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Hey I Can Chan

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  1. This is one of the most powerful things that a character can do. I'd try to steer the player to a different concept. Mechanically, the system makes this concept's cost outrageously expensive. (The go-to method is just an enormous Variable Power Pool with a series of Limitations that prevents using it for anything else but copying Powers; making the VPP Only For Multiform doesn't reduce the cost to such a degree that the character will be able to do anything else.) Socially, the character will end up copying his allies if no other targets present themselves, so whoever's the biggest badass on the team, now there are two—that can lead to bad feels from the other players. Narratively, copying Powers gives away plots that the GM might not want to reveal. ("O, so Doc Stopwatch has LS: Immortality. That explains a lot.") Also, before the character enters the campaign, the GM must carefully define what can and can't be copied, and this, too, likely has campaign repercussions. Can "learned" powers (superior skill uses bought as Powers, for instance) be copied? Can magic powers be copied? Can the cosmic powers granted to the Herald of the Planet-eater be copied? Can 1-in-a-hundred-bllion-chance, bit-by-a-radioactive-giraffe Powers be copied? How about mechanical powers, including cybernetics and DNA-rewriting nanobots? The GM must dig into the setting to determine the natural laws of "powers," and, in many settings, that's enormously complicated. (And if you're using Multiform for this, there's the fact that the character potentially becomes the target in every way… but for some reason this excludes the target's Skills? And doesn't change the character's own Skills? Or does it? Does the character take on the personality of the target, too? If not then why not?) The power suite that's described raises a lot of questions that demand answers before the character ever sees play. I'd encourage the player to aim differently. Seriously, there's nothing wrong with flying, throwing tanks, and shooting laser beams from your eyes. You don't have to go meta to have fun.
  2. The issue with the Advantage Usable [As Another Form Of Movement] is that it, in part, says, "Changing from one mode of movement to another is a Zero Phase Action, but a character can only do so once per Phase" (6E1 158). So taking a Full Phase to Leap-then-Glide is only possible every other Phase. Purchasing standalone Gliding and Leaping means being able to do a Leap-and-Glide every Phase.
  3. The Martial Arts Style An Ch'i includes the 5-Character-Point Ranged Maneuver Moving Shot (HSMA 18). The lack of FMove as a Ranged Maneuver Helpful Element (HSMA 104) suggests that the maneuver's inclusion may be accidental. (Its stat line is identical to the 5E version.)
  4. I'm pretty sure letting a character simultaneously employ multiple Movement Powers is a house rule—even if the Movement Powers are bought separately so that, like many other Powers, the Movement Powers could be employed at the same time. You could ask the GM to make up something, but I'd hesitate because then I'd feel obligated to fabricate a whole raft of house rules about how every combination of Movement Powers works together when used simultaneously, and that's daunting .("Okay, I'm using my combined Flight-Running-Swinging-Teleportation to move from there to there. What happens?") Also note the lack of rules for combining into a lone Half-Phase Action both Leaping and Running (or Swimming), which would be an ability of Everyman were it possible, yet combining those goes unmentioned. To be clear, you can already take a Half-Phase Action to Leap half your Leap forward to a point slightly ahead of you in the sky ("O, no! I missed!") then take a 0-Phase Action to activate your Gliding then take another Half-Phase Action to start immediately Gliding forward (as per 6E1 156). In other words, you can pretty much already use Gliding to get where you want after Leaping; it just takes a Full Phase. Presumably, you want to do this in just a Half-Phase? As a GM, I'd suggest that you buy the Adder Accurate Leap (6E1 224) if you want your Half-Phase Action leaps to be accurate. I'd let you tie it to a Limitation like Only In Situations That Also Allow Gliding, the value of which will vary depending on the campaign (maybe -¼ among superheroes but -½ or more among Zero-G pirates).
  5. Yep. 6E1 284: "The number of meters of Stretching a character purchases represents the total amount of Stretching his body can use at any one time. If he uses all of his Stretching to Stretch one body part, he can’t Stretch any others;…." Huh. That's too bad, but good to know.
