Gideon

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement?

I agree that not having three terms for the same thing (inch/hex/2 meters) makes life easier. However, there have been some problems at the table with my group because of maps in 6E.

My group ALWAYS uses the rules for turn mode when using a map, and as Prestige pointed out, those rules "still use hexes in facing". How do people handle turn mode on non-hex maps?

My group has also had problems with scale when trying to have a combat over a large area. Lets use Giant Stadium as an example. The field is 360 feet long by 160 feet wide thats about 110 meters long by 49 meters wide.

In previous editions where 1h=2m this meant we needed a map that was about 55 inches by 25 inches to fit the entire field. Now thats a huge map (5 feet by 2 1/2 feet), but its doable. Now that 1h=1m, however, if you don't scale the map you'd need something about double the size.

Right, so most people would say "Just scale your map. Make a hex equal something larger than 1 meter (maybe 2, or 3 or 4 meters)". This is a great idea, but we haven't been able to make it work for some reason because of movement and AOE.

If a map has a scale of greater than 1h=1m, and my flight is 35m, how many hexes do I move in a half move? How is my turn mode effected?

If I have an 8m AOE radius blast, how many people what are in adjacent hexes can I hit if the scale is greater than 1h=1m? Why does the scale of the map change the number of targets I can hit?

Also if you scale up a map how do you figure out knockback?

Now I apologize if any of these sound like snide questions, but they aren't meant to. This has been a topic of discussion within my gaming group for a while, and we have been unable to come up with any decent solutions.

Any help figuring this out would be appreciated, just understand that "fudge it" doesn't work in conjunction with using a map in my group.

Re: Yet Again: Please Help Name My Character

Sorry, things have been a bit hectic and haven't started playing yet. I've hemming and hawing over the suggestions I like, not making a final decision. And since the game isn't imminent yet, its been made that much easier to put off.

Don't worry though, as soon as I've decided I'll post the character's name. I may even post the character (I haven't decided that part yet either.)

Re: Heat absorption

If what you want to do is cool things down (AKA make a branding iron cold), or say put out a fire, I would build it as a dispel (possibly a cumulative one if it takes a bit of time).

Since you can't transfer END from something that has no END, and the source of the Absorption needs to affect you before you can gain anything, I would make it an AID linked to the dispel.

Re: Yet Again: Please Help Name My Character

So' date=' as it's a different power set, Feedback would be acceptable? (It's been used at least twice that I'm aware of -- once in Marvel Comics, and once on "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?")

Yes, and it has been done in his game. For example, there is a character named Wildcat, who has crude oil projection powers.

Re: Yet Again: Please Help Name My Character

Everyone, thanks again for the help. The suggestions were all very helpful.

I will post again once I have decided on something.

Re: Yet Again: Please Help Name My Character

Out of curiosity' date=' why not Airwave? Too common or is there a hero/villain in your game universe with that name already?[/quote']

My GM asked me not to. Thats the basics of it.

 

He prefers people to not use the names of existing characters (IE Airwave is from DC) for characters with the same power set.

Re: Yet Again: Please Help Name My Character

The character has radio wave projection/ manipulation/detection powers. He is built as a very standard very vanilla FEP.

Flight

Resistant Protection: Force Field

Blast (high intensity radio wave emissions, AKA microwaves)

Flash to Radio and Hearing (radio feedback)

Darkness to Radio

HRRP

Radar

I'm not sure if there's anything else I can tell you that would help. The character got his powers by accident, and has very little understanding of them beyond the basics.

I just made a new character for a champions game. He has radio wave projection/control powers.

He's a very basic character, but for the life of me I can't come up with a name for him.

My only restrictions are:

The character is an American male adult.

The character cannot be named Airwave.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Re: Your character's theme music!

Not all of my characters have (or have had) theme songs. But here's some of them:

Axle: Extreme sports nut, X-game's champion turned super hero (read Night Thrasher with no SID). He started his career as a super hero as a member of the Reality show super hero team New York Justice. He has two theme songs The first one is:

Which is his In Game Theme Music

The second is the instrumental version if Kicks by MELL which I couldn't find a video of.

