archer

Oil of De-Squeaking

Oil of De-Squeaking - You apply this oil on some mechanical device which is squeaking and it stops squeaking. It's particularly popular to apply this item to door hinges and to wheels.

The article says it isn't known to be transmissible to humans.
 
Kind of like how coronaviruses were not known to be transmissible to humans before COVID-19?

None necessary. While no product is perfect, there were plenty of good things to mine and ideas to ponder. I, for one, don't regret what I spent and look forward to your new effort.

The US Congress can grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal.
 
Basically this allows a person or organization to act as a privateer in service of the US government. 
 
You will not be prosecuted for crimes in the US while acting in your capacity of going after the nation's enemies (usually as defined in the Letter). And you can keep any loot you gain while going after the nation's enemies. You are also shielded by the US government from extradition to other countries for prosecution for your activities.
 
So for example, you could go after the hackers who did the ransomware attack on that pipeline.
 
You could take and keep all the ransom money plus all the money you find from other ransoms. You could hack into their personal bank accounts and keep everything you find. Your operatives could find and execute the hackers and seize any physical property they find. You could keep their computer code for help in your future endeavors as a privateer.
 
 
 

Most of the problem in the US could be fixed in a couple of months.
 
1) Finalize FDA authorization of the vaccines so the "emergency authorization" is over. That allows you to mandate that each person in the armed forces gets vaccinated.
 
2) With the "emergency authorization" gone, individual states could include COVID vaccinations in their list of mandatory vaccinations for attending school (for kids who are old enough to qualify for COVID vaccination).
 
3) Change OSHA regulations to require workers to be vaccinated in order to enter their workplace.
 
Obviously, just urging people to get vaccinated doesn't work.
 
Telling people that getting vaccinated will allow them to be maskless has been a disaster because people who have been the most frustrated with masks are also the people least likely to want to get vaccinated. They'd rather cheat on the "you don't have to wear a mask if vaccinated" than to get vaccinated.
 
Make it mandatory for military, work, and schools. That'll be enough to put the US at herd immunity levels so that we can quit white knuckling every new variant that comes out and instead focus on shipping out vaccines to kill the spread and mutation of the virus overseas.

Don't forget Pieces of Eight where a society chops up a classic Styx album and use them for currency.

Don't forget Pieces of Eight where a society chops up a classic Styx album and use them for currency.

The youngest of my ancient aunts passed away from COVID earlier today.
 
< rant >
 
My mom's side of the family has been heavily into anti-science and faith healing long before our former president and his ilk came along. (Some of them believe it is sinful to go to a doctor or to take medicine but luckily my aunt isn't that extreme.)
 
In any case, most of them bought into the anti-mask and anti-vax misinformation because it matched their beliefs. And they also bought into the "the state can't tell us not to have church services in person" and into comparing it to people in previous centuries who'd been martyred for practicing their faith.
 
So they've gone through the whole pandemic not really buying into social distancing or why you shouldn't go to your nephew's birthday party with the rest of the family and the people in the neighborhood.
 
In any case, my aunt finally came down with it. They think she caught it at church because there's been fifty people in her church congregation of less than 200 adults & teens who've gotten COVID in the last couple of weeks. (Mini-rant: they're charismatics so they do a lot of running around the auditorium, singing/chanting in each other's faces, and crowding around each other laying hands and praying over each other during services. You can lay the hands of an amazing number of people on one individual if everyone is determined enough to give it a try. Last time I visited the church, I was tempted to see if there was a listing in Guinness for the largest number of people to be simultaneously touching a single person. And I don't have a problem with believers giving faith healing a go if that's their cup of tea, but as they were practicing it, at least some of the people getting the benefit from the laying on of hands weren't sick in any shape, form, or fashion. You can find out a lot if you're nosy enough to actually ask.)
 
So in any case, my aunt was sick with COVID and in the hospital.
 
The hospital let the family come in to see her if they wore a gown, mask, and gloves.
 
