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Huh, That makes it actually a fair bit more helpful than I originally thought! Keeping that extra 2d6 isn't much, but useful. And as for the warning for Martial Arts... Well, Fair enough. I'll let it sit and consider that far later.

Good Evening! I've got what I hope should be a quick question. I'm looking to buy an Advantage for Strength. Specifically Area of Advantage, Any Area. I know this allows you to generate 2, 2meter area's to hit, which have to be adjacent, and well represents the intent I have to be hitting some of the area round, but not just a whole burst like Area of Effect: Radius would be. My questions are this: 1: Buying the Advantage Increases the Active Points on Strength. I think the rules are saying that it increases the DC accordingly. Thus, a 10 DC 10d6 attack would become a 10DC 8d6 Attack. Is that correct, or am I incorrect? 2: Buying the Advantage generates the Advantage as it's own Separate Power. This means I could still use a more normal Strike attack without using the Area of Effect Advantage if I am reading it correctly. Am I reading that correctly? 3: I am 100% uncertain how that would interact with Martial Arts. Specifically, whether I could use that Advantage on Martial Art's Attacks or not, or if I'd have to buy it separately, or so on. Any Advice there would be appriciated.

That is fair. I understand the limitation on infinite healing being as it is. While this would heal the user, it would only heal up a specific hit at a time, and only giving it a shot once, but I can still see it as being considered dubious. If I am trying to consider it as a more Constant lesser healing effect, I could treat it as Regeneration. Giving it a Limited Effect Limitation to only last for the turn, if they've hit a foe in that time. Granted, Regeneration, unless oodles of points are spent on it, tends to seem to be a between-combat healing option. That and Combat seems to last aprximatly 3ish turns from what I hear. I could still see if that would be more workable.

Well wishing and will writing is imperative.

Ah, Understood. I was attaching Gestures as I figured that made sense for a power 'setup' with Extra Time. If it is also then required when activated... Less apt. Thanks, sincerely.

Fair enough. And... I apologize for being somewhat, well, not somewhat, simply being belligerent. In reading the system a fair portion has made sense, yet this had been the first instance that truly stuck in my grill and was refusing to make sense to me. I got fed up, defensive, and was no longer arguing about the topic at hand. For that, I am honestly sorry. But, the person who posted the power that originally led me to this kerfuffle with has found their own solution, but I did have a similar power in the works on my mind. The intended goal was for the User to Spend a moment enforcing their strikes with the ability to heal themselves if they hit. It was intended to take a moment for them to activate it, and it would persist for a while. The way I was currently thinking of it with Linked Power would be: Healing Strikes: Healing 2d6 Body and Stun, Expanded Effect (+1/2), Time Limit: 1 Min (+3/4), Extra Time: Full Phase (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Linked Power: HTH (-1/2) However, If I was building it with Trigger, I think It would be Healing Strikes: Healing 2d6 Body and Stun, Expanded Effect (+1/2), Time Limit: 1 Min (+3/4), Trigger: Successfully hitting a foe with a HTH attack, Zero Phase to Use and Reset (+1/2), Extra Time: Full Phase (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4) Advice to or against it would be helpful. And, again, apologies.

I will try to be concise in this. I am not looking to define a specific power. If I were, I would describe it in likely too much detail, as you have pointed out my wont to do. I am trying to understand use cases for both Advantages and Disadvantages so that I might better be able to build powers and characters in the future. In speaking on other people's powers I found that a Linked Power and a Trigger Power could function similarly but have wildly differing cost effectiveness. I wanted to understand why that is. Trying to figure why they were and weren't the appropriate modifiers. To that end, it has been answered. I was theorycrafting a power that activates after another. Of course Linked makes more sense. I posted an example power as if I simply state "I can make a power with Trigger or Linked Power and it achieves the same result! Why is this?" All I will receive is, "Well, it depends on the type of power you are making." That's hardly helpful for anyone. I was confused because of a fundamental misunderstanding of Trigger's common use cases. I made mistakes presuming what Trigger was intended for, as it could be used for this, as you put, contrived instance.