Rebound: She is a reluctant teen hero with energy redirection powers. Her father was a petty crook who was also an abusive drunk. She has confidence issues because of him constantly telling her that her powers were useless to him, and the fact that Absorption hurts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR6Ugzbe7eI

Midian: Midian was the lead guitar for an up and coming heavy metal band. While the band was performing at the Wacken Open Air Music Festival in Gemany he found out all-too-late that the vocalist for the band was really a DEMON agent. The group's new song turned out to be a summoning ritual. But something went wrong with it, the demons summoned attacked the band. The lead singer, bassist and back up singers (all DEMON agents) were killed, and the drummer was severely injured. Midian tried to save his friends and the crowd, when something unexplained happened and the demons became trapped in Midian's body granting him super powers. Midian would never admit it, but he is afraid of his powers and worried that he might some day become a villain because of them. He is my 90's bad-ass style character.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_1RqyNdzbE

Dcotor Pranava: Dr. Pranava is a blind telepath from India. As a child he was caught in an explosion and lost both his sight and hearing. His mutant powers developed during puberty in such a way so that his ESP now compensates for his blindness and deafness by allowing him to perceive the world through clairvoyance. He is an actual doctor (nobody knows he is really blind and deaf) with a very up-beat attitude and has occasionaly made people hallucinate that the world just turned Bollywood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC3QNyEuBgYHere is a translation of the lyrics.

Re: My players have become villians

This whole thing reminded me of a BESM game I was in.

My character was a member of an intergalactic police organization, and i was the sole undercover operative based on earth. The characters were dealing with an alien smuggling ring. The plot was very frustrating, and took far to many game sessions.

But while the adventure lasted 6 or 7 sessions (maybe more, been a while) the scenario only spanned about 4-5 days in game. During this time, we also had to deal with a PC's girlfriend getting kidnapped by a different villain (had to happen when it did, nobody complained).

We got no no help from the local authorities, or the intergalactic police on either matter. And we were constantly getting thwarted by local normals who wanted to keep the smuggled items they bought.

In the end my character snapped, ranting about how earthlings were ungrateful bastards who deserved nothing but annihilation. He tried to cause the smuggler's space-folding engine to go overload and explode while in earth's gravity field (would have turned the planet into a black hole). When he failed one of the other PC's convinced him that earth wasn't worth blowing up, and it was all the intergalactic police's fault. So all the PC's decided to become space pirates and with both the girlfriend and her kidnapper, left for space.

The campaign ended there. Everyone (including the GM) found this somehow a satisfactory end. We all are still friends and all still game together.

Re: One HELL of a poker game...

Gideon: He's a 200+ year old con-man, cardsharp, maverick, with tall-tale/ legend/folk-tale based luck powers including the ability to object read (he always has a chance to know if someone has stacked the deck). I think he'd see what the stakes are, and if he could afford it (or maybe even if he really couldn't) ask to buy in on the next hand.

A poker game with arch-fiends is just to perfect a situation for him to pass up.

Re: Picking a codename that, like, a million other characters haven't already used.

I agree that the name for the character should be easy to pronounce and evoke something about the character (even if people may not get it).

Names I've used:

Mesa (7'4" tall Luke Cage style brick)

Axle (Martial Artist/ extreme sports nut. re: Night Thrasher)

Rebound (energy absorption/redirection powers)

Freefall (no range gravity manipulation)

More obscure names I've used:

Lady Mondegreen (Sonic Manipulation) named after Lady Mondegreen

The character knows that most people won't get the reference, so she dresses in fancy ren-garb and wears a masquerade mask. Most people think Mondegreen is her family name.

Dr. Pranava (blind mentalist) he is from India. Pranava is sanskrit for Aum

Being from India where Sanskrit is spoken, Dr. Pranava's name isn't quite so obscure there as it may seem.

Plastron (Power Armor, pretending to be an alien robot) Plastron means exoskeleton. The character (a teenager) wanted a weird name that "sounded cool" and most people wouldn't question the meaning of. It is supposed to evoke thoughts of words like Plasma, plastic, electron and well... Tron (He's even grey with blue highlights).

Re: You. Make. The Call.

If I ignore the fact that he blows point caps out of the water for the game I play I think the build is solid.

I would simply have to reduce everything to closer to the 50AP level which is standard for a starting character in our game. If that could be done and the character still function, I think it could be a fun build to play with and would allow it without hesitation.

so someone actually proposed such a boring MP?

If you think that is boring, you would really have issues with one of my characters.

21... X-Ray Emmissions Elemental Control 21 point reserve

39... 1) Radiation Shield: Force Field: 20PD/20ED, 0End (+1/2)

21... 2) Wave Propulsion: Flight: 17", 1/2 End (+1/4)

 

50... X-Ray emmissions Multipower: 50 reserve, Personal Immunity(+1/4), No Knockback (-1/4)

5u... 1) Low Yield Burst Energy Blast: 10d6, Personal Immunity(+1/4), No Knockback (-1/4) (50 Active Points)

5u... 2) Hard Radiation Blast: RKA: 3d6, Personal Immunity(+1/4), No Knockback (-1/4) (45 Active Points)

5u... 3) Targeted Irradiation: EB: 5d6, No Normal Defense (+1), Personal Immunity(+1/4), No Knockback (-1/4) (50 Active Points)

 

12... Radioactive Blood: Life Support: Safe Environment: High Radiation, Immunity: Disease and Biowarfare

10... X-Ray Vision

Re: Worth a thousand words?

