Brian Stanfield

If I uploaded this correctly, here it is.
NINFIX13.ZIP

Oh Dear God!
 
REPLIED!  I swear I was typing "replied!"
 
I did _not_ mean that!  I _swear_ to you that this was an honest typo!             
 

A similar conversation came up earlier this year, and I suggested a way to alleviate the perceived advantage of magic vs mundane items. The discussion can be found here. TLDR=make everyone buy everything as powers, just like in Champions. So spells, crazy maneuvers, rogue talents, barbaric rage, even armor and weapons, are all designed with powers. This may be a way to overcome the perceived imbalance. 

I can't speak for everyone here, but in truth, I have seen _lots_ of variations of this idea, from Fantasy to "Don't-call-it-a-jedi-or-Lucas-will-sue-me."  Traditionally, they are all built with Telekinesis, Area of Effect, only to push away from caster/jedi/psionicist/superhero.
 
I don't know if that helps, but there it is.
 
 
 
 
 
If you recall from our long and long-dead disagreement in the past, Skill Levels is _exactly_ how I do martial arts:  you buy a few, assign them where you want when you do a thing (OCV, DCV, Damage, effects (I'll let you burn a level to assure you knock a target over, even if you didn't do knock back:  It's a Skill Level, after all, and I take it as you being skilled enough in hand-to-hand to shove / strike in such a way as to unbalance your opponent), then yell "hi-YAH!"  
 
Martial Arts. Easy peasy.  Lemon squeezy.
 
 
 
 

High Rock Press had announced a plan to resuscitate Danger International a couple of years ago, but with the recent death of Michael Satran, Jason Walters said he's more interested in releasing some of his material before anything else. I'd love to see DI released again for "Action Hero" campaigns, but it seems like it will be a long way off at this point.

Every time this conversation comes around, it ends the same way:
 
"Because I can break it,  it is impossible to use it in any way that isn't broken." 
 
 
Every _time_! 
 
Given the desire, I- and without a doubt the majority of the people here-  can break every single part of the rules: all nine hundred pages of them. 
 
Guess we should just throw the frikkin things away, because there is _clearly_ no unbroken way to use any of them. 
 
 
Fizbin, anyone? 

I don't think Gandalf is the leading example of the type of character you seem to aim for, but I do see your point. The issue here, to me, is party balance and fair play among the players. If the arch-mage wizards are so powerful and awesome, why would anyone want to play anything else? And if only one of the players would be allowed to have such a character, couldn't this lead to resentment?
 
The answer would be to throw the heroic style of play out the window and go full-on fantasy superhero, maybe á la The Atlantean Age. All equipment and all spells and everything would be bought with points, so martial and arcane heroes would begin on equal footing; no Hit Locations or Bleeding or Impairment rules ... The AA did really go full tilt on the High Fantasy, too much so for my taste, but it is definitely a solution to the balance issues.

One idea of mine is: 
Spells are in schools, colleges, whatever you want to call them.   Each school would be required to be a separate Multipower. No one is ever required to buy a Multipower. Any spell that is Constant, Persistent, or requires END to maintain automatically drops if the points are moved out of the slot.  Any Triggers end if the points are moved out of the slot.  Some spells that are Instant with continuing effects may end if the points are moved out of the slot, depending on the SFX.  Any spell bought Usable On Others ends if the points are moved out of the slot.   Starting wizards have to buy all of their spells at RSR: -1 per 5 Active Points.  Additional Skills are required before you can start improving this.  Like KS: Magical Theory 11- and a KS at 11- relating to a particular school of magic, before you can start buying the spells in that school to -1 per 10 Active Points.  You have to buy the Limitation down to at least -1 per 10 on all of your spells in a school before you can start learning new ones of that school at the -1 per 10 level.   You'd have to have KS: Magical Theory and the KS for the school at maybe 14- before you can start buying those spells down to -1 per 20 Active.  Characters can have an affinity for a school of magic.  This is some number of Skill Levels that can apply to all of the spells in the school.  These can be used on a KS roll related to the school; they can apply to the character's Magic Skill Roll with spells in that school; they can apply to the character's O(M)CV when attacking with spells of that school or D(M)CV when defending against spells in that school.  The character can also use them with any mundane Skills used for a task relating to the subject matter of the school.  (For instance, characters with an affinity with Fire can use their Skill Levels when attempting to start a fire with mundane tools, even if they're in a situation where their magic is useless.)    

