PhilFleischmann

Another possibility that would take less rolling and tracking, would be to say that you recover from being stunned on your DEX of the first segment after losing your action where you take no damage. So if you'd normally recover on Segment 6 DEX 25, but you took STUN damage that segment, you instead recover on Segment 7, at DEX 25. That way, any opponents have to keep doing damage to you every segment to keep you "stun locked". Or just say that any damage delays the recovery by one additional phase - and that's it. So you lose one phase when you're stunned, and if you take damage while recovering from being stunned, you lose another phase. So a maximum of two phases, unless you take a blow that actually could re-stun you from scratch.

A few things to consider are: How does the Summon power itself work? How often will the player use it? And for how long at a time? And how much control does the player have over the summoned character? If the player can have the summoned character around all day long, and he always obeys the character, then the player is essentially playing a 375-pt character, in addition to the base character. If the summoned character can only stick around for five minutes per week, then that might be OK, even if it's a totally overshadowing combat monster - because you have to save it for when you really need it, and the other PCs get to shine normally most of the time. OTOH, if the summoned character is NOT a combat monster, but has various utility abilities that aren't useful all the time, that can work too, even if the summon is not particularly restricted at all. The summoned character doesn't step on the other PCs' shticks because he's only useful in certain specialized circumstances. If Wally the mouse dies 😢, anything at all could happen, according to the rules. The main consideration is in-game justification and narrative. If the Summon is bought with Independent, then this would probably be an example of when the points spent are lost. But even then, Wally could come back to life - it would just take spending of more points (and a story justification, one would hope). Assuming the Summon is not bought Independent, then the points should not be lost. So there are many options: 1. The Summon power is temporarily useless, but the GM will put a story arc into the campaign that justifies bringing Wally back to life (clone, time travel, alternate universe, somehow miraculously survived, etc.), and then the Summon works again - possibly with a slightly modified Wally. 2. The Summon power is temporarily useless, but the GM will put a story arc into the campaign that introduces "Wally Jr.", the new subject of the Summon. "Wally Jr." is not necessarily exactly the same as the original Wally. 3. The player can immediately bring Wally back or introduce "Wally Jr.", subject to GM approval and likely requiring some in-game story justification. 4. Wally is gone, but the PC finds a new character to Summon in his place, that might be totally different. Subject to GM approval and story justification. 5. The PC gets the points spent on the Summon back, and can spend them on something completely different. (Subject ....) The death of a unique specific summon (or DNPC, or Follower, or major Contact, etc.) is a significant change in the PC's life, so let it play out dramatically. It can change the way the character is "built" - the way his points are allocated, maybe his Psychological Complications. The possibilities are unlimitless.

In this case, the "fixed" location is one that the other twin can already get to normally. So it's really not especially useful. If Castor can get to point X by "normal" means, then why can't Pollux get there the same way, and at the same time? If they want to teleport into the bad guy's secret lair, one of them has to first get in the hard way. And if one can get in the hard way, then presumably the other one could have gotten in the hard way, too. Sure, it can save some time and END, and maybe avoid some danger for one of the duplicates, but it can't get you to any new place. And it's essentially the same as recombining the duplicates at a distance, and then re-separating in the same place.

How about an Aid to SPD? Enough to grant +1 SPD, which means one gained phase, to make up for the one that was lost, which then fades. And a limitation "Only on targets who've been Stunned" so you can't just bump anyone's SPD up by one whenever you want. So what's the value of that limitation? -1 maybe? Maybe more, like -2, because it only can be used in that one circumstance.

