Pattern Ghost

Of course, that kind of capping doesn't work for the character who's schtick is being a super nimble, super strong, high defense brick. =)

EDIT: This was in response to Doug's post, but a couple of shorter posts went up while I was typing. =) I dunno, Cyclops does get hit from time to time. Then, folding up like a cheap tent is his schtick. He's kind of the low level magic user/artillerist in the team. Hangs mostly in the back while the team powerhouses tie up the opposition. In more recent years, they've given him quite a bit of acrobatic and martial arts prowess as well, so they've sort of already "championized" him to a degree. As for DEX levels, a DEX 10 brick doesn't work only if the GM doesn't let it work. Setting DEX and SPD levels is the job of the GM, not the system. I think the low-pts X-men game in the other thread is a great concept, and perfectly suits the early X-men. These were all characters with a single, narrowly-defined, often greatly limited, power, and none of them could casually ignore threats from normal law enforcement or military types. If that's the power level you want, you set the power level that way. It's just not the default for the CU setting. Try pre-building some of the X-characters at low-DEX/SPD and hand them out to a group. Let's see: Cyclops: Dex 14, SPD 3 Xd6 EB vs. PD, OIF, Gestures, Side Effects (Uncontrolled, probably mandatory spread, and continuous if opens eyes w/out visor or ruby glasses on. Effectively blind w/out one or the other. Just wrap it up as about a -1/2 or so for the sake of argument.) Lightning Reflexes w/Optic Blast OCV levels w/Optic Blast. Other stuff can be added in to whatever pt. total you're playing. Keep the STR low, he's Scott "Slim" Summers in his low-pt. incarnation. If he's pre-bulletproof spandex, then his defenses should suck. Angel: Dex 18, SPD 4 X" Flight, Restrainable Enough levels with Flight to offset half the turn mode (he still has one in the early days, but he's also pretty agile) Levels with Move by and Move through. He probably hasn't developed any real MA training early on, just doing what comes naturally as a flier. DCV levels only when flying. STR should set to about 15. Defenses, again, pretty mediocre. Beast DEX 23, SPD 5 X" of Running Extra Limbs (prehensile feet) Climbing skill out the wazoo. LS: Cold if furry STR around 30 to 35, INT 18 or more. Fairly high PD and ED, no resistant def. unless bps era. Toss in either HTH levels, or some MA maneuvers and some Science and Knowledge skills. Marvel Girl DEX 12, SPD 3 TK Multi. I don't think the early Jean could walk and chew gum at the same time, so no need to dump pts. into an EC. She should have a Force Wall as one of her TK defense options, which helps with the low defenses of most of the team. Telepathic abilities, maybe a slot of TP and a slot of Mind Scan. Ego attack and Mental Illusions, not sure of at this point in her career. Colossus DEX 15, SPD 3 (he's always noted as being surprisingly agile/quick for his size) Density Increase, 0END Some Armor, linked to DI Life Support: NNB, Heat, Cold, etc. Vuln. to Electric and Magnetic attacks. PS: Artist Some H2H levels. Blob DEX 10 or 11 (if you cheese for the CV), SPD 2 KB resistance out the wazoo Very high defenses Entangle Dmg Shield, only vs. punches/kicks High STR, maybe 40-45. More than Beast, less than Colossus. Pyro Dex 12, SPD 3 Fire multi, prob. OIF through his flame thrower whatever defense his silly helmet is worth some levels with his multi Mystique Dex 14, SPD 3 Shape shifting vs. sight and touch. Pistol Some levels with her pistol spy skills Toad DEX 21, SPD 4 (maybe 5) Extra STR, legs only (or HA and Leaping) Extra Leaping Extra limb (tongue, not sure if he had tongue in early comics) Extra running Some HTH levels A couple of DCV levels Of course, with the DEX break points, you're going to get a much more limited variety of DEXs to work with running low-DEX, so at least in regards to DEX, you'll have a lot of overlap. On the other hand, you'll also have more pts to spend on varied powers. Low DEX can be cool. "Standard" or "Inflated" DEX can be too. I like having a bit greater range of DEXs available in a game and having the PCs be quite a notch above agents and normals, but I'd like to play in a low DEX game where those are credible threats some time.

Of course, only whimps wear power armor.

[Edit: No need for that post now. Nothing to see here, move along.] =)

I know some board software has the ability to wipe out an ID and all of its associated posts without killing the threads themselves. I certainly hope this one does.

Instant injection of amphetamines. There is no one approach. edit/addition: The point is, buying either CON or BODY through a focus, with the usual DNAFC, isn't abusive, so there's no reason to disallow it. WIth a little thought, you can think of a rationale for pretty much anything. We're talking comic book logic, here.