  6. The way that I read it is that from a central point the character can employ Stretching any number times if he's willing to pay the END for each Stretching instance because Stretching is a Constant Power—in the same way that a character can use Darkness on multiple areas at the same time if he's willing to pay the END for each new and different area of Darkness. So while it may look like the character with 10 m of Stretching is Stretching 20 m when he's extended in two or more different directions, the character's really just using the same Stretching Power multiple times and paying the END (and taking appropriate Actions) for each new and different Stretching instance. Duke Bushido could totally be right, though.
  7. No Normal Defense Attacks says, "Examples of defenses usually considered inappropriate include a lack of anything (for example, 'lack of Resistant Defenses,' 'lack of Mental Defense,' or 'not being a Dwarf') (6E1 326). By extension, this should include 'lack of LS: Immunity to Poisons." Such "defenses" aren't outright disallowed, but they're pretty close.
  8. Yes. Yes. 6E1 says, "The GM may restrict which types of CSLs a character can Limit; for example he might rule that only 3-point or more expensive CSLs can have Limitations" (71 and emphasis mine), and Hero System Skills says similarly (117). Champions Complete says, "A character cannot apply Limitations to Specific [i.e. 2 Character Point] CSLs" (27), not restricting other Skill Levels.
  9. The rules allow multiple characters to spend Character Points on a Base or Vehicle: "More than one character can contribute toward the cost of a Base or Vehicle" (6E1 107). Further, you can use the rules for Assigned Experience Points to provide characters with additional Character Points toward a Base or Vehicle: "You [the GM] can also choose to award specific Skills or Perks [like Bases and Vehicles] in lieu of Experience Points (assigned or otherwise)" (6E2 293).
  10. Some armors and weapons are just standalone Powers. Other armors and weapons are better modeled as Elemental Controls or Multipowers. Many armors and weapons are combinations of both. For example, a character may have a rifle that can fire different rounds, and this is a good candidate for a Multipower because the rifle can only be fired in one mode at a time. Armor could provide a suite of abilities like Blast, Darkness, and Flight, and because these are Powers that the player wants to use simultaneously an Elemental Control (EC) is a good fit. However, if the rifle is just a Ranged Killing Attack or if the armor only provides resistant defense then there's generally no need for a Framework like a Multipower or an EC. And if the rifle has an artificial intelligence that warns the character of impending danger, then that's probably a separate Power, outside the rifle's Multipower. Likewise, the GM may rule that (for whatever reason) it's not thematic for the armor with the EC that has in Blast, Darkness, and Flight to also have in that EC the Power Mind Scan and mandate that if you want that Power it must be bought outside the EC. The Limitation Linked is a special case mechanically that makes it so that the character can use the Linked Power only when he's using another Power. This Limitation shouldn't be at the forefront of this discussion; it's not particularly common. Although a Power may not be in a Framework, a Power can still take the Focus Limitation, and that Focus can be shared with a Framework and other Powers. For example, a player may've bought his character's armor as an Obvious Inaccessible Focus (OIF) and applied that Limitation to the character's EC then bought separately—outside of the EC—the enhanced sense Spatial Awareness also with the OIF Limitation. Both the EC and the Spatial Awareness can come from the same OIF, the armor. Powers don't need to all be in the same Framework to share the same Focus. Ask the GM before putting Powers that don't cost Endurance (END) in a Framework. (There are other restrictions, but Powers in a Framework must cost END is a pretty reasonable guideline.) Also confirm with the GM that EC: Armor is a reasonable special effect for an Elemental Control. (Traditionally, Elemental Controls are for special effects that are bloody obvious in their thematic connection, like EC: Fire Powers, EC: Light Powers, or EC: Psionic Powers. Your GM might totally be okay with EC: Armor, but I'd ask a player to be more specific, like EC: Magic Armor or even EC: Paladin's Gleaming Armor Of Holy Righteousness or something so we'd both have a better idea of what kind of theme we were using.) By the way, you're not necessarily doing it wrong or anything, but 2 Character Points for an EC is a bit strange. Have you looked at sample characters with ECs? The weapon probably is a Multipower and probably an Obvious Accessible Focus (OAF), with each Multipower slot representing a different clip of ammunition. (If you apply no Limitations to the time it takes you to switch slots, you can just say you're really fast at changing clips if that's your jam.) I'd recommend buying the scope separately, outside of the Multipower. Buy an enhanced sense (and maybe some Skill Levels if allowed) with the OAF Limitation and define that focus as the scope that's attached to the weapon. You'll probably want to put further Limitations on that scope to reduce its cost (and subsequent functionality) because normally enhanced senses work all the time. You're probably not imagining your character walking around with his rifle at eye level all the time so that—just in case!—he can see in the dark all the time, for instance. There's nothing wrong with armored guy with a gun as a concept. The Punisher approves.
