TranquiloUno

And they are good ones!
 
 
Well...who said anyone "needed" to? You CAN. COM is *A* way to do that.
 
To me it's like Fringe Benefits. I could play a super whose secret ID is an FBI agent and pay the points for federal law enforcement powers.
Or we could just hand-wave it as part of his background.
 
I could just say my PC is a medical doctor, take PS: Medical Doctor and not take surgery or even paramedics and not buy the fringe benefit.
Or I could get real gritty and buy a nice suite of skills and perks\bennies, including military rank (former Army trauma surgeon) and a license to practice medicine.
 
Either could be used to support roleplaying. Or either could just strictly be mechanics effects. Or they could be free for various reasons.
 
Heck, why have Psych Lims and stuff, right? We can roleplay those too.
I mean if I'm voluntarily roleplaying stuff then is it really disadvantaging me? Should I get points for it?
 
I think of Hero as being used to describe things.
COM is a way to describe things. SA is another. Roleplaying too. Body models (what we called it when you pick an actor\model\person that your character looks like). Perks\Fringe Benefits. Disads.
 
 
 
 
But by the same token if you want to describe your character as being a boy scout and feeling this will sometimes disadvantage him then you could also take points for it. And then not really roleplay it all and only grudgingly abide by the code when the GM gets frustrated with your murderhobo ways.
 
So you CAN, if you want, if it fits your game, playstyle, group, and character, get points for that.
Or just roleplay it if that works better.
 
I could say my PC is Zooland good-looking and...do nothing mechanically. I could take a Disad that he's recognized and chased around in public like Austin Powers. Or I could just buy up my COM. All good options!
Or take SA. Or SA and COM. Or just roleplay it.
 
You know, like Hero does.
 
 
 
 
Sure and neither COM nor SA really prevent that. I'm still going to be roleplaying. If the GM says, "Oh, SuperHottie sure is hot, SA Presence Attack + Seduction roll says you are totes smitten!"
I can say, "Oh, she's really hot for a redhead even though I'm not usually in to that", or you could just roleplay it and say, "Oh, she's really hot for a readhead (because of her COM 20) even tho I'm not usually in to that".
 
 
 
Points are paid for all kinds of stuff to represent and describe game constructs.
You roleplay with those game constructs.
 
My PC doesn't have to roleplay anything when a 16d attack comes at him in a 8d game.
Or he can roleplay being terrified based on what that mean in-game.
 
That's roleplaying directly from mechanical effects.
 
When I build dudes in Hero I pay points to make their mechanics match my desires for them.
I pay points to try to describe them mechanically as I think they should be in a roleplaying sense.
 
If you'd prefer to strictly segregate Roleplaying from Mechanics then...that's totally cool and you should do that.
 
Personally I don't mind things going from mechanics\points to roleplaying and vice versa.
 
If a PC takes, "Prince" as a Fringe Benefit I have no problem with that translating in to better roleplaying (not social skill role mechanics) interactions with peasants.
 
If a PC wants to play a medical doctor and wants to roleplay that as having in-game effects he can buy the Fringe Benefit...and then we'll just roleplay it.
 
 
 
 
 
Agreed! They are not mutually exclusive.
 
 
 
Sure, and if he makes a rousing speech we can roleplay that. Or he can make a Pre Attack to actually create mechanical effects. And if his roleplaying is good I might give him a bonus on the Pre attack. And if his roleplaying is bad, like Toxxus says above, I wouldn't penalize him mechanically for that.
 
And if the powerhouse in question has a COM of 35 and is of an desired gender\sexual configuration for my PC then I might roleplay the "ask to join his team because he respects power" instead of fleeing based on the mechanics.
 
Or I might roleplay my character fleeing because he's got a roleplaying only bad history with NPCs with 30+ COM scores and he ain't fallin' for that no more.
 
 
IF COM is a useful too, for you, for your game, for your players, then use it. And if it is not useful, even if you are playing 4th edition and it's clearly right there in the rules, then don't use it.
 
 
What's useful is....what is useful to you and your players about it?
 
How does it effect or not effect your games?
 
