Matt the Bruins

Re: VPP, Extra Capacity? Only Magic? -1/4 I've wondered about that limitation when I've seen it on a couple of write-ups for characters with VPPs. Is there really anything that having the SFX "magic" practically limits one from doing with a Power Pool if it doesn't have a specific limitation about needing a spell book to change powers or something similar? I mean, Tyrannon's powers are all magical in nature, but I don't see that preventing him from assigning any particular power or set of advantages to his VPP.

Re: NND and Entangle I'm also not as bothered by the lack of difference in effect against low-point and high-point characters because you have to buy at least 82 active points worth of power before you can do anything with it, generally making it a GM-fiat power in the first place. I much prefer something that effective to be very expensive rather than the Captain Chronos approach, which is a 25 active point power that costs 1 point as a multipower slot in addition to violating the NND rules. Plus, using EDM: Time Travel as the basis for a time manipulating power seems elegant and appropriate to me.

Re: NND and Entangle True, but the 800 point master villain is considerably more likely to have countering EDM or time manipulation abilities than Flo from Mel's Diner.

Re: Whoo-Hoo! Atlantean Age Is Mine!

Re: Whoo-Hoo! Atlantean Age Is Mine! I just bought and read it over the Christmas holiday. The Good: I really like most of the setting info that makes up the lion's share of the book, particularly the play-by-play of the various nations, their peoples, political setup, etc. The history of Atlantean-Lemurian hostility is especially riveting and offers a lot of story possibilities. It was also nice to read more about the Empyreans and the Serpent Men, races I've seen mentioned in previous books but had little concrete info about. I liked the treatment of orichalcum and the various elemental substances similarly used by the Lemurians, an interesting take on magical science that reminds me of some Pulp-era magazine treatments of Atlantis. Personally, I like the 3-column setup for everything but the character sheets. It makes for good flow in the highly compartmentalized geographical write-ups. Some of the art is beautiful, particularly Ted Kim's work and a breathtaking piece by Storn Cook. The Bad: I'm not fond of the hodgepodge mixing of Greek gods, Titans, and author-invented deities in the Gods section, but that may be something that wouldn't bother anyone who's not a mythology buff. I think it would have been much better to go with an entirely original pantheon, or if one wanted a feel hearkening to Greek myth, to use the primordial forces out of classical mythology that predated the Olympian gods, such as Gaea, Uranus, Oceanus, Nox, etc. Also not thrilled by the magic system. It seems needlessly convoluted and twists the Hero Systems rules out of shape to simulate the kinds of SFX-themed spell lists used by games like Rolemaster and Ars Magica. But it's easy enough to keep the spectacular magic flavor and genre-appropriate trappings while ditching the specific rules in favor of a treatment I'd prefer (say, magic VPPs with an active point bonus to reflect the abundance of magic and SFX-based limitations to model sorcerers' varying expertise with different kinds of magic). The Ugly: I have to wonder what Steve and Andy Mathews were thinking when they allowed some of the art in this book to make it to press. The three most prominent figures in the book are represented by illustrations that are embarrassingly bad, and should never have been used in a professional publication. If one of the professional illustrators DOJ normally hires wasn't available for the commission of those images, it would have been better to leave them out entirely.

Re: Bored of the (Lantern) Rings "They're after me lucky power battery!":fear:

Re: Mental Booby Trap I definitely didn't want the Damage Shield approach since this is supposed to be the effect of the character consciously pulling horrible knowledge to the forefront in response to a mind probe rather than a consequence of her normal mental state; it would require enough concentration to take up a combat action, and probably cost END to reflect the fact that it's not fun stuff for her to dwell on either. Do Mental Transforms have to be bought as BOECV? It would definitely need to work against EGO, but that additional +1 might make the effect I'm looking to build prohibitively expensive.

I was thinking the other day about how to build a compound power that would simulate someone knowing such terrible cosmic secrets and such that a telepath reading their mind could be shocked into a catatonic state and possibly emerge from it permanently unhinged. I figure it would need to be either a triggered Ego Attack or BOECV RKA with the STUN multiplier increased out the wazoo (for that instant drop 'em out cold effect) with a linked Mental Transform that works against EGO. But I'm not sure how much of a limitation it should be that both effects can only be used against a target who's reading the character's mind. Any feedback on what sort of value should be assigned for that limitation?

Re: NND and Entangle The Mystic World has an expanded write-up for Extra-Dimensional Movement that includes granularity for time travel depending on how wide a range of target time one wants. That seems like it would work fairly well for building the exact degree of this take on the power needed. (Might be hella expensive though, UAA on a time shift that can send one target forward up to 1 Turn would yield an 82 Active Point power, before you add in other advantages like Area Of Effect; the million year version would be 100 Active Points.)

Re: Change Environment or Telekinesis Doesn't Change Environment have a TK component option that's normally used for things like wind speed or how bogged down characters get by ground conditions? It seems like that mechanic could be repurposed for things like closing doors, pushing buttons and levers, etc.