I am frustrated not because I am trying to slap Trigger onto something without paying attention to it. The fact that it is used to create powers that lie in wait is understood. The abundant amount of information to explain that is, too, understood. Nor am I particularly missing the fact that it provides a useful advantage by this, and more than any other Advantage, allows you to set a power and leave.That is well understood. I am frustrated because I am comparing it to Linked in a very specific instance. And instead of simply providing the information that that is not the intended use case a bunch of flak has been shot up as an obscuring concern. Whether it is about that Linked is a preventative limitation. Or perhaps that Linked requires a separate power activation and and that that is why it is limited over Trigger. Or that Trigger's trigger can be better defined than a Linked Power one. I was looking for why it was such a mathematical oddity. That it was not under Trigger's Intended use case was the answer. That is not to say that it could not be done in that manner! Rather, many effects can be duplicated in less than effective or efficient or intended way. Heck, Creating a Triggered Healing Power with the Trigger of While Having Body Damage, and then letting it auto-reset with the appropriate expenditure is a way to provide Regenerating Health! But it is far more effective, efficient, and productive to simply use Regeneration. I am frustrated because so much information was put about that the actual information I was aiming for was lost. That Trigger, while capable of that, is not Intended for it. That's all.

As per @Thia Halmades your statements draw not so much clarification, as a frustrating simple answer. Not because you are wrong, but rather, that it simply solidifies what was reached. Namely, it is the options of what could be defined more than anything else seem to indicate the advantage. Trigger provides a thousand different options for how it could be implemented, where it was, and provides multiple interpretations and triggers should one purchase that option. Rather.... how to put it... The fact that one is choosing to intentionally limit how a power is tied to other actions is what is causing the limitation to be worth it's value. While it makes sense... I may get frustrated by it. But, it does make sense. It's a frustrating sort of answer that due to the potential being lost from a theoretical advantage causes it to be a limitation instead.

I think I am understanding what you are saying. And I'm going to try to see if I get what you are saying. Namely, as there is a fair bit of... weird information that has been included but is not the topic here. This is me trying to understand why Linked Power, while seeming to function as a very specific Trigger, is considered a Limitation, where as Trigger in general is an Advantage. I hadn't even considered building something like this as a Damage Shield, as I hadn't considered that valid. Though, I am certain I could try my hand at it. If I am understanding correctly, which I may not be, You are stating Trigger, as it can be described as, well, triggering on a successful attack. Linked Power however requires stating it will or not be used on the First Power's Activation, regardless of whether it will hit or not. That, I will agree is an Advantage. Only spending END when you need to is handy. Also if some peculiarities arise, Trigger still allows for a secondary attack roll to be made for the second power, should it be so necessary. In a Logic System, Trigger could be defined as If A is True, Then B is True. If A is False, Then B is Null If you manage to hit, you activate the second ability. If you fail to hit, you don't spend anything else. Where as Linked is more aptly described as If A is True, Then B is True. If A is False, Then B is False. If you manage to hit, you activate the second ability. If you fail to hit, you use up what is needed for the second ability to be used as well. In that situation, Trigger is advantageous. In that situation, I would say that is an Exceedingly small difference, normally the cost of END, to prompt the difference between a +1/4 (Minimum) and a -1/2. But, it is advantageous. Granted, this is already the very specific case of a Secondary Power Activating upon the use of a Primary Power, both of which are intending to target the same target. So, I shall rest my confused grumble.

