LoneWolf

I give my players an idea of the average number of Damage Classes their characters should consider being able to dish out.  The axe-wielding dwarf character gets to that level of damage with brute strength and heavy weapons.  The reformed assassin character doesn't have the dwarf's muscles, and so might use Weapon Master to reach that level.  The master swordsman might have a Fencing Martial Arts package.  The barbarian character might have a Berserker's Rage ability bought as an Aid to buff their combat prowess.  The grizzled veteran soldier might just have lots of Combat Skill Levels.  Any one of them might exceed the soft DC cap doing a Haymaker or high damage Martial Arts maneuver, but the regular damage each one of them does is within a DC or two of each other even though they all have very different combat styles.

Even someone who has never been in a fight can try and block or dodge.  This is not using player knowledge this is almost instinctive.  When someone is trying to hurt you the first instinct most people have it try to avoid being hurt.   Even a small child knows enough to try and get away from the bully who is trying to beat him up.  Ever been picked on by someone tougher than you?  What is the first thing you try and do?  Get away from him (half move and dodge).  If you are cornered and he is punching your face what do you do?  Try and protect your head by putting your arms in front of your face (block).  If elementary school student can do it, surly an adult in a dangerous world can.  
 
To me it seems that it is more likely that a person not trained in combat would attempt to block or dodge.  They are not used to combat so are more likely to follow their instincts to avoid being hit.  Deliberately standing your ground so you can get in a hit seems to be more likely the move of someone with combat training than a noncombatant.  That would mean the character who is untrained in combat who does not cancel to a defensive action is the one that is more likely using player knowledge than the one who fights more defensively.   If the supposedly noncombat character is a mage and does not block or dodge so they can get their spell off that is worse use of player knowledge.   
 

Even someone who has never been in a fight can try and block or dodge.  This is not using player knowledge this is almost instinctive.  When someone is trying to hurt you the first instinct most people have it try to avoid being hurt.   Even a small child knows enough to try and get away from the bully who is trying to beat him up.  Ever been picked on by someone tougher than you?  What is the first thing you try and do?  Get away from him (half move and dodge).  If you are cornered and he is punching your face what do you do?  Try and protect your head by putting your arms in front of your face (block).  If elementary school student can do it, surly an adult in a dangerous world can.  
 
To me it seems that it is more likely that a person not trained in combat would attempt to block or dodge.  They are not used to combat so are more likely to follow their instincts to avoid being hit.  Deliberately standing your ground so you can get in a hit seems to be more likely the move of someone with combat training than a noncombatant.  That would mean the character who is untrained in combat who does not cancel to a defensive action is the one that is more likely using player knowledge than the one who fights more defensively.   If the supposedly noncombat character is a mage and does not block or dodge so they can get their spell off that is worse use of player knowledge.   
 

Don’t forget that you can also add your shields DCV bonus to your OCV when blocking.  While many players may not do this the rules are there.  This is more of a problem with the players than the rules.  There is a whole thread about why players don’t block.
 
I think that a lot of problems result because people picking up the hero system for the first time don’t have experienced players to demonstrate what can be done with the system.  A lot of the other game systems have more exposure and support from their company than hero does. This leads to more mixing of new and older players.  Piazo has a whole organized play organization for Pathfinder and let’s face it when most people think of gaming they think of D&D.  
 

In the Hero system special effect is the important thing.   Sometimes a specific attack may require an advantage or limitation, but its special effect is still the important thing.  When you take the no range limitation on the power it is no longer a ranged attack.  If I create an undead monster that drains Body with a touch, that is a HTH attack not a ranged attack.  It is treated as a HTH attack for all purposes. 

Actually when Steve stabs Bob in 9 he does not abort he continues his block with a 10 or less chance.  A 10 or less is actually a 50% chance.  Even if he misses Steve still needs to roll to actually hit.   This means that the odds are that Bob does not get hit.  So on 10 he can attack Steve.   
 