What problems does COM create? What problems does SA create?
 
 
 
 

Yeah, it’s not as though they experienced anything really bad, like having their favorite comic book characters depicted as having feelings. That really messes people up inside.

While this is not strictly Fantasy Hero, and is maybe not even strictly fantasy, it is certainly fantasy related!  And I would imagine, of interest to Fantasy Hero players.  
 
Jason Timmermans documents his build of a leather gauntlet, here (his leather hardening technique published separately on his page here).  It is beautiful, functional, and badass!  I believe he intends to, at some point, build a full suit of leather armor; his testing of samples (photo included in the page) shows a broadhead hunting arrow that would normally go through a deer, including bone, mostly stopped by several layers of his hardened leather.  Not completely, mind you; slightly over an inch of the arrowhead penetrated through the armor, but as he says, it's going to hurt but it won't kill you.  The arrow was shot from a recurve bow made from modern composite materials, with a 48 pound draw weight at 29 inches draw length, from 15 feet away.  
 
I kinda want one, even though I absolutely have no practical need for one.  
 
Here's what it looks like:
 

One of my player's is a big League of Legends fan so I've been letting him find/buy a couple of items from the game for his Udyr character:
1-  Hunter's Machete:  Adds 1pt HKA - NND Fire damage to all of your attacks - Str Doesn't add to damage - Defense is not being a monster or having a shield effect.
2-  Iceborn Guantlet:  8 rPD/rED for area 6/7 on right arm only, Adds 1pt NND Cold damage to melee attacks only - Triggers only 1x per turn - Creates single hex change environment that causes Dex roll at -3 or prone (ice slick).
 
His primary adversary from his backstory is Lissandra the Ice Queen (ice witch - cold based powers).  He's already been warned in prophetic manner that he will be betrayed in the most unsuspected manner.  He knows that the creation of the Iceborn Guantlet required his only piece of True Ice, but he seems to have forgotten that Lissandra has the power to control True Ice.  Their encounter is going to start roughly as he finds himself being affected by his own, un-removable gauntlet.
 
Our party witcher has been able to pay an exorbitant amount of money to get a matched sword set (1 silver / 1 steel) that add +2 OCV (instead of +1 like most greatswords) and do an additional 1d6 hka on critical hits.
 
The party fire witch has a Staff of Storms that allows her to change the special effect of her spells (all currently fire based) into lightning.

I posted this on a similar thread a few months back, but it applies here, so here is a re-post:
 
 
I would add to this that potentially most of the geography and nations of the world have changed, so the players don't know "what is over the next horizon". This kind of mystery has always been popular in Fantasy Games. Sure, you might have a general map, but the map might no longer be correct because of wold events, and the slow speed of communication means that big political or power changes might have happened in the time between the map was made and the way things are when the players get there. 
 

That's a good build. But...
 
I don't think COM needs to be sexually specific. "Good looking" folks tend to be treated better. Tall ones too.
I might not get an awkward boner talking to a hot dude but I might be more friendly and polite than I would with a disgusting trash person with a horrible skin condition.
I might not even do it deliberately. I might just have an unconscious biased reaction against "gross" people and towards good looking ones.
 
I like your solution though. Easy way to recreate COM again, giving it a minor mechanical effect, and the point cost continues to workout basically the same.
 
The question would be: Would this improve your game? Do your players want this kinda of thing in 6th edition?
 
Because that's kinda the thing, right? For those of us playing older editions COM is there and works like it always has. And if we wanted it to do more then...we add those rules.
 
So it's only going to be 6th edition players and GMs who do not find Striking Appearance to be a good replacement for COM and who want something to represent appearance that isn't SA, or Disads\Complications, or Powers constructs who are going to have issues.
 
For those potential folks that are playing 6th and want something like COM....uh....just use COM again, right? I guess if you only played 6th that wouldn't be obvious but for most of us it will be and as folks have shown in the thread constructions like yours tend to cost out about the same so if somebody wanted to roll their own "Appearance" stat that didn't really do much but represent looks...it would basically work out the same as COM used to.
 
