indy523

Except of Course the Dip!

"Best" is always a loaded term when using Hero System.   There are usually multiple ways to do anything, the particulars depending on how you want the Power construct to work for your games.
 
What I read is that you have a very thoroughly thought-out design that fits your intention, so if you're happy with it you should use it. I'm not sure Autofire would be the most efficient way to "link up" multiple people in the dream, though -- the cost for END, or Reduced END, can get prohibitive. I'd probably go with Area of Effect, Selective Target.
 
FWIW there's an official Champions villain called the Dreamwitch (Champions Villains Volume Three: Solo Villains) who has that kind of power, also based on Mental Illusions, although nowhere near as detailed as what you have. However, she also has an Extra-Dimensional Movement Power to "the Dreamzone," a Champions Universe defined region of the Astral Plane where people's astral selves go when they dream. Another possible way I can suggest building this power is to jump off from EDM.
 
Let's say your character has a power like Dreamwitch above. If you give it the Advantage, Usable As Attack, that would let them force a sleeper's mind into a part of the "dreamzone" of your creation, where the conditions you want them to experience apply. Since such a Power construct requires you to define a way or ways to resist it, that could include Mental Defense, a successful Ego roll, not being asleep or being awakened by someone, or whatever Lims you prefer.
 
Just an alternative for your consideration.

First off swords are effectively used in combat today.  What we call a combat knife is a blade that can extend 20" long in the more sizeable category.  There was a good you tube video on close combat in WWI that explained why the bayonets were shortened and knives, clubs and truncheons were used.  It was because people stayed in trenches for protection and the longer blades and rifles and even to extent hand guns were liabilities in close combat.  
 
We tend to think of the term sword as the long sword of medieval knights but the Roman Army one of the most effective tactical combat units of the ancient ages uses the Gladius, a sword with a 24" blade at most that was not really that much bigger than some larger combat knives you can buy at an army/navy surplus store.
 
The reality is that the "sword" will always be a useful weapon because no matter how technologically superior we get close combat will always be a reality.  If you think about it. looking at the Iraq war technology has increased the percentage of close combat.  The jihadi's used IED devices and snipers but when it came to
clearing them out the battle ended up in an urban setting going from house to house.  Sure the marines developed tactical methods of grouping soldiers to clear the area but the fighting would definitely involve close combat because the enemy used surprise.
 
In the future the melee weapon could very well become a reality as new armor is developed.  In Dune the personal force shield was so effective that fighting was done hand to hand with the combatants having to practice the "slow knife" as only by moving slower than the velocity that affected the shield could you get through it.  Even with new armor such as Kevlar, riot shields etc.  The best way may be the huge weight of a club or axe or the puncturing point of a sword pushed through the Kevlar.  Certainly the materials of the weapon can be more resilient, sharper (see the monofilament blades of William Golding's cyberpunk novels) have technological advantages like chain saw blades, diamond tipped edges, vibro blades that vibrate back and forth causing cutting forces before adding pressure etc.
 
The greater the ability to dress a soldier in protective armor that lessons potential for damage or to allow the solider to maneuver without being attacked (such as potentially the metal boot assembly I saw developed that extended the legs with flexible rods that allowed greatly increased speed or smoke screens etc.) the more that close combat becomes a reality because the fact is even if you cannot pierce someone's armor you can always hurt them by crushing them with weighty objects such as a hammer.
 
Just my 2 cents.

First off swords are effectively used in combat today.  What we call a combat knife is a blade that can extend 20" long in the more sizeable category.  There was a good you tube video on close combat in WWI that explained why the bayonets were shortened and knives, clubs and truncheons were used.  It was because people stayed in trenches for protection and the longer blades and rifles and even to extent hand guns were liabilities in close combat.  
 
We tend to think of the term sword as the long sword of medieval knights but the Roman Army one of the most effective tactical combat units of the ancient ages uses the Gladius, a sword with a 24" blade at most that was not really that much bigger than some larger combat knives you can buy at an army/navy surplus store.
 
The reality is that the "sword" will always be a useful weapon because no matter how technologically superior we get close combat will always be a reality.  If you think about it. looking at the Iraq war technology has increased the percentage of close combat.  The jihadi's used IED devices and snipers but when it came to
clearing them out the battle ended up in an urban setting going from house to house.  Sure the marines developed tactical methods of grouping soldiers to clear the area but the fighting would definitely involve close combat because the enemy used surprise.
 