Basically by blocking Bob gets two segments of attacks out of 5.  Steve on the other hand is probably not going to get any attacks off.  Bob blocks in 12 & 3, attack in 5 blocks in 6 & 9 and attacks in 10.  
 

Blocking is quite common in the group I game with.  I suspect the reason your players are not blocking is they are not familiar enough with the system.  Hero system is a very complex combat system with a lot of options Players from games like the D&D often don’t take advantage of the tactics it allows.  I guarantee if your players went up against the players from my group they would get slaughtered.  
 
Proper use of blocking often depends on using the SPD chart to your advantage.  This works very well if your SPD is different than the opponents.  It works if you are faster or slower than your opponent.
 
If you are faster than your opponent blocking is a good way to recover from an all-out offensive maneuver.  If you are going in a phase when your opponent does not you put everything into taking them down Use maneuvers that give you a bonus to attack and damage, but penalize your DCV.  This type of attack has a high chance of taking down the target, but leaves you exposed. After the attack is over and you are about to be attacked you abort your next phase to block.  This also allows you to adjust your skill levels as needed.  Most of the time your will put them into OCV to increase your chance of blocking, but sometimes putting them to DCV is better.  Since you can continue to block at a -2 penalty per attack you can keep going over multiple phases.  Eventually you will reach a phase where you are going and no one is attacking you.  At this point you simply repeat the process over again.  With this tactic you can safely take down a lot of opponents with minimal to no damage to yourself.
 
You can also reverse the strategy for someone who is faster than you.  Use block to avoid his attacks until you have an opening and then take advantage of the opening.  If you are still being attacked after your big attack, go back to blocking until your next opening comes up.
 
Dodge can also be used the same way.  The idea is to create an opening that allows you to attack your enemy without endangering yourself.  
 

Using martial arts instead of standard maneuvers is the way to go.  Buy a couple of extra damage classes to get the damage where you want it.  The big thing is not just the damage, it is also the ability to do cool things and keep out of reach.  Passing disarm and Flying Dodge are two examples of what you should be looking at.  Martial Escape is also one you want to consider.  The special effect of that is you move to fast to be held.  
 
For the stats you probably want your SPD to be around 1.5 to 2 times the SPD of the average character.  Movement should be at least twice that of the average character.  An increased non-combat and/or Megascale movement is also something you want.   Consider a two slot multipower for this.  Your DEX should be the highest in the group
 
One thing to keep in mind with a speedster is that a high DEX and SPD does not mean you go first. It means you choose when you go.  Use the SPD chart to get away with things other cannot.  This often means waiting until someone else acts.  Delaying phase until the end of a segment on a phase where no one else acts besides you allows you to deliver a one two punch before your target can do anything. 
 

Blocking is quite common in the group I game with.  I suspect the reason your players are not blocking is they are not familiar enough with the system.  Hero system is a very complex combat system with a lot of options Players from games like the D&D often don’t take advantage of the tactics it allows.  I guarantee if your players went up against the players from my group they would get slaughtered.  
 
Proper use of blocking often depends on using the SPD chart to your advantage.  This works very well if your SPD is different than the opponents.  It works if you are faster or slower than your opponent.
 
If you are faster than your opponent blocking is a good way to recover from an all-out offensive maneuver.  If you are going in a phase when your opponent does not you put everything into taking them down Use maneuvers that give you a bonus to attack and damage, but penalize your DCV.  This type of attack has a high chance of taking down the target, but leaves you exposed. After the attack is over and you are about to be attacked you abort your next phase to block.  This also allows you to adjust your skill levels as needed.  Most of the time your will put them into OCV to increase your chance of blocking, but sometimes putting them to DCV is better.  Since you can continue to block at a -2 penalty per attack you can keep going over multiple phases.  Eventually you will reach a phase where you are going and no one is attacking you.  At this point you simply repeat the process over again.  With this tactic you can safely take down a lot of opponents with minimal to no damage to yourself.
 
You can also reverse the strategy for someone who is faster than you.  Use block to avoid his attacks until you have an opening and then take advantage of the opening.  If you are still being attacked after your big attack, go back to blocking until your next opening comes up.
 