 
But since most folks don't really care about COM, and since pre-6th players already have it (and can not use it if they don't like it), and since 6th edition players can just add it back in, or make their own constructs for it, or just use SA instead....
 
And if you're playing in a setting with loads and loads of aliens and SA and\or COM are species dependent then happily Hero has all the tools to adjust for that usage. As you've shown in your build.
 
 
 

How about this:
 
Good Looking:  +1 with all Interaction Skills (4 Active Points); Only vs characters that would find Players appearance attractive (-1 1/2) Real cost: 2
 
Gives more granularity then Striking Appearance, and has an ingame effect that COM doesn't. The -1 1/2 Limitation is because theoretically over half the population wouldn't be sexually attracted to the character.  If aliens are part of the campaign they also wouldn't care about he characters appearance. 
 
2 CP for this ability, is equal to 4 points of COM (if I remember correctly 1 point of COM cost .5 CP), so for general discussion sake  you could say this character has 14 COM, buy it twice and they have 18 COM, 3 times 22 COM, and so on. 
 
So my super-hot super-spy has +3 with all interaction skills vs. characters that would be attracted to her. This means she has the equivalent of 22 COM when matters of appearance are described. Another player on the team has the cute-farm-girl-mechanic character who only has +1 and the equivilent COM stat of 14. 
 
If the character needs massive appeal, then they take Striking Appearance. 
 

My answers are pretty much covered above as well.
 
Why does anyone see a need to pay points for role playing?  My character can be an all-around boy scout guy, but turn it off as need be if he did not receive points by taking a complication for that.  I will still role play my character with the personality I consider him to have, even if I did not get free points for some aspect of that personality.  Your character may not like redheads, and be strongly attracted to blondes, but mine does not get points back for having red hair, nor spend points to be blonde.  I can describe my character as thin (which our society values) or fat (which our society denigrates), and people can role play their reactions accordingly, with no points spent by anyone.
 
Points are paid for mechanical effects.  You role play outside the points.
 
Mechanics and role playing are not mutually exclusive.  My character can get hit hard, mechanically, by an opponent's Blast.  I mark off the STUN (BOD?  am I Stunned?  KOd?  Killed?).  Maybe he also makes a PRE attack, forcing me to hesitate.  Those are the mechanical effects. 
 
Now I role play my character's reaction.  Is he afraid of this powerhouse?  Does he surrender?  Does he seek another target?  Flee the scene?  Focus on that powerhouse because he's the most dangerous opponent on the field?  Make a rousing speech to his teammates that we have to hold the line?  Ask to join his team because he respects power?  Fall to his knees and beg for his miserable life?  Mechanics do not prevent me from role playing.  They set the scene within which I role play.

Yah the using COM as a complimentary roll for (some, appearance-based) social skills seems pretty solid to me.
 
Now COM no longer "does nothing".  (<- the horror!!!!)
 
I'm not going to go full Palindromedary on it but I feel like if you bought  a skill or skill levels for a skill that can only be used in a complimentary fashion, based on appearance, you'd probably end up paying about, oh, I don't know, maybe 1/2pt per point of COM or something.
 
Also: I think these threads are effin' hilarious. And not in an, "I'm laughing with you", way either. ;D
 
The point of Hero is to run the game you want with the mechanics you want.
Turn COM on, turn it off, make it free, make it a complimentary roll for appearance influenced social interactions, use SA, use SA *and* COM, make a lil conversion that tells you how much equivalent COM an SA talent is worth, make a lil conversion that tell you how hot\attractive\etc a person with SA is on a per-level basis.
Whatever supports the game you want to play. It's is TRIVIAL to add COM to 6th and it is UTTERLY TRIVIAL to remove it from 5th.
 
But attempting to convince folks that some aspect of the system MUST be some way seems antithetical to the whole Hero deal.
And not useful for convincing folks of things they already know they like\don't like.
 
The main thing is these threads seem utterly disconnected from the real thing: Playing the game.
 
