The Suave

Re: Favorite Character East of the Missippi I'm pretty sure the running stereotype of New Orleans is that it's spellcaster central. But maybe that's just from playing too much Gabriel Knight.

Re: Son's first character Why is his taser attack bought as HKA NND instead of EB NND? I've always tended to buy them as EB, so I'm more curious than anything. At first I thought it was so it was only against rDEF, but it's stun only and even killing attacks have to go through non-resistant defenses for stun. Overall it's a great character and I hope you guys have tons of fun! I remember inviting my dad into the fantasy game I was playing in. He rolled up an alchemist (because my dad's a chemical engineer, go figure). It wasn't really his cup of tea but he played with us for a few sessions, it was nice! You guys are gonna have a great time!

Re: Not quite normal campaign guidelines Especially if these are new players, then this writeup is great! It's very easy to grasp as a new player: "Oh, so there are all these different power levels for stuff like armor and damage. I'll buy armor up to heeere, and damage up to heeere, and maybe he's kinda quick but not too fast so I'll buy speed up to heeere." It makes it very easy for the players to have a hand in character creation, but for the GM to be able to really guide them. Repped.

Re: Favorite Character East of the Missippi Y'all boys are talkin' about the North, see? Why not pay attention to some of us good ole boys down South and the heroes we might have! Oh yeah we have Gambit, nevermind.

Re: Beginner's Martial Arts Maneuvers Honestly, those look pretty solid. As a (beginner) GM, I would definitely wave the 10-points minimum for a martial art if the character concept was "martial artist in training." ESPECIALLY considering that these are powered-down martial maneuvers. I might rule that enough maneuvers must be bought such that the full-powered maneuvers total up to at least 10 points. AKA three or four martial maneuvers, that if bought full-powered (and therefore full-priced) meets the minimum, but because they are powered-down (and therefore priced-down), it's okay that they don't meet the minimum. Well built.

Re: Beginner's Martial Arts Maneuvers The UMA has a section for building custom martial maneuvers. You choose a maneuver to base it on (block, dodge, strike, etc), and each +1 to OCV, DCV, or DC (normal), is +1 point. It starts on page 89 of the UMA, is is called "designing martial arts maneuvers." Edit: Oh also as for increasing the maneuver, I would just have them be training in game, and represent it as adding points to the maneuver as the GM sees fit, like you said.

Re: Talk to me about: Haymaker The main problem that I saw with it was the fact that it takes place at the end of the NEXT segment, so even if the mook has already acted on the phase when you are throwing the haymaker (say segment 3), then on segment 4, before the haymaker connects, he can abort to a dodge or block maneuver. Only doing it when they are stunned is a great way to get around that though, and one that I hadn't though. I'm mostly involved in Fantasy or Dark Champions games, and I just saw very little use for the maneuver, now my eyes are at least squinted, if not opened.

Re: Talk to me about: Haymaker Panpiper: This here is the type of scenario that makes Haymaker very effective that I had no previously considered (why I hadn't, I don't know). I like it!

Haymaker is one of those combat maneuvers that I understand the mechanics of, but not the effectiveness of. So, talk to me about Haymaker. What do you think about it? When and where have you used it to great (or faltering) effectiveness? What have you seen done with it that was surprising (good or bad)? Or just type up a scenario where haymaker is used and isn't aborted or moved away from.

Re: Simplifying the Math The biggest problem I see is having an accurate OCV for the purposes of CSLs that you can move back and forth between the two (AKA 3-Point+ CSLs) I suppose you could just tack them on, but it seems the purpose is to keep from having to remember to add and subtract to the baseline.

Re: Shadow Soul I like it! That sounds like a pretty solid character concept and it fits well in with the Secret Wars agenda. In all honestly, it's similar to the character I built for fun (and jealousy) when Manic told me about the campaign.

Re: Shadow Soul On second thought, under your Occult skills section, are you planning on using the Acting skill to augment those presence attacks you were talking about? If so, I think Oratory might be a better choice. I'm a little confused as to why the Acting skill is where it is. The skills in the list alongside it seem to be mostly academic by nature, in which case Oratory still might be a better choice. I don't know, that's a pretty nitpicky thing, I just thought I'd bring it up. I always forget about Oratory as a skill when I'm character building, but it's just so darn applicable sometimes.

