alter the amount of Charges a power has. As stated on 6E1 137, characters can’t use Adjustment Powers to apply, increase, or remove Advantages, and Charges is sometimes an Advantage; furthermore, the logic behind that rule extends to Limitations as well.
 
However, as always the GM could choose to allow this if he wanted to; I can think of some special effects where this might make sense in the context of the campaign. In this case, as an off-the-cuff idea, I suggest dividing the Active Points in the power by its maximum number of Charges, thus giving you an “Active Points per Charge” number. For each amount of that number an Adjustment Power adds/removes, you add/remove 1 Charge.

If a character has a power with Boostable Charges that Costs Endurance, the END cost of using the power may increase based on the Active Points “added” by Boosting. For example, suppose a character has an RKA 1d6, Penetrating (22 Active Points); Costs Endurance (-½), 12 Boostable Charges (-0) (total cost:  15 points). Ordinarily this costs 2 END. But then he Boosts the power to add3 DCs, or 15 Active Points, to it, making it an RKA 2d6 that costs 37 “Active Points.” The power now costs 4 END, based on the 37 Active Point total

In this situation, I don’t think either of your suggested methods is the way to go. Since the gadget in question is a Suppress, it needs END to continue to function. Take the Advantage Uncontrolled for it. When the character uses it, he feeds in however much END he wants to use. When that amount of END is used up, the device stops working, or falls off, or what have you. Given the special effect, if someone found it before the END ran out he could try to remove it, and the GM can decide how easy that is. Thus, in essence what’s going on here is that “sticking to the target” becomes a special effect of Uncontrolled.

As discussed on 6E1 84-85, “Penalty Skill Levels (PSLs) are a type of Skill Level that only reduce or counteract a specific type of combat-related penalty.” The key phrase here is “combat-related penalty,” which means a penalty to OCV or DCV. Common examples include Range Skill Levels (which offset the Range Modifier’s OCV penalty), Targeting Skill Levels (which offset the OCV penalties imposed by the Hit Location Table), and Encumbrance Skill Levels (which offset the DCV penalty for being Encumbered). The important thing to note here is that PSLs do not apply to Skill Rolls or Skill Roll penalties. (The same applies to Combat Skill Levels (CSLs), which also only affect CV.)
 
To create the sorts of abilities you want to build, you need to use Skill Levels (6E1 88-89). Depending on what type of SL you buy, you could have it affect the Power:  Magic roll used to cast spells, the Inventor (Spell Research) roll used to create new spells, a KS: Arcane And Occult Lore roll to research some obscure historical fact about magic — or maybe just one or two of those things.
 
For example, in the land of Korrak, wizards typically use several Skills as part of their craft. First and foremost is Magic (a form of the Power Skill), which they use to actually cast spells (and which suffers the standard -1 per 10 Active Points penalty). The second is Domination (another form of the Power Skill), which they use to control demons, elementals, and other summoned beings. The third is Spell Research (the Fantasy form of Inventor), which they use to create new spells. The last is KS: Arcane And Occult Lore, which is the general Knowledge Skill covering all sorts of mystic learning.
 
If we look at the Skill Level Table, we see that the more Skills an SL applies to, the more Character Points it costs. One of them is the 3-point SL, which covers three related Skills. That fits pretty well here, since we have four related Skills, but one is a KS that the character won’t use in combat much. So a wizard could buy, for example, +3 with Magic, Domination, and Spell Research.
 
As they stand, those three SLs with Magic, Domination, and Spell Research can be used at any time to assist with rolls using those Skills. If you only want the SLs to offset penalties (such as the Active Point penalty), you can take a Limitation on them to reflect that. Creating different “packages” of Skill Levels whose use you define with Limitations might be a great way to add ‘flavor” to your magic system and help to distinguish one wizard from another.
 
I hope that helps! If I've missed anything, plesae post a follow-up here, or PM me. I love creating magic systems and enjoy talking about how to create them using the HERO System, but usually that's more appropriate for a private conversation than clogging up the Rules Questions board. But I'd say a lot of HERO fans also enjoy discussing this sort of thing, so if you haven't yet, try posting your thoughts, ideas, and questions on the Fantasy Hero and/or Discussion boards -- you'll get all sorts of great suggestions.

As discussed on 6E1 84-85, “Penalty Skill Levels (PSLs) are a type of Skill Level that only reduce or counteract a specific type of combat-related penalty.” The key phrase here is “combat-related penalty,” which means a penalty to OCV or DCV. Common examples include Range Skill Levels (which offset the Range Modifier’s OCV penalty), Targeting Skill Levels (which offset the OCV penalties imposed by the Hit Location Table), and Encumbrance Skill Levels (which offset the DCV penalty for being Encumbered). The important thing to note here is that PSLs do not apply to Skill Rolls or Skill Roll penalties. (The same applies to Combat Skill Levels (CSLs), which also only affect CV.)
 
To create the sorts of abilities you want to build, you need to use Skill Levels (6E1 88-89). Depending on what type of SL you buy, you could have it affect the Power:  Magic roll used to cast spells, the Inventor (Spell Research) roll used to create new spells, a KS: Arcane And Occult Lore roll to research some obscure historical fact about magic — or maybe just one or two of those things.
 
For example, in the land of Korrak, wizards typically use several Skills as part of their craft. First and foremost is Magic (a form of the Power Skill), which they use to actually cast spells (and which suffers the standard -1 per 10 Active Points penalty). The second is Domination (another form of the Power Skill), which they use to control demons, elementals, and other summoned beings. The third is Spell Research (the Fantasy form of Inventor), which they use to create new spells. The last is KS: Arcane And Occult Lore, which is the general Knowledge Skill covering all sorts of mystic learning.
 
