Jump to content

foolishvictor

HERO Member
  • Posts

    56
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Reputation Activity

  1. Like
    foolishvictor got a reaction from indy523 in Build 'Nighttime' power   
    As a suggestion you should:
    #1. Build the power as you imagine it.  Let your imagination go wild but write down what it is you want from the power.
    #2. Determine what the power looks like in Hero
    #3. Consider adjusting it if you feel it is too strong (or perhaps too expensive) or too weak.
     
    Here are a few questions to help:
    How large a radius should the nighttime effect field be?  (Increased Radius?  Megascale?) 
    Is the effect gradual or does the field end abruptly?  (Change Environment - Explosion limitation -0.25 for a "gradual" effect)
    Does the field affect other visual enhanced senses like UV and IR vision? (Normal Sight or the whole Sight Group?)
    Does the villain pay END for this field? (Reduced Endurance Options)
    Does the field continue after the villain stops paying End to maintain it?  If so, for how long?
    Can the villain used it at range?  (If not then take the "No Range limitation")
    Does the field move with the villain or is it static. (Check Area of Effect advantages - Mobile)
  2. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Tjack in Would you allow this?   
    I’m gonna sing this same song again, so apologies to anybody who’s sick of the tune.
    What ever happened to “I’ve got a great idea for a character, how do I do it in game terms?”  Everything I see is more in the “I made the numbers dance, now is it legal?”  “Oh really, what is it/what is it supposed to do?”  “I dunno.” line.
  3. Like
    foolishvictor got a reaction from Steve in Sleepwalking   
    Alternatively sleepwalking could be a side effect of using certain abilities.
     
    Power limitation: Side Effect, xD6 Mind Control + Cumulative (give it a high maximum result ensuring the character succumbs to the effect) + Trigger (after falling asleep and before waking up normally)
     
     
     
    I agree generally with LoneWolf's thinking and I am not knowledgeable about sleepwalking.  That said, if it is set up as a physical complication then there should be some sort of condition (maybe just a roll of the dice) to set it off.  In a sense I see this as combination of Accidental Change and a Physical Complication that is not handled very well by the existing rules.  (It's a game.  It is not a simulation of everything in the universe.)  As a complication, something like sleepwalking will probably require the player and GM coming to an agreement.
  4. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to LoneWolf in Sleepwalking   
    A Psychological Complication does not fit; those can be overcome with an ego roll.  Accidental Change at first looks like a possibility, but that also does not work.  With an Accidental Change you cannot change back until the circumstances triggering the change have altered.  That would mean the sleepwalker could not be wakened until the circumstance that triggered it is no longer present.  None of the other complications other than a Physical Complication are any better.  So by process of elimination that means it would be a Physical Complication.
     
     While sleepwalking can occur at any age it is pretty rare in adults.  It mostly occurs in children instead of adults so is unlikely to affect most characters.  Unless the campaign focus on playing kids it is not likely to come up.  In Adults it is probably the result of medication they are taking.  Most player characters have good CON scores so are usually in pretty good shape and have very few health issues.  Those that do have issues requiring medication usually already have a complication for it so that could be considered part of the underlying complication.
     
    Unless the sleepwalking is something that character picks up during the game any conflicts with other complications should have already played out.  This means if the character is likely to go sleepflying without their mask they do not have a secret ID.  Even if the character gains his power at the beginning of the game they should still avoid picking conflicting complications.
     
    The last thing to consider is that the player actually has control over how a complication affects his character.   So if the player wants to have sleepwalking as a complication he can define control how much it affects the character.  If the character defines sleepwalking as infrequently, barely then all that would likely happen is that the character is tired once in a while because he got up and wandered around his house.  If the character defines it as frequently, greatly he might go wandering around the city looking for trouble while asleep.    As a GM I don’t have a problem with the first example, but would probably veto the second one.  
     
  5. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to assault in Sleepwalking   
    Sleepwalking can, of course, be a special effect of a character's powers. Perhaps they can't be used when the character is awake.
  6. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Christopher R Taylor in Reflection-less   
    If you had to build it, you could make it invisibility only vs reflections and cameras 0 END cost, etc but I'd probably call it a physical complication or distinctive looks, because its as likely to be a problem as a convenience.
  7. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Grailknight in Reflection-less   
    It's a Complication-Distinctive Features for non-combat situations and a modifier to Invisibility in combat. 
  8. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to unclevlad in Reverse Vampire Invisibility   
    It comes into play heavily if you take the position that...if you can be photographed, you show up on cameras generally.  So it wouldn't let you sneak in;  rather the opposite, in fact.  In some cases you become much MORE noticeable...eyeballs say nothing, camera says something???  OHHHHhhh something's up!!!  
     
    This is a pretty common interpretation of invisibility as a *mental* power, rather than a physical one.  What's it worth?  Depends, unfortunately, on the campaign and even the character.  In a combat-heavy campaign it might not be worth much.  If stealth and/or infiltration are a big part, it's significant.
  9. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Tjack in What can tempt the person who has everything?   
    I strongly agree with your second point but your first starts to wander into the field of Theology.  A wonderful discussion and one I’d enjoy having either in another thread or in e-mail. But diving into it here could pull things horribly off topic.
  10. Thanks
    foolishvictor got a reaction from Tjack in What can tempt the person who has everything?   
    If love is simple then what do they really need...?  Seriously though, in my mind "love" is shared.  It might be very difficult for someone who is almost omnipotent to find genuine mutual attraction with someone who is emotionally compatible but unable to understand the feelings and problems that the omnipotent character feels. 
     