I designed an MP-based magic system for my own Fantasy campaign -- here it is. I was aiming at the lower end of High Fantasy, and I think I got it playable.

I think you can get a free OneDrive account?  Teams would also allow notes, pictures etc to be shared and organised via Teams.
 
Would definitely not be a terrible solution.

I came across some in-period guidelines about handling sex/nudity.
 
Editorial guidelines from Spicy Detective magazine, 1935

I kinda agree with Spence on this. Adobe has effectively priced the hobbyist out of their product suite.

It went from a program you can purchase to a rip off subscription. I could justify buying a program for intermittent use over 3 or 4 years.  But i cannot justify paying that amount for a 1 year access. 
 
I'll need to shop around for a similar program that is still on the market

Late to the party but... absolutely.
Just (today) uploaded a Ambrethel world map in colour that might interest folk.

Thanks, but I want to be certain to remind everyone who saw them that they are not my work; all I did was clean them up and make them printable.  
 
They have been colored-- over many, many yea-- Good God!  DECADES!!!   Crap!  I'm old!  Still!
 
I think one of the biggest appeals of Champions back in the early days wasn't the system itself-- Don't misquote me-- it was _awesome_, but I think the biggest "suck you in" thing about it was the character sheets.   No; seriously: you could picture a character in your head and you had your choice of mannequins upon which to draw it.  For years, there was _always_ a box of something to color with on our table just because _someone_ was going to show up with a character idea-- PC, NPC, hero, villain, background character-- someone was going to just _have_ to draw a character.  
 
That kind of spread-- it became part of our group culture.  I have, at last count, eleven copies of the 2e Champions book, and easily half of them have the majority of the pictures colored-- a couple of them have _all_ the pictures colored.  And I was telling the truth: it's a variety of media, ranging from colored pencils (of quality running the full spectrum) to crayons to magic markers to other inks and the one watercolor  (he brought those with him; he was taking a painting class that met the afternoons before we gamed).
 
Originally, I started out by scanning pages from a number of books in which "page X" hadn't been colored, which gave me a total of-- I think....  six pages?-- that I had scanned.    This problem ran through almost _all_ my 1, 2, and 3e stuff......  The BBB caught most of the magic marker...    Barbarians.....
 
So I finally just scanned my original (which was coming apart already, as it was my favorite, and got the most use and abuse) and set about cleaning the colors out of all the pictures.  The reason that one particular image (which the painter then declared was "professional adventurer and alien medical prodigy Doctor Tarentela," if anyone's interested) is so large is because I'm not lying to folks when I tell them I have no artistic ability.  Even the scans I have done-- you have no _idea_ how much of that stuff was done pixel-by-pixel, changing one, zooming out, checking, going back in.....   Anyway, I found it much easier to work on a very, _very_ large image, at least at that level of attack, and so I scanned the colored images at 2400 dpi, so they'd be huge, did what I wanted to do, then reduced them down to fit back onto the image of the original scan, etc, etc, etc...  If you look, you'll see a colored image of Flare in that video, just a couple of pages after you see the one I cleaned the color out of.
 
Somewhere along the way, looking at all those sterile black-and-white images, I realized just how much I actually _missed_ the desecration of my original books, so opened the original scans again and started cleaning up their appearance a bit, but not "uncoloring" them.  As I have multiple copies of a considerable amount of the early stuff, I have many pieces where I have to choose which one I want to keep  (which frankly, has nothing to do with the talent involved, and more to do with the memories of who did it   ).  I hope to one day have the time to finish the project and have it printed: my own personalized 2e book-- probably with a few house-rules hard-wired into the text, and combining the best of 2e Champs, Champs II, and Champs III  (and the vast selection of Advantages and Limitations I've collected over the years--- in color, filled with memories of people I haven't seen in as much as thirty years....
 