In the future the melee weapon could very well become a reality as new armor is developed.  In Dune the personal force shield was so effective that fighting was done hand to hand with the combatants having to practice the "slow knife" as only by moving slower than the velocity that affected the shield could you get through it.  Even with new armor such as Kevlar, riot shields etc.  The best way may be the huge weight of a club or axe or the puncturing point of a sword pushed through the Kevlar.  Certainly the materials of the weapon can be more resilient, sharper (see the monofilament blades of William Golding's cyberpunk novels) have technological advantages like chain saw blades, diamond tipped edges, vibro blades that vibrate back and forth causing cutting forces before adding pressure etc.
 
The greater the ability to dress a soldier in protective armor that lessons potential for damage or to allow the solider to maneuver without being attacked (such as potentially the metal boot assembly I saw developed that extended the legs with flexible rods that allowed greatly increased speed or smoke screens etc.) the more that close combat becomes a reality because the fact is even if you cannot pierce someone's armor you can always hurt them by crushing them with weighty objects such as a hammer.
 
Just my 2 cents.

First off swords are effectively used in combat today.  What we call a combat knife is a blade that can extend 20" long in the more sizeable category.  There was a good you tube video on close combat in WWI that explained why the bayonets were shortened and knives, clubs and truncheons were used.  It was because people stayed in trenches for protection and the longer blades and rifles and even to extent hand guns were liabilities in close combat.  
 
We tend to think of the term sword as the long sword of medieval knights but the Roman Army one of the most effective tactical combat units of the ancient ages uses the Gladius, a sword with a 24" blade at most that was not really that much bigger than some larger combat knives you can buy at an army/navy surplus store.
 
The reality is that the "sword" will always be a useful weapon because no matter how technologically superior we get close combat will always be a reality.  If you think about it. looking at the Iraq war technology has increased the percentage of close combat.  The jihadi's used IED devices and snipers but when it came to
clearing them out the battle ended up in an urban setting going from house to house.  Sure the marines developed tactical methods of grouping soldiers to clear the area but the fighting would definitely involve close combat because the enemy used surprise.
 
In the future the melee weapon could very well become a reality as new armor is developed.  In Dune the personal force shield was so effective that fighting was done hand to hand with the combatants having to practice the "slow knife" as only by moving slower than the velocity that affected the shield could you get through it.  Even with new armor such as Kevlar, riot shields etc.  The best way may be the huge weight of a club or axe or the puncturing point of a sword pushed through the Kevlar.  Certainly the materials of the weapon can be more resilient, sharper (see the monofilament blades of William Golding's cyberpunk novels) have technological advantages like chain saw blades, diamond tipped edges, vibro blades that vibrate back and forth causing cutting forces before adding pressure etc.
 
The greater the ability to dress a soldier in protective armor that lessons potential for damage or to allow the solider to maneuver without being attacked (such as potentially the metal boot assembly I saw developed that extended the legs with flexible rods that allowed greatly increased speed or smoke screens etc.) the more that close combat becomes a reality because the fact is even if you cannot pierce someone's armor you can always hurt them by crushing them with weighty objects such as a hammer.
 
Just my 2 cents.

Oh come on 
 
you guys forgot the best one....
 
The escaped gladiator slave
 
Spartacus!  SPARTACUS!!  SSPPAARRTTAACCUUSS!!!!

Oh come on 
 
you guys forgot the best one....
 
The escaped gladiator slave
 
Spartacus!  SPARTACUS!!  SSPPAARRTTAACCUUSS!!!!

I think that in Fantasy Hero one has the option to step away from the paradigms of D&D and handle things differently.
Clerics or Divine magic might be one of them.
 
First off one would not have to be a cleric or ordained priest of God or a god depending on your game to cast divine spells.  Spells that heal or control the undead or drive out demons or many of the things we associate with a Priest could be learned and cast by anyone.  The spells themselves would be relatively easy to learn as opposed to a mage's spell. To create magic a mage has to invent it, learn the formula, collect the correct materials, place them in the right order, speak the power words in the correct cadence etc.  All of this requires intelligence and maybe a strong internal will to control the magic (EGO or PRE in Hero system).
 
Divine magic and spells would work differently.  The formula might exist but it would not be something that was invented or thought out.  Instead it would be essentially a prayer.  Their might be formula and materials but they would not necessarily have a correct order measured out scientifically.  Instead they require a person who is devout, who is calling upon the magic for a holy purpose and might not even be asking for a defined effect,  The divine caster might utter a prayer for guidance in handling their enemy.  This might be a bonus number of skill levels usable for a set time or an aid to STR or some similar effect but it might also be a storm slowing the enemy down or the cleric given a bonus to a Persuasion skill at the right time if they attempt to sue for a truce.  The cleric or saint or devout lay person may not know what the effect will be.
 