    My only point is that some people might find love easily but others really struggle.
  11. Like
    foolishvictor got a reaction from Duke Bushido in Fun new ideas   
    Option Power: Adaptive Defense
     
    VPP 10 Points, Cosmic 
    Base control cost 15
    Only for defensive powers -0.5
    No Conscious Control -0  => Normally this limitation is worth something however in this context I don't give it any value.
    Real Cost: 20
     
    When the character takes damage or is affected by an attack their power pool is automatically allocated to provide it's full value to a defense against that type of attack.  Thus, a character with this type of defense would get a tremendous benefit if they are repeatedly attacked by (for example) mental attacks however the defense would be ineffective if they are hit by enemies with different types of attacks.  
     
    If an attack features, for example, 6D6 energy blast with 6D6 flash then after the attack the pool would allocate 5 points to ED and 5 points to flash defense.  If the character is attacked this way again they have extra protection.  If the character is then hit by a pure energy blast they will have 5 extra points of ED.  After the attack has been resolved the pool would change to 10 ED with no flash defense.
     
    If two characters successfully coordinate attacks which have the same special effect then the defense is only reallocated after the coordinated attack is resolved.
     
    This type of defense allows relatively low powered characters with unusual attacks to have more impact on a fight with a master villain.
  12. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Derek Hiemforth in Flight Turn Mod question   
    Let's say you have Flight 40m and you want to do an Immelman. To finish it you obviously need to turn 180 degrees, so you need to make three 60-degree turns. For simplicity's sake, I'd say you'd need to halve your movement distance for fighting gravity until you level off after the third 60-degree turn.
     
    The first turn (presumably right after the start of your Phase) is "free," and now you have to halve your movement speed, then you have to move at least X meters before making the second turn, and then X more meters before making the third turn. After this, you no longer have to halve your movement speed.
     
    Crunching some numbers, it comes out to needing to allocate 24m of movement distance to account for the halving that comes with climbing, leaving 16m unmodified for flying level after the Immelman. So the total distance traveled this Phase is going to be 28m (24m halves to 12m for climbing, plus 16m remaining of our original 40m = 28m).  That gives us a Turn Mode of 28/5 = 5.6, rounded to 6. So you make the first 60-degree turn, fly 6m up, turn again, fly 6m further up, turn the last time to level off, and fly 16m more.
     
    All of that is for a Full Move.  If you only want to do a 20m Half Move, then it would be free turn, fly 3m up (which uses up 6m), turn and fly 3m further up (which uses up another 6m), then turn to level off and fly the remaining 8m for the half move (14m total distance moved / 5 = Turn Mode of 3).
     
  13. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Derek Hiemforth in Flight Turn Mod question   
    Probably even easier to buy Movement Skill Levels for use in decreasing the Turn Mode.
  14. Like
    foolishvictor got a reaction from Grailknight in Need a quick history refresher   
    The damage shield appears in Champions III (the supplement.) 
     
    I remember this because I created a character with a damage shield before the concept was officially added to Champions and my GM at the time gave it a +0.5 modifier.  Soon after he purchased Champions III and no changes were needed.
  15. Like
    foolishvictor got a reaction from Chris Goodwin in Need a quick history refresher   
    The damage shield appears in Champions III (the supplement.) 
     
    I remember this because I created a character with a damage shield before the concept was officially added to Champions and my GM at the time gave it a +0.5 modifier.  Soon after he purchased Champions III and no changes were needed.
  16. Thanks
    foolishvictor got a reaction from Duke Bushido in Need a quick history refresher   
    The damage shield appears in Champions III (the supplement.) 
     
    I remember this because I created a character with a damage shield before the concept was officially added to Champions and my GM at the time gave it a +0.5 modifier.  Soon after he purchased Champions III and no changes were needed.
  17. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Tech in 5th Edition Villain Help   
    The Hero System avoids absolutes; in this case not taking any damage from attacks. If you're going this route, I agree with LW: don't bother balancing the character. I personally wouldn't go with Desolid though, because Affects Desolid can affect him though. If he's got lots of defenses, Desolid isn't necessary.
     
    Some time ago, someone came up with a couple charts where you could get 100% Damage Reduction for PD, ED, etc. You could go that route since you're going for an absolute effect, or you could just give the villain 100 PD, 100 ED, etc on Power Def, Mental Def, etc. Of course, if you're going to go with the villain not taking damage or balancing it, don't bother trying to justify it: just write down on the sheet: "Cannot be hurt" and leave it at that. You're the only one who's going to be looking at the sheet anyways, since you're the GM.
  18. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Derek Hiemforth in How much of a limitation would Needs END be?   
    I recommend keeping your life simple...
     