Question: Has anyone in this thread ever had any issues with COM as a stat (when it was a stat)?
Did the COM 40 PC try to convince the GM that they should be able to "Presence Attack" using COM? And did that just destroy the game and the story?
Did the COM 30 NPC utterly derail a game because PCs just had to have him\her? And that just utterly derail the entire game?
 
 
Because it seems like all the discussion is around the basis of COM as a game or design element. Which is a stupid discussion for Hero.
 
Does the thing work? "Work" meaning support your game style. "Work" meaning is this fun? "Work" meaning..."yah, that works for me".
 
Well then use it.
 
Does it not work for you\your game\your players? Does it distract and cause arguments? Does it just seem stupid?
 
Well then...stop using it.
 
ANYway....
 
Case for COM: It's cheap, it's easy, players like their characters to look good, it's intuitive outside of edge cases, it's doesn't have a big effect on the game.
Case against COM: It doesn't do much but sit there and look good (or bad) as written. SA can actually produce game effects. RAW doesn't have COM producing effects (good thing we're all playing Hero so we cannot under any circumstances adjust the rules to taste!).
 
Now there's really no conflict there which seems to be recurrent in the thread.
You can totes have Striking Appearance and COM without any issues whatsoever.
They can do different things even! You can use one for "just" pretty folks and another for Really, Really, Really, Ridiculously Good-looking male models (Question: what level of SA\Presence Attack do you need to stop a throwing star?).
 
But, honestly, decide what you like (or what works best for the actual game you are actually playing\running), and go with that, and for threads like these just express you opinion of how the stat\rule\thingie is fun and useful to you or how you feel it detracts from the fun and causes issues.
The trying to "convince" others thing is just sillypants\clownshoes!
 
"Sorry, bro, but I just use body models in my games so you have to take COM out of your 6th edition game even though you and your party like the stat."
"Sorry, dawg, but I just can't play a game if I can't quantify my characters appearance, I'm just not going to be able to play 6th edition so we MUST switch back to 5th because COM isn't a stat in 6th and can't ever be."
 
There is no underlying reality to the Hero rules.
COM doesn't need to reflect the real world any more than...anything else in the rules.
 
Your Captain America can just look like Chris Evans and not have SA or high COM (or not even have COM at all!).
Mine can have both SA and a high COM.
 
OP's case for COM seems to be: Sometimes it can be useful in some games in ways that Striking Appearance  doesn't emulate well. And sometimes it can make for some fun.
 
That's a pretty cogent case to me.
But, you know, I guess since beauty can be subjective that he's objectively wrong and because you can emulate some facets of COM with SA then objectively COM can't ever be used for anything. Ever. Even if you wanted to make it useful for occasional complimentary appearance-based social interactions you couldn't do that.
It's not in the 6th edition rules you see. So it's impossible to have both. Or have neither. Or switch 'em around to do what you actually want (whatever that is).
 
So we gotta get to the objective bottom of this you guys. We really can't keep playing Hero when the rules are so up in the air like this. 
What do you MEAN you don't use hit locations!??!??! But muh realism!!!!
What do you MEAN "hit locations" aren't realistic!!??!?!? But muh crunch!!!!
 
And so on.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

There's that and also the scientific theory that beauty is not that subjective.
 
We are hardwired for it from birth.
 https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6355-babies-prefer-to-gaze-upon-beautiful-faces/
 
Let's say that your friend says he's dating a total 10.  She may not be a 10 based on your preferences, but she's not going to be a 2 either.  You know she's attractive plus/minus a couple notches based on preference.
 
I'm fine with Striking Appearance as a talent, but we used COM back in the day and I found it gave a more granular and more relatable standard.
If all primary stats are scaled from 1 to 20 with a 10 being normal then you have a pretty good idea of what a COM of 12 or 18 or 24 means.
 
If I say they have Striking Presence +2d6 to my players it means nothing to them.  It's unrelatable until I tack on some extra dice to a presence attack.
 
Additionally, it'd probably be easier to use COM as a complimentary roll to support a Seduction attempt since players will intuitively understand that someone who is very physically attractive will have an advantage in attempting to seduce someone.
 
 

I was especially tickled by the Persuasion-Deception-Intimidation-Roll Initiative progression, myself.  
 
