Robyn

Re: Gargoyles HERO

Right. So' date=' is light a wave or a particle?[/quote']

 

I typed up a few sentences about science still being in the development process, but realized before I finished that it would need to go into how "popular belief" might be wrong, and deleted it all because I wasn't about to open that can of worms

Re: "Gun Fu" Power idea

How does having 'a sufficiently high rPD' keep a target's DCV from being reduced when the sfx is essentially intimidation by way of superior firepower? That's still a PRE check of some sort. Having the rPD should provide a bonus to the check but not a flat defense.

If the firepower isn't "superior" to their defenses, why should the enemy get a PRE attack at all?

Imagine someone pointing a small water pistol at you, having demonstrated that it has barely enough pressure in it to convey the water to your location, much less strike with any impact.

Re: How to do Priests use magic???

You might' date=' however, make it clear that while the priest may well know the permutations to ask for something specific, that the power in question may do something more to their liking.[/quote']

 

Almost like a political campaign where PC's interact solely through agents and give orders that will take days to arrive in the field, working with reports that took days to arrive.

 

But without the time delay

 

I envision a very hedge-witch level of magic, where the spellcaster is someone with a touch of fey blood in them; they can see and speak to the imps and gremlins and pixies and other mischievous spirits, and ask for favors, but it would be up to those spirits how they accomplished the task.

 

I would implement it with a Dying Earth style of bargaining, where how well the spirits liked you would rely on how much they approved of your closeness to that fey ancestry. The more mischievous you were yourself, the more likely that they would respect you and do your bidding, but if it seemed to be too much out of their way, they might ask you to help them out in return, by using the benefits of your mortal heritage to do something they could not.

Re: The Munchkin Build Contest

Actually' date='I didn't think itwas possible to use Transform on yourself so here's a workaround:Purchase either an A.I.,Base,Follower or Vehicle[/quote']

 

I thought the prohibition against using Transform on yourself was specifically for, well, yourself. That's why using Shapeshift or Multiform, instead, is recommended. But if you're only using it on a single one of your own powers (albeit, perhaps, your only power ), and leaving the rest of yourself intact, neither of those powers seem most appropriate. You're not changing how your body is perceived by senses, and a Transform (like a VPP) would be the most flexible means of accomplishing the effect.

 

Ideally, you didn't take "Self Only" on the power, thus leaving room for the GM to assume that you planned to use it on others. It's all about being sneaky

 

Instead of making it an AI or Base or Vehicle, couldn't you achieve roughly the same "distancing" by making it a Focus?

 

Although . . . the 1:5 ratio on points there would probably be more cost-effective than a Focus, especially after all the other Limitations were added

Re: The Seduction Skill as a "Lab"

Even if I grant everything you just said(and I could go with most of it)' date=' I still don't see a need to call a room a "lab" just because it is furnished better than another.[/quote']

 

I take it that, by "better", you mean "efficiently furnished", not "more furnishings"? A sparse cell could appeal to the ascetics.

 

That said, we shouldn't get too focused on the exact words HERO uses. Entire debates have taken place over the use of "Block" versus "Dodge", for instance.

 

The rules already allow you to assign bonuses to cover many such things without introducing an additional complimentary roll.

 

Those are set bonuses, though. You can add an Activation Roll to them, but it's still all-or-nothing. The complementary skill roll allows the exact bonus to vary from use to use, depending on how well it was made by.

 

Of course, with the cost reduction for bases being what it is, it's far too easy to simply push the lab's skill level through the proverbial roof and make the exact bonus irrelevant. Let's see, assume a base skill roll of 11 (since you need to have the skill in the first place to use a lab's complementary skill with it), you can only roll a 17 or less without failing, so we need at least a +6 bonus, meaning we need to make our roll by 12, and to ensure we do that on the lab roll (even with a 17), we need to push the skill up to 40 or so.

Re: The Seduction Skill as a "Lab"

(and if you really want to have a discussion over the meaning of language' date=' we can start another thread[/quote']

 

Unlikely. It wouldn't be appropriate anywhere in the HERO forums except the NGD, and I go there even less than Thia (which is saying something). I'll send you a PM about what incrdbil may have latched onto, though it isn't really semantics.

Or, since you appear to have opted out of PM's, perhaps I won't

 

Now for this particular instance of building a seduction "lab"' date=' while yes I realize that a lab doesn't have to mean scientific equipment, I also think that some skills don't lend themselves well to such a thing.[/quote']

 

Because the skills aren't "scientific", yes. I wasn't just saying that the equipment wouldn't be scientific, though; I was speaking of the mindset involved.

 

Principally' date=' I think those are social skills because the variability of human nature and interaction just isn't necessarily going to let you pin down a formula that always works when it comes to what they find appealing.[/quote']

 

Science doesn't require that formulae always work; it requires that the results be reproducible, which is a subtle but vital distinction. If the rate is "mostly", other observers must be able to gather their own data independently, and also come up with "mostly". The demographics of those few exceptions is mainly of importance when trying to predict which formula would be best* for each case, and that only matters when they have the "rooms with interchangeable parts" you described.