    Have an END Reserve for the Powers that cost END to use, as per usual. Then, for the smaller Powers that don't technically cost END to use, but that you can't use if the suit's batteries are dead, take a -¼ Limited Power Limitation: "Doesn't Work if Suit's Batteries Are Dead."
     
    Easy-peasy lemon squeezey.   
     
    Of course, this presumes that the GM agrees that the suit will have dead batteries often enough to warrant a -¼ Limitation...
  19. Like
    foolishvictor got a reaction from Stonewild in How much of a limitation would Needs END be?   
    Lonewolf, my suggestion to you is to forget the rules for a moment and imagine how you want the powers in the powered armor to function.  I find it helps to put it in writing.  It forces me to stick with a single idea.  Once that is done consider when the powers work and when they won't work.  How limited are the powers?  To quote a book: A limitation which doesn't limit the character isn't worth any bonus. 
     
    Simply requiring the a character have some END does not sound limiting to me but in your campaign it might be.  How often do characters have zero END?  Does every enemy have an effective END Drain?
     
    Both Stonewild and Simon have provided solid advice in their earlier posts.
     
     
  20. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Simon in How much of a limitation would Needs END be?   
    You're not talking about a Limitation for the character needing to have END-- if the Power uses END, then needing to have END available is just the nature of the Power.

    If you want the Power to be used a limited number of times, use the Charges Limitation. There are a LOT of options to play with there where you can represent fuel (Fuel Charges, Recoverable Charges, etc.)
     
    If you want the Power to be otherwise normal but draw off of a small battery/reserve, buy multiple END Reserves -- to power each individual component as needed.  Which Reserve a given component uses is defined when buying that component -- maybe the same as others, maybe one all its own.  In either case, not a Limitation, just how you set it up/build it.
  21. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Stonewild in How much of a limitation would Needs END be?   
    In any limitation value consideration, I start with asking how much does this really affect the character or power?  Endurance only matters when you can run out of it.   Like having 16 charges is no limitation, because you will hardly ever run out of 16 charges.  
     
    As I understand your question:  there is no real disadvantage in most situations, thus no limitation value.  A limitation of -1/4 could be okay - if you think this would limit the toon in 1 out of 4 adventures?      
  22. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to LoneWolf in Limbs with Separate BODY   
    Is the limb removable?  If so a focus limitation could work.  Make it a breakable focus and it will have its own Body. 
  23. Like
    foolishvictor got a reaction from Christopher R Taylor in Fun new ideas   
    I am playing a character in a 5e campaign who is cybernetic.  The concept is that her flesh is intact but her nervous system, organs, skeleton and muscles are reinforced and enhanced with replicating alien nanites.  Effectively, she is like a robot encased in flesh, a bit like the original Terminator  
     
    Since the flesh is on the outside, the first point of killing damage that hits bypasses the "armor" provided by her internal nanite reinforcement.  Consequently, she is still susceptible to things like a choke hold, a taser or a poison dart.  When she was hit by a penetrating attack, the first point of killing damage got through and then her armor acts normally.  Additionally, normal blast attacks that do more body than her regular PD (or ED) will automatically do one body damage as well before her armor is taken into consideration.  The GM allowed this as a -0.25 limitation (first point of killing damage bypasses armor) 
     
    I really like the concept of "Leaky" defense.  I just want to add that it is important for the GM to determine what effects the defense protects against.  Things like NND attacks which are ineffective against resistant defenses come to mind.  In contrast, simply allowing the first point of killing damage through no matter what removes any ambiguity however it means the remaining defense is statistically more effective than the "Leaky" defense Christopher proposed for any KA attacks with more than one D6.
  24. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Christougher in Fun new ideas   
    Capped Effect: This limitation limits the maximum impact from a power, relative to the target's abilities.  For a -1/2 limitation, the power's effects apply normally until they reach half the target's ability, then has no additional effect.  Repeated uses of the power do not change the basis for the Capped Effect - it is half of maximum, not half of half.
        (Ex: Speed Limit uses Drain Running 4d6 Capped Effect Half(-1/2) against Anthem (who has 8" Running) for 16 points of effect.  Instead of reducing him to 0" of Running, the Capped Effect can only reduce him to 4" of running.)
        Different levels of Capped Effect can also be taken.  For a (-1/4) limitation the Capped Effect is one quarter of maximum.  For a (-1) limitation the Capped Effect is three quarters of maximum.
     
     
    Leaky: This -1/4 limitation only applies to defensive powers.  It treats all attacks against it as if they had the Penetrating advantage: The BODY rolled on the attack dice gets through the defense, so the character takes that much effect, plus anything higher than the level of the defense.  If the attack is already Penetrating, the amount penetrated increases by +1 for every die rolled.
  25. Like
    foolishvictor reacted to Nekkidcarpenter in Motorcyle as Power   
    Have it cost an appropriate amount of points per its usefulness in your game.  If it's basically a plot device to let him travel between scenes faster, ask yourself if that's more valuable to him as a player or you as a gm?  Sometimes the journey IS the adventure (see the Middle Earth Travelogue; LotR) but usually in supers games you want that part finished with the least fuss necessary.
     
×
×
  • Create New...