I very well may be looking at Linked incorrectly, but I do have contention with what you say. If I am reading it correctly, you do have the potential to get to make the call "it can only be used when Power A is used and I hit my opponent with Power A." Not in the limitation itself, but in the implementation. Drawn from the text for Linked Power: Lesser power is linked to Greater power; character can use Greater power without using Lesser power, but can only use Lesser power if he uses Greater power, character must use Lesser power in proportion to Greater power. I don't know about you, but I read that as saying that I get to choose whether I use the Lesser Power or not. A useful ability depending on Endurance and situational modifiers. If they heal from Fire damage and my Linked Fire Punch would heal them, not having to use it seems helpful. I will admit, it leaves it vague in determining when one declares if they will be using a linked power though. If it is simply after the first Power's Activation, then I have to decide to use it before I know if I hit. If it is in the same segment after the first power has activated, then I can choose to activate it on only a hit. This, by the way, ignores the fact that regardless of whether or not the attack hits, I will also likely be rolling to hit the foe for the Linked Power as well. As Linking a power to another doesn't automatically allow it to hit if the first power hits from what I am reading. You roll either way. And while you bring up that Linked causes you to be unable to use Power B without use of Power A, I have yet to be able to find an ability written up with Trigger that can be activated without the triggering mechanism. Again, Drawn from the text for Trigger: This advantage allows a character to set up a power that activates when a defined circumstance occurs. Unless I am reading that wrong, that says that unless that circumstance occurs, the power cannot be used. So Linked requires the first power to be used, and Trigger requires the trigger to occur, which can include another power being activated. In the end there, Linked allows you to choose if the power activates or not and gets you a Point based discount. Trigger forces you to always use the power, costs additional points, requires you to work on resetting the Trigger, but allows you to define the trigger as things more specific or tangible than a Power activation. You are correct. It is more limiting to have to use the first power to use the second power. It does make it so that you have to wail on something to heal, so that limits a basic healing ability. What you fail to address though, is the fact that defining it as a Trigger still limits the healing ability to being used to when you try and blast something, but now is written as an Advantage, and costs additional points. If I am in a situation where I can't freely blast the sky or something equivilant, I am limited in the ability to heal regardless of whether that healing is occuring due to a Trigger on the Blast, or Linked to the blast.

Ah, this smacks of when I faced something similar with D&D 3.5. There was a stealth bonus or penalty due to size, and suitable Attack bonus's or penalty's as well. If you were larger, you were easier to hit. Smaller, harder. The core it worked off of though was the relative nature of size. If I'm a human sized person, and you are a gnome sized person, You're harder to spot. I'm not looking at knee level most of the time. If You're a gnome and I'm a Kobold, you aren't harder to spot. I'm used to looking where most people's knees are. In that system one's AC often had a subnote of how it compared to the average human, should they try to hit you and so on. As much for your personal understanding as ease of use for the GM. HERO, you have a few options with. You could set it up as a racial ability for Halflings to be gaining stealth and DCV and so on. Or, you can work to implement a Campaign scale rule, where depending on Comparative sizes, OCV, DCV, And Perception modifiers go up and down. The scale of that is up to you. The easy question to check for which you are wanting is just, "Do I think Halflings are sneaky because they are halflings, or because they are small? How about Goblin's? Does the reverse apply with Ogres? How about Giants?"