1) These are completely unvaccinated people. 2) They don't believe in protective gear so there's no reason to suspect that they'll treat the process of wearing it and taking it off seriously. 3) Since when can family come and go out of the room of someone with COVID? 4) The hospital is associated with the Mayo Clinic (but maybe the people who work there think that means mayonnaise?)
 
My wife is angry. She's angry at the family for the totally preventable death. She's angry at that church. She's angry at the hospital but to a lesser extent (at least until one of the visitors come down with COVID). She's angry that the aunt who died was my mom's little sister who my mom made sure got fed as a child by giving up her own food.
 
This isn't the first church-related outbreak for my family. On my dad's side, I nearly lost an aunt and uncle back in November. They'd had their kids take them on a trip out of state to attend a family funeral. They were late getting back in state so they decided to stay overnight with the kids and attend church with them the next day (one of the kids is a pastor).
 
So they go to church along with most of the family who'd gone to the funeral. Almost every adult there that day came down with COVID. In my family, everyone came down with COVID, children included, except for one of a set of twins. My aunt and uncle came very close to death. My uncle got that same shot of whatever it was that Trump got when he was ill (the name of the drug escapes me at the moment).
 
They're not as anti-science/anti-doctor as my mom's side of the family. But as a group they're Trumpy and were before Trump came along (maybe in some ways less Trumpy since Trump came along). But it's still deeply frustrating to deal with during a pandemic.
 
I told my dad before they made the trip that making the trip was a mistake. He patiently listened as I explained to him why from a medical point of view that it was a bad idea (listening patiently was a breakthrough at the time for him). The travelers wanted to stop off at his house for a visit while they were in-state and I begged him not to allow it.
 
I feel very fortunate that the caravan got infected after they left my parent's house rather than before.
 
I am so tired of people dying unnecessarily.
 
< /rant >

I don't. 
 
There's a hell of a lot of protocols you're supposed to follow in order to do it right. 
 
1) I refuse to do things wrong.
2) I drop things a lot and if your flag touches the ground you're supposed to buy or sew a new one. I don't have the money to buy an endless supply of flags and I'm worse with needles than I am with holding things without dropping them.
 
I consider myself to be very patriotic.
 
For example, I refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance because I refuse to vow to be a servant of the government. We fought a whole Revolutionary War so that the government would serve the people rather than it being the other way around.

My deepest sympathies, archer. For everything.

So sorry to hear that archer. 

I'm so sorry your family has had to go through this, Archer. The frustration and anger you and your wife feel is natural and justified. It sounds like you did everything you could to try to forestall this tragedy. Perhaps everything that's happened will open the eyes of some of them to reality, so at least something good might come out of this mess.

The youngest of my ancient aunts passed away from COVID earlier today.
 
< rant >
 
My mom's side of the family has been heavily into anti-science and faith healing long before our former president and his ilk came along. (Some of them believe it is sinful to go to a doctor or to take medicine but luckily my aunt isn't that extreme.)
 
In any case, most of them bought into the anti-mask and anti-vax misinformation because it matched their beliefs. And they also bought into the "the state can't tell us not to have church services in person" and into comparing it to people in previous centuries who'd been martyred for practicing their faith.
 
So they've gone through the whole pandemic not really buying into social distancing or why you shouldn't go to your nephew's birthday party with the rest of the family and the people in the neighborhood.
 
In any case, my aunt finally came down with it. They think she caught it at church because there's been fifty people in her church congregation of less than 200 adults & teens who've gotten COVID in the last couple of weeks. (Mini-rant: they're charismatics so they do a lot of running around the auditorium, singing/chanting in each other's faces, and crowding around each other laying hands and praying over each other during services. You can lay the hands of an amazing number of people on one individual if everyone is determined enough to give it a try. Last time I visited the church, I was tempted to see if there was a listing in Guinness for the largest number of people to be simultaneously touching a single person. And I don't have a problem with believers giving faith healing a go if that's their cup of tea, but as they were practicing it, at least some of the people getting the benefit from the laying on of hands weren't sick in any shape, form, or fashion. You can find out a lot if you're nosy enough to actually ask.)
 