In this regard much of "divine magic" would be a Variable power pool with a limitation no conscious control at the -1 level.  You can call for it but you have no control over what it will be.
 
This would mean that maybe there are only a few actual spells a "cleric" could learn and cast by praying for it and the rest is based on a plea to the deity with required skill rolls etc.
 
You could even state that every devout person has a faith pool at a minimum level that is difficult to get to work but can do anything the DM requires when needed.  Players who want some control over it could be more devout and thus buy off limitations or gain a Faith Power Skill to get better at controlling it and maybe one or two effects they can use without need for rolls as they see fit so long as they follow a psychological limitation to keep the faith and not go against their god or GOD. 

I don't see it that way.
 
Essentially the reason for the uncontrolled VPP is that every devout worshipper has the ability to call on their god for help and maybe they will get it.  This would be a -2L uncontrolled, player or NPC has no control over it.  Add a few more limitations like an RSR to even get the deity's attention and limitations on where and when it can asked such as only in a church or never on the lands dedicated to an enemy deity etc. and the power does not have to cost a lot of points at all.  Essentially the GM could include this as part of the everyman skills.  It is not there to empower the players but to drive plot points so if the players understand this then it should be fine.  Essentially just before a TPK every player should be calling out to their deity for assistance and this gives the GM an out not to end the campaign or not!
 
Every player wishing to play a cleric can buy certain powers that always work which are based on their deity.  There could even be a package of divine magic the cleric has to buy to be a chosen one of their god.  So maybe a MP with Healing, Blessings (Aid, temp combat levels or even temporary Luck), Cleansing the ability to consecrate land or drive out evil demons possessing people) etc.  The player could then add one or two more powers to the MP as well.  It is based on prayer so may a PRE based RSR to activate it, etc.  GM could give bonuses or penalties to this role based on how well they follow their faith, etc.  This would be the base powers.
 
For the VPP however the chosen one can up the level of the points in the pool and control.  The uncontrolled -2L can be bought down to a -1L where the power can be activated by the player but the effect is unknown.  The player could even lessen it to say a -1/2L and deem that to mean that they can decide the type of effect ahead of time too i.e. blast the enemies or change environment to call rain etc.  These should always have a Pow skill to activate.  This gives the GM some control over what happens.  So long as the effect benefits the player in some way he can get creative and move story plot along.  It becomes a tool.  The player if they are smart will be happy for the random effect as it gives them an ability to affect a situation even when out of resources. 
 
The GM can explain to the player, the less you use it or the more you use it for the benefit of others such as lay people, the poor, the sick etc. the more likely you are to get good continuous results.  The more you use it as a combat tool the less likely for it to remain useful.  Essentially the limitations on the VPP give the player access to powers above their pay grade.  That comes at a price.  Overuse it and they might use up their god's favor in them.
 
Also it allows the player to play a holy man.  If they encounter a leper and only have basic healing they could heal damage but not the affliction.  With this they can have a discussion with the leper and if they are deemed worthy call on their deity who  then heals the leper.  The chosen one then gets more followers because they are known as a miracle worker.  Explain to the player this is the point of the uncontrolled VPP and I think they will go along with it.  Plus a good GM can always ask the player first what is it you want and then decide on a course of action that is a compromise.  So long as the player understands the point of this extra power and it is limited to the point that they are not dropping too much RP into it this could work and good players will learn to make use of it.
 
PS:  I say Chosen One because most priests are probably glorified clerks or salesman for the religion.  Their actual ability to perform miracles or do magic is probably non existent.  The Chosen One is the person the god grants powers too because they have a high faith (or are a PC with the points to buy it).  This can be an ordained Priest or a lay person, it would depend on the god and the faith.
 
The way I see it so long as the base powers they can always do are useful and the player can rely on them then they will see the VPP as just flavor but flavor that could save them if they need it.  

2. Lies or half-truths which are determined to be intentionally communicated on your part will not be tolerated.  You present the facts. If you're not sure of the facts, then you don't post.  If you want to post something that you saw and agree with, you will want to make sure you do your due diligence and research it first to ensure that you are not passing along lies and/or half-truths which happen to be in line with your political view. 
 