If we were in the same room, we could probably get to a point of clarity a lot quicker. I have no such build, that's why I'm interested in this thread. I want the bag to: * Do what you'd normally want it to do. That is, hold a bunch more stuff than an ordinary bag. * Have some sufficient degree of consistency. That any restrictions on what can be placed in the bag make some kind of sense in the game world. If you can't put living things in the bag, it looks really weird to be able to put an empty birdcage in, but not be able to put in the exact same birdcage if there's a live bird in it. * It could have restrictions on living things or not. A bag of holding is intended for cargo, not for passengers. But players may think of creative and unintended uses, like hiding themselves inside, or trapping an enemy inside. Should this be allowed or not? What happens to living things inside the bag? Is there air to breathe? As an animate, free-willed creature, can they simply leave the bag whenever they want to? Or are they trapped there until the bag holder reaching in for them? Does a living being in the bag have access to all the other things in the bag? As I write this stuff, I think that the best way to restrict "non-cargo" uses might be to say that there is no air in the bag, but that the open is easily visible and accessible from the inside. If you're in, you can't breathe, but you can leave any time. So you can't use it to trap someone or to hide yourself (unless you don't need to breathe). A bird in a cage in the bag will die, since the bird can't breathe or leave the cage. A bird not in the cage can simply fly or walk out. But such a restriction isn't even necessarily the "right" build. A GM might be perfectly happy with creative, unintended uses of a bag of holding. But you do have to consider whether the players can simply pull the bag over the big boss villain and trap him in there forever, without ever having to fight him. That was my original understanding of Lucius' build as well, but I was wrong. In Lucius's build, it does matter.

I'm not squabbling. I'm asking for clarification.

Well it might come up for NNDs or limitations. A power that only works on species with shorter life spans, or with longer life spans. Longevity doesn't cost much at all because it really isn't worth much in the game, and likewise a shorter life span also won't have much of a game effect, which is why it also should be worth so few points.

So your interpretation (which you're certainly entitled to, since it's your build) is that when you try to put a living person in the bag, they get stuck with just their head or feet in the bag, and somehow won't be able to go all the way in. Which is fine, I suppose. It just looks a bit odd if you just put a mannequin in the bag all the way with no problem. So the bag can then be used as a "Detect Living Thing" item. A corpse will go all the way in, but a character Simulating Death will get stuck somehow. And there are all kinds of other questions that might be raised: What about AI robots? What about really small living things? Insects? Bacteria? Can the bag be used to knock germs off of whatever is put in it? An empty birdcage can be put in the bag, but what if it has a live bird in in? Your original Limitation was really two Limitations in one: "Inanimate Objects Only" and "Only what will fit through the mouth of the bag." Builds are more confusing this way, more prone to misinterpretation. Especially when the two different properties being specified have nothing to do with each other directly. Something's size is not related to whether it is alive.

Topical!

And multiple copies of many of them! (Why?) It looks more like the HERO Games product shelf at a FLGS*, rather than a private collection! *A really GOOD FLGS!

Well, you can buy Life Support - Longevity to make a character with a longer life span. Useful for fantasy elves and such. But there's no way to buy down the "standard" lifespan. What if there's a fantasy race that just naturally has a significantly shorter life span than humans? Off hand, I'd say just buy the reverse of Longevity - 1 point for each halving of lifespan. Max 50 years = -1 point Max 25 years = -2 points Max 12.5 years = -3 points (Ocompa?) Max 6.4 years = -4 points Max 3.2 years = -5 points You might want to cap it at the -5 points level. Just like +5 points means immortal.

What changes in the extra-dimensional space that enables mice to kill cats? Don't be obtuse. You said your build prevents people and other living things from being put in the bag. What happens when someone tries to do this? How is it that a person-sized statue can be put in the bag, but a person-sized person cannot?

I see, so your limitation specifically is intended to prevent that, without any SFX or logical justification - which is perfectly OK from a game rules standpoint, but what about the logic within the game world? It seems that by "object" you mean to specifically exclude anything living. But how does that work within the game? I can put a man-sized mannequin in the bag, but not a man-sized man. Why not? How does that look to the character using the bag (or the person that would be going in)?

That doesn't really tell us much. And it doesn't prevent a person or other living thing from being put in the bag. How big is the opening? -1.5 is a pretty big limitation. How big would the opening be for a -2 limitation? For a -1 limitation? For a -0.25 limitation? For no limitation? The point was the Active Points, that an earlier poster complained about. When you have to put a huge advantage like UAA, and then limit it with a limitation that takes away most of the advantage, you wind up with a power with a much higher active point value than the utility of the power warrants. IMO, the better solution would be a smaller advantage that doesn't need to be almost entirely canceled out by a limitation.