So that's why that image was saved so large: by the time I got all the paper distortion and other problems out of the original scan, I actually just really _liked_ that picture.    
 
 

Last video on this subject;nothing about the book; just proof that the goal they claimed--creating a new book from high quality scans-- is _not_ hard   tedious?  No doubt!  But not hard. 
 
Still the difference in the end results is determined _completely_ by how you start.   This last video proves that by taking a few really good starts, and finishing them with the crappiest materials available (pretty much the opposite of the POD approach: instead of trying to shine a turd, I ran a few diamonds through the mud, just to see (and show you guys) what would happen. 
 
 

POD for anything 6e and even 5e should be fine, at least as far as the interior goes: they will be printed from original PDF documents, which scale well and have precise mathematically-defined edges to stay crisp and clear-and of course, no one includes artifacts in the brand new document. 
 
 
The only potential problem with POD for a modern book is poorly-formatted artwork.  JPG / jpeg are very old, very loss-heavy formats that people just won't get away from, but they will wreck your project.  Fortunately, if you want to print a 6e book, there is nothing remotely approaching nice artwork on the covers (I mean the blue backs, of course), so it's a non-issue u less you demand they look super-crisp.  Interior art, again, depends on how that art was stored, converted, etc. 
 
That's why this 4e reprint is such a bomb:  is a series of photos.  Scans are just pictures.  These are pictures of words, sure, but they are just pictures at the end of the day, and they were taken at too low a resolution, stored incorrectly, and- itss just gone bad from start to finish. 
 
. If you want to see what can be done with a Hugh quality scan, watch that third video. 
 
If I find some daylight after work or this weekend, I will do a test with some of the Western HERO pages.  Though if you have western HERO, I e courage you to try it for yourself. 

Duke, watching that first video with your "helpers" is like watching an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000! I was laughing out loud for the better part of thirty minutes! Thanks for the review(s), and for reminding us what we should be expecting when we pay money for a product.
 
Big Jack, I have many of the POD books for 6e because I was out of gaming for several decades and missed getting all the books in their original form. I am very impressed with the quality of the books I got (the Equipment Guide, Skills, Grimoire, and all sorts of others). They don't suffer from the same problem as the new 4e book. They're clear and crisp and the paper quality is good and durable. The cover colors may vary a little bit, but I'm not sure the original books were even exactly the same anyway. In short, I have a shelf full of the 6e books and I couldn't tell you which are the originals that I was able to hunt down, and which are the PODs. They're worth getting. 
 
I'm really embarrassed by the 4e POD release. Duke covers it pretty much in each of his videos. I "helped" (much like the "helpers" in the first video) to clean up the Western HERO book with Duke, although he did all the work. He did such an amazing job, I can't figure out why they'd release such a piece of garbage at the 4e Champions book when Duke has offered to volunteer his time and work for them to have a clean copy of a much superior quality. It doesn't really bode well for how decisions are being made for the HERO System (a common complaint I make and won't rehash here). 
 
The 6e1 and 6e2 rulebooks were released as POD a couple of years ago, and then promptly disappeared from DTRPG because the interior text was having problems with the greyscale and whatnot. They had to re-work them to get them right, and then re-released them a while back. I was tempted to get copies of each of those books for reference copies at the game table, but after what I've seen from Duke's review here, I'm not a little bit wary of what those books look like! Essentially, they've lost sales (to my) for several of several copies of their POD books because of how amazingly bad the 4e book is! 
 