 

The last fantasy I ran was the occuktish western I've mentioned before (it didn't start out that way; we sort of drifted into it).   The biggest sources of magic were ancestor magic and shamanic magic, so there weren't a lot of traditional magic items: most of them had serious limitations like a four-hour ceremony to recharge, single or double use only, certain rituals or rules that had to be adhered to or the item would disappear /lose enchanment--  the magic was real, but rarely extremely powerful; those things that were powerful were rare and difficult to maintain. 
 
Wierdly, the most popular things were the hides of enchanted animals (certain random animals would bear enchantment by either having served as a spirit guide or hosting a particularly powerful soul (or ancestor or minor God) and, if properly treated, would provide clothing that granted immunity to certain environmental conditions, etc.  Jackelope boots were popular: extra movement, silence, bonus OCV, etc, depending on breed and season. 
 
Arrows tipped with jackelope antler gained a +1 Stun multiplier or created an aggravated wound (REC Drain versus this one wound: heals very, very slowly) and no jackelope antler wound could be healed magically (fortunately, these arrows and spears were rare). 
 
Painted symbols and lengthy ceremonies could provide extra Def to certain garments, etc. 
 
Lots of things that could turn the battle, but nothing that could turn the war, if you follow me. 
 
Petty items: paint mortars that never emptied, waterskins that never quite emptied (but could be ruined by holing them, or desecration) torches that burned for hours-- little stuff. 

Many years back, I ran a few campaigns in my Fantasy Europa alternate-history setting. Preparing for it, I transcribed a bunch of D&D magic items into Hero because, well, apart from the FH Magic Items book that was what I had to work with.
 
I never used any of them.
 
One of the core ideas of Fantasy Europa was that Europe was still recovering from the apocalyptic destruction of the Monster Wars. I wrote up a few tremendously powerful and destructive artifacts -- banes -- left over from the wars, such as the Bane of Grimwood that was still spontaneously causing monsters to be born from ordinary animals. I never got a chance to use any of them, either. The campaigns that turned out to interest me just didn't go in those directions.
 
So what mostly turned up? Many adversaries had low-power amulets of protection (just a bit of Armor on an Independent Focus -- this was 4th ed.) so the PCs couldn't one-shot stun them with a lucky killing attack. A few adversaries, such as a Satanic sorcerer or a mad priest of a malign entity from Beyond, had magical staves or similar implemnents that could do Drains, Flashes, Entangles, and other non-STUN/BODY damage. These had Side Effects or other unpleasant conditions on their use, such as requiring human sacrifice to recharge or making the wielder another mad servant of Sutekh, so the PCs wouldn't snabble them up. I wanted the campaigns to focus on the PCs' own capabilities, not the loot they acquired.
 
All in all, these were low-magic item campaigns. It helped that they had definite endings planned from the beginning, so there was never any intention of Zero to Hero power growth. The PCs started as remarkably competent individuals; they ended as somewhat more competent individuals.
 
Oh -- one player built his PC around a collection of minor magic items, such as magic boots that increased his mobility. (Probably based on the D&D Boots of Striding and Springing.) But he was still highly skilled without them.
 
Dean Shomshak

More Actions without SPD:  (Total: 22 Active Cost, 22 Real Cost) Naked Advantage: Trigger (Activating the Trigger is an Action that takes no time, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset, Trigger can expire (it has a time limit), Two activation conditions apply simultaneously; +1/4) for up to 90 Active Points (22 Active Points) (Real Cost: 22)
Still More Actions without SPD:  (Total: 22 Active Cost, 22 Real Cost) Naked Advantage: Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) for up to 90 Active Points (22 Active Points) (Real Cost: 22)
 
Halving Defenses without Armor Piercing:  (Total: 60 Active Cost, 40 Real Cost) Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2d6, Attack Versus Alternate Defense (Half normal ; +1) (60 Active Points); No STR Bonus (-1/2) (Real Cost: 40)
 