Hello! I'll try to make my question concise. Apologies when I fail. So while I was working on figuring out a neat way to provide a following up Attack for a thread in Fantasy Hero, I was struck with a peculiar sort of confusion. They wanted to apply an effect when they hit someone. Two options jumped to my mind immediately. Trigger, and Linked, for how to set it up. Then I blinked, and realized I had just defined an Advantage and Limitation to both allow the same sort of effect. So, I dug into this. As much to try and have everyone on the same page as to help me work through it in a written form, I'ma go over the two Effects. Trigger, is a variable advantage. It allows you to define a specific sort of trigger, activation time, reset condition, and power to be applied when that said Trigger occurs. Linked, is a variable disadvantage. It allows you to define a specific power to be internally linked, and only able to be activated when another power or happens. At first brush, my brain says this is fine. At second brush, I furrow my brow and see some overlap. So, I try and figure out if one of them can be defined in terms of the other. And in this case, yes! Linked, if one were to choose to, could be defined as a very specific subset of Trigger. Instead of allowing any action to be the trigger, it must be the activation, or use of another Power. Instead of an Activation time is set at a zero phase action and cannot be changed. Reset time is set to reset automatically and take no time. Thus... Linked, if it were written as a Trigger, is a +1 Advantage. To make matters more confusing, Linked Powers can also be used at lesser ammounts than full, or not just proportional to the Starting Power. So I try to look at it in another light. What does Trigger provide that Linked does not? What does Linked have that Trigger does not? Well, Trigger lets you increase or decrease the action it takes to activate the power it is attached to. It also lets you define multiple triggering conditions, and it gives control over the reset time to the player. Linked however, provides a single option for both activation, trigger, and reset time. It does rely on a secondary power however. So the question I came to is this. Trigger clearly has reason to exist, as it provides a multitude of different building options. Traps mainly come to mind. But why does Linked Exist as it does? It provides the same effect, for more cheaper than base, with the sole limitation being that it has to be connected to a Power or Action. A Trigger Power too can only be activated by their trigger, so what gives? The only reason I can think to have a Trigger based off a seperate Power activation, is if it's part of a Multipower for a Power that is outside of it. This is just an example, feel free to dismiss it as need be. Just trying to highlight my confussion. Say I have a Glass Cannon. Let's call them Blood Drinker. I want them to be getting hit left and right, but when they hit, they heal up a fair chunk of that damage. How do I do this? Well, I first decide that I want to both be healing Stun and Body. So, Heal with Added Effect at +1/2. Let's say I want 4d6. That's 60pt right there. Now I'm faced with how to.... attach this power to their other powers. Blood Drinker sounds like a skittish dude, so let's make his main attack a Blast. So, I need to attach Blood Drinking: Healing, to his Blast. If I do it via Trigger, I am looking at a few ways to do it. I can have him prep his attacks to steal the blood, or have it just sorta keep happening. I Might be able to have him hit, and then on his next segment, heal up, but I'm not 100% certain, considering Blast is an Instant Power. Either way, I"m looking likely at a +1/2 Advantage. Or, I can set it up as a Linked Power. I don't pay a single extra point, and can have it happen each time those hits impact the foe! Not only that, it keeps me under 70pt's incase that is the active point cap of the campaign. Both options use extra endurance, so... I'm confused. If you can used Linked Power instead of Trigger... why wouldn't you?

Thanks @Thia Halmades The main reason I included No Range is because I can't see a limitation on Linked power that it has to target the same Target. And as Flash naturally would have some range otherwise, I was adding it just to make it clear who it's targeting. But the core of what you say is true. Define what you want to happen. Do you want to shock them? Blind Them? Make their Punch do Lightning instead of Physical? Depending on what you want it to do, you build to that effect. The three options I gave are just the most common ways I could consider to apply a Flash effect to the attack.

Socks

Shoes

If I had to guess... Two options. One: It is a Buff. You cast Lightning Fist, and either the next Attack with a HTH attack inflicts the effect, or for the next Minute or so the effect will activate with HTH attacks. Two: It's a specific Attack. You cast by attacking with Lightning Fist. You make a HTH attack, and the effect goes off. In both, techincally all three of these cases, you would pay END for the second attack, and see if the Magic hits, but only if you hit them. The base effect I would have as a Linked Power. You say he wants magic Light to go off? Then I'd say... Presuming it is a Flash attack. Link up a flash attack to a HTH strike. Something like... Lightning Flashing Fist: xd6 Flash attack. Linked Power: HTH Attack (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), No Range (-1/2) That lets you literally Cast Fist with a flash. If you are looking for it as a Minute long buff... Lightning Flashing Fist: xd6 Flash attack, Time Limit: 1 Minuit (+3/4) Linked Power: HTH Attack (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), No Range (-1/2) This cloaks the hand in a lightning or flashy aura, that they can activate for a Zero Phase action when they hit with a HTH attack. If you are looking for a Single Use Buff Lightning Flashing Fist: xd6 Flash Attack, Trigger: Punching someone (Half Phase to Reset, Zero Phase Activation +1/4), Linked Power: HTH Attack (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), No Range (-1/2) That lets them spend a moment prepping themselves before they strike someone, and only lasts through the hit. It requires reupping it. Those are the first ways that come to mind.

