Nekkidcarpenter

Re: Bricks Get Hosed, Or Not

I wasn't recommending any particular method or criticizing yours, Hero is way too complex to make judgments based on a single stat or rule. I was just making a quick analysis based on very incomplete data.

However, your reply underscores another of the primary hosers of the brick; the martial artist. The martial artist, as do all the pc's, insists on relevancy. This means that they want to be able to damage things in combat, and in my opinion, this is the great head of the Ouroboros effect which leads to discussions about character type X being screwed.

One of my favorite all time comics was PM/IF where they encounter the Hulk. Luke Cage had encountered him before, but Iron Fist had only heard about him. So IF tried some of the tactics he found useful against bricks like his partner. He tried attacking nerve centers, weak points, and then in desperation used the ultimate expression of his skill and power as a martial artist, he channeled his chi into his fist until it became LIKE UNTO A FIST OF IRON!

Hulk: Why green man try to burn Hulk?

To me this 'fight' is a great example of the way comics should translate into Hero. One, the brick is fast. He's a natural fighter, and he's made of muscle. He's not giving up 3 or 4 points of Speed to the martial artist. Two, he can't hit the martial artist. The DCV of the little fast guy is way too high for him to connect even with the martial artist attacking constantly. Three, the martial artist can't hurt the brick. Not even a little bit. He's a 'normal' guy with reflexes fast enough to dodge bullets and attacks which can shatter stone. But howitzer rounds bounce off the brick, and anyone who's directly seen the actual effect those things have will confirm that breaking a rock, even a big one, isn't close in destructive potential. Fourth, when it turns out that the martial artist can't hurt the brick, he doesn't cry to the gm how unfair it is.

I'm fully aware of the way threshold type defenses impact characters; I usually play martial artists. One of the ways I simulate what I described above is to buy extra damage that only affects a certain threshold or lower. This allows my characters to knock out lower powered guys as quickly and efficiently as the brick but means that some characters aren't hurt by my attacks. This type of limitation is practically ubiquitous in my games, as many npc's when I'm gming have similar things.

Re: Disadvantage: Hunted, Rogues' Gallery?

The reason for this is that villains are pro-active: they're the ones doing the crimes' date=' and the heroes go out and stop them. [/quote']

 

from Wikipedia, about 'proactive'

 

the word has come to mean "to act before a situation becomes a source of confrontation or crisis" vs. after the fact. It is frequently misused to mean simply "active" the opposite of passive.

 

I think you mean that the villains are active i.e. they go out and do things. Now it is sort of right to say that supers running a preemptive strike to stop the villains from doing stuff are being proactive, but in reality even that is just being active. Proactive = active the same way that inflammable = flammable. Take a proactive step to a better life, stop using the long version of the word.

 

Oh, uh, Rogues Gallery. She never really seemed interested in art in the Xmen so I doubt she has enough savvy to put a whole gallery together.

Re: Bricks Get Hosed, Or Not

The relationship between SPD and Damage Classes is why our campaign's "Rule of X" (so far as we have one) is SPD + DC <= 20. While it doesn't create precise balance (no Rule of X can do that)' date=' it does tend to keep our Champions characters within shouting distance in terms of combat effectiveness.[/quote']

 

 

Well, I'm certainly not going to start ranting about Speed here............

 

Ok, a little. It seems like your Rule of X would be better served by doubling the weight of Speed in the equation. I suspect that the way it's currently weighted you're more like to have a 10 Speed, 10 DC guy (100d6 per turn) than a 4 Speed 16d6 guy (64D6 Per turn), with virtually the whole group in the 6-8 Speed, 14-12 DC, or 84-96d6/turn. If you double the value for Speed and raise the Rule of X to 24, 4 Spd 16DC will do exactly the same d6 per turn as 8 Speed 8DC. And 8 Speed becomes a lot less inviting when your throwing 8d6 attacks. You'll probably end up with a glut at the 6 Speed 12DC range as that provides your best total DC per turn.