So in any case, my aunt was sick with COVID and in the hospital.
 
The hospital let the family come in to see her if they wore a gown, mask, and gloves.
 
1) These are completely unvaccinated people. 2) They don't believe in protective gear so there's no reason to suspect that they'll treat the process of wearing it and taking it off seriously. 3) Since when can family come and go out of the room of someone with COVID? 4) The hospital is associated with the Mayo Clinic (but maybe the people who work there think that means mayonnaise?)
 
My wife is angry. She's angry at the family for the totally preventable death. She's angry at that church. She's angry at the hospital but to a lesser extent (at least until one of the visitors come down with COVID). She's angry that the aunt who died was my mom's little sister who my mom made sure got fed as a child by giving up her own food.
 
This isn't the first church-related outbreak for my family. On my dad's side, I nearly lost an aunt and uncle back in November. They'd had their kids take them on a trip out of state to attend a family funeral. They were late getting back in state so they decided to stay overnight with the kids and attend church with them the next day (one of the kids is a pastor).
 
So they go to church along with most of the family who'd gone to the funeral. Almost every adult there that day came down with COVID. In my family, everyone came down with COVID, children included, except for one of a set of twins. My aunt and uncle came very close to death. My uncle got that same shot of whatever it was that Trump got when he was ill (the name of the drug escapes me at the moment).
 
They're not as anti-science/anti-doctor as my mom's side of the family. But as a group they're Trumpy and were before Trump came along (maybe in some ways less Trumpy since Trump came along). But it's still deeply frustrating to deal with during a pandemic.
 
I told my dad before they made the trip that making the trip was a mistake. He patiently listened as I explained to him why from a medical point of view that it was a bad idea (listening patiently was a breakthrough at the time for him). The travelers wanted to stop off at his house for a visit while they were in-state and I begged him not to allow it.
 
I feel very fortunate that the caravan got infected after they left my parent's house rather than before.
 
I am so tired of people dying unnecessarily.
 
< /rant >

The youngest of my ancient aunts passed away from COVID earlier today.
 
< rant >
 
My mom's side of the family has been heavily into anti-science and faith healing long before our former president and his ilk came along. (Some of them believe it is sinful to go to a doctor or to take medicine but luckily my aunt isn't that extreme.)
 
In any case, most of them bought into the anti-mask and anti-vax misinformation because it matched their beliefs. And they also bought into the "the state can't tell us not to have church services in person" and into comparing it to people in previous centuries who'd been martyred for practicing their faith.
 
So they've gone through the whole pandemic not really buying into social distancing or why you shouldn't go to your nephew's birthday party with the rest of the family and the people in the neighborhood.
 
In any case, my aunt finally came down with it. They think she caught it at church because there's been fifty people in her church congregation of less than 200 adults & teens who've gotten COVID in the last couple of weeks. (Mini-rant: they're charismatics so they do a lot of running around the auditorium, singing/chanting in each other's faces, and crowding around each other laying hands and praying over each other during services. You can lay the hands of an amazing number of people on one individual if everyone is determined enough to give it a try. Last time I visited the church, I was tempted to see if there was a listing in Guinness for the largest number of people to be simultaneously touching a single person. And I don't have a problem with believers giving faith healing a go if that's their cup of tea, but as they were practicing it, at least some of the people getting the benefit from the laying on of hands weren't sick in any shape, form, or fashion. You can find out a lot if you're nosy enough to actually ask.)
 
So in any case, my aunt was sick with COVID and in the hospital.
 
The hospital let the family come in to see her if they wore a gown, mask, and gloves.
 
1) These are completely unvaccinated people. 2) They don't believe in protective gear so there's no reason to suspect that they'll treat the process of wearing it and taking it off seriously. 3) Since when can family come and go out of the room of someone with COVID? 4) The hospital is associated with the Mayo Clinic (but maybe the people who work there think that means mayonnaise?)
 