If we look at the Skill Level Table, we see that the more Skills an SL applies to, the more Character Points it costs. One of them is the 3-point SL, which covers three related Skills. That fits pretty well here, since we have four related Skills, but one is a KS that the character won’t use in combat much. So a wizard could buy, for example, +3 with Magic, Domination, and Spell Research.
 
As they stand, those three SLs with Magic, Domination, and Spell Research can be used at any time to assist with rolls using those Skills. If you only want the SLs to offset penalties (such as the Active Point penalty), you can take a Limitation on them to reflect that. Creating different “packages” of Skill Levels whose use you define with Limitations might be a great way to add ‘flavor” to your magic system and help to distinguish one wizard from another.
 
I hope that helps! If I've missed anything, plesae post a follow-up here, or PM me. I love creating magic systems and enjoy talking about how to create them using the HERO System, but usually that's more appropriate for a private conversation than clogging up the Rules Questions board. But I'd say a lot of HERO fans also enjoy discussing this sort of thing, so if you haven't yet, try posting your thoughts, ideas, and questions on the Fantasy Hero and/or Discussion boards -- you'll get all sorts of great suggestions.

Welcome back to HERO! I hope the campaign's going well and everyone's having fun.
 
First, remember that a character who can't use his Targeting Senses (typically Sight) can make a PER Roll with a Nontargeting Sense (such as Hearing or Touch) so that he can attack at 1/2 OCV, -1 DCV -- see 6E2 7 for the full rules. So your wife's character doesn't have to just sit there doing nothing, she can try to overcome the handicap she's currently suffering from and fight back as best she can.
 
Second, your idea of using Mental Illusions to compensate for her lost Senses is a creative one, and certainly within the realm of possibility for things that Mental Illusions can do. Your character would have to use a Phase to "attack" her to set up the Illusion, of course. If I were your GM, I would rule that your character has to keep paying END to maintain the Mental Illusion (6E1 150) so that you can "feed" it information about how the combat's progressing. Other GMs might not require that, or might require you to spend a Half Phase Action each Phase to keep the illusion accurate, or whatever else they consider appropriate.
 
Herodom Assembled --- what do you think? How would you handle this as a GM? What other ideas do you have for monsewer to help his wife out of this situation?

Welcome back to HERO! I hope the campaign's going well and everyone's having fun.
 
First, remember that a character who can't use his Targeting Senses (typically Sight) can make a PER Roll with a Nontargeting Sense (such as Hearing or Touch) so that he can attack at 1/2 OCV, -1 DCV -- see 6E2 7 for the full rules. So your wife's character doesn't have to just sit there doing nothing, she can try to overcome the handicap she's currently suffering from and fight back as best she can.
 
Second, your idea of using Mental Illusions to compensate for her lost Senses is a creative one, and certainly within the realm of possibility for things that Mental Illusions can do. Your character would have to use a Phase to "attack" her to set up the Illusion, of course. If I were your GM, I would rule that your character has to keep paying END to maintain the Mental Illusion (6E1 150) so that you can "feed" it information about how the combat's progressing. Other GMs might not require that, or might require you to spend a Half Phase Action each Phase to keep the illusion accurate, or whatever else they consider appropriate.
 
Herodom Assembled --- what do you think? How would you handle this as a GM? What other ideas do you have for monsewer to help his wife out of this situation?

There is a Limitation for doing this. It's called Delayed Use, and you can find the rules for it on page 162 of Fantasy Hero.

No problem. Here's how Telescopic works. As you probably know from running combats, the HERO System rules have a Range Modifier (6E2 38) that makes it harder to hit a target that's far away from a character. The Range Modifier also applies to attempts to perceive things at Range (6E2 11). So, for example, a character trying to see something that's 17-32 meters away from him suffers a -4 penalty to his Sight PER Roll. If he has the Telescopic Sense Modifier, either for his Normal Sight specifically or all Sight Group Senses in general, the Telescopic reduces or eliminates the penalty imposed by the Range Modifier. So yes, Telescopic makes it easier to perceive things at Range.
 
So let's suppose that your PC, Eagle-Eye, has spent 6 Character Points to buy Telescopic for his Sight Group Senses, thus providing himself with a +4 Sight Group PER Roll bonus to offset the Range Modifier. His teammate, the Scarlet Swashbuckler, hasn't bought any Telescopic for his Sight. They arrive at a bank robbery as the robbers are speeding away in their car -- they're currently 25m away. Neither character has enough movement to catch up to the car, so they both try to see and memorize the license plate number so they can track it down later. Each of them has INT 15, so they both have a Sight PER Roll of 12-. The Swashbuckler suffers the -4 Range Modifier, reducing his PER Roll to 8- (a mere 26% chance to succeed). But Eagle-Eye's Telescopic (+4) cancels out the Range Modifier (-4), so his PER Roll remains a 12- (a 74% chance of success). Predictably, the Swashbuckler fails his roll -- but Eagle-Eye does not, and saves the day!

As a Constant Power, Absorption turns off at the end of the Segment in which the character is Knocked Out (6E2 106). It does not stop working immediately. Thus, assuming the character were attacked again in that Segment after being Knocked Out, but before the end of the Segment, it would be possible for him to Absorb enough Character Points to “heal himself awake.” If that happens, since he’s no longer Knocked Out neither his Absorption nor any other non-Persistent powers would stop working at the end of the Segment.