I have long held that there should be a "Usable on Objects" advantage that's a lower value than "Usable as Attack". Based on Lucius' build, can he trap someone in the bag indefinitely?

Well, if they shoot as well as Stormtroopers, it's no problem.

Likewise, you could stop a car with a wall or a tree or a telephone pole or a lamppost, or something else sufficiently strong and anchored to the ground. And you don't necessarily even have to ram the car into it. If a car's front bumper is touching a brick wall, and then you floor the gas pedal, it probably won't move or do much damage to either the wall or the car, because it hasn't built up any momentum. You'll wear down the tires only. I guess this is how TK is supposed to work - it has no momentum. This is why TK is and remains in the realm of sci-fi, fantasy, and comic books.

It's an inherent property of cars that they can't move unless they have traction between their tires and the ground. Lifting the driving wheels (the back two, assuming a 2-wheel drive vehicle) just enough so that they don't have sufficient grip on the road will stop the card from moving. And if the tires still have a little bit of contact with the ground, they can be made to "smoke", scraping against the ground without the vehicle moving. Stopping the car without lifting it assumes that the person has sufficient traction with the ground. If Our Hero's arch nemesis, The Mad Clown, slips some banana peels under Our Hero's feet, then he'll slide along behind the car. But it's really a property of the way cars work. Just because "Running" is Ground Movement, doesn't mean all ground movement works the same way. Lifting an airplane off the ground will prevent it from taxiing, but not from flying, because the jets (or propellers) don't have to be in contact with anything but the air. The only way to stop a helicopter from moving straight up is to weigh it down with a weight heavier than it can lift. Our Hero may have a 60 STR, but if he only weighs 100 kg, he won't be able to pull down a helicopter with a STR of 30. To stop the helicopter, he's have to grab it with his arms, while grabbing onto a tree with his legs, perhaps. Then it would depend on how much strength it takes to either uproot or break the tree, or break Our Hero's grip or body.

But every point of every characteristic DOES mean something - for every single characteristic except INT. So why not say that? Why not say, "I'm glad every point of 16 of the 17 characteristics means something, but I wish it was so for INT as well." And as I've suggested many times before, for years in fact, there's a pretty easy house rule I use for this: Intellect skill rolls are not always based on 9+INT/5 or less. That's just the default. Two factors come into play in using the skill: general intelligence, and specific experience/training in the skill. There may be some circumstances where general intelligence is more important, that usual, relative to training/experience with the skill. In such cases, the base roll becomes 8+INT/4 or less, or 8+INT/3 or less, or maybe in extreme cases, even 6+INT/2 or less. And there are some cases when specific training/experience is more important that general intelligence. In such cases, the roll becomes 9+INT/6 or less, or 10+INT/7 or less, or maybe even as extreme as 10+INT/10 or less. Thus, a character with 30 INT and just the base 3-point skill does really well the more raw intelligence is a factor, but worse when training/experience is more of a factor. And the character with 10 INT who has spent 11 points on the skill at +4 does much better when the specific training is the primary factor. And yes, this can be applied to other CHA-based skills as well. But I find it gets the most used for INT-based skills.

I think it is obvious to anyone, even if they don't have a medical degree and even if they don't take a good amount of time to example someone, that they've had their head chopped off. Any unskilled normal can tell the difference between a sucking chest wound and a small cut on the arm. Likewise people can tell the difference between someone's eyebrows being singed off and a black, charred lump of ash shaped like a person. The possibility of something not being as it seems is a separate matter. Yes, someone can play possum, or Simulate Death, or use Images or Mental Illusions etc., but even those possibilities demonstrate that some degree of information is in fact discernible (even if that information turns out to be false). If it wasn't, no one would bother trying to deceive an onlooker. Likewise, a person who has just woken up after a full night's sleep looks different from someone who has just run a marathon. And the precise nature of what information can be determined (by simple, brief, unskilled observation) is up to the GM. Some wounds or physical conditions may be obvious, while others aren't. Internal bleeding may be just as fatal as an external wound, but might not be equally observable. Likewise the physiology of the person may change what the injury looks like. If Robotman is fatally short-circuited, you might have no idea that he's damaged at all. Likewise that blue dot on the alien's forehead may not just be decoration - it may be an important weak spot. A human whose makeup is smeared off isn't harmed, but if this particular alien species has their blue dot damaged, they instantly die. "You can observe a lot by watching." -- Yogi Berra