You expect a discussion of Politics without Lies.  Geez you are a weird one aren't you
 
3. Attacking of other forum members is subject to immediate banning.  Don't like what someone has to say? Great! Post a factually accurate counter point to their argument and make your case.  Discuss the topic, not the poster.
 
But Ad Hominem makes up at least 90% of all political arguments ever made.  They did a study somewhere I am sure.....
 
4. This thread is meant to be a place where ADULTS can have a SANE, RATIONAL discussion of politics. Posts which are viewed to be in violation of this concept will not be tolerated.  
 
No offense but what you have just put forth is the entire reason that the first amendment was adopted by the continental congress.  Whom do you expect gets to define SANE and RATIONAL and ADULT.  This is the fallacy of Plato's Republic and why every Utopian Socialist movement going back to Robespierre in the French Revolution ends in genocide of some sort.  In electing a class of elite political rulers trained in politics and morality to censor and control society they stand heavily on the third leg of the Cressey's fraud triangle RATIONALIZATION to justify whatever they want as moral.  One cannot have a true discussion of politics with rules allowing those in power to edit or silence others no matter what the reason.  That only opens a window for the clever and deceitful to reclassify anything they disagree with as hate speech and silence their opposition.

I think that in Fantasy Hero one has the option to step away from the paradigms of D&D and handle things differently.
Clerics or Divine magic might be one of them.
 
First off one would not have to be a cleric or ordained priest of God or a god depending on your game to cast divine spells.  Spells that heal or control the undead or drive out demons or many of the things we associate with a Priest could be learned and cast by anyone.  The spells themselves would be relatively easy to learn as opposed to a mage's spell. To create magic a mage has to invent it, learn the formula, collect the correct materials, place them in the right order, speak the power words in the correct cadence etc.  All of this requires intelligence and maybe a strong internal will to control the magic (EGO or PRE in Hero system).
 
Divine magic and spells would work differently.  The formula might exist but it would not be something that was invented or thought out.  Instead it would be essentially a prayer.  Their might be formula and materials but they would not necessarily have a correct order measured out scientifically.  Instead they require a person who is devout, who is calling upon the magic for a holy purpose and might not even be asking for a defined effect,  The divine caster might utter a prayer for guidance in handling their enemy.  This might be a bonus number of skill levels usable for a set time or an aid to STR or some similar effect but it might also be a storm slowing the enemy down or the cleric given a bonus to a Persuasion skill at the right time if they attempt to sue for a truce.  The cleric or saint or devout lay person may not know what the effect will be.
 
In this regard much of "divine magic" would be a Variable power pool with a limitation no conscious control at the -1 level.  You can call for it but you have no control over what it will be.
 
This would mean that maybe there are only a few actual spells a "cleric" could learn and cast by praying for it and the rest is based on a plea to the deity with required skill rolls etc.
 
You could even state that every devout person has a faith pool at a minimum level that is difficult to get to work but can do anything the DM requires when needed.  Players who want some control over it could be more devout and thus buy off limitations or gain a Faith Power Skill to get better at controlling it and maybe one or two effects they can use without need for rolls as they see fit so long as they follow a psychological limitation to keep the faith and not go against their god or GOD. 

The Shadow, with Alec Baldwin and Tim Curry.

Templars were monks, so were Hospitallers.  That's the origin of the Paladin concept: the holy knight.

One of the things about the sensor array in Star Trek and other shows is the lack of detail as to what is being detected and how.
 
Essentially in space what can you detect:
 
Radio Waves:  Believe it or not this might be the most difficult thing to detect and analyze.  Why because Radio waves are longer than visible light.  Radio waves used for radio fall in the 3khz to 300 GigaHz range.  This is the limit that we can detect with a radio receiver.  The longer the radio waves the wider the attenae array and at some point we would need radio dishes larger than the ship to detect.  Perhaps future tools can find a way around this.
 
At some point gamma radiation will be difficult to detect because there will be too much energy in the electromagnetic wave and it will destroy any sensor used to pick it up.  This covers the electromagnetic spectrum or photons and is probably the best source of particles to detect.
 
After that the easiest thing to detect are neutrinos which are small almost massless particles that surround space.
 
Beyond neutrinos would be the ability to detect gravitational waves which would be very high level technology even for space opera as they are caused by the warping of the fabric of space time itself.
 
These three things would probably be the only things a starship could "detect" with its sensors.  Figuring out mass of planets, life, technological industry, the fact a ship is charging weapons would all be a factor of computations of the exact things detected in these three particles.
 