Picture 4 Maybe "Spectrum" or "Prism". I see her as having powers based n light and colors, maybe even creating solid energy constructs similar to the powers of a Green Lantern. I'd make her an alien, maybe on Earth due to assignment since her costume and bearing have a military vibe to me.

 

Picture 1: Her cowl makes her look bald (though of course she didn't have to be) and that makes me think mentalist right off the bat. Interesting color combination, a bit on the somber side in ways and kind of severe maybe a very no nonsense even hardened personality that's somewhat superior. I could see her as a villain actually with powers centered on Mind Control and Illusion. Weak in physical combat and likes to hide and mentally snipe at "inferior minds". Name could be something like Dominatrix, Regis, or other commanding title.

 

Picture 2. The costume implies mystic to be, of a meditative, monk sort rather than a mage though I could see him casting spells too. But I more imagine a martial artist that practices a "internal" style the emphasizes chi/mana control and Mind over matter maybe Kalarippayattu an Indian martial art that has some mystical aspects. Might be a little clichéd by he could be blind too or maybe just wears the eyeless mask to focus his other senses.

Ok,

Picture 4 is something I just made up to post.

Picture 1 and Picture 2 are actually PCs of mine. I'm going to wait until you post your version of who Picture 2 is before saying any more than: "I really like your ideas".

Re: Worth a thousand words?

And one more pic I made...

Re: Worth a thousand words?

Well' date=' I'm not the OP but thanks all the same. If anyone else would like to post pictures for it I encourage them to.[/quote']

 

 

Your wish is my command.

 

Here's three pics I made...

Re: A campaign for my kids

Considering what Gojira mentioned, I would suggest not using PS238. I don't think kids would really enjoy playing an RPG about going to school. They are already there for at least 6 hours a day.

If you really want to do younger heroes, perhaps you should aim for a more after school/ weekend hero type scenario. Basically leave out the school (for the most part) and concentrate on the lives of the characters after the bell rings.

Re: Please Help: I need a name for my character

Thank you all for your help.

I ended up using the name Phantasma.

Please help.

I need a name for a new character I am going to be playing in a game tomorrow night.

I have everything except her super hero name (and I do mean everything.)

The character is a dark and mysterious female mage from Ireland. She was taught how to be a mage when she stumbled into the dream world.

The character is very Grant Morrison/ Neil Gaiman esc. Powers she has include such things as:

The Wild Saint's Curse of the World Insubstantial (a flash that includes touch group and spacial awareness among the senses it effects).

The Forbidden Conjuration of the Serene Openers (an RKA only versus inanimate objects)

and

The Dreaming Demon's Spears of Ether (an Auto-fire EB)

Any suggestions will be appreciated. However, I would like to ask for super-hero style names please, not fantasy game style names (IE: Scarlet Witch not Zatanna)

Thanks in advance.

Re: Silence is Golden

But that makes it an advantage' date=' no?; when actually it's a bad thing for the character? Isn't this analogous to buying a gun with Trigger (when character pulls trigger of gun)? The speaking is just the SFX of activating the power.[/quote']

 

yes and no. For this character Linked is both an advantage and a disadvantage. The power goes off any time the character attempts to speak, which means it can be used as often as the GM allows, and in whatever phases the GM allows (Activating takes no time, trigger resets automatically). But while he can use the power as a Zero Phase action (or actually as no action at all), he can also be forced to use the power more easily than normal.

 

It isn't like pulling the trigger of a gun at all. He can talk in is sleep, or have a cold and need to cough. Anything that would force him to make noise using his vocal cords would cause his power to go off. Pulling the trigger of a gun takes more thought and effort. Its the same thought as making the power No Conscious Control or giving it Side Effects, I just think mechanically it works better.

 

I think that this make Voice linked to the Sonic Attack, rather than the triggered power.

 

Since he can lower his voice (probably takes a Power skill check), he can reduce the amount of damage proportionally to the volume of his voice.

 

This would be, to me, the best way of handling this power. The primary power here would be the voice attack.

 

Now, an argument could be made to have these powers doubly-linked... as the voice attack requires that he speaks, right?

Except that Voice (even if you try to quantify it) is not an attack nor does it actually count as an ability of any kind according to the rules, and therefore you cannot link anything to it. You need to use Trigger.

 

Being able to lower his voice may take a skill roll, but that should probably be taken as a Physical Disadvantage rather than a Power Limitation. Building the power with "requires a skill roll to lower the damage from maximum" is a pain.

 

And lastly you cannot "double link" things if you are using the RAW.

Re: Character Names

I have lots of different ways of coming up with character names.

Mostly my superhero names have something to do with the character's powers or theme.