Hello! I've got a short question, but from looking on the forums in the past it sorta feels like I may be poking a proverbial 800kg Hulk Knockoff. So, bear that in mind The question is, "What do SFX do?" Now that itself is horribly broad, so I'll try to explain further. I was reading through an argument about Transform, Multiform, and Shapeshift earlier, and I was somewhat confused. The prevailing question in it was whether Shapeshift's SFX, of shapeshifting, provided abilities with it. The general conclusion was that, no, it did not, as while it might seem to, it is up to the GM to generally limit abuse in that manner, or for the player to buy supporting abilities. Many people brought up and were frustrated that shapeshifting in previous editions one could define their SFX as Shapeshifting, which would not provide an effective Disguise, but would be "shapeshifting" themselves to provide said effect. However, and forgive me if I'm wrong, I'm not seeing anything actually in 6ed that prevents one from having a shapeshift sort of SFX. So I am both confused whether I do have to buy Shapeshift for... changing shape, or if I don't. Very literal example and why I am asking: I, for a shortly upcoming game (Yay! Got in one!) have built a character who's main power is Growth. This Growth is defined as a rather painful looking transformation into a Giant Monster. I did however, purchase it with both Persistent and 0END cost, so that the shift functionally lasts until they stop it. This, I presumed didn't provide anything beyond simply being how they look, and providing a unified Special Effect for other Powers. Resistant Protection from a monstrous hide? Pay some points and with Unified Power and treat the Growth form as a Alternate Identity esk Hero Form, rather than Linking all the powers to it. That felt more appropriate. Want Giant Claws? Purchase some KHA for the form with the limitations. Extra Presence? Same song and dance. Now, while all this is... at least as far as I can tell, how it is supposed to be done. You purchase powers, define their Special Effect, and there you go. The special Effect doesn't provide anything. It can shape how people Interact with the character, sure! But that isn't quite what the SFX Provides. A better way of putting that. If I have Blast, a Fire Blast... It blasts Fire. Hurrah. If I want to use it to burn something, I probably can. Maybe buy Power Tricks if you are going to be using it for some special stuff, or a Change Environment if you are broadening it. But, The Fire Blast, as a whole, shoots fire. One could call it as providing an advantage against someone who is weak to fire, or a disadvantage to someone who is immune to fire. I consider this bizarre and backwards. The Fire Blast interacts with the world in the same way regardless. By blasting fire at it. It is the other person who is interacting with the Fire in a different way. They have bought a Weakness to Fire, or Damage Resistance to Fire. You didn't pay for it, they did. They are... in a very broad term, targeting that SFX in the same way someone with Drain:Fire Powers is. That's how I think of SFX's. They flavor either by what means you are doing something, supernatural or otherwise, and/or, they provide an explanation for an effect. They don't get you anything, but they let you flavor it in whatever way you so desire. Back to my literal example: The Monsterous Shifter has the SFX defined as shifting into a Monsterous form with their Growth, and everything that entails. The intent is for this to be a literally transformative act. They were a human, then they grew an extra few meters, and are now a monsterous thing. I'm not presuming it grants anything. Just that it lets them literally change shape and form. No Mental Transformations here, they have a Psychological Limitation: Fractured Mind in both forms thanks. The only thing that it might have in justification for needing... something, is that I took Alternate Identity as a Limitation. But, since it includes changing powers, or rather, having access to powers more readily, I don't think it should require Shapeshift as a whole. But I don't know. Yes yes, GM clarification aside, as they have signed off on it being A-okay, I'm not certain whether I'm being actually compliant. I am hiding my identity with it after all. But, is that not just the whole... Clark Kent has glasses so he's clearly not Superman line? I honestly don't know.

Eh... That I would sorta toss into a whole other nightmarish question. Is turning into a car just the SFX of whatever Grabbing/Clinging/Ect Power they have, or are they actually Multiforming into a Car? If they are SFXing their power, then they just.... sorta shape into the car. Might be the whole "Who Framed Rodger Rabbit" sorta car where you can tell it's a person, but there ya go. Sure they may have rearview mirrors, blinkers, and tires and so on, but I wouldn't think they'd get anything beyond ancilary stuff. Where you define that is where I consider pedantic. If they are Multiforming? They get what abilities they decided to put into the Multiform. That's my take on it.