Re: Spear of Destiny Kinda depends on which version of the spear one wants to depict. The DC Comics version would have a VPP with some godawfully high point total - even the Spectre couldn't overcome effects created with its power. Various fictional versions seem to have gained the ability to kill anything as a result of its infamous original use. Maybe a high damage class HKA with the NND (defense is holy protection) and Does BODY advantages? Real world legends about it say that its wielder is fated for victory so long as the spear is in his possession. Maybe Luck with the Usable On Others, Area Effect, and MegaScale advantages?

Re: new mutants; Magik's "soulsword" I hadn't read it if so, but that Witchcraft limited series some years back seemed to proceed from that premise, without the active mentor/student aspect. Personally, I think once Clea left the nest and returned to her home dimension he should have approached Elizabeth Twoyoungmen about training her properly as his successor. She's supposed to potentially have more raw magical power than any human being except Strange himself, and she should be taking advantage of the best possible instruction while it's available. I mean, Rintrah's heart was in the right place and all, but does anyone really think he would have been able to take over for Strange if he went down fighting the next time Chthon or Shuma-Gorath tried to take over the world?

Re: new mutants; Magik's "soulsword" Right there with you on that issue. All the magic she learned from Belasco involved invoking the Elder Gods, which would certainly have justified her being unwilling to use it. Even Dr. Strange can't manipulate those sorts of forces without taking a big risk.

Re: What are your HERO stats like? Covers character sheet with mid-single digit DEX score... I have a lot of manual dexterity in my hands for drawing, archery, puck shooting accuracy, and precision knife work, things that would be represented by specific skills or skill levels. But whole-body wise I am a horrible klutz... trip all the time, bump into things, have terrible balance. Thank Heaven I bought Breakfall as a child, and have managed to avoid broken bones as a result... I pine for the days when my knees would let me be fast enough to run a 6 minute mile. Nowadays 3 consecutive 10-minute miles is the best I can do without a large land predator to provide motivation.

Re: Mind Control - how much is glowing eyes worth? Well, Linda Blair looked different, sounded different, and I'm pretty sure you could smell that pea soup upchuck from a distance...

Re: new mutants; Magik's "soulsword"

Re: Time Stop (its harder than it sounds) If I recall correctly, universe-spanning MegaScale was judged to be a +10 Advantage for that Word of Unmaking spell write-up in The Mystic World.

Re: new mutants; Magik's "soulsword" For all the talk of Illyana's soulsword being "the ultimate expression of her mystic power," I don't recall seeing it being used to enhance her other magic abilities. There was maybe one occasion where she used it as a focus for dispelling some wide-scope effects S'ym had inflicted on limbo, but since she was left more or less powerless by maintaining that effect I assume that was actually her fairly sizable VPP at work.

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. "I kick ass for the Lord!"

Re: Argus, the All-Seeing Futurevision: Precognitive Clairsentience with No Range plus a number of linked 5-point Combat Skill Levels bought as adding to DCV.

Re: Project 1000: Build a Legend/Megahero Was it named "Azathoth," by any chance?

Re: Nextwave: Agents Of H.A.T.E. Elsa jumped off the top of a skyscraper to shoot Fin Fang Foom in the eyes; I'd give her considerably more than +5 PRE vs. PRE Attacks... love the KS: How To Kill Monsters, though!

Re: [split] Paris Hilton-Supervillainess! [builds] Would that apply to the effects of powers like Mind Control and Telepathy as well as straight-up mental damage? "I tried to read her mind for the location of the bombs, but all I saw was thousands and thousands of shoes!"

Re: Possession Arcane Adversaries has a spell write up for the Demonologist that uses Duplication to temporarily turn someone else into a copy of him. Perhaps a mental stats-only version of that with the "Original character is incapacitated and helpless while duplicate exists" limitation from the Astral Form build and a mental breakout roll like for Mind Scan would do the trick?

Re: Superhero X and the Fur Con of DOOM! Kurzhaan the Conqueror is already a werewolf, so it'd probably just make him activate his Multiform involuntarily if the effect got past his Power Defense at all. (His lycanthropy is originally based on a Major Transform of about 360 Active Points when you factor in all the Difficult to Dispels, so unless the villain is actually The Trickster gone slumming down on the material planes I don't see him overpowering that effect permanently...) Super Model would probably get turned into an anthopomorphic swan or Siamese cat. An angry one, since her career would be out the window until she could get the transformation undone. Hope Yiffy Lad paid up his health insurance premiums. Earth Girl I don't know about. She's kind of a living avatar of Mother Earth and her body is actually composed of animated dirt, pebbles, and various kinds of plants growing in them—I seriously doubt she'd count as "people" for the purpose of that sort of transformation, and there's not an animal that she has some subconscious desire to be.