  11. "The GM can, if he wishes, allow for greater differentiation of damage than just whole and half dice.… The accompanying table shows what various attack abilities cost using this system in the 10-20 Character Point range. Using it as an example you can extrapolate costs for other amounts of dice" (Advanced Player's Guide 56). The table Damage Differentiation has a column headed Killing Attacks and prices 1d6-1 starting at 12 Character Points. N.b. I've no horse in this race.
  12. Buy the same Summon (1 skeleton) Power with 1 Charge 7 times. Then when you want to Summon more than one skeleton with a lone Attack Action use a Combined Attack (6E2 74). You may even be able to use the 5-Point Doubling Rule (6E2 181).
  13. I'd imagine that in a typical superheroic campaign, the concept is possible and viable, but probably not in the way that's desired. A character that has a jetpack that he wants to routinely lend to other characters has bought the Power Flight through a Universal Focus with the Advantage Usable By Others, probably at the +¼ level that incorporates the switches grantor can give power to one recipient and recipient must be willing to receive power and recipient controls the power and recipient pays the END for using the power and grantor can grant power to another or to himself and recipient must be within Reach of grantor for power to be granted and recipient can go anywhere after receiving power. The game is serious out this. For example, a Universal "Focus is not the Usable On Others Advantage; characters shouldn’t be allowed to buy abilities through Universal Foci then routinely loan those Foci to other characters" (6E1 380), and the Summon Power has an example saying that a character "cannot Summon a group of swords and hand them out to his friends; that’s HKA, Usable By Others" (6E1 288). What this means is that Idea Man can have, for instance, a Variable Power Pool that he uses to buy Powers with the Usable By Others Advantage described above, but Idea Man can't go to his lab and tinker together a jetpack that anyone can use out of just sweat, tears, and Skill Rolls. Either Idea Man needs to spend Character Points on the jetpack, or the recipient of Idea Man's jetpack needs to spend Character Points and use Idea Man's construction of it as an excuse. The all-purpose solution to these constraints is the Power Transform, that can pretty much do anything the GM allows, including Major Transforms capable of "creating objects out of thin air" (6E1 304). Buying a Transform with the Advantage Improved Results Group, putting appropriate Limitations on it, and calling that Power Crafting! might be a workaround, but I'd expect serious GM oversight each time the Power is used. In heroic and more freewheeling superheroic campaigns, the Inventor Skill (and time) will likely be your best friend.