So if you don't wat to just use a VPP and want a more hard science fiction feel I would suggest three detects.  One for photons (electromagnetic waves), one for neutrinos and one for what ever is the particles for gravity be they higgs boson, gravitons or determining the warp in space and its change.  You could apply megascale, telescoping, rapid, analyze etc to the detect in levels to delineate the level of the sensor.
 
To detect a certain element or life or energy level etc. you determine the minimum level of rolls on the sensor for the item.  If successful all this means is the ship's sensors were able to gather the information required.  After that then there must be some type of computer assisting which will decipher what the evidence means regarding the information desired,
 
This could be an INT based AI with the necessary skill to detect the information.  The roll determines how long it takes to figure the information out. 
 
These means you have only three sensors to detect electromagnetic waves, neutrinos and gravity waves.  This is the hardware and peripheral device.
 
Then you have an AI dedicated to sensing outside the ship which is the sensor array.  It has several programs which are in fact skills that do the actual detecting.  So Detect Life is a skill, etc.  The level of data the sensor collected on the three energies would then lead to a bonus or negative mod to the skill rolls depending on what minimum level is required.  

Shadowrun had “cred sticks”.  (Probably swiped from Gibson)
  An amount was deposited in a bank and the account number and passwords were hard copied into the stick.  It had to put physically into a cred slot to deliver a specified amount like a credit/gift card. No remote hacking could be done because the stick had no way to remote transmit or receive info.

A ball & chain.....you mean like the one Absorbing man has and uses to smack Thor around?   I would think twice about giving somebody like Sabertooth a heavy object close at hand to use as a weapon.

One of the more interesting powers is Desolidification.  With this power,  one can travel through solid materials as though they don't exist,  most attacks ignore them,  along with a host of other advantages.  Many individuals have created several creative ways to use this power beyond the basic ability,  such as the well defined phase-strkie or locking others in the ground. What are some rather unique options that you have developed for your games? How have these characters played out in both the long and short term? Other comments and criticisms are always welcome. 

I have a single-power NPC who has Desolidification UAA.  There is an END reserve tied to it, etc-
 
She has no other appreciable powers save a small Force Field with "phase shifting" SFX and a bit of life support (same SFX).
 
Her entire Schtick is to sneak herself close to the heroes and quite literally _remove_ them from combat for about ten minutes or so.
 
That turned out to be far more effective than I expected it would be, and led to a team of players suddenly deciding maybe trying a more tactical approach to combat would be a good idea after all.
 
She has a sister who has Desolidification (Not-It cannot desolid herself; only others), a six-die single command Mind Control (Shoot me!) and a Change Environment (screw using Images to make light, and yes; I know the official rule, and no; I am not going to derail your thread by discussing it  ) that illuminates her quite clearly and sort of obfuscates the area near and behind her.
 
Her tactic is to get between combatants or in front of something or someone that shouldn't be attacked.
 
She is a bit more fun (though not as hilarious) to use, if only because the Player Characters are better able to cope with her.  I meqn really: when was the last time you bought "affects solid" for a character without Desolidification?
 
 
 

I think that to make this work you have to have a defense power and the best one is Deflection that blocks ranged attacks at range.
 
You then can link the drain to the deflection or by the drain with an automatic trigger so that it goes off when the deflection is used.
 
You have to buy the drain with an advantage to let it work against a broader group of powers to include the ability to actually reduce the attacks.
 
But honesty I think an easier way is not to use drain but suppress or dispel.

Depending on circumstances, it might be appropriate for the GM to require the attacker to make a Perception roll to establish LOS to the target. That Perception roll would be subject to range modifiers.

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)

If you think of NPC's as Normies because they have limited powers and abilities and don't do anything in game then yes these characters are not interesting and don't matter.  If you think of them as flesh and blood humans with desires and goals and personalities then they can become very interesting.
 
The old geezer that runs the deli shop where the Heroes go to unwind and eat who is a Viet Nam war veteran who now dresses like a hippie who can talk with the local gunner character because he knows everything there is to know about military weapons because in Nam he was back in the rear with the Gear and it was his responsibility to clean the weapons and get them ready to had out to the soldiers.  He has a son that is supposed to take over the business but who wants to be a lawyer and is not going to have time for it, he has a daughter who is 19 and in college and she is a radical eco nazi feminist who is always coming to the store to ask money of Dad while she lectures him on climate change and solar panels he can't afford.  His wife is passed away, she was killed by a soldier of viper ten years ago when they attacked the city in mass and he has a shrine to one of the characters in the store who saved him and his children that day even if the wife fell to Viper.  He does not know who the hero is because of the secret ID.  One of the other members of the party chose this place because of that did not tell the idolized character and everyone goes there so they tip toe around that subject.
 