Hmm. For some reason, this keeps reminding me of the Cat Bus. Fleshy living thing with the intent to carry people. Granted, I'm also seeing a flesh car that grows arms in some demented Labyrinth Hand esk scene to keep people contained, so take of that what you will. But, I do mainly question to what granularity are you attempting to replicate the people carrying. While you could create Seatbelts with Clinging or Entangle or what have you, do you need to? Is it something so complex that you are worried about crash test rules for carrying people? Obviously so if you are asking about it. However, my two cents is rather something else. If you want to carry people, I would first look at whatever Size you have. A Large Character could probably be carrying two people in their chest cavity if it opened up. Gruesome, and awesome mental imagry by the way, I'ma have to figure out how to have a living Cage Enemy sometime. Enormous Character Might carry 4, ect. In other words, first, check how many characters it feels reasonable could "fit" inside the vehicle character. Then? Well, Extra Limbs, specifically for Grabbing is how I"d treat it. If you, the car, fail to hold onto them due to crash, letting go, ect, they are going to be let go and so on. Grab has pretty solid rules for how it restricts you and the others. If memory serves, you don't face any additional penalties for carrying more people, just if they are all trying to get away, or they exceed your carry capacity. Then you dont' need a special power for holding onto people, just that you... well... Hold them.

While that is both true, I feel that trying to establish to someone the understanding and differences between DC was a bit more critical at that point in time, rather than the distinction between Active Points and Real Points. @Thia HalmadesGiven that I am presuming people are new to the system, I felt it more apt to describe it in a more uniform system such as DC rather than Active and Real. In addition to that, the Active Points per DC do change, but that is based both on power and Advantages. People can easily build a Blast that will cost 15 Active Points per die, but given that it is 15 Active points, people can still grasp that at being 3 DC given it's cost. However, I can see your point. I will work to append a portion when speaking after Damage Class about Active points verses Real Points, in addition to that. It will take some work to get it to seaway into Defenses, but I should be able to handle it.