 

*and even then, not (necessarily) guaranteed; just, "calculations show that this is most likely to produce desired results".

 

The variability of human nature (and interaction) doesn't create an even split; there are minorities, and majorities. There are methods (not just techniques) which will work more often than other methods, and there are methods which will work better than other methods; again, a subtle but vital distinction. The latter is how much of a bonus you get, the former is a SFX that defines how easily the target's player can turn to the GM and say "He's not like most people, this should have a penalty against him."

 

Of course, even with the bonus, there is a chance the roll will fail. Just as, even if the penalties outweigh the bonus, the roll may nonetheless succeed; perhaps the tasteless and gaudy decorations neither attracted nor repelled the target, leaving their decisions up to other factors, or perhaps the other positive influences were sufficient to overwhelm the discomfort from sitting in that room Von D-Man showed us

Re: The Munchkin Build Contest

Start with a Variable Power Pool, and let it be Cosmic.

Limit it with everything you can think of. Drive down the cost with all those Limitations.

After the GM lets it through, take a Transform power and use it to remove those Limitations.

Re: Gargoyles HERO

I miss gargoyles.

Console yourself with the comics.

Re: Character: Sam Vimes

And the Social Lim "Human' date=' with the papers to prove it."[/quote']

 

Shouldn't that be "needs papers to prove he's human"?

Re: Limitations as Vulnerabilities: modelling Advantages from the other side

Something like:

 

Force Wall (Ice) - Thwarted by Fire powers of at least 50% AP (-1/2)

 

Force Wall (Ice)-Vulnerable to Fire powers(extra damage/degrades def)(-1/4)

 

Force Wall (Ice)- Unintended interactions (gives off water when exposed to high heat/fire powers - can short out exposed electronics, cause water damage, foster mold growth over time) (-0)

 

 

?

Exactly, though any examples given for Unintended Interactions should be declared in advance as "including but not limited to"; as in, they are only examples, not a definitive list of everything that will (or can) ever happen.

This should go without saying, considering it's named Unintended Interactions (hmm . . . come to think of it, perhaps Unexpected would be better at indicating that), but perhaps it should be said once in the core explanation and then left off each individual Limitation description.

Re: Bullet Time?

Now that The Ultimate Speedster is out' date=' how would you use it to construct "Bullet Time" or Matrix-like effects? The Speed Zone seems like a cool build idea, but would it work in a Dark Champions environment for doing Bullet Time?[/quote']

 

Perhaps a Missile Deflection with SFX of dodging?

Re: Gargoyles HERO

Well you did have a point that I agree with' date=' which is to make the physics of the [b']game world[/b] consistent. I just dislike the terms 'handwavium/unobtanium' because they seem to limit the discussion to real world physics and dismiss anything outside of real world physics as BS as opposed to imagination.

 

If gargoyles are as heavy or heavier than humans, then the GM has to decide, are gargoyles aided by some sort of magic, are the laws of physics slightly different so that humans could use smaller gliders to descend at the same rate. Its obvious by Xanatos' body armor that physics or technology is different in Gargoyle land then the real world.

A thought on all this - sometimes the argument against being able to find any consistency in imaginary physics is that they have no real-world equivalent. The question to ask, when this comes up, is why we find the physics of the real world to be consistent? Do we have nothing better than "well, they exist, so they must be consistent"? Once we realize how we measure consistency (as a framework, not by specific laws we become aware of), it becomes possible to extend that logic through any laws we theorize, imaginary or not.

Re: Character: Sam Vimes

Language was difficult, since he doesn't seem to have 1 point (basic conversation) in any language other than Morporkian. He knows a few Berlitz-style phrases in several languages*, but not able to carry on a conversation, even in Dwarfish.**

The CuK was supposed to represent an eclectic smattering of words and phrases. Much like I personally know words and phrases in Latin and Spanish,

I would take these as a Perk, "knows phrases appropriate for his job". He won't know anything outside of them, but he's picked up the professional slang, which has words/phrases borrowed from many languages.

Re: Sliding bars measuring each spell's "energy"

each time you cast a spell' date=' that spell loses about 10 active points of power[/quote']

 

Any options for Draining more than 3d6 at a time?

 

Think of it this way: you have a magical "framework" for the spell, and the only limit on how much energy you can channel through it (determining the strength of the spell) is a practical "Well, how much energy do I have?" one. However much energy you spend making the spell stronger, you then lose it, meaning it is unavailable to channel through future spells (until you recover some or all of it).

 

Or even easier' date=' give each spell a limited number of charges.[/quote']

 

Limiting the number of uses for each spell isn't all I'm after; what if, instead of ten 1d6 Healings, my desire is to cast a single 10d6 Healing?

 

There is a form of Charges which permits combining multiple charges for greater effect (it's called Boostable), the problem is its automatically acquired Burnout roll.

Re: Sliding bars measuring each spell's "energy"

For ease of tracking' date=' I'd recommend using those glass baubles they have at craft stores (or Wal-Mart -- you can buy darn near anything there!).[/quote']

 

Great minds think alike? I think I've encountered that idea on one or two occasions

Re: Character: Sam Vimes

Who is this? Source material? Brief character description?