I'd think, in all good conscience, they'd have to pull that POD and rework it because as it stands now, it's horrible. It looks like something I would have done with my first MS Paint program back in 1993 on my first homemade computer! Amateurish reprints of old titles have their place I guess, but not when they look so horrible that a nostalgic collector can't even enjoy the cover, let alone read the text inside. Really, PDFs are how we can "collect" titles these days. POD from a PDF shouldn't be that complicated, but somehow they've found a way to screw it up. Computers are much more sophisticated these days, guys, and the tools they offer for producing good books are widely available to people. Expectations are much higher these days, as they should be. As with many other things, DOJ needs to wake up to the 21st Century with their business model. 
 
*Ok, quarantine-induced rant over*
 
Thanks @Duke Bushido!
 

Duke, watching that first video with your "helpers" is like watching an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000! I was laughing out loud for the better part of thirty minutes! Thanks for the review(s), and for reminding us what we should be expecting when we pay money for a product.
 
Big Jack, I have many of the POD books for 6e because I was out of gaming for several decades and missed getting all the books in their original form. I am very impressed with the quality of the books I got (the Equipment Guide, Skills, Grimoire, and all sorts of others). They don't suffer from the same problem as the new 4e book. They're clear and crisp and the paper quality is good and durable. The cover colors may vary a little bit, but I'm not sure the original books were even exactly the same anyway. In short, I have a shelf full of the 6e books and I couldn't tell you which are the originals that I was able to hunt down, and which are the PODs. They're worth getting. 
 
I'm really embarrassed by the 4e POD release. Duke covers it pretty much in each of his videos. I "helped" (much like the "helpers" in the first video) to clean up the Western HERO book with Duke, although he did all the work. He did such an amazing job, I can't figure out why they'd release such a piece of garbage at the 4e Champions book when Duke has offered to volunteer his time and work for them to have a clean copy of a much superior quality. It doesn't really bode well for how decisions are being made for the HERO System (a common complaint I make and won't rehash here). 
 
The 6e1 and 6e2 rulebooks were released as POD a couple of years ago, and then promptly disappeared from DTRPG because the interior text was having problems with the greyscale and whatnot. They had to re-work them to get them right, and then re-released them a while back. I was tempted to get copies of each of those books for reference copies at the game table, but after what I've seen from Duke's review here, I'm not a little bit wary of what those books look like! Essentially, they've lost sales (to my) for several of several copies of their POD books because of how amazingly bad the 4e book is! 
 
I'd think, in all good conscience, they'd have to pull that POD and rework it because as it stands now, it's horrible. It looks like something I would have done with my first MS Paint program back in 1993 on my first homemade computer! Amateurish reprints of old titles have their place I guess, but not when they look so horrible that a nostalgic collector can't even enjoy the cover, let alone read the text inside. Really, PDFs are how we can "collect" titles these days. POD from a PDF shouldn't be that complicated, but somehow they've found a way to screw it up. Computers are much more sophisticated these days, guys, and the tools they offer for producing good books are widely available to people. Expectations are much higher these days, as they should be. As with many other things, DOJ needs to wake up to the 21st Century with their business model. 
 
*Ok, quarantine-induced rant over*
 
Thanks @Duke Bushido!
 

If this helps you, thank LL.  He reminded me I still like you people, even when I need to get the hell away from you for a while.  Review of two products; the first one bleeds into the next two. 
 
 
Hope it helps
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Don't get super excited yet. 
 
I think the POD company may have the wrong PDF:
 
 
 
 

Sorry I have been out of this for a bit.  Let me preface with this:
 
I'm still not really up to this (things have been really, _really_ rough at work: we're running a skeleton crew because of the shelter-thing, and we had a major setback, and it's going to take nothing shy of herculean effort to get back on track, and dammit, I'm _old_.  Crap like that-- I don't spring back like I used to.
 
That being said, even though I'd rather just collapse in the bed, I feel kind of guilty for dropping out.  So I'll try to at least get a show of participation in. 
 