 

One of the areas I do feel bricks get hosed in is the perception that they should have lower Speeds than average. I feel that this actually hearkens back to the old days when the Haymaker was the most broken maneuver and the threat of one meant that you always had to keep phases available to Dodge when facing a brick.

 

The old rule, for those unfamiliar with it, had the same penalties as a Haymaker now (lands at end of next segment, etc) but the upside was that Strength was multiplied x1 1/2 for damage purpose. That meant that the 60 strength guy who was at the upper limit could pull out an 18d6 attack for no increased End whenever he felt like waiting a segment for it to hit. If the brick had the same Speed as his opponent, he frequently just tried a Haymaker every phase because if it connects the fight was usually over. This ridiculous attack was 'free', it was part of the basic combat maneuvers so anyone could do it. And IMO, to balance it's power, they started giving bricks lower Speeds than they deserved.

 

And people have kind of stuck with it even though theres no longer a good reason for it.

Re: Shrinking and Growth: Comics vs. HERO System.

One of the only things I never had any problem with was the way Hero handles movement for Shrunk characters. Since your Strength doesn't get reduced as you get smaller but your mass reduces significantly your leaping should actually go up. If you could leap 4 meters when your mass is 100 kg you can certainly justify a lot more leaping when you weigh 2 grams.

Re: Go home, Superman!

And a popular character will triumph over an otherwise more powerful character any day.

That explains about 80% of my beatings............

Re: Go home, Superman!

if Superman really turned evil, wouldn't he go and fry Batman with his heat vision first?

 

Ed

...at least that's what I'd do if I were an evil Superman.

Man, that's not even in his top 10 things to do when he stops pretending to be good.........

http://www.superdickery.com/dick/73.html

This whole thread underscores one of the main reason I dislike running campaigns with lots of NPC heroes; sometimes the PC's call for help, and there's absolutely no reason they shouldn't get it. And then the focus changes to the NPC's and you've got to figure out what the players can contribute to a scenario that others are clearly better able to handle.

I really don't want to run scenarios where 2 of my npc's are talking and/or fighting. I can do that without wasting other people's time.

Re: Disadvantage: Hunted, Rogues' Gallery?

If you have a Rogues Gallery of Villains as a Hunted, they will inevitably team up sometimes. After all, the player is often hanging around with a group of guys, and even dumb villains don't want to fight Thor on their own when they're just Hunting Hawkeye.

Re: Super Names

Hello Captain Shiny-Pants!

Everytime I look down at my reflection in my thighs I thank The Quartermaster for my sidekick, PFC Armorall.

Re: Shrinking and Growth: Comics vs. HERO System.

When thinking about the effect of a shrunk character interacting with full size ones it's often convenient to consider relative size. Would you allow a 6' tall pc to pick up something 96' tall and throw it even if the object only weighed 200 lbs? Thats the same as a 5" tall one picking up a normal person and throwing it.

In game terms its' allowable, and similar things happen sometimes in the comics so it's probably better to let it ride unless you really can't stand it. Then make up some ruling which you'll probably need to be flexible about cause you'll run into a case where your new rule seems to work worse than the original.

As far as the relative size of characters, normal size is the default and all the modifiers work off it. Yes, that means there are a few situations where the rule doesn't seem to have internal consistency but they're necessary for playability and frankly to make Growth viable. Can you imagine anyone paying for Growth if they got -DCV and every normal sized person got + DCV vs. them?

One change I do use to these power is that if the size alteration is Inherent then it becomes the default size for that individual only. So a race of creatures that's Inherently Shrunk do in fact get a + DCV vs normals AND normals get - DCV to them.

Re: Quick rules question for HA MAs

If the HA did not have the Armor Piercing Advantage then they would combine for 11d6. However' date=' because of the AP Advantage only 15 STR can be added to the HA (The Martial Arts DC's still add normally) So the total attack would do 3d6 (HA) + 3d6 (STR) + 4d6 (MA+Extra DC's) = 10d6 AP costing 7 END (6 for the AP HA and 1 for 15 STR).[/quote']

 

 

Okay, if this is right then let's munchkinize.