One Way:  (Total: 40 Active Cost, 16 Real Cost) Physical Damage Reduction, 50% (20 Active Points); Limited Power Only for calculating if character is stunned (-1 1/2) (Real Cost: 😎 <b>plus</b> Energy Damage Reduction, 50% (20 Active Points); Limited Power Only for calculating if character is stunned (-1 1/2) (Real Cost: 😎
Another Way:  (Total: 15 Active Cost, 12 Real Cost) Cannot Be Stunned (15 Active Points); Nonpersistent (-1/4) (Real Cost: 12)
 
Can't Keep Me Down:  (Total: 80 Active Cost, 23 Real Cost) Aid  STUN 3d6+1 (standard effect: 10 points), Trigger (Activating the Trigger is an Action that takes no time, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; Trigger: Unconsciousness; +1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Expanded Effect (x2 Characteristics or Powers simultaneously) (STUN and END; +1/2), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Hour; +1 3/4) (80 Active Points); One Use At A Time (-1), Only to Aid Self (-1), Only Restores To Starting Values (-1/2) (Real Cost: 23)
 
Wall? What Wall?:  (Total: 60 Active Cost, 24 Real Cost) +60 STR (60 Active Points); Limited Power Only for casual STR, only for breaking walls (-1 1/2) (Real Cost: 24)
 
 
Lucius Alexander
 
 
You, me, and the palindromedary
 

Like the Affects Desolid sword this is another of those things that Hero can do, mechanically, which I think is super cool.
 
In another system you'd just get: Pass without Trace and it would work like it says it does in the spell block. In Hero it works like Invisibility, and the sense interactions are all right there for you.
 
You might be a serious nerd if: harmonious rules interactions are deeply statisfying. ;D

Wow, that got a lot of response, real quick.  
     As a player I always provided and as a GM requested a played by person from my players.   I always found it much more useful than height and weight or a Com number to describe the appearance of a character.  
    As an example the younger versions of John Wayne, Jim Carrey and Vincent Price are within only a few pounds or inches of each other.  Now is somebody really going to tell me they should play the same role in a film.  All have portrayed heroes and possess the real world equivalent of a high presence and are quite attractive but they come off differently.   
    Unless you’re making a roll against some stat number based on how good or bad looking your character is I think this is a much more helpful descriptor.
     

I used to play in Dr. Bob Simpson's Champions campaign, with a top group of players.  as I have said before I was a long time war gamer, so tactics tend to be fairly important to me.  In Bob's campaign, it was really bad to be captured.  One of his former PC's became an  NPC minion and slave to a magical mega-villainess.  I had been reading a lot of gun magazines back then and one of the regular columnists had come up with a "color coded system of instantly evaluating one's surroundings. We adapted that to our superhero team so we could pass info quickly over the radio or the mental link. 
 
Situation________Examples
Green                 Relaxed,At home, indoors, at work, in your secret ID   
Yellow                Alert, In costume,  On the streets,t, on patrol
Orange               Cautious, Sketchy neighborhood,  approaching  the Villain's hideout, Something suspicious is seen.
Red                     Combat, Threatened, Guys in ski masks pull out weapons, Super villains in costume show up. Shots fired.
We added a couple of additional categories .  for if things went south.
Purple                We are leaving, orderly retreat.  drop what you are doing and retrieve fallen comrades and leave.
Black                 Lethal Force necessary. Kill or be killed, save the hostage from being eaten by a monster. save the Earth.
 
 Also, when the group inducted a new member in the team, we strongly suggested that they pick up the Team package deal.  Which was Martial arts, First Aid, coordination roll, and  Communications.  To justify the training rolls, we actually games out exercises at a local Fire Department training area, much to the amusement of the firemen, but we would practice pair specific combat maneuvers and  also ordered retreats, with the flyers picking up the slow pokes and the unconscious, and our teleporter  getting everyone out in the shortest amount of time.  However, because the training was a common and scheduled thing, the Villains once attempted to ambush us there, and it didn't go well for them. (This is where my character had to face a grand jury for manslaughter< but was acquitted). We had other skin of our teeth escape, but I am happy to say that we were never captured.