Moving on--
 
 
 
 
Thanks, but I don't think anyone other than Doc (and perhaps Hugh) is picking up on the fact that I am not saying "this is how you do shape shift."  I am saying "shape shift is a special effect.  You want it to be the special effect of multiform?  Go for it.  I think it usually _is_ the SFX of multiform, honestly, which makes me wonder why both exist anyway.  However, they both first appeared in Champions III at the same time, and have.....  waffled?  in and out ever since.  For what it's worth, I find Multiform to be unnecessary, but that's not the point of this discussion.
 
 
 
 
 
Except when it is.  I have been sticking with Changeling-like examples because 1) the last time there was a "shape shift war," that style of character was the primary point of reference and 2) he is the best possible example of a shapeshifter who changes rapid-fire, but _not_ because he he's wanting stealth or to hide, but because he wants Flight, Speed, Strength, -- whatever-- that is to say, he is the cleanest example of "the form is secondary to the goal."  His shapeshifting is straight-up special effects: new goal?  New shape to use a shape-related ability to achieve that goal.
 
Multiform is a mechanic.  You chose the SFX.  I am willing to bet almost everyone chooses a whole new shape as the SFX.  I could be wrong; I really doubt it.
 
 
 
Again: you're assuming things that aren't there.  If you want to be a complete unknown, you have to buy a power to go with it: I'd recommend Disguise as a good start.  It doesn't cost nothing, so I assume we're good.
 
 
I can, and I do, and I let my players do it, too.  The Fun Police haven't found our secret hideout yet.  
 
 
 
 
I think I've mentioned this already, but Power Pool does that very thing.  No one bats an eye.  The vast majority of Long-edition write-ups for establish powerful comic book characters feature a massive one-- a couple of "signature builds," and a great big dump of 'whatever the heck I feel like" points.  Maybe it's STR; maybe it's FTL.  Whatever.  Again, no one bats an eye.
 
 
 
 
If you don't have way to conceal your identity, you still don't have a way to conceal your identity.  I don't understand why this is so difficult to get a handle on.  Seriously-- I and others have corrected this notion, but it keeps coming up.
 
Like here:
 
 
If you want it, buy it. Otherwise be like Changeling and be recognized instantly, all the time.
 
"Skills as Powers" has _always_ been a valid concept.  I recall a discussion on a much older board-- was it Red October?  Was it Sysabend?  I don't remember-- as to what the "threshold" was for a Skill to be unquestionably a Power.  I think one of the Long editions codifies it.  Me?  I put it straight down to SFX: if you're going it with accessories and tools, it's probably a Skill.  If you're doing it like Mystique, it's a power.   Done.
 
 
 
Thank you.  The other side of the coin, of course, if they didn't pay points for it, they don't have it.  GM may rule on individual issues as they come up.
 
 
Preach, Brother!  Preach!  
 
 
 
 
This has a cost!  It's a special effect.  You really have to buy a power upon which to place the special effect.  Those things cost points.  I can't figure out who to type this with the concern that I actually feel; it comes off with a tone of jackassery that I do _not_ intend, but I have to ask:  why is this hard to understand?  At absolutely _no_ point have I suggested getting this _for free_, and at _no point_ have I suggested getting solid in-game utility that you did not pay for.  Why do you keep reading both of those things into this?   It's a sincere question:  how can I, or anyone else, explain this so that you get a solid grasp on what I'm saying?
 
 
 
And now you're reading stuff into _me_ (I think; complete apologies if I'm wrong) that I haven't even _hinted_ at saying.
 
 
 
I agree with everything except "powerful."  Unless you mean the cost.  The cost is powerful; yes.
 
 
 
My friend, costs alone aren't going to balance combat characters against other combat characters.  That's a fantasy I wish everyone would get off their radar.
 
 
 
I have already confessed to being exceedingly tired, to the point of exhaustion, to the point that my eyes feel like they're cracking and sandy.  I am going to believe that this level of exhaustion is why I absolutely understood none of that except that, I think, you are saying someone will feel bad because he spent a lot of points on Shapeshift and someone else let him take it as a special effect.  If I mis-read that, ignore the following.  If I got it right enough, continue:
 
Dude, that's the GM's fault.  He either excepts that Shapeshift as its own power is valid, or he does not.  He either excepts it is the Light on the Path of the One True Way, or he doesn't.  If he lets one guy drop thirty points on it and give the same ability to another guy for nothing, that ain't got _crap_ to do with me, you, or any one player.  That's just bad GM skills, and no amount of discussing Shapeshift:  Is it a necessary thing? is going to fix that.
 