Dodge can also be used the same way.  The idea is to create an opening that allows you to attack your enemy without endangering yourself.  
 

Blocking is quite common in the group I game with.  I suspect the reason your players are not blocking is they are not familiar enough with the system.  Hero system is a very complex combat system with a lot of options Players from games like the D&D often don’t take advantage of the tactics it allows.  I guarantee if your players went up against the players from my group they would get slaughtered.  
 
Proper use of blocking often depends on using the SPD chart to your advantage.  This works very well if your SPD is different than the opponents.  It works if you are faster or slower than your opponent.
 
If you are faster than your opponent blocking is a good way to recover from an all-out offensive maneuver.  If you are going in a phase when your opponent does not you put everything into taking them down Use maneuvers that give you a bonus to attack and damage, but penalize your DCV.  This type of attack has a high chance of taking down the target, but leaves you exposed. After the attack is over and you are about to be attacked you abort your next phase to block.  This also allows you to adjust your skill levels as needed.  Most of the time your will put them into OCV to increase your chance of blocking, but sometimes putting them to DCV is better.  Since you can continue to block at a -2 penalty per attack you can keep going over multiple phases.  Eventually you will reach a phase where you are going and no one is attacking you.  At this point you simply repeat the process over again.  With this tactic you can safely take down a lot of opponents with minimal to no damage to yourself.
 
You can also reverse the strategy for someone who is faster than you.  Use block to avoid his attacks until you have an opening and then take advantage of the opening.  If you are still being attacked after your big attack, go back to blocking until your next opening comes up.
 
Dodge can also be used the same way.  The idea is to create an opening that allows you to attack your enemy without endangering yourself.  
 

One thing to keep in mind with a multiform is that each character is completely separate.  Anything the players wants to use in both forms has to be purchased by both forms.   That by the way goes for skills as well as powers.  To me if a character has a skill in one form and shift to a form that does not also have that skill they don’t get the benefit of that skill.  So if the non-combat form has skills like deduction and knowledge skills to figure out the villains plan they should not get the benefit of those skills once they shift.  
 
When I run a champions game I may require the character to purchase certain skills in both forms.  If both forms are basically the same mind I require them to purchase strictly mental skills in both forms.  For example let’s say you are creating a character like ironman where one form has power armor and the other form is normal.  Both forms should have the scientific skills and knowledge’s.  the Ironman form could lack some skills that the Tony Stark form has if the armor prevents him from using them.  For example armor is bulky enough that it causes problems with fine manipulation I might allow the armor form to skip the electronics and lock picking skills of the unarmored form.  
 
The main thing is to make sure that the players only use what they pay for.   Another way to keep things in check is to not allow either form to go over the campaign limits.  The only difference between the main form and secondary is who pays for the multiform.  In the previous editions of the game the cost of the multiform was always paid by the most expensive.  6th edition changed that, now the cost of multiform can be paid by either form.  
 

What everyone is forgetting is that disguise and acting are actually two separate skills.  To successfully impersonate someone requires both skills.  All disguise does is allow you to alter your appearance.  So in the situation in the original post if the villain makes the disguise roll they look like they are the character they were trying to.  So if Foxbat was trying to look like Dr. Destroyer he would, the players can probably easily tell that Foxbat is not in fact Dr. Destroyer, but may not realize he is Foxbat.  

The only time this is going to be a problem is if the character is moving at non-combat velocity.  Since you can normally add or subtract up to your movement speed to your velocity this means that in combat this is usually not going to be a problem.  But if a character has a high non-combat multiplier and is moving at fully speed it may take him a few segments to slow down.  

Multiform gives you two or more completely separate forms.  Anything not paid for by a form cannot be used by that form.  That includes skill, contact, perks or anything else.  This is not a matter of one of the forms choosing not to use something they literally cannot use what they have not paid for.  This is not a matter of a character choosing not to use a skill, they cannot use it period.  
 