This PC although he might have a lot of knowledge about firearms because he prepped them never had much actual combat experience in the war except for the TET offensive.  Other than that he has no useful combat abilities beyond anyone else and is old to boot.  However, in game this character could become a great portion of the roleplaying experience for the PCs even with potential drama concerning did the deli owner uncover who the PC with the secret ID was.

Steve 
 
As a devout Catholic I'd have no problem with the inclusion of Angels and Devils in the book.  There already is in theatre, film and TV a great number of fantasy shows dedicated to this topic such as Lucifer (TV show), Supernatural (TV Show), Midnight (TV show), The Fallen (movie) Ghost (movie), various works of Esther Friesner (books) and those are just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head in five seconds.  There are latterly 100's more.  Somehow Tinseltown, the Networks, Netflix and the publishing houses manage to make a pretty good living selling people stories on just this subject.  There are even some stories that are based on Jewish mythology and not Christian out there.  I don't see why people who make their own story in a gaming system have to be somehow treated differently other than Gaming companies don't have as much money for lawyers as Networks do I guess.  I'd actually love to see rules and discussion on this genre whether it is in the mythology book or not.
 
I have watched and read a lot of these stories and it seems that the good ones follow a certain theme.
 
1) God is absentee from the story line.
 
Why) First off being omnipotent and omniscient there would be no conflict.  God can you fix this, finger snap, Yes I can!  Second and more important having God say stuff is very close to giving lectures on what God thinks which could influence the viewer and or offend if they believe God would do something else.  So God is this mystery being no one sees in the story who leaves Easter eggs for the character to find and figure out on their own as the only communication form Him or Her depending on how Woke you are these days.
 
2) Religion, faction or creed are usually never mentioned or shown except in the case of films like the exorcist where the Catholics are the only religion that still has people that do that thing.  To the extent it is, there is never attempts in the story at proselytizing.

.
Why) Kind of obvious.  The more elusive what religion or religious system is in play the more it will tend to include anyone who is a believer even non Christians.
 
3)  The "Angels" or their other religious counterparts such as Buddhist Bodhisattva are always troubled and don't quite know what it is they should do and many times are the de facto Villains of the story. 
 
Why) It helps if those on the side of Good have to struggle to know what is right.  IF the Angels all know the right solution to every conflict they can just tell the mortals what to do and be done with it and that does not make for a good story.
 
4)  There is usually always one demon that attempts to reform himself or herself even if it is too late.
 
Why) It makes for better story if the not all the bad guys are thoroughly evil.  This creates complex problems the good guys have to solve.
 
5)  The macguffin in plots related to sin are always things not in dispute such as murder and do not touch on political topics such as the abortion debate for instance.  No attempt is made to speak on these subjects one way or another.  Sin is never something shown in a way that is judgmental of religious beliefs.
 
Why)  Obvious I think but important to remember because you have to make sure others cannot view things in that regard.  Things judged as Sin have to be things that people universally see as wrong.  For instance manbuns. 
 
I think that any book on this subject would probably have to have those rules in mind and directions on how to implement them in order to avoid people seeing it as  trying to offend.  To those that will be offended because D&D is evil well, they aren't your target audience anyways.
 
Still I understand your reluctance.
Cheers
Indy
 

They way to go with that is to tell the player if he takes the limitation then there will be things in game that take it away.
In this example the symbiote can get sick and the power stops working or is reduced.  The symbiote can also be required at times to leave the body to perform other tasks meaning the player won't have it.  Enemies who become knowledgeable can do this.
 
Even if he buys it IIF -1/4L it is possible for a bioengineer to create a chemical or biological agent that deadens the creature turning off the focus until the player can heal it.  How much the GM should have this interfere with the character should depend on how much of a limitation they took.

They way to go with that is to tell the player if he takes the limitation then there will be things in game that take it away.
In this example the symbiote can get sick and the power stops working or is reduced.  The symbiote can also be required at times to leave the body to perform other tasks meaning the player won't have it.  Enemies who become knowledgeable can do this.
 
Even if he buys it IIF -1/4L it is possible for a bioengineer to create a chemical or biological agent that deadens the creature turning off the focus until the player can heal it.  How much the GM should have this interfere with the character should depend on how much of a limitation they took.