etherio

Re: Lemme know how you'd handle this power build...

Re: One last, *QUICK* flying dodge question.. I have found it unbalacing...YMMV

Re: Lemme know how you'd handle this power build... All true, I agree. But the real problem is in the fact that she doesn't just have a few forms. Like Changeling, she can turn into all animals. I'm looking for a shortcut or convention wherein I can do exactly the sort of dramatically appropriate embellishment you're talking about, without having to build each one, and without having to debate how to adjust each one that comes up in-game.

Re: One last, *QUICK* flying dodge question.. Please remember, though, that even a character with normal running speed becomes a hassle with FD. Y'know how other characters can choose to try to Dive for Cover 1" to avoid that Haymaker instead of Dodging? Well, as long as your MA can abort, his is automatic. No DEX roll to get to the next hex. No longshot (yet still possible) attack against Mr. MA's now outrageous DCV. Automatic. Thanks martial arts...5 points well invested, I must say.

Looking for some input on this character. Let me know how you have handled, or would handle, this. 'Fauna' is a long-running character in my campaign. She was originally a PC, played by my ex-wife, but (for obvious reasons) for a few years has just been one of those 'scientific consultant' type of NPCs. Because of that, I never updated her for 5ed along with the rest of the characters. Her power is your standard 'Changeling of the Teen Titans' shtick...she can transform into any animal whose DNA she's injected into her bloodstream (pretty much all normal ones). It was originally (ten years or so ago) built as a complicated multipower, but the build was weak. I realize I could use something like a multiform with variable special effect and give the current form the physical stats of whatever creature she's transformed into, but the problem is that animals tend to suck big-time in combat. Changeling could turn into an elephant and whallop a baddie, but even an elephant is outclassed at a reasonable standard supers level. Changeling's horse could gallop by and save his buddy's bacon by giving him a ride, but horses are clumsy oafs compared to supers. I'd like some kind of conventional rule to work into the power build that would easily adjust normal animals in appropriately useful ways without my having to build a 'Fauna' version of each one. I'm sure many of you have done this or something similar...care to share or offer suggestions?

Re: One last, *QUICK* flying dodge question.. Yep...I believe flying dodge is a spoiler, and I said as much on a thread of my own about a year ago. No point debating the issue. If ya like it, ya like it. If ya don't, ya don't. I personally suggest (to those who don't) that they come up with a house rule that eliminates what many of us feel is the real element of the inbalance: the fact that it's an automatic, full-move, dive for cover with no modifiers or penalties for potentially using very fast movement powers to get out of potentially huge AE effects. I recommend one of the following: 1) Disallow the movement element of the maneuver when a character aborts to flying dodge. If he uses it on his phase, it's still very useful when one wants to "haul ass" through a dangerous spot or just wants to draw his enemies' fire. 2) Allow the movement element, but don't treat it as a dive for cover. Allow the attacker to take his shot (at the flying dodger's higher DCV, of course) before the movement takes place.

Re: Game Maps and Counters Exchange Nice resource...thanks for giving this thread a needed bump. I think we should all use it more often. I'll see if I can contribute some more stuff soon.

Re: On balance...when no one else follows it. danke.

Re: On balance...when no one else follows it. 1) Play with friends. 2) Your friends will give a crap if you're not having fun, regardless of relative ideas of fairness. 3) Avoid soap-opera drama in your gaming relationships...this is supposed to be escapist fun, after all.

Re: tickle I think anyone who's ever been in an actual fistfight would agree that tickling is just not an option. Wouldn't work.

Re: House Rule for Falling Damage? I agree that, in a "realistic" sense, if a MA can live through a punch from a strong Brick, he shouldn't get splattered by a decently high fall. However, in comics, guys who aren't Bricks tend not to ever get hit by Bricks; the author controls the action. And when they do, they tend to get messed up. In comics, though, a genre convention is saving your buddy from falling to his doom. I'd like to preserve that.

Any of you out there find the rules for falling damage awkward at times? I feel that superheroic characters who aren't "invulnerable" in the comic book sense, but have high enough PD to take a punch without getting hospitalized, are too resistant to taking BODY from falling what would seem like dangerous heights. Heck, even a character with high normal-scale PD can take a pretty mean drop without getting seriously injured. I've seen suggestions that falling damage be treated as killing damage, but that seems a bit too lethal and dismissive of the "toughness" of a given character. For a while, we've used a house rule I borrowed from someone's website. It calls for reducing the effective PD of a falling character by 1 for each 1" fallen, unless he has an appropriate type of defense. That seemed okay at first, but I've come to feel like it's granting too much based on special-effect. I'd like a more concrete and objective game mechanic. Here's my new proposed house rule. I'd like constructive criticism or your own house rules, if you don't mind sharing: Treat falling damage as Normal (unless of course one is falling onto spikes or what have you), Armor Piercing damage. Hardened on one's normal PD therefore serves as the counter for characters who want to be "invulnerable" to falling damage in the classic comic book sense.

Re: TK + a brick = deadly weapon?

Re: Initiative...