My wife is angry. She's angry at the family for the totally preventable death. She's angry at that church. She's angry at the hospital but to a lesser extent (at least until one of the visitors come down with COVID). She's angry that the aunt who died was my mom's little sister who my mom made sure got fed as a child by giving up her own food.
 
This isn't the first church-related outbreak for my family. On my dad's side, I nearly lost an aunt and uncle back in November. They'd had their kids take them on a trip out of state to attend a family funeral. They were late getting back in state so they decided to stay overnight with the kids and attend church with them the next day (one of the kids is a pastor).
 
So they go to church along with most of the family who'd gone to the funeral. Almost every adult there that day came down with COVID. In my family, everyone came down with COVID, children included, except for one of a set of twins. My aunt and uncle came very close to death. My uncle got that same shot of whatever it was that Trump got when he was ill (the name of the drug escapes me at the moment).
 
They're not as anti-science/anti-doctor as my mom's side of the family. But as a group they're Trumpy and were before Trump came along (maybe in some ways less Trumpy since Trump came along). But it's still deeply frustrating to deal with during a pandemic.
 
I told my dad before they made the trip that making the trip was a mistake. He patiently listened as I explained to him why from a medical point of view that it was a bad idea (listening patiently was a breakthrough at the time for him). The travelers wanted to stop off at his house for a visit while they were in-state and I begged him not to allow it.
 
I feel very fortunate that the caravan got infected after they left my parent's house rather than before.
 
I am so tired of people dying unnecessarily.
 
< /rant >

The youngest of my ancient aunts passed away from COVID earlier today.
 
< rant >
 
My mom's side of the family has been heavily into anti-science and faith healing long before our former president and his ilk came along. (Some of them believe it is sinful to go to a doctor or to take medicine but luckily my aunt isn't that extreme.)
 
In any case, most of them bought into the anti-mask and anti-vax misinformation because it matched their beliefs. And they also bought into the "the state can't tell us not to have church services in person" and into comparing it to people in previous centuries who'd been martyred for practicing their faith.
 
So they've gone through the whole pandemic not really buying into social distancing or why you shouldn't go to your nephew's birthday party with the rest of the family and the people in the neighborhood.
 
In any case, my aunt finally came down with it. They think she caught it at church because there's been fifty people in her church congregation of less than 200 adults & teens who've gotten COVID in the last couple of weeks. (Mini-rant: they're charismatics so they do a lot of running around the auditorium, singing/chanting in each other's faces, and crowding around each other laying hands and praying over each other during services. You can lay the hands of an amazing number of people on one individual if everyone is determined enough to give it a try. Last time I visited the church, I was tempted to see if there was a listing in Guinness for the largest number of people to be simultaneously touching a single person. And I don't have a problem with believers giving faith healing a go if that's their cup of tea, but as they were practicing it, at least some of the people getting the benefit from the laying on of hands weren't sick in any shape, form, or fashion. You can find out a lot if you're nosy enough to actually ask.)
 
So in any case, my aunt was sick with COVID and in the hospital.
 
The hospital let the family come in to see her if they wore a gown, mask, and gloves.
 
1) These are completely unvaccinated people. 2) They don't believe in protective gear so there's no reason to suspect that they'll treat the process of wearing it and taking it off seriously. 3) Since when can family come and go out of the room of someone with COVID? 4) The hospital is associated with the Mayo Clinic (but maybe the people who work there think that means mayonnaise?)
 
My wife is angry. She's angry at the family for the totally preventable death. She's angry at that church. She's angry at the hospital but to a lesser extent (at least until one of the visitors come down with COVID). She's angry that the aunt who died was my mom's little sister who my mom made sure got fed as a child by giving up her own food.
 
This isn't the first church-related outbreak for my family. On my dad's side, I nearly lost an aunt and uncle back in November. They'd had their kids take them on a trip out of state to attend a family funeral. They were late getting back in state so they decided to stay overnight with the kids and attend church with them the next day (one of the kids is a pastor).
 