Sure. CON: CON that doesn't affect figured only prevents being Stunned. That's easily explained with inertial dampening systems. BODY: Increased BODY represents armor that has to be breached/damaged before the character takes BODY damage. Since DNAFC CON is so limited and since supers characters rarely take BODY, I have absolutely no problem allowing either of these.

Ever notice that nobody seems to have a 5 in agility or reflexes on the Marvel site? Is the number 5 magical or something? I'd say if Thor has a 4 (prob. should be about a 3, though), Spidey should have a 5 or 6.

Marvel's own stat bars, while their accuracy is arguable, do give Thor a superhuman reflexes and agility rating: http://www.marvel.com/bios/bios.htm?id=3&family=MARVEL+HEROES Thor has a 4 in each stat. Cap is at 2.5. Human max used to be around 2 on these charts around the early 90's. (They used a similar scale on the Marvel Universe trading cards, which had text descriptions of each number rating. The general scheme was similar.) Incidentally, this ties his ratings in both with the Beast's ratings, and Spider-Man's in the same categories. Thos has superhuman agility and reflexes, it's just not as apparent because he's way the heck up the superhuman scale in strength and durability. Bottom line, he's a cosmic-level hero just as much as someone like the Silver Surfer, and all of those guys tend to have at least low levels of superhuman attributes across the board, at least when the writers want to showcase them. Of course, you could just ask Kevin Bacon.

Kevin Bacon is the key...

Here's the main problem with translating Champions DEX from MSH Agility: THEY AREN'T THE SAME THING! Until you realize that, you can't really use the MSH stats for characters as a basis for argument. Champions DEX encompasses both Marvel Fighting AND Agility, and doesn't do so precisely since there are many ways to get the same effect in Champs (Skill levels, lightning reflexes, etc.)

OK, then Thor's more agile than Beast. Since Beast is more agile than Cap... Thor's more agile than Cap! See, I just proved that Kevin Bacon knows Thor and Superman. Cool, huh?

OK, here's another one: Who's more agile, Thor or Wonder Man? And by how much?

Cap just flips around more. Here's one: Who's more agile, the Beast or Cap?

What Morningstar said.

It's also important to realize that old MSH Agility does NOT translate over to DEX in Hero. (He's UN for Fighting, but only Ex in Agility in old MSH game, which is insane.) Also, he's got weapon skills for edged that bumps him up to Shift X for Fighting, and Weapon Specialist with Mjolnir, bumping him to Shift Y for fighting with Mjolnir. That basically means he hits 94% of the time. He also successfully Evades 94% of the time, and if he rolls a yellow Evasion result (needs a roll of 41 or better on percentile roll), he gets another column shift up to ShZ for his next attack, which hits 97% of the time. That's some dang spiffy Fighting. As for his reflexes/DEX, he's been stated to have superhuman reflexes/reaction time/whatever on enough official Marvel material, and performed with such enough times to make his Excellent Agility rating a bit on the low side. In Hero terms, I'd give him a DEX of at least 24, tons of skill levels, some MA, and a hefty dose of Lightning Reflexes. I'd probably set his SPD around 6.

You'd have to narrow it down to something more specific. Like "Helpful Troll Powers"

Definately was thinking of The Broken Sword, though I've read both a several times. Just aiming for diversity. =) Gygax rip an idea off? Nawww. that's just inspiration. Yeah, that's it, "inspiration"... Technically, you can give "traditional" trolls any kind of whacky powers you want, the term is actually pretty generic. But computer-using trolls... who'da thunk it?

Poul Anderson style would be Shape Shifting. (Changling trolls.) =)

Trolls should probably be built with a low level of superhuman STR, and either a little resistant defenses and regeneration (DnD style) or moderate resistant defenses and a huge sucesptability to being transformed into rock in sunlight (Tolkeinesque). Either kind should have a decent HKA claws/teeth. Oh, you meant the other kind of troll.... Just don't feed 'em. =)

Does anyone have confirmation of a Supes/Thor matchup in the upcoming crossover? They've avoided it so far. We might just end up with a Supes/Wasp match or something...

Of course, we all know the Tick would win. SPOON!

Also, check the online FAQ when you find something unclear. Sometimes it's easier than trying to find the reference in the main book. Even though 5th has a thorough index -- probably the best in an RPG IME -- it's still a huge book and things can slip by. For one thing, it's text-dense, and that alone makes small pieces of info hard to dig out.

I'm not sure I'd add to the StunX, they seem to cauterize the wound, and wasn't that guy in the bar still standing after Obi cut his arm off?

True, but you're talking about adding to a 21 CON vs. a 22 CON. So, FOUR points are buying a "lot" more. Those two "spare" points might apply better to a point break, but if you didn't spend the points to be on the edge of the point break level, they wouldn't. Hero's a pretty complex system, and nothing works in a vaccuum.