This is as much for me to check my understanding as it is to try and boil down concepts into a concise enough whole to be offered to others. In other words, I think this is the basics of the system rules, and tries to address each portion of the system in at least a minor way. Criticism is more than welcome, as is corrections and addendum. Not much mechanically though. ahem Hero System Beginnings: Hello! And welcome to a fairly fun and peculiar system. Whether you intend to go out and fight the villain of the week, follow a dynamic continuous story-line to face off an arch rival, explore an unknown planet and mystic ruins, or travel between the stars with the cosmos in your hand, Hero system supports the lot of it. Some better than others, but that is beside the point! If you can think it, the system can nearly always support it. It just may look a little different than you expect! Now, as per conventions in tabletops and theater of mind style games, the core concept is usually pretty simple. There exists evil out there, or perhaps just shades of grey and gray. You, the player, must interact in this world where evil or very strange shades of grey exist! Be it beating down bad guys, exploring new territories, schmoozing the social elite, sneaking through haunted mansions, or what have you! But in the end, regardless of what you are doing, you must be (somewhat) effective! This doesn't mean powerful, just good at what you are doing! However, Hero faces some very strange limits in regards to what it takes to be (somewhat) effective! Let's explore that, shall we? Campaign Benchmarks Wh-wha? We aren't talking about Character Concept first? Why aren't we- Nope! Benchmarks my dear potential reader! Concepts for characters are in this portion, yes, but Benchmarks are what help you refine that! Characters in isolation are lovely yes, but they are like snow-globes. Pretty, good for capturing an image of a concept, but not very practical! And what do I mean by practical now? Why that's quite simple! A Testing Character, which is what a Character is in isolation, is built with a specific sort of world, setting, or power level in mind. This, potential reader, is what is meant by benchmarks! They are broad, overarching rules usually imposed by the GM to determine how they want the characters to feel and play. Most often they are discussing the level of powers, defensive abilities, and how many points you will be building a character to! These are the presiding laws for characters. Hero allows very very nearly anything to be built, but not all games can handle absolutely anything in the world. Or perhaps there is a specific level of power or theme that the GM is more comfortable with. Benchmarks are how they define and refine the experience. But most importantly, they tell you what are the limits to build to. Build Principle: Stay Close Still aren't talking about Character Concept? Come on! I've got a neat Idea and I want to see if it will work! Why of course you do! And honestly, that's not my call! That's between you and the GM. Tell them about your concept, and then they can give you a thumbs up or down! The concept is you and the GM's court! I'm here to tell you how to try and follow within relatively normal guidelines in mechanics. Speaking of, the Build Principle above, Stay Close! I can't seem to find where it was written, but it seems to be apt. Namely, that you want to stay close to what you can expect and what the party has! If the Party is sitting at Speed 6 and 7, you don't want something sitting somewhere at Speed 3. You're going to be out of the loop most of the time! And that's no fun for anyone, least of all you! So you, as much as the rest of the party, need to figure out what you are looking at for Speed more than anything else. Some will be faster, some slower, but everyone should try to stay within 1-2 Speed of each other. Attack Type and Damage Class Okay! My GM just approved my Electric Blaster! He's gonna fly, and shoot lightning, and save the day, and be all cool and awesome! Most excellent! Now keep in mind that there shall be Villainous forces that oppose you! It's not just a rag-tag team of heroes standing in front of a back-splash! Villainous Evildoers, or Perilous Pitfalls, Ballroom Dancing, and other nefarious ills! But a fair portion of the time, you shall fight the evil! So, how do you do that? You wanted to shoot Lightning right? Well, that is most likely an Energy Attack of some sort! Attacks and Defense are split between two, er, three forms. Physical, Energy, and Mental! The first two you will... probably be dealing with a fair bit I would say! Whether it is a man with a gun, a laser pistol, or someone coming to rough you up with fisticuffs, most of the threats you will face will probably be a Physical or Energy based Attack! Mental attacks are rarer, at least most of the time! A GM can choose to change this proportionality as they so choose! Remember that. Damage is done in DC in this game. DC, standing for Damage Class! Simple enough, no? Without Adders, Limitations, or Advantages, nearly every Attacking Power is built to have one Damage Class per 5 Points put into it. Your GM probably has a Benchmark of what the maximum Damage Class they are comfortable running is! You'll want to stay within that limit. If you aren't certain on what Damage Class you are doing though, there is a handy chart for figuring that out on pg 97 on the 2nd Core Rulebook Health and Defense Alright then! My GM says to keep DC to 10 or less. And he said that PD/ED Should be under 40? Well, That would make a fair bit of sense! PD and ED, standing for Physical Defense and Energy Defense respectively, are the two most basic forms of Defense. There is also Technically Mental Defense, to protect against Mental Powers, and Power Defense, that protects against other forms of attack! But, PD and ED are the two most common forms of Defense. Now, before going on, you should know there is two types of health, that then require two types of Defense! STUN, which is the amount of damage you can take till you fall unconscious. And BODY, the amount of damage before you start to die! Both of these