He's a character from the Discworld series (by Terry Pratchett).

I'm currently reading Bonk!, so I decided to read this thread; I normally ignore postings of non-original characters

Re: Super Origins

Wait' date=' he could forge a ring with a slice of some cosmic cube, I suppose.[/quote']

 

It wouldn't be a real ring, though

Re: Gargoyles HERO

Or you can go with a handwavium/obscurantium alloy: "Donno. The laws of physics say what you see is impossible. Who are you gonna believe' date=' your science text book or your own eyes? BTW, make a physics roll to see if you can come up with a hypothesis."[/quote']

 

I prefer this approach, though it may have something to do with running a campaign where discovering the true laws underlying reality is a core theme (mystery).

 

Obviously' date=' it would be very difficult to run a champions or Dark Champions with a "five" setting[/quote']

 

Well, since Dark Champions is "street-level" heroics, it would probably be easier than running a traditional Champions game.

Something that Nexus said recently has gotten me to thinking, about where to place Limitations and where to place Advantages so that everything is thoroughly covered but there are no areas of overlap (where one person is paying points for an effect and someone else has received points for that same effect). A power that has some extra effect upon a particular SFX can be accomplished by giving that power an Advantage (or perhaps partially Limiting it), or by Limiting the SFX in question.

I see/propose a pair of similar Limitations; one of them, "is thwarted by various SFX", stops it completely (this is a Disadvantage on the power, effectively), and the other, "Vulnerable to various SFX", which is still a Disadvantage of sorts but not the typical kind. A third Limitation ("produces unexpected/unintended interactions") might be helpful for those completely unanticipated cases, and would essentially be a Side Effect.

This doesn't address costing issues, of course, so the entire idea is still unhelpful when it comes to whether or not these Modifiers should have a nonzero value, but I think giving them a quick -0 rating would go some distance in satisfying the need to have every effect statted out in advance.

Thoughts?

Re: "Gun Fu" Power idea

Well' date=' that sounds a lot like fear to me.[/quote']

 

Fear-panic or rationality?

 

Fearlessness does not equal unthinking recklessness; just because your character isn't afraid of being shot, doesn't mean he'll step right out and let everyone empty their clips into him.

 

On the other hand, fear may be fear, regardless of whether or not your character experiences an emotional reaction to it.

 

There are already builds that aren't going to work in every situation' date=' but will most of the time. In the unlikely chance that someone completely invulnerable and completely without fear is attacking you, the GM can say it doesn't work but given that's going to be rare in the type game you'd use this in its a -0 special effects limitation.[/quote']

 

Interesting

Re: Transfor: Limitation into Disadvantage

2) Whatever guidelines result, point levels for the Disads would be the result of an understanding/discussion between the player and the GM. "Fire powers don't work without suitable atmosphere" would be a smaller disad for Thumb Ignition Lad than it would be for the Human Torch. "Fire powers don't work without suitable atmosphere" would be a larger disad than "Fire powers don't work if underwater at intense pressure on Tuesdays and he has the flu". Also, GMs would need to look out for players trying to get multiple disads in for various aspects of a character - "goggles", "gloves", "boots", "belt", "tieclip" all as disads worth more than one "gear" disad.

 

2a) Disadvantages would not trump special effect, they should be used as a way to help classify them. The disads should not be considered an all-inclusive definition of the special effect.

I like the way this looks - it could vastly simplify all those "unforeseen cases" that (otherwise) we'd try to account for in advance, by specifically referring all such questions to "common sense of the moment".

Re: "Gun Fu" Power idea

Bullets Falling Like Water:

Change Environment 1" radius' date=' -3 OCV (15 Active Points); OAF (Automatic Weapon; -1), Linked (Automatic Weapon; Lesser Power can only be used when character uses greater Power at full value; -3/4), Cost 5.[/indent']Not all

that

expensive, really.

(Love the name' date=' Robyn!)[/quote']

 

Thanks! I freely admit I posted that reply solely to showcase the cool name I'd thought up

Re: Cthulhu-esque suggestions?

I don't want to seem unsympathetic to the victims of natural disasters and terrorists attacks and the like' date=' but there should come a point where we realize that these types of incidents are both dramatic in their own right and inspiring to a potential author/game designer.[/quote']

 

I also seem to recall a movie or two being made around those events.

Re: "Gun Fu" Power idea

How does a character using high rate of accurate fire cause the target's OCV to decrease if not from fear?

I'm not sure the fire is "accurate", necessarily (though that would be appropriate if the AOE were only 1 hex), it strikes me as more of a large number of bullets going all over the place. When even you aren't sure where the bullets are going to go next (you're concentrating more on firing lots of them), how can they have any idea?

The idea is that they can't step into view and take the time to aim, without risking that a bullet will hit them. So, when they hear the sounds away from them, they pop up and let off a quick shot, then duck back down before the gunfire can go back towards the open target.

Re: The Seduction Skill as a "Lab"

Here, KB, let me help.

 

Guys, this is really simple.

At first I wondered if this would be a serious reply or an amusing one.

And the carpet understated...

 

Then my eyes began to bleed*

*(figuratively speaking)