Now the game was run in a comic book store, in the middle of the Irpon age, where we could just grab a comic off the shelf as research or justification, so the campaign was of it's time, but man Bob ran a good game, and the situations forced us into  very tight teamwork.  Great players, too.

Regarding using agents against the heroes, for speed and ease of play I use mass combat rules where I group agents into one meta-character, though I also tend to give one or two agents from each group distinctive personalities or actions so they're not all just faceless mooks.  For instance, a more vocal agent might trash-talk the heroes, or do something crazy or stupid (rush ahead of his teammates, etc.).  The funny thing is, the heroes sometimes decide to concentrate their attacks on that hapless agent, rather than taking on bigger threats.
 
A recent example of this was an adventure I ran when a powerful vampire had a cadre of lesser vampires, mostly college students or gangbangers she had bitten.  Compared to the PC heroes, none of those lesser vampires were very powerful, so I was mainly grouping them together.  Except for one... Vampire Elvis.  This was a would-be Elvis impersonator the Countess had turned into a minion, and for fun I modified lyrics to some Elvis songs and sang them when he took his actions.  Several of the PCs decided to ignore more pressing threats to concentrate attacks on Vampire Elvis just to shut him up. 

My favorite example of this was when the heroes were fighting Dot, formerly of CLOWN but I moved him to the Foxbat Five and semi-heavily rewrote him.  Among his powers, Dot opens portals, similar to Spider-man's foe Spot, to attack through, grab things through, and (in this particular instance) spy through.
 
One of the heroes noticed one of Dot's spy-holes, so he grabbed a fire extinguisher, stuck the nozzle at the spy-hole, and started spraying Dot in the eye.  I ruled it an impromptu Flash attack, NND (defense is goggles / solid eye covering).  And then when Dot opened a larger hole to attack through, the hero bashed him in the head with the extinguisher.

Primarily the spellcaster's in my game use OMCV for their alternate CV.
 
I allow for spells to target STAT/3 as a CV as an alternative to help simulate D&D spells in the game for players coming from that background.

Okay, I figured I'd try something new.  I have decided to start going through various movies and plot out their fight scenes in Hero.  Who knows how long this will hold my interest, but I thought it would be fun.  I'll pick some fairly well known films and well-known fights, watch the videos several times, and try to represent what we're seeing on the screen in the Hero system.  There will be some judgment calls, of course, and people are free to disagree with how they interpret the action on the screen. When available, I'll try to link to a video of the fight and include some time stamps for the action.
 
I'm not going to try to directly match the speed chart to the time of the film, especially when you've got dramatic pauses, dialogue, or switching the camera to bystanders, but I'll make an effort where I can.  I will try and note whatever assumptions I make so that people can better determine if they agree or disagree, and why.  Generally in cinematic action movies, I tend to give higher stats than a lot of people are comfortable with, so don't get too upset if I give a guy a higher Dex than you would.  This is all just for fun.  Oh, and obviously spoilers if you haven't seen it.
 
First scene -- the elevator fight in Captain America: Winter Soldier
 
 
 
Okay, so here are my starting assumptions.  By my count there are 10 Hydra guys in here with Captain America.  Brock Rumlow is a named character who gets his own stats, and the really big guy probably has higher stats as well.  All of these guys are going to have at least the same stats as a Viper agent, probably melee combat specialists.  In 5th edition that would mean they've got 20 Str, 18 Dex, and 4 Speeds, plus 2 levels in hand to hand.  Looks good for a starting point.  Cap would of course be stronger and faster, how much so is sort of part of the discussion.
 