 
 
I'll keep that in mind if I ever play TFT.  Though honestly, I would expect a different game to be different, so I'm not surprised.  Also: it's a different game. It's probably different.
 
 
 
I am going to give up shortly.  Don't mis-read that.  I am not going to change my mind (too many decades of play testing have demonstrated that this works.  I don't care if there are forty more editions before I die, and I'm the only dumb bastard doing it this way:  I _am_ going to still be doing it this way so long as anyone tries to convince me to pay for a special effect.  I am going to give up on helping you to understand why I feel this works.  I am going to try I slightly different angle before I do, though:
 
I think this works.
I will _always_ think this works.
You will never convince me that this does not work.
 
 
I want you to keep those three things in mind when you read these next two:
 
I _don't care_ if you think it doesn't work.
I _don't care_ if you use it or not.
 
Now the last one.  As before, please keep all the preceding in mind as you read this:
 
I only want you to understand why this is my position.
 
 
 
 
I understand why your position is what it is.  I am only asking for you to make the same effort to understand mine.  Seriously:  I am not going to just show up at wherever-it-is-you-play-your-game with a cooler of Cokes and a bag of chips and a thermos of coffee and start yelling "you're enjoying it wrong!"  If you think piling an enormous point suck onto your shape-shifters is important, you go right ahead: it doesn't bother or even involve me in the least.  I promise: it doesn't.  You do you, and you enjoy it.  Seriously: I hope you and yours have as much fun as me and mine.
 
And now I have given up.
 
 
To me?  Disguise: 20- or better.  Sometimes 24-; depends on the points levels of the game.
 
 
 
You know the best part of a game that doesn't do absolutes?
 
It doesn't do absolutes!      
 
Seriously: just by the mechanics of disguise, you can buy it high enough to offset some absolutely ridiculous penalties.  Would I allow it in a fantasy game?  Oh, who knows?  In a supers game?  I already do.   If Armor = Luck; if DEF = missed me, then a disguise roll so high that you don't have your  blown even after modifiers for your fat ankles = you don't have fat ankles.  Granted: that's the supers / magic version, anyway.  Skills-as-Powers is still real: give it a Supers / magic SFX, like "my cankles vanished!"
 
Now I can't (and won't) stop you from putting absolutes on it.  But nothing in the rules say that you cannot have Disguise: 42-.
 
 
 
As does Skill-as-power: Disguise.
 
 
 
How about his Growth?  or his Growth and a touch of DI?  Certainly I can agree to not just walking around while saying "I'm flexing so I can keep looking like an elephant."
 
 
 
There you go: the point of shape shift is not shifting shape, is it? 
 
For what it's worth, though: I made three characters once with a shared origin, and they all had invisibility.
 
Ultraviolent (yes; the "N" is intentional) was straight-up not see-able, and stuck that way.
 
Fade couldn't be remembered or described.
 
Camo was never noticed until he called attention to himself, at which point he was perfectly visible until the observer looked away.
 
I have mentioned two of them (Ultraviolent and Fade) before.
 
Now at various tables, these are well-recieved villains.  They were far less-well received on the boards, with numerous people telling me that I _had_ to give some sort of Mind Control to Fade to "force people to forget him."   I called bullsnuckles and got shouted down for it.  The fact of the matter, though, is that the end result I wanted was exactly what Invisibility does:  what did he look like?  I don't know.   Where did he go?  I don't know.  How long had he been here?  I don't know.  Is he here right now?  I don't know.
 
I don't care how you slice it, that's frelling Invisibility, period.  _Can_ you do it with Mind Control?  Yeah; sure.   Why didn't I use Mind Control?  Because he didn't have mental powers: he had invisibility. 
 