Mesa is a brick (originally an earth elemental character he lost most of those powers)

Cinder is a fire projector

Nightingale is a bat-man family style martial artist/ detective

Plastron is a fairly obscure word meaning exoskeleton (or dickey, or the shell of a turtle). The character "grows" power armor.

Rebound can absorb and redirect energy

My character's normal names are generally just names I like. Sometimes though I will pick something thats a reference or based on the character's heritage.

Nightingale is half irish (mom)/ half Swedish (dad) so her name is Emily Riedberg

Plastron is jewish. However (as a brainy teen hero) I wanted him to have one of the worst "nerdiest" names I could find. So his name is Mervin Spitzner, and as part of the running gag of how bad his name is his father is Yitzak, his mother is Mildred Goldfarb-Spitzner, and his younger brother is Ephraim.

When looking for "normal" names for characters I generally look at sites like:

20,000 Names.com

Behind the Names Random name generator

and for last names I often go to:

Behind the Names: Surnames

Re: Silence is Golden

It depends on how you want the character to function. Blackbolt can talk, but he can only talk in barely audible whispers, and learning how to do that took him years of practice.

I would actually go a different rout with the build. This is what I would do:

Energy Blast: xd6, AoE cone (+1), Trigger [speaks or tries to speak] Activating takes no time, trigger resets automatically (+1), Restrainable (-1/2), Does not work in a vacuum (-1/4), Zero Range (-1/2)

If you want the power to be a little more realistic, replace AoE cone with Explosion cone. The power is sound waves, they do get weaker as they get farther from the source.

If you/ your GM rules that the cone starts in his hex give him personal immunity, otherwise you don't need it.

If it doesn't matter how loudly he speaks then do give him Must Use Power at Maximum Effect (-1/2)

Now the explanation...

I built it with trigger because if he works the same way Blackbolt does, if he makes any sound with his vocal cords and his mouth is open, he uses his power automatically.

I didn't build the power with Must Use at Maximum Effect, because (again if like Blackbolt) he can lower the damage to as little as 1 pip (never zero) but he needs to regulate the volume of his voice to do so. The thing is, building this as a limitation IMO is overly complicated, because technically he should need a skill roll in order to not use the power at Max, and it is just simpler to not buy the limitation and leave it up to appropriate RP. If you want you could always put it on the sheet as a -0 though of "Damage is relative to volume". Just remember his maximum damage is at normal speaking volume, so lowering his volume so much that deals no damage (1 pip) means that he is lowering his voice to the point of being close to subvocal and completely un-hearable.

Also, restrainable and Incantations are almost identical, yes. The problem with them is that Incantations is more limiting, but worth less. Restrainable is the appropriate limitation for this SFX, because people can't interrupt him using the power. In order to stop the power, someone would have to restrain his mouth (gag him, grab his mouth, entangle his mouth) before his action. And sadly restrainable does not automatically include "Does not work in a vacuum" unless the GM says it does.

Re: The Zodiac Group

If its valid then go for it. You are right the reason for the Limitation is a good one. I just thought it was illegal to do.

Kudos.

Re: Fallout (Too)

I hate to be the continual bearer of bad news, but you still have a couple of mistakes.

20 1) Irradiating Field : Energy Blast 3d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent (+½), Damage Shield (Offensive; +¾), No Normal Defense ([standard]; Radiation Shielding ; +1), Does BODY (+1) (71 Active Points); Fuel Dependent (fuel is Very Common; must refuel Once per 6 Hours; Must absorb ambient radiation ; -¾), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (No effect on lead. ; -¼) 0

To clarify: Lead is a form of radiation shielding. Because the power is an NND with the defense being "radiation shielding" the power does not work against lead by default. Since the power does not work against lead, you cannot get points for the disadvantage "Limited Power, does not work against lead".

15 2) Density Manipulation : Flight 22", Position Shift, Costs END Only To Activate (+¼) (61 Active Points); Fuel Dependent (fuel is Very Common; must refuel Once per 6 Hours; Must absorb ambient radiation ; -¾), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (Cannot be used Underwater; -¼) 5

Re: Fallout (Too)

Removing the linked did shoot him well above 350. I've edited Fallout replacing the Linked with Limited based on his Susceptibility and reduced the overall power level of his Elemental Control. (Strength was dropped as well.) In addition I've added some clarity to the Fuel Dependency and expanded what powers require the radiation bath. Because Linked was removed, I moved the Lightening Calculator back to Talents. Also, Fast Strike was removed all together but can someone clarify why one cannot take a single martial maneuver?

 

Hopefully this brings Fallout up to code as it were, enjoy.

I don't have my book in front of me, but I remember Martial arts having a minimum number of maneuvers listed in the skill description. I think its 4 or 5.

If it isn't in the skill description its in the Martial Arts section in the back of the book.