Tech

Originally posted by Gary

If a character spends 10 end or less per phase, he could purchase 10 End Reserve with 1 million charges for 2 points.

 

If he spends 11-20 end per phase, he could purchase 20 End Reserve with 1 million charges for 4 pts.

 

If you want to get really abusive, you can take the X10 End limitation to get a -4 limitation for every power that costs end. Then you can purchase 100 End Reserve with 1 million charges for 20 pts.

I think there are a few valid reasons to use it. I have one character with limited uses of extra END and everyone has no problem with it. As GM, don't be afraid to allow something such as End Reserve with charges as long as it's not abusive. There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of examples on these forums where players could abuse a power but if properly handled, they don't. The same applies here.

Originally posted by Old Man

Speaking of Jean, (extreme spoiler alert!),

 

 

why did she have to leave the plane at the end of the movie? She'd already demonstrated that she didn't need LOS to pop a rocket.

Hoping not to get offtopic but I'm guessing they set it up so if they wanted to do the Phoenix saga, they could. The possible hint is the fire in her eyes.

As to blocking it, I agree with the others than it's Missile Deflection or Force Wall. However, I'd add that there might be some sort of limitation thrown in there to reflect that as she shoved the energy backwards (and Cyclops really cut loose at that point), both of them got blown backwards. Mutual cancellation.

Hm, mutual cancellation... it could also mean that she used Dispel or Suppress vs EB with a limitation of some sort that she took some of the damage, hence the knockback.

SirViss, don't forget that you can always change Dr. Destroyer to have that noble streak in him so you can play him as a Dr. Doom type of guy. I play Dr. D with a bit of a noble streak, albeit a false streak.

Originally posted by Arthur

Sounds like just aimed shots at the feet while the target Dodges. The "dancing" is what trying to dodge shots aimed at your feet looks like.

 

Arrrgghhh!! Stop trying to define everything as a Power! That limits the game incredibly! It deactivates one of the best aspects of an RPG (I can have my character try to do anything) and turns it into "is it defined on the sheet"?

 

Hero is great at defining ANYTHING in terms of points. That does not mean that EVERYTHING should be defined with points!!

Bravo! Well spoken. I see too many posts on the forums where something simple can be done either by special effects or what JmOz suggested and instead, an incredibly complex power is created. It's not always needed or necessary.

Originally posted by Wildcat

OK Last one for today.

This is my Version of Crusader from the Champions Books. I friend of mine liked him so much he actually played him as a Character, so I drew this for him.

Nicely drawn there. I think it's cool your friend played the character. It's simple but with many areas to expand in, it makes a nice character.

Straw Man

Crow Man (a farmer name, I believe)

Only two I can think of that's not listed.

Originally posted by Gary Ciaramella

I wonder why it is that you applaud characters with stats that are a waste of points. I know that RPGs are about playing a role and not about power through superior accounting, but I just cannot bring myself to spend points without getting a return on the investment. And in my opinion, being able to say "Nyah, Nyah, I am smarter than you are!" because a character has a 12 Int when the other guy has an 11 Int is just not good enough.

 

So I agree that the graduated characteristic system is a good idea.... a shame it is not official.

I understand your point of view. My point was not on how much can I get out of the points for my character but rather, how close can I approximate the concept of my character in statistics. If I have a character who's just a little above the average Joe, he may well have a 11 or 12 INT. Sure, this doesn't give any benefits in terms of 9+INT/5, but that's ok. By the way, it does give benefits against Power Drains (I still have a positive INT or DEX), Mind Control/Telepathy (Sorry, you didn't get +20 on me), etc. Statistics higher than the usual 10, 13, 15, etc., make it that much harder to be Mind Controlled, Drained to zero, lose a CV due to Dex loss, hard to be Stunned and so on. There are definite values in having higher than 10, 13, etc., statistics, one being of course, character concept. I don't mind spending a point here and there to keep my concept.

If a GM were to say, spend 3 pts and you can go faster than all those people with Dex 23 or 24, and get the first punch in, would he? You bet! (I grab Mr. Fist and throw him. Aww, you say you don't have enough Running to come back to me? Too bad.) Simple, there's that 25 Dex. It's only a point Dex spread but it sure makes a difference, particularly since the majority of all Hero Games supervillains go with the 20, 23, 25 statistics.

If it bothers you to spend points like such, a suggestion is to make a general rule: Dexterity 11-15 gives Dex roll Base 9 + 3 (for being in 11-15 range) =12, 16-20 gives 9 + 4, 21-25 gives 9 + 5 and so on.