  14. Yeah. I dunno if it's unbalanced or not. Maybe balance here defies discussion in the abstract? I mean, without further information, I'd say that having a choice when someone else doesn't is itself boss, but you're right that if having that choice has the net effect of reducing my simultaneous options—well, then I'd need to evaluate those options. I know that were I initially given a choice of a character who could use 4 Powers simultaneously or a character who could use 3 Powers simultaneously from a 10-Power list—all Powers being equal, of course—, then I, personally, would take the latter. I've had players, though, who'd absolutely always take 4-Powers Guy even if they later learned that 3-of-10-Powers Guy was available, and that's a playstyle I respect. Why would that concern you? I built my character thinking that I was building him so that I'd have the most fun, but I later learned that another player had built his character in a way that would've afforded me more fun. I'm not going to literally copy his character or unprotect his character's niche. (Y'know, except perhaps in the broadest sense in that now my PC might be a 3-of-10-Powers Guy, too, and not a 4-Power Guy. To me, 3-of-10-Powers Guy and 4-Power Guy don't seem to warrant niche protection like Amazonian Ambassadress, Strange Visitor from Another Planet, and Avenging Billionaire Detective do. Your opinion may differ. That's cool.) So, yeah, I'd ask for the opportunity to redesign my character in light of the guidelines that the GM revealed are available by approving that player's character. ("I didn't know that was allowed. Could I revamp my PC?") And, yes, if the GM approves a second character that opens up more new design avenues that I think would allow me to have even more fun, then I'd totally like to take that into consideration, too. ("I didn't know that was allowed either. Rerevamp?") And, finally, if either of those two other players were interested in how I'd originally built my character, I'd let them know. I don't think it should be a secret from the other players how each PC is designed, and good ideas that can make people happy should be shared.
  15. I didn't mean to give the impression that Ndreare's player actually has a plan that needs thwarting. At the time, I couldn't conceive of any other reason to object to dividing the Multipower, but you've raised an alternative: player agency. I get that, and thank you. To clarify, I don't know anything about Ndreare's players, campaign, or GMing style; I can only say how it would make me feel—and what my concerns would be and how those concerns could be alleviated—were my PC not to have a 150-point reserve Multipower and another PC to have a 150-point reserve Multipower, without knowing anything else. Here's where I'm coming from: Imagine two players both build characters. My PC has 4 50-point Powers that can be used simultaneously (200 Character Points). That other PC has a 150-point reserve Multipower and 10 50-point Powers in 10 different ultra slots so that only 3 can be used simultaneously (also 200 Character Points). Everything else about the two PCs is functionally identical. Upon learning how that other player built his PC, I would feel bad because… That other PC is more versatile than my PC. Although that other PC can only use 3 Powers at a time, that other PC has access to more than twice the number of Powers that my PC has. Remember that we know nothing about the campaign, so I don't know yet if my 4 Powers at once will allow me to participate as meaningfully in the campaign as that guy with 10 Powers—that'll hinge on the GM, the narrative, my own inventiveness, and so on—, but I'd absolutely worry that my 4-Power PC couldn't contribute to the same degree as the 10-Power PC in as many different situations, under as many different conditions, or within as many different narratives. That other PC's versatility means that he can use simultaneously Attack Powers to launch encounter-ending alpha/omega strikes (bearing in mind that a Combined Attack using different slots of the same Multipower is legit—see here). Alternatively, that other PC could render himself virtually invulnerable by employing simultaneously multiple Defense Powers. My PC is only doing 2/3 of one of those, albeit all the time. Also, my PC's abilities are fixed, while that other PC might not just be able to execute alpha/omega strikes or to become nigh invulnerable but also be able to pick how. That other PC has opportunities for growth that my character lacks. That other player can spend experience points to buy that other PC new, plot-advancing Powers relatively inexpensively. Further, were the campaign's Active Point cap raised, that player can increase that PC's Powers' efficacy relatively inexpensively. Finally, for the same price as my PC could buy a fifth Power, that player can add a fourth Power to those that PC can already use simultaneously—while still behind my character in usable simultaneous Powers, the combinations that other PC can employ then increase tremendously. To be clear: I'm still in the abstract on all of this. I know that an RPG requires—among other elements—a GM and a narrative in addition to players and mechanics, so I'm not addressing many elements. My concerns are just based on feelings about character-building. Those're what I'd worry about as a player were that situation to arise at a table I was at. Keep in mind that my initial response—which might've been overlooked—would be to ask the GM if I could (re)design my PC to be more like the PC with the outsized Multipower. That'd be my preferred solution if the GM is inclined to let the outsized Multipower stand: Give everyone the same option. That other player may have exercised agency that some players didn't realize they had, so let the other players exercise the same agency. That's fair.
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