If one of my players tried buying the skills only in one form then he would forget what those skills gave him when he switched forms.  If Clark Kent has all the investigative skills and they are not on the Superman form her forgets what he figured out when he changes to Superman.  So when Clark figures out where Lex Luther is and turns into Superman, Superman does not know where Lex is and is going to stand around confused.
 
As GM I reserve the right to Veto anything think is inappropriate and a Superman multiform is going to get a big fat NO.  Shazam type character maybe, but again anything that carries over has to be purchased by both forms. 

One thing to keep in mind with a multiform is that each character is completely separate.  Anything the players wants to use in both forms has to be purchased by both forms.   That by the way goes for skills as well as powers.  To me if a character has a skill in one form and shift to a form that does not also have that skill they don’t get the benefit of that skill.  So if the non-combat form has skills like deduction and knowledge skills to figure out the villains plan they should not get the benefit of those skills once they shift.  
 
When I run a champions game I may require the character to purchase certain skills in both forms.  If both forms are basically the same mind I require them to purchase strictly mental skills in both forms.  For example let’s say you are creating a character like ironman where one form has power armor and the other form is normal.  Both forms should have the scientific skills and knowledge’s.  the Ironman form could lack some skills that the Tony Stark form has if the armor prevents him from using them.  For example armor is bulky enough that it causes problems with fine manipulation I might allow the armor form to skip the electronics and lock picking skills of the unarmored form.  
 
The main thing is to make sure that the players only use what they pay for.   Another way to keep things in check is to not allow either form to go over the campaign limits.  The only difference between the main form and secondary is who pays for the multiform.  In the previous editions of the game the cost of the multiform was always paid by the most expensive.  6th edition changed that, now the cost of multiform can be paid by either form.  
 

In all honesty there is not that much difference in how the game plays between the different rules.  Most of the changes between the editions are in the character creation rather than how the game plays.   For the most part you can take the stat block of a character created in a different edition and use it in another with very little changes.   Even most of the powers are not that different between the editions.   The biggest changes in the rules between the editions are usually about how power frameworks are handled.  With 6th edition they eliminated figured stats but other they did not really change how the stats worked, other than eliminating COM.
 
The combat rules have changed a little but mostly for the better.  Martial Arts are a perfect example of them.  Under the original rules you simply did not have bricks with martial arts.  It was way too expensive and did not really worth it.   Haymaker also used to be strictly a HTH maneuver that for the most part only bricks used.   
 
The earlier editions were probably easier to learn because they were shorter due to the page count limitation of physically printed books.  Sure 6th edition has a printed book, but a lot of people use the digital versions because they are more convenient.  
 

For the most part everyman skills are something that almost any sentient creature can do.  About the only variables are campaign specific things like TF.  A physical complication is probably the best way to handle a character not familiar with modern society.  They would still have most of the everyman skills.  Even someone raised in hell can try and climb a tree, or try and talk someone into something.
 
The only exception seems to be that computer programing is considered an everyman skill for science fiction.  Personally I think that is a mistake, because the designers seem to think that using a computer requires knowing how to program.  This is probably due to the creators of the game being game designers not engineers.  Most people who use computers in their jobs know how to use it for specific things and would have absolutely no clue as to how to actually do anything else.  Most of what people do on a computer would be covered under a PS, or not even need a skill.  Do you require a skill to open a door, or use the phone?  Then why does using the internet require one?

More than likely it is the export format you have chosen.  Go into set export format and there should be some choices.  Choose one and see if it changes things, if it puts the color back just make sure to use that one.  You can also download some different export formats form the website.      

This does not work.  The rules for power frameworks specifically prohibit a slot in one framework from “adding to, or modifying the slot in the same or another framework, or the same or another framework as a whole”. 
 
One thing that might work is to use the requires multiple focus or it functions at reduced effectiveness.  Consider the bow and arrows to be separate focus.  To use the multipower at full you require both foci.  If they take away the bow you can still use the arrows In a limited manner.  A lot of it is going to be up to the GM.  
 