So..  Shape shift as inviso?  I'm totally down for it.  Shifting shapes would just be the -- dare I say it?!  Special Effect.  (yeah; we both knew I dared ).  
 
 
 
 
 
Horribly nightmares to the time my wife decided she wanted to tame my beard...
 
And the bare face I had to endure the two weeks it took to get my beard back!
 
 
 
 
 
Since 6e has defaulted Transform to cumulative and has placed no upper limit on the amount of "damage" you can do with it, one die of Severe Transform: Self Only (-0, possibly better than that, depending on the game), is fifteen points.  Want to go all out, give it improved results something-or-other for +1; 30 pts.  
 
Done.
 
 
 
 
Not at all, because those same rules, right after saying the thing that keeps getting thrown at me:  "But a PER Roll doesn't work anymore!," is gives three examples of how a shape shift would be detected, with a SENSE, which, unless 6e isn't even HERO anymore, has a mechanic that includes a PER Roll.  
 
So the official rules are "undetectable by PER unless detected by PER."
 
Yeah....   I'm good, Dude.  Don't care for any more of that; thanks.
 
 
 
 
I am _fine_ with T-form; really I am.  I am fine with Multiform.  Really, I am.  And frankly, I am _fine_ with the SFX of invisibility being "I became a credenza."
 
My entire point is that Shapeshift, which gets wiggy-er with each re-issuing, is ...  redundant?  Superflous?  A special effect applicable to several possible constructs except that unimaginative people decided you should pay for this one particular special effect because they couldn't find some other way to do it (in spite of it coming into being _RIGHT NEXT TO MULTIFORM?!!!?!).
 
 
 
 
Eh.  Now that T-form seems to default to cumulative, you can do it with a single die if you're not in a hurry.  Characters can (unless they have disadvantages to the contrary) voluntarily lower their defenses; that helps a bit.  And if you just want to _look_ like something without actually _being_ something, you can go with whatever-it-is-they-are-calling-intro-to-T-form now.  Is it still "Cosmetic?"  I don't remember.  Anyway, a single 3-point die of that will do the job just to look like "a certain thing."  If you want to look like "pretty much any ol' thing," "Improved Results" doubles that to a six-point die.
 
Seriously:  _three points_ will get you the result you want, and we're on four pages of why I'm wrong for letting someone turn into a gorilla for the one Phase he's going to use his 30 STR to rip the doors off of the hostage's cage....
 
Screwy, ain't it?
 
 
 
 
I almost made it without a single tangent, but I would like to say that I actually _liked_ that idea.  From a Physics perspective, it made perfect sense:  the heavier something is, the more energy it takes to lift it, to move it.  HERO does (off and on) a similar thing with leaping though:  Deduct the amount of STR it takes to lift _you_, then figure out how much STR is left, and use that STR to determine your leap distance.  Similar thing with throwing heavy objects.  Never really got why they didn't do something similar with Flight (or Swimming, but that could get cruel in a hurry!   )  
 
 
 
 
Currently, T-form is cumulative again, so if you're patient enough, I'd suspect it's really just GM discretion as to whether or not he will let you hit campaign caps with it or not.  I think the built-in limiter of T-form self is cost versus how fast you want to change and how powerful you want to be when you are changed.  Yeah:  you could do something similar with some Aid builds, too, but then you've still got those folks hung up on the "shape shift isn't a special effect!  Sometimes you just need to have a different shape for no reason involving any other power or ability" shooting that down.
 
Or multiform, but you have to buy each shape individually.  Though the ability to turn into a seagull or a bagel probably doesn't cost that much, to be fair.
 
 
 
 
"Better" is subjective: some people don't want to be limited to the forms they can buy one at a time  (though has there been an official ruling that you can't put Multipower into a power pool?  because that would be awesome.
 
(yes; I know.  Thank you, though  )
 
Interestingly enough, when you read through all the stuff in 6e about shape shift, you run across mentions of Growth, Multiform, and other powers that allow you to change your shape....
 