My quick notes of the important aspects (basically the "actions" of the characters) of the video::
1:49    guy attacks with baton thing
1:51    cap dodges, throws guy into other people, other guy grabs cap from behind
    one of them kicks emergency stop
1:54    thrown guy blocks off two other guys, other guys start grabbing for cap
1:56    three guys have hold of Cap, one of them shocking him with baton thing
    two guys trying to clamp his arms with magnetic things
1:58    attempt to clamp his arm
2:01    Cap struggles to break out and keep it from clamping
2:04    cap yanks arm free and kicks dude in leg
2:05    cap punches guy in face
2:06    cap elboys other guy in face
2:07    cap kicks other other guy
2:08    cap palm strikes another dude, elbows another
2:09    cap backwards head-butts guy holding him, throws him over his shoulder
2:11    rumlow kicks cap's arm with mag clamp so it latches onto wall
2:14    rumlow attacks cap with baton thing, cap blocks
2:15    rumlow swings with fist and misses
2:16    rumlow hits cap in back with baton
2:19    cap elbows rumlow
2:20    cap grabs and flings dude into security camera
2:20    cut away to people in security room
2:23    guy attacks cap with baton, cap redirects into other guy
2:24    cap hits guy with baton
2:26    cap kicks two guys
2:28    cap blocks other guy then kicks him in the face
2:30    cap yanks clamped arm free from wall and does backflip
2:34    cap elbows one guy then ducks under another's punch
2:35    cap uppercuts the other one, then flings first one through the air
2:37    rumlow talks to cap (breathing heavy -- taking recovery?)
2:43    rumlow swings at cap with baton and misses, swings again and cap catches his hand
2:44    rumlow hits cap with second baton
2:45    cap knocks rumlow's hand free, swings and misses
2:47    rumlow hits cap in stomach again with baton
2:49    cap punches rumlow then throws him up into the ceiling
2:51    fight over
 
Coming soon... a breakdown of what the fight means in Champions terms.

Resentful Djinn:  Variable Power Pool (Djinn), 90 base + 90 control cost, Powers Can Be Changed As A Half-Phase Action (+1/2), No Skill Roll Required (+1) (202 Active Points); 3 Charges (-1 1/4); all slots Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect affects both character and recipient of Power's benefits, Side Effect always occurs whenever the character does some specific act; Djinn will twist the wording maliciously whenever possible.; -2), Conditional Power Power does not work in Uncommon Circumstances (Limited to exact wording of wish; -1/4), Incantations ("I Wish...."; -1/4) 113 Real Points
 
The "some specific act" referenced in Side Effects is "Make a wish that can be misinterpreted or twisted."
 
So saying "I wish I were in Philadelphia" could put you right in the middle of the city's busiest intersection (or if there's one going on that moment, into a gun battle.) Saying "I wish my Uncle Al didn't have cancer" could give YOU the cancer instead. Saying "I wish my djinn would like and respect me" could get your djinn exchanged with a junior djinn who would be thrilled to help you, but doesn't have much power.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
I wish my palindromedary would like and respect me.
 
 

You are explicitly permitted to take Zero Phase Actions before a Full Phase Action.  You are explicitly able to take No time Actions after your phase ends. 
Everything on your list can be done before or after a Full Phase Action. 
I ask you again, why would any of those things need to be done during the Full Phase Action and not before or after? 
 
You seem to be staunchly ignoring that point.  Please address it. 

Hmm, so they just have to be *able* to "speak" freely and clearly? They don't actually need to speak?
Otherwise wouldn't silent incantations (I said them, just...silently) work by default?
 
Darkness versus Sound is explicitly intended to trigger the Incantations limitations. The Incantations limitation specifies: "...only if he speaks *loud phrases that are audible at a distance*.." (emphasis added)
In addition to the "must be able to speak freely and clearly" part.
 
If you're in a Darkness versus Sound field then in addition to the specific RAW guidance I don't see how a player can speak loud phrases audible at a distance if they can't make sound. Doesn't seem like you can "speak freely" when you can't actually make noise either.
 
 
 
 

In terms of tactics against players, mixing and matching can be highly effective--instead of "3-6 agents per PC" or "1 supervillain per PC" or "1 mastervillain alone vs whole team", try 2 agents per PC, plus 1 villain per 2 PCs, plus a less powerful master villain.  Now they are going to struggle with prioritizing targets, and you can make things worse by giving the agents and villains effective attacks that can take down the various PCs.  
OR you can have 3-4 villains who are bit more powerful than the PCs take on a 5-6 hero team.  That's likely to be a hard fight!  Not impossible to win, just a hard fight.  
The old Viper 5 Team concept could be very effective against a PC group, too.