So they go to church along with most of the family who'd gone to the funeral. Almost every adult there that day came down with COVID. In my family, everyone came down with COVID, children included, except for one of a set of twins. My aunt and uncle came very close to death. My uncle got that same shot of whatever it was that Trump got when he was ill (the name of the drug escapes me at the moment).
 
They're not as anti-science/anti-doctor as my mom's side of the family. But as a group they're Trumpy and were before Trump came along (maybe in some ways less Trumpy since Trump came along). But it's still deeply frustrating to deal with during a pandemic.
 
I told my dad before they made the trip that making the trip was a mistake. He patiently listened as I explained to him why from a medical point of view that it was a bad idea (listening patiently was a breakthrough at the time for him). The travelers wanted to stop off at his house for a visit while they were in-state and I begged him not to allow it.
 
I feel very fortunate that the caravan got infected after they left my parent's house rather than before.
 
I am so tired of people dying unnecessarily.
 
< /rant >

I don't. 
 
There's a hell of a lot of protocols you're supposed to follow in order to do it right. 
 
1) I refuse to do things wrong.
2) I drop things a lot and if your flag touches the ground you're supposed to buy or sew a new one. I don't have the money to buy an endless supply of flags and I'm worse with needles than I am with holding things without dropping them.
 
I consider myself to be very patriotic.
 
For example, I refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance because I refuse to vow to be a servant of the government. We fought a whole Revolutionary War so that the government would serve the people rather than it being the other way around.

The youngest of my ancient aunts passed away from COVID earlier today.
 
< rant >
 
My mom's side of the family has been heavily into anti-science and faith healing long before our former president and his ilk came along. (Some of them believe it is sinful to go to a doctor or to take medicine but luckily my aunt isn't that extreme.)
 
In any case, most of them bought into the anti-mask and anti-vax misinformation because it matched their beliefs. And they also bought into the "the state can't tell us not to have church services in person" and into comparing it to people in previous centuries who'd been martyred for practicing their faith.
 
So they've gone through the whole pandemic not really buying into social distancing or why you shouldn't go to your nephew's birthday party with the rest of the family and the people in the neighborhood.
 
In any case, my aunt finally came down with it. They think she caught it at church because there's been fifty people in her church congregation of less than 200 adults & teens who've gotten COVID in the last couple of weeks. (Mini-rant: they're charismatics so they do a lot of running around the auditorium, singing/chanting in each other's faces, and crowding around each other laying hands and praying over each other during services. You can lay the hands of an amazing number of people on one individual if everyone is determined enough to give it a try. Last time I visited the church, I was tempted to see if there was a listing in Guinness for the largest number of people to be simultaneously touching a single person. And I don't have a problem with believers giving faith healing a go if that's their cup of tea, but as they were practicing it, at least some of the people getting the benefit from the laying on of hands weren't sick in any shape, form, or fashion. You can find out a lot if you're nosy enough to actually ask.)
 
So in any case, my aunt was sick with COVID and in the hospital.
 
The hospital let the family come in to see her if they wore a gown, mask, and gloves.
 
1) These are completely unvaccinated people. 2) They don't believe in protective gear so there's no reason to suspect that they'll treat the process of wearing it and taking it off seriously. 3) Since when can family come and go out of the room of someone with COVID? 4) The hospital is associated with the Mayo Clinic (but maybe the people who work there think that means mayonnaise?)
 
My wife is angry. She's angry at the family for the totally preventable death. She's angry at that church. She's angry at the hospital but to a lesser extent (at least until one of the visitors come down with COVID). She's angry that the aunt who died was my mom's little sister who my mom made sure got fed as a child by giving up her own food.
 
This isn't the first church-related outbreak for my family. On my dad's side, I nearly lost an aunt and uncle back in November. They'd had their kids take them on a trip out of state to attend a family funeral. They were late getting back in state so they decided to stay overnight with the kids and attend church with them the next day (one of the kids is a pastor).
 
So they go to church along with most of the family who'd gone to the funeral. Almost every adult there that day came down with COVID. In my family, everyone came down with COVID, children included, except for one of a set of twins. My aunt and uncle came very close to death. My uncle got that same shot of whatever it was that Trump got when he was ill (the name of the drug escapes me at the moment).
 