Re: Shadow Soul I would buy your +3 with Occult Skills as individual pluses, you will save points. Your "career" and "occult" skills are mostly KS, so the pluses are cheap. You get three extra points by doing this, as a +3 to your KS is 3 points total a piece, then 6 points for Acting (if you're including that, if not its even cheaper!). You can save in the same way on your +4 with Career skills, unless you're including Deduction (which I think you are, in which case you are buying it correctly). If you don't include Deduction (which I think you probably should), your points savings are four points (that's a +4 separately bought with both KS and Criminology). I have a player in my game that has a similar power to your "lights turn off" but he bought it as a Minor Transform (3d6) in a multipower. I think buying it as a transform is more expensive than the way you're doing it, but talk to Manic as he will let you know which way he prefers you to buy it. 1d6 Dispel might not be enough to turn off large spotlights and such, but I don't know for sure, nor do I know if you even want to be able to turn off things like that. I would consider how you're going to use +10 presence, only against people who can't see him. Are you going to be making presence attacks while hidden? This is entirely possible (and seems to fit the character's MO), but I don't know if you've considered how you plan to use it. If you can find the points I might suggest you buy some sort of Invisibility power (like the one Cypher has) but you also don't want to be stepping on other PCs toes. That's my .02, which doesn't amount to much. EDIT: Also you get rep for playing under my favorite GM of all time.

Re: Still Sleeping Acting 11- (Based on PRE) (3 Real Points) Plus or minus with points as needed. Or take Simulate Death, only for pretending to sleep. (don't have my book with me for costs and such, pardon) Edit: I don't know why I didn't think you already built that with acting. Either way you could use Simulate Death (isn't that a talent somewhere?) /fail

Re: Russian SUV We seem to be overlooking the fact that this SUV seems to be made out of LEGOs.

Re: Love for Non-Casters? I don't know how helpful this will be to anyone but I thought it was worth noting. In previous FH games, I had a GM who used the /3 rule for the purposes of paying for spells. As a bit of an offset though, he required spellcasters to buy a significant number of points worth of elementary spells in the same school. His justification was that no wizard would go through the Fire Academy (or whatever) and come out knowing huge fire spells without knowing the basics. He used the /3 rule less as a way for wizards to know their spells, but as a way for wizards to actually be able to afford all of the spells they would actually be able to cast "realistically." (Obviously I'm using the word "realistic" in a certain amount of context.) The /3 rule can be used as a way to allow spellcasters a points advantage, but only if you let it. Also, the mention of building non-caster abilities in frameworks (or even as anything but "+OCV +DCV +DC) is something I always forget about, and should remember in the future!

Re: Secret Wars Campaign Log Words cannot describe how great a GM Manic is. His cinematic posts are just a taste of how beautiful his game sessions can be, each and every description is there in the game. Never have I been in a game that was so much...FUN! Everything works together that no matter how dark, silly, realistic, campy, violent, or speculative the game gets, it never ceases to be FUN! This is said as Manic's friend, and former (and hopefully again) player. I'm sure his current players know this, I'm sure they do. If not, open your eyes. I only say all of this to congratulate Manic on yet another game that seems to be nothing short of big, bold, and daring. LOA I need to come up there and cameo.

Re: Can Trigger do this? Tonio is right, why not use Damage Shield?

Re: The Secret History of America. I think that azato here has the right idea as far as the touchiness of the subject matter. Some of your player's characters might take positions that conflict in regards to your opinions, and even positions that might conflict with the opinions of the player playing the character. Handpick your players, discuss the subject matter and the characters' stand in regards to it and then don't punish your characters for roleplaying true.

Re: SideKick: Equipment rules The reason the broadsword only takes 2 END to wield probably has to do with the STR Minimum of the weapon. For example: when you swing a sword with a STR Min of 13, you only pay END for 13 STR. I'm not sure of the STR Min of the Broadsword they're talking about, but this is the solution that immediately jumps to mind. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Preamble: For a sci-fi medic type character that I'm building I am trying to build a type of "adrenaline syringe" that can be used to boost a soldier's stamina or "go power" for a short period of time. I built this as a 3d6 Aid to END and STUN. Adrenaline Syringe: Aid 3d6; END and STUN (+1/2), Recovers at a rate of 5AP every 5 minutes (+1/2) (60 Active Points); 4 Charges (-1 1/2), OAF (-1), Side Effect (3d6 END Drain)(-3/4), No Range (-1/2) Real Cost: 13 Sidekick Revised says: Just to be certain, with the build I have above this means that to use the item, I roll 3d6. The number I roll, say 11, is the number of Character Points I can add to END and STUN. Does this mean that I have to split those 11 Character Points that I rolled in between END and STUN, or do I get 11 Character Points for END, and 11 Character Points for STUN? Thanks in advance, The Suave P.S. The syringe build hasn't been double checked for math or anything, apologies in advance for any errors.

Re: Catching cars Couldn't you treat it as a block, at least for a quick job on the roll mechanics. Although the "catching a falling character" deal seems like a better plan.

Re: [Organization] Greypool Blackwater is a Real-Life "private military company". It's pretty much a mercenary\military contract organization on the US payroll.

Re: Forward Only Force Field ? I would do like you said, with the FF linked, but for the limited coverage you could do an Activation Roll at 15- (or around there), Champions games usually don't use Hit Location, right?

Re: How would you build this ability...? At first it sounds like a multipower, but I don't know about being able to attack the plasma and make it go away.