In all honesty find weakness was completely unbalancing in the older editions.  Removing it from 6th edition was in my opinion a good thing.  It was expensive, but if the target did not have lack of weakness it allowed you to reduce their defenses to next to nothing.  If the target did have lack of weakness it made it useless.  
 
In 6th edition instead of using find weakness you can use skill levels to increase your damage even in a super powered game.  While the mechanics are different the end results are similar.  In both cases the target takes more damage from your attacks.  Using skill levels to increase your damage is better balanced because the amount of damage it is increased is based on how much you paid for skill level.  With find weakness the amount of damage increases is based on how much the target paid.  
 

With a standard teleport I can teleport next to my target and attack it.  As long as you can perceive the target hex with a targeting sense there is no positional error.   That means I can use a half move teleport and attack my target in HTH combat.   If I can only teleport to a location that has an electrical device, or is in some way connected to the grid that is often not going to be the case.   
 
To give some examples of thing I may not be able to do with only connected to the grid.
 
1)    Teleport into the middle of the street.
2)    Teleport too many locations in parking lot.
3)    Teleport to playground in a school.
4)    Teleport to the yard of a house in the suburbs.
5)    Teleport to the middle of a warehouse 
6)    Teleport to the middle of a river or lake.
 
One thing to keep in mind is that with a limitation like this both your starting point and your destination have to be connected to the grid.   This is going to limit your ability to teleport out of situations which is worth a limitation.   A teleporter without that limitation can easily teleport out of restraints.  But one with it could be prevented from doing so by making sure they are not near the grid.  So if I entangle you and put you somewhere that is not connected to the grid (see  the above list) you are stuck there. 
 

For something like this you will probably want to go with things that will almost always be useful instead of those that will be more specialized.  
 
1)    Overall skill levels.  This is going to be useful no matter what he is doing
2)    Damage Negation 
3)    Summoning (A random person show up and helps him)
4)    Variable Aid to any attack (Expanded weapon master)
5)    Striking Appearance (Bonus to social skills and PRE attacks) 
 

The difference is that mental entangle is strictly a game mechanic, and could have many different special effects.  You could also create the same special effect by using a different power.  I could define my mental entangle as a telepathic command to not move.  I could also achieve the same affect by using mind control with a limitation single command only.   Both powers are legitimate ways to achieve the affect the character wants.   Mental entangle is probably the better way to achieve the goal, but a character with full mind control could also choose to use that to accomplish the same thing.  The advantage for the character with full mind control is that he can also force a target to do other things.
 
In the hero system special effect is everything, and is independent of the game mechanics.  That is outright stated on page 12 of the rules.  A well written power will be able to described without using any game mechanics at all. In some cases the words used for the game mechanics may be the same ones as the game mechanic, but that is because the game uses English words.  In other words a character in the game should be able to describe the power in game and explain how it works.  If that cannot be done it reeks of cheesy design, and would not be allowed in my games.

The value of a limitation is going to vary from campaign to campaign.  I don’t know the specifics of the campaign so I cannot say what is appropriate.  In a campaign I run the -1 limitation would work, but would be defined as only works vs mental restraints.  That would mean it applies to mental entangles, but also vs mind control and mental illusions with the relevant commands or affects.  If in the campaign mental entangles are so common that it is only worth a -1 limitation, I would require a lesser limitation.
 

For something like this you will probably want to go with things that will almost always be useful instead of those that will be more specialized.  
 
1)    Overall skill levels.  This is going to be useful no matter what he is doing
2)    Damage Negation 
3)    Summoning (A random person show up and helps him)
4)    Variable Aid to any attack (Expanded weapon master)
5)    Striking Appearance (Bonus to social skills and PRE attacks) 
 

For something like this you will probably want to go with things that will almost always be useful instead of those that will be more specialized.  
 
1)    Overall skill levels.  This is going to be useful no matter what he is doing
2)    Damage Negation 
3)    Summoning (A random person show up and helps him)
4)    Variable Aid to any attack (Expanded weapon master)
5)    Striking Appearance (Bonus to social skills and PRE attacks)