Originally posted by death tribble

Killer Shrike's answer clarifies it.

How many of the autofire punches gets through depends on how much they hit by and how much you block by.

Is this an official rule I missed reading in 5th ed?

Originally posted by SCUBA Hero

Ah, but would you consider 'Troll Powers' to be a tight enough SFX for an EC?

 

(ducks and runs away at top speed)

Absolutely maybe.

DocMan, thanks! You clarified it very easily. I was reading the thread here and there, I admit and got confused.

The question seems of how you would take Batman out seems muddy in it's presentation. Do you mean the GM? In that case, Batman will lose because as GM, you can think of dozens of ways to bump him off. You'll be playing him as GM anyways.

Bump him off as a player? Batman doesn't come across as looking for fights with other heroes, in my opinion. Still, it could happen, in which case you better be ready for a jail cell after he leaves you looking stupid in front of the police, or at least with bruises after he wins (if Batman has been correctly built point-wise.) I don't see how to answer the question as put forth here.

Originally posted by misterdeath

Except that that way, no parts can break down, and the Robot can still be active thousands of years in the future.

 

Hate to have bought an Extended Warranty on that puppy.

 

Each mechanon body is only going to last a short period of time, and then, he has to build a new one. No need to worry about the effects of time on it. It just ain't going to be around that long.D

Don't forget Mechanon doesn't think rationally. 'Course, he doesn't think at all but that's off the topic. Mechanon would want to be perfect, including being to be activated years, decades, etc., later to possibly take into account any and all situations. Imagine that a team finally destroys Mechanon. A year later, Mechanon shows up, having been in a deactivated status and wants revenge on those who wasted him. Boy, those boss-type villains just don't stay dead, do they?

NuSoardGraphite, thanks for the first prototype. However, I guess I didn't quite state what I was looking for. Sorry. Ok, I'm looking for the stats of people who can do the Matrix hyperspeed thing, etc., - and create them as supers in a Champions world. Suggestions?

Originally posted by levi

If I were going to re-vamp Muerte, I would definitely include a re-vamp of Giganto, perhaps making him spikey like a certain nephew of Petunia's was at one point. Or possibly having Muerte attempt to amp up the formula and make Giganto larger (to uh...live up to his name).

Giganto with growth would overdo it, IMHO. Ya gotta admit, the picture of Giganto does make him huge in size, compared to a normal human or superhuman. I'd put him in the size group of the Hulk. Fleshing out some skills, adding various new powers, perhaps Power Defense, Flash Defense and/or Lack of Weakness, maybe Superleap and so on can easily make him tougher.

Back in Enemies II, I figured out a way to give Giganto 1 more CV level, without increasing the cost. He had:

15 pts - 5 Levels with Punch

9 pts - 3 Levels with Grab

I changed them to this:

15 pts - 3 HTH Levels

9 pts - 3 Levels with Punch

I'm not dead yet...

In my campaign, Terror, Inc is very much still alive and kicking. A few minor alterations on the Professor's armor and viola. I stayed with the Enemies II picture, superior to later renditions of the Prof. Heh, it always amazed the players that Giganto could be DCV 3 and still smack high DCV heroes around.

Originally posted by Hermit

On a related note, does anyone actually 'get' LS: Immune to Aging? One complaint I've heard is that unless your game is going to span centuries, there is no practical benefit to it.

 

I try to balance this out by having it make you less affected by temporal SFX attacks, but I confess that's not much to counter it.

I've got a heroine who has full Life Support. The Immune To Aging aspect has already come into play more than once. In a game I was in, a quack genius created a temporary aging ray to rob places to further his scientific experiments in physics. After meeting him, the police showed up and zappo, two old guys 80 yrs old. He then turned on the heroes. My heroines jumped in the way of one of blasts to save a teammate and wasn't bothered.

In a different game, one with very scary consequences, Menton (who's still working for Dr. D in the campaign) kidnapped her to help the Dr to possibly help his age problem. Menton fought the heroes while in a machine, some of her power got sapped to aid him. Well, the heroes stopped the machine but not before the Dr actually got some of his youth back, but not alot. He commented aloud, "Strange. The machine should have killed her or at least aged her." With some pondering, I'm sure Dr. D will want to examine her to find out why she's still alive and still young, possibly a cure for his aging problem! That's my guess at any rate and it's scary to possibly have a hunted like that. Real scary.