We had a discussion about the whole visibility thing a long time ago, and I said then, as I've been saying for years, that the 3-Sense Group rule is dumb. And I even suggest that IPE not work based on sense groups. If a power is "fully" visible, it means that anyone in the vicinity where a power is being used, knows the following things: 1. Where the power came from (the person using it). 2. Where the power came from (the point of origin on the power user). 3. What the target was applied to (the target of the power, if it has one). 4. What effect the power has, in general (what does it do to the target). 5. What the power's special effects are (fire looks different from a lightning bolt). 6. Some idea of the power level or intensity of the power that was used (a 12d6 Blast is going to look "bigger" than a 6d6 Blast). That's about it. Have I left anything out? It really doesn't matter how many sense groups these things are visible to, just that their visible. If you can see all of these things with normal vision and nothing else, that's probably good enough in most cases. Although just to be safe, and prevent certain munchkin tricks, I'd say there should be some auditory component as well - so even if your back is turned, and you didn't see anything, it got your attention and you know that some power was used, and you may have some good hints as to #5 and #6. If you buy IPE, you can hide aspects #1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. For Double the advantage (IIRC), you can also hide #4. So IPE should be bought based on which of these aspects are invisible, not on which sense groups apply. And of course the visibility of Attack powers has different issues than the visibility of non-attack powers, so IPE doesn't have to cost the same for each of these. There are a few other possibilities of sense-able aspects to the power, like 7. If the power has a Side Effect on the user, that will likely be visible. 8. If the power costs END, the user's level of fatigue may visibly, but gradually, change. 9. Certain Advantages and Limitations will be visible: ...a. An obvious Focus is obviously visible. ...b. A Physical Manifestation is visible. ...c. Expendable Foci are visibly expended. ...d. An Indirect power that follows an indirect path from user to target is visibly indirect. ...e. A power that has an otherwise unexpected effect will visibly have that effect. (Armor Piercing could be seen to pierce armor more than usual, for example.) ...f. It will be obvious whether the power was used at Range or not. ...g. etc. I'm sure there are more examples. #9 brings up yet another question: Which power modifiers are visible, when a power is visible? What about Power Frameworks? Can someone "see" that a power is in a MP or VPP? Can you "see" that a power is NND or Accurate or whatever?

Exactly. The Aid power itself is visible by default, but the power that is Aided is what it is. If my Aid makes you stronger, people can see your muscles getting bigger. If my Aid makes you smarter, they can't see your neurons firing faster. ----- Somewhat off-topic: I've always allowed an Aid to add Advantages, if purchased specifically to do so. So an Aid might specifically cause a Visible power to become Invisible. But of course, only if the Aid is specifically bought to make its target power(s) Invisible - which, AFAIR, no one has ever tried to do in any game I've ever seen.

But none of those things are dice rolls. Luck (RAW) can have an effect on in-game events when no dice rolls are involved. As Doc Democracy said, luck "belongs, in most builds, in a decent VPP with lucky as the binding special effect". Such a VPP however, is cumbersome and potentially full of "holes" - possibilities for luck that the player/GM didn't think of when creating the power or the character. The Luck power as written, *is* essentially that VPP, just handwaved, which IMO, is perfectly appropriate for a luck-based power. IOW, if you want the equivalent luck of 3d6 Luck, just spend the 15 points and write "3d6 Luck" and you're done. Much easier than constructing a VVP on a total of 15 points that has all the same potential effects.

It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womprats in my T16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters.

But if you've grabbed both characters, it shouldn't require an extra action or an additional attack roll to slam them into each other. No more than you'd need an attack roll to clap your hands together. And as long as you've still got a hold on both of them, you can keep doing this every phase, just like you could continue to squeeze/punch/slam a single character that you have grabbed.