They're not as anti-science/anti-doctor as my mom's side of the family. But as a group they're Trumpy and were before Trump came along (maybe in some ways less Trumpy since Trump came along). But it's still deeply frustrating to deal with during a pandemic.
 
I told my dad before they made the trip that making the trip was a mistake. He patiently listened as I explained to him why from a medical point of view that it was a bad idea (listening patiently was a breakthrough at the time for him). The travelers wanted to stop off at his house for a visit while they were in-state and I begged him not to allow it.
 
I feel very fortunate that the caravan got infected after they left my parent's house rather than before.
 
I am so tired of people dying unnecessarily.
 
< /rant >

The youngest of my ancient aunts passed away from COVID earlier today.
 
< rant >
 
My mom's side of the family has been heavily into anti-science and faith healing long before our former president and his ilk came along. (Some of them believe it is sinful to go to a doctor or to take medicine but luckily my aunt isn't that extreme.)
 
In any case, most of them bought into the anti-mask and anti-vax misinformation because it matched their beliefs. And they also bought into the "the state can't tell us not to have church services in person" and into comparing it to people in previous centuries who'd been martyred for practicing their faith.
 
So they've gone through the whole pandemic not really buying into social distancing or why you shouldn't go to your nephew's birthday party with the rest of the family and the people in the neighborhood.
 
In any case, my aunt finally came down with it. They think she caught it at church because there's been fifty people in her church congregation of less than 200 adults & teens who've gotten COVID in the last couple of weeks. (Mini-rant: they're charismatics so they do a lot of running around the auditorium, singing/chanting in each other's faces, and crowding around each other laying hands and praying over each other during services. You can lay the hands of an amazing number of people on one individual if everyone is determined enough to give it a try. Last time I visited the church, I was tempted to see if there was a listing in Guinness for the largest number of people to be simultaneously touching a single person. And I don't have a problem with believers giving faith healing a go if that's their cup of tea, but as they were practicing it, at least some of the people getting the benefit from the laying on of hands weren't sick in any shape, form, or fashion. You can find out a lot if you're nosy enough to actually ask.)
 
So in any case, my aunt was sick with COVID and in the hospital.
 
The hospital let the family come in to see her if they wore a gown, mask, and gloves.
 
1) These are completely unvaccinated people. 2) They don't believe in protective gear so there's no reason to suspect that they'll treat the process of wearing it and taking it off seriously. 3) Since when can family come and go out of the room of someone with COVID? 4) The hospital is associated with the Mayo Clinic (but maybe the people who work there think that means mayonnaise?)
 
My wife is angry. She's angry at the family for the totally preventable death. She's angry at that church. She's angry at the hospital but to a lesser extent (at least until one of the visitors come down with COVID). She's angry that the aunt who died was my mom's little sister who my mom made sure got fed as a child by giving up her own food.
 
This isn't the first church-related outbreak for my family. On my dad's side, I nearly lost an aunt and uncle back in November. They'd had their kids take them on a trip out of state to attend a family funeral. They were late getting back in state so they decided to stay overnight with the kids and attend church with them the next day (one of the kids is a pastor).
 
So they go to church along with most of the family who'd gone to the funeral. Almost every adult there that day came down with COVID. In my family, everyone came down with COVID, children included, except for one of a set of twins. My aunt and uncle came very close to death. My uncle got that same shot of whatever it was that Trump got when he was ill (the name of the drug escapes me at the moment).
 
They're not as anti-science/anti-doctor as my mom's side of the family. But as a group they're Trumpy and were before Trump came along (maybe in some ways less Trumpy since Trump came along). But it's still deeply frustrating to deal with during a pandemic.
 
I told my dad before they made the trip that making the trip was a mistake. He patiently listened as I explained to him why from a medical point of view that it was a bad idea (listening patiently was a breakthrough at the time for him). The travelers wanted to stop off at his house for a visit while they were in-state and I begged him not to allow it.
 