A good GM can take even a little power like 'Immune To Aging' and use it.

User-friendly it's not

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

I agree with you, DG. IMHO FREd is not terribly user-friendly to newbies in its organization. The index is a marvel, but if you're not sure of what something you want is called, the index may not be of much help.

I'm glad someone agrees it's not terribly user-friendly in it's set-up. Yes, the 5th ed expands upon and explains in detail a great many problems that have bothered players in the past. The index is almost the only way I bother looking for anything anymore unless I really know where something is, by page #.

Stat time

What kind of stats would you give the hero from Matrix (first movie, haven't seen 2nd), at the end of the movie? Hyperspeed, hypersenses, other unusual abilities, etc etc in a Champions setting.

Teleios may be 'perfect' gene-wise but not in the picture-wise. He looks like someone with a 10 Com at best. Hardly the physique of a 'perfect man'.

There, I said it. I feel better.

Originally posted by Aroooo

I'll tell you about the R2 unit who saved my storyline one day.

You haven't told us the storyline yet. Will you tell us?

As oft as said, if you want to change something in your campaign, change it. Play fast and loose with the rules. If you feel STR should be 2 pts for each 1, do it. However, five editions later, I don't think STR or any other characteristic will be changing. No game system is perfect and this is no exception. Make that change for your campaign. It is, after all, a game to be played for fun for both you and the players. If you want to change something, go ahead.

PatternGhost, that was fun reading. It must've taken awhile to write those examples up. Fun reading on the Pikachus, too.

Once you get used to using END, it really doesn't add much to combat and can even make some very tense and heroic moments. One such time was when Mechassassin was getting his licks in on our group, two heroines out for a long time (and injured), two more almost out and one more almost out of Stun AND End. The last heroine is going to try to Entangle Mechassassin and the player is thinking of pushing her attack. Unfortunately, that means using Stun as END and knocking herself out All the other players wholeheartedly say "Aw, c'mon, do it! You're a hero!" Now that I think about it, we would've been in trouble if she'd missed but... she didn't. She entangled Mechassassin and fell unconscious from the effort. A moment later, a pushed 20d6 Move-through and 13d6 Punch from the last 2 standing heroes finished him off.

Re: How do you handle Desolidified Players?

Originally posted by Fionan

There is a player in my group who wants to run a hero with the Desolid power. Vuln to Mental and Magic. How can the GM harass or threaten the hero game after game. Esp if hero has an attack useable while desolid. ie phasing through someone.

 

I'd appreaciate any suggestions.

Thanks.

 

Fionan.

Sorry, I haven't read many of the posts for this one but have you tried hitting him on the head with a magic brick?

By the mere fact he's be able to get an attack affecting the real world while desolid was a problem if you as GM, didn't want it. However, be as it may, he is vulnerable to mental and magic. There's always PSI, full of mental-power wielding villains. Black Paladin was mentioned and don't forget Dark Seraph.

You can always create a nemesis, a villain who's read the papers and decides for whatever reason this particular hero really needs to be taken down a peg; this hero gets under their skin and needs to be trashed. Create this villain. This villain (for no extra disadvantage pts) likes to hunt the hero, perhaps with an Invis Ego Attack, affects desolid. Maybe a Drain vs Dex, affects Desolid.

Just throwing out a couple cents worth of suggestions.

As I read the posts on this, I kept hearing "I've never seen a PC character with a 25 DEX, 17 INT..." etc. Let me change that so at least you can't say you've never heard of it.

A great deal of the PC characters in the campaign I'm in do indeed have those odd characteristics, some of those being: 24 Con (1 character), 22 Dex (2 or 3), 25 Dex (several), 17 Ego (1 character), 36 Con (1 character), 11/12/14/17/19 Com (many), 11/12/14 Int (several characters). These are just some that I can think of off the top of my head. Many villains have these kind of stats, too. Yes, there are the 10, 15, 20, 25, etc., statistics as well as the 13, 18, 23, 28, etc., but I run with a fine group that doesn't mind taking the extra time to not fall into the usual pattern. They're simply tired of the many cost-effecient stats shown in many of the Enemies books and go the extra mile to give that odd stat. It makes them stand out and if nothing else, a 24 Con takes 1 more point before getting Stunned than a 23 Con. I'm satisfied with the system. It's creating a concept, not a bunch of statistics that an experienced player does that a GM really appreciates.

dbsousa, if you drew these, you've got talent, that's for sure. An interesting idea for a group, too.