are normally bought as regular Characteristics. Unless you buy them for an alternate form or so on, they are usually pretty stable for their cap! But back to Defense, PD and ED both work to protect against STUN damage. They are how you can stay up in a fight, and keep going! Generally speaking, you will want to have between 2 and 4 PD and ED per Damage Class you can inflict. So for example, since your GM is keeping Damage Class at a max of 10, you likely want to have 20 PD and ED, and up to a maximum as they put it, of 40. Each point of PD and ED take away 1 point of STUN damage, barring some special circumstances. So a 20 STUN attack will be ignored by 20 PD/ED. However, the nefarious forces of evil are fond of Killing Attacks! These attacks ignore your STUN and go straight for your BODY! The Fiends! Your Normal PD and ED are no match for these attacks! To stand up to this type of assault, you need Resistant Defense! Each point of Resistant Defense, of either Energy or Physical type mind, takes off 1 point of BODY damage! Advantages Resistant Defense? But... I thought you said there were only like... 5 forms of defense? That wasn't one of them! Correct you are astute little theoretical reader stand in! Resistant Defense is secretly just PD and ED wearing a fancy coat! This coat's name? Advantage! Advantages are, in short, special perks for Powers. Think of them like Power Upgrades! In this case, the Resistant Advantage! It lets whatever sort of Defense you apply it to resist BODY type damage! There are a fair few types of Advantages! Everything from being able to effect an Area, having your powers last longer than they would otherwise, taking no energy to use, and more! They, along with Limitations, let you customize your power set! Unfortunately, they are quite expensive! Each Advantage costs a multiplier of your Powers cost! So Say you have a 30pt power? If you want a +1/2 Advantage, you're gonna have to pay an extra 15 points! Limitations Wait, Limitations? I don't like the sound of that. Oh come now! Limitations are nothing to be afraid of! They make your character dynamic, movable, and interesting! They give your GM toys and workarounds to provide interesting encounters! They make your character more human! They- Electric Blaster is are an alien though -More Alien then! They give you tools in your toolbelt to create interesting and unique powers and people! They- No. ... They refund you points. ... Continue... Alright, now that fussy is on board, Limitations! They limit your powers yes, but they also grant a refund on some of the power's cost. And this is applied after Advantages. You can have your power cost more endurance, fail to work on certain people, last a shorter amount of time, not do as much BODY damage, and more! You can even link up powers to work in tandem with them! They are tools for you and the GM. Just remember, if you include it? It will come up. Skills, Everyman and Otherwise But, I feel you didn't like that portion. So tell me! What exactly does Electric Blaster do when he's not Heroing? ... Not heroing? Yes, when he isn't out there, flying and shooting lightning and so on! What's his job, and his hobbies? He... I... uh... Elect-tri... Electrician? Maybe... Likes Rock music? There we go! We can work with that! So Both of those are types of Skills! Skills represent capabilities of your character beyond just their superhuman powers! Everything from Acting to Science to Giving Speeches to Making Gadgets to Climbing mountains to Conversational Skills to- WAIT. I have to pay points to TALK to people? That's dumb. Well, of course not! You can pay points to be better at talking with people, but you don't have to! Most campaigns have Everyman Skills! Skills you get at a basic level just for existing! No points needed to pay for them. Conversation is usually one of those! The exact number and type of Everyman Skills varies though. But, there are more skills than just those! There's Profession Skills! Skills that your character has from working their job! Say for example, Mister Electric Man's being an Electrician! That's a Profession Skill! You don't have to worry to heavily about these most of the time though. More than Profession Skills, there are Knowledge Skills! Skills you have about knowing particular things! There is a basic level of understanding that is presumed, that you don't have to pay points for, but sometimes, a Super Human needs to know a little more about the average gang, or the new Super Drug going around! Complications Don't worry there, we are almost done. Tell me more about Electric Blaster! Does he have any problems? Well... You aren't going to stop badgering me for these until you get some will you? Nope! Fine. He... has problems with... uh... Work? And.... he shorts out in water? That work? Works enough for me! Both of those would be what the game treats as Complications! They are problems the character has broadly speaking, that allow you to spend some extra points. Your GM likely has an amount they want you to spend on complications, just to give them some good tools. And you get points out of it! Lovely stuff. This can be everything from Villians who are hunting you, to a weakness to an element, to a romantic rival, to just not standing the sight of people being hurt! Summary In the end, where you spend your points is up to you. Some put it in powers, some put it in skills, others put it in martial arts, and some just put it into characteristics. As long as you are following what the benchmarks your GM provided are, you should be in the clear.

They are heros... It would explain some things.

That... I had not considered. Point made.

A fair option, and in short, I do not know. I could write it with Explosion in mind. Sonic attacks would make sense to diminish the most via distance. I could write it with Reduced Penetration. Sonic attacks are well absorbed via the armor. I could write it with Restrainable. If someone holds onto their head, can't open their maw and scream as need be. It is striking a balance between what makes sense, what is an actual limitation, and not just throwing the power under the bus. Dramatic Realism and all.