Seriously:  In just those words:  other powers that allow you to change your shape.
 
So....    Shape shift is...  the special effect of those powers, but not a special effect?
 
Or just superfluous?  Is it the HERO System's supernumerary nipple?!  I think so, but hey-- that's just me.
 
 
 
 
 
Thank you, but no; there is a specific example, right after saying you can't be not-fooled by shape shift using a PER roll about using touch to feel skin, or cloth, etc-- anyway, right after saying "PER-proof," it launches into how your other senses might tip you off-- other senses which are subject to PER rolls.
 
So you tell me:  does it say I can't use my senses to determine if this is a shapeshifter, or can I?  The book is very clear that both are correct.
 
 
 
Yeah.
 
That would be-- what's the word I want?-- using PER to determine something's not right here.
 
I haven't misunderstood what's written.  Dude, I have studied this at length:  I didn't like it when it showed up in the 80s, and with every new edition, the first thing I do is look to see if it's gotten any better.  (except for two very slight tweaks from 5 to 6, it's managed to get more cumbersome with every reiteration.
 
I think, personally, is that a lot of people are, what we call in the South, "putting words in my mouth."
 
We are on four pages (and thirty years) of my arguments against the validity of Shape Shift, and _at no point_ have I suggested that you can use Sight PER against "looks like x" or scent PER against "smells like X" or any of that nature.   
 
I have said "you can make a PER roll--- "
 
Which _is_ supported by the book---
 
 
 
 
_Especially_ in the part he added emphasis to-----
 
is one-hundred percent correct.  People have put a lot of effort into deciding I said something I didn't, and I think we'd all be better-served if it stopped at some point.
 
 
6e1 267:
 
Becoming large in small spaces
Sometimes characters using Growth, or who use Multiform or other powers to change shape into a larger form, have to use their powers in areas that are too
small to hold their new, larger, self. In this case, roll the character’s Normal Damage from STR. The walls/sides
of the enclosing area take the full damage rolled on all the dice. The character takes half damage if the walls break. If the damage doesn’t break through the enclosure, the character’s increase in size stops at the limits of the enclosure and he takes the full damage rolled on all dice (not just the growth momentum damage).
 
 
 
Not only does 6e assume there are other ways to change shape, it assumes growth momentum.
 
Seriously, I know it's hard to write a thousand-page book, and it has broken the HERO tradition of a typo-per-page, but it has traded that for a considerable amount of self-conflict.
 
 
 
 
 
Thank you, Doc, for both that, and for being the better-than-good sport you so typically tend to be.   You, LL, and Hugh are all pretty good about this, actually.  A round of back pats for all!  (After the corona thing is over, I mean   )
 
 
 
 
I agree.  Like any other special effect:  you have to have a power to pin it to.
 
 
 
The only real issues I see coming up are "because this SFX, then this power," which is exactly backwards, HERO-wise.  Yes; the power must be appropriate to the circumstance just as much as the SFX must be appropriate to the power.
 
 
 
I don't think it's a special case, either.  I think it's redundant an unnecessary.
 
 
 
I'm putting this down to grogginess: I can't make heads or tails of that.  Can you rephrase that, please?  No; I'm not being funny.  I'm being fuzzy-headed.
 
 
 
exactly.
 
 
 
I know your pain: you've seen the made-up words I'm fond of.  
 
 
 
 
 
Wouldn't expect anything less than your best shot, Amigo.  
 
Join the party!  
 
 
 
You are absolutely _right_; Combat Luck _does_ suck!  I mean, the _mechanic_ says "Defense soaked it up," but the oratory / literary / narrative / SFX are "missed me completely."
 
Un-acceptably unrelated, and gives it the power to narratively completely un-do another player's successful hit, to boot!
 
 
 
 
 

I need to watch the third one still.  I can vouch that the first two are well worth watching.  Duke is quite the character, and his "volunteers" are even more so.