Re: Initiative... Most of you guys must have a more interactive experience with these boards than I do. Damn time zone differences mean that there's pretty much nobody else logged on when I am. I post something and have to check back tomorrow to see what responses have popped up.

Re: Initiative... I've always felt that the Speed chart not only makes combat a little plodding and predictable, but, like RDU Neil mentioned, it also gives an individual who's 1 SPD higher than most others in a battle a unique tactical advantage that's greater than just the one additional action. I think we use an excellent system, which I'm sure has been duplicated by other Hero gamers. Each character just rolls a d12 at the beginning of each segment. (I make one shared roll for identical agents or thugs to simplifiy things.) If a character's roll is equal to or less than his SPD stat, he gets a phase that segment. If he rolls a 12, he gets a Post-Segment 12 recovery and all his other "Turn-based" things take place (returning points from an Aid, powers with extra time going off, completing changing powers in a VPP, taking bleeding damage, etc.). Statistically, each character will get the same ratio of phases over the long term that he should with the official system. Yeah, yeah, I know it doesn't use a d6, but who cares really...and most of us have dice laying around that we rarely use anymore, anyway. This system may sound like an added hassle to your bookkeeping, but it really has the opposite effect. You don't have to mess with the Speed Chart or even keep track of what segment it is, unless a particular situation really calls for knowing exactly how many seconds have passed. Each segment stands on its own. I find that this system also makes combat more dynamic by eliminating the "plan-the-timing-of-your-Haymaker" style of metagaming that the Speed Chart encourages. Additionally, this system simplifies buying SPD with limitations and allows for some interesting and playable power constructs. For example, a PC in my campaign has super-reflexes. He has a 6 SPD and bought +2SPD with the limitation "only to Abort", -1. If he rolls 1-6 on his "initiative" roll at the beginning of the segment, he can act normally. If he gets a 7 or 8, he can choose to abort to a defensive action only. One could create an easily-playable gunslinger with "+1SPD, only for firing guns," or a 4-armed monster with "+2 SPD, only for punching." It also makes mounted characters or those driving vehicles more simple. If your steed has a 3 SPD and you have a 4 SPD, there's no complicated synchronizing of phases. If you roll a 1-3, you and your mount can both act...on a 4, only you can act. It also makes the complications of wanting to change one's SPD in the middle of a turn (when drowning, for example) a non-issue. Also, let's not forget that it's just kind of fun to "roll initiative." Players tend to stay invested in the game continuously with this system, rather than having their attention or interest wane during stretches of segments when their phases don't come up. Try it...I think you'll like it.

In a previous post, Mancer asked about the following situation, in brief: Malleable Man and Dexy Guy engage in a DEX vs. DEX contest to see who gets to act first... Dexy Guy intends to move a few inches and fire his attack, while Malleable Man intends to hammer the hex Dexy Guy is presently in with an Area Effect HTH attack... Dexy Guy wins the contest. Mancer wondered if Malleable Man would be able to "re-target" his attack to hit the hex that Dexy Guy moved to. Your answer was that Malleable Man could not change the targeting of his attack after losing the DEX contest, and that he would have to attack the hex that he had declared initially. My question is this: If Malleable Man's attack was a non-Area Effect attack (and thus his chosen target was his opponent, Dexy Guy, rather than a particular hex), would he be able to still strike at Dexy Guy once Dexy Guy had moved, or would he be forced, as in the original example, to swing at an empty hex and automatically miss his target as if Dexy Guy had performed a Dive for Cover? Thanks in advance

Re: Should the 5th CU have a "Euro Guard"? I posted pics for a team called "Euroguard" on my Project: XIII images thread. That might be where you saw it on these boards. I'm sure, however, that the name has appeared elsewhere. The team was created in 1990 or so, when I was about 18 years old. I doubt (with my more cynical and slightly more educated present point of view) that they would have been created as a joint, international team if they were created today. I'd say that the concept makes less sense in the 21st century (despite the creation of the EU), because of the end of the Cold War. Of course, that's a comment on the real world. If baddies like Eurostar are truly dangerous to states in your campaign, and aren't just high-powered thieves, then perhaps that would lend the impetus necessary for a "Euroguard." In my campaign, I think of them as sort of semi-retired leftovers from the days of European fear of the Soviets.

Re: Animated Series Style Character Images

Re: Animated Series Style Character Images Anyhoo...here's a Dr. Strange I just did. I'm trying to challenge myself with quirky characters.

Re: Animated Series Style Character Images Better not pout...better not cry... I hope I'm not on his 'naughty' list. Great stuff as always. I like the nice, clean lines in your work. Reminds me of an artist I used to admire that I haven't seen anything from in years...can't remember the name, though. He did quite a bit of FASA Star Trek work. Oh yeah, he did the cover for Space 1889, IIRC. Anybody know who I'm talking about?

Re: Animated Series Style Character Images Looking forward to it.

Re: Challenge The Jackalope - If You Dare! By the way, Lemming...My 3-year-old agrees that you have the "bestest animal avatar"...cracked him up.

Re: Animated Series Style Character Images Assuming all of your stuff is original artwork (and that appears to be the case), you should be doing professional illustration. Are you already?

Re: Animated Series Style Character Images