I feel very fortunate that the caravan got infected after they left my parent's house rather than before.
 
I am so tired of people dying unnecessarily.
 
< /rant >

So you're saying that you'd advise people to take wooden nickels?   

So you're saying that you'd advise people to take wooden nickels?   

I was going to suggest this. Gold coins the size of a dime are much more manageable for both PC's and GM's.
 
Keep in mind that gold weighs roughly twice what silver does. So if you have 200 dime-sized silver coins in a pound, you'd have roughly 100 dime-sized gold coins in the same weight.
 
You can set conversion rates at whatever you want. 2000 silver per gold piece is just as valid as 10 silver per gold piece: it all depends on how rare gold is compared to other metals.
 
For that matter, there's no telling what ancient civilizations valued. They could have carved coins out of bone or printed pictures of their revered leaders on small pieces of paper or have had "money" made out of mediums which the PC's wouldn't even recognize as money if they saw it.
. 
 
 

I love the concept and backstory.  The technical concept does remind me mostly of Deathlok (the OG Deathlok, from the comics).
 
As for decent concepts of point averages to use, I cobbled this list together from other threads (this info came from others), many years ago, when I was struggling with the concept of how to maintain balance in character creation; it may help:
 
I'm not sure how much is too much to post, so here's the guidelines for 6E Standard Superheroic:
 
Characteristics: 10-40
SPD: 3-10
CV: 7-13
DC: 6-14
Active Points: 40-80
Skill Points: 25-80
Skill Roll: 11-15-
Def/rDef: 20-25/12-18 
 
Short version: For standard 400-point superheroes, 6ed recommends Powers generally run from 40-80 AP; defenses should run 20-25 with 12-18 resistant, OCV & DCV should run in the 7-13 range, and typical Damage Classes should be around 6-14. These are absolutely just guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules; they don't necessarily prohibit a character with an OCV of 14 and a 15 DC attack, but they signal to both Player and GM that such a power is above the normal range and thus deserving of a closer look. Does that help?
In my experience, to get a good balance in the game, characters should meet these basic standards:
 
1) They have enough Defense + Con to take an average attack without being Stunned.  So if your average attack is 12D6 (42 Stun), 20 Def and 23 Con is about as fragile as you'd want to get.  Weaker than that and you're very vulnerable to being knocked out of the fight.
 
2) They have enough Defense + Stun to take 2-3 average attacks without being knocked unconscious.  So with your 12D6 (42 Stun) average, about 20 Def and 45 Stun or 25 Def and 40 Stun is about as low as you'd want to get.
 
3) You want to have some amount of resistant defense and/or special defenses (power defense, mental defense, flash defense) if those powers are going to come up with any regularity.  You do not have to have a lot of the special defenses, because those attacks are rare, but if you are going to be hit by them once a battle, or once every other battle, you should have something to ensure you are not neutered by them.  5 points of special defenses is usually enough to take the edge off.
 
4) Beware of powers that can take down an enemy in one shot.  Any type of unusual power combination (megascale teleport usable as an attack) can end up disrupting the game.  Continuous Uncontrolled NNDs and the like can be quite difficult to stop.  Anything that has more than a +1 advantage probably needs to be looked at closely -- it might be fine, it might be woefully ineffective, or it could be amazing.
 
5) Speed ranges should be within about 2 of one another.  If the campaign average is 6, then a guy with a 3 speed is going to be very bored during the game.  A guy with a 9 speed is going to make everyone else bored.
 
6) OCV/DCV more than 3 outside the average can be difficult to deal with.  If I have an OCV of 8, and the villain has a DCV of 12, it will be very difficult for me to hit him.  There are ways around this (spreading an attack, a brick throwing a car at him, etc), but it will require taking extra measures.

How about a deaf person who is invisible to sonar? 
 
People think she's just a normal deaf person but really sound waves just don't interact with the person at all, even with her ear drums.
 
But her powers only work correctly when she isn't wearing clothes since her clothes would reflect sound waves just fine.