 

Old Wang Li has a special pair of magical gauntlets that have really little demon teeth imbedded in them. Wang is old and weak (5 Str) but REALLY good at MA (+5 DC).

 

Gauntlets--Hand-To-Hand Attack +1d6, Autofire (3 shots; +1/4), Armor Piercing (x2; +1), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1) (16 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), No Knockback (-1/4), IIF (-1/4), Reduced Penetration (-1/4)

 

+1d6 from Str, +4d6 Off Strike, +5DC = 11d6 autofire, AP (x2) for 0 End. Yeah, I'll pay <40 points (the combined costs of the DC, etc) for 160+ AP.

Re: So I'm working on a possible future campaign...

If you think that's the best possible theme you obviously haven't heard Aquaman's.

http://www.spoil-sports.com/Aquaman.htm

Re: Disadvantage: Hunted, Rogues' Gallery?

........... that is, when you don't make the Hunting roll.

It's a subset of 'Survival', unless you bought it as a PS or KS.

Hey, I'm just trying to get my post count up and Blue didn't reply to this one.

Re: lets make this work: Instant Change

Now, your powers are always active, you don't need to do anything to use them. But if you want to look cool you gotta jump into that phone booth and switch from the business suit to the Superman threads...

 

My only quibble with G-A here is his assertion that somewhere, somehow, it's possible to look cool dropping trou in a phone booth.

Maybe Elisha Cuthbert changing into Supergirl. Maybe.

Re: Quick rules question for HA MAs

You will doubtless get other reply's with page numbers etc., but here's my understanding of HA with Advantages. You can't add more than the base DC of the HA to th attack without also buying the Advantage for the other effects that add to it. So you can do 6d6 AP with the HA (3d6 for strength and 3d6 for the attack) or 8d6 with your martial strike. If you buy AP for your strength AND your martial strike (see UMA for the cost of this) then you can do 11d6 AP HA.

Re: Disadvantage: Hunted, Rogues' Gallery?

Unless all the pc's have the same rogues gallery it'll be pretty hard to fit all their Hunteds in if they're 11-. I dislike non-limiting Disads and I know that there's no way I'm including any single pc's Hunted in 55% of my scenarios so I usually disallow any Hunted over 8- unless it's a major plot point and it's hunting the whole group.

Re: How do you keep your dark knights from going "squish"?

 

I of course have power ups limited: Only to avenge death of servants....

You can get those guys practically for free if you take 0 point guys with 75 in Disads. Admittedly, your power ups lose some of their limitation value if your followers are too squishy.

Re: Go home, Superman!

What do you expect? This was obviously a job for Aquaman' date=' not Superman. Sheesh. [/quote']

 

 

'Look! Down in the water! It's a fish!'

'It's a sub!'

'It's Aquaman!'

 

'Oh, wait. It's just a Gatorade bottle.'

Re: [Help] Living Flame or How to Create a Body of Fire?

Reminds me, putting together the attacks mentioned by Vestnik (regrettably not in a not particularly efficient manner, nor am I sure with stacking it counts as under campaign attack caps.. since Damage Shield is defensive, I'd accept it myself.):

 

| 44 22 rPD/22 rED FF - Cost Endurance Only to Activate (+1/4) Won't Work in Vacuum or Underwater (-1/4) 55 AP [5]

| 17 EC Body of Fire - All Powers Damage Shield (+1/2) Cost END Only to Activate (+1/4) Linked to FF (-1/4), Won't Work in Vacuum or Underwater (-1/4) 30 AP [-]

131 AP - Costs 25 END to turn on. Go ahead. Take a swing.

 

Of course, it does have a minor problem in that it turns off instantly. Powers with Damage Shield need to have the Continuous modifier as well.

Re: Single Green Superhero seeks.... (personels for your characters)

SM seeks SF. Super hot hard body with LOTS of experience seeks openminded F who's not put off by minor physical limitations. Chopper chix given preference.

Translation: Former motorcycle driver's BRAIN implanted in a robotic body, currently somewhat possessed by a demon and surrounded by a flaming aura.

Re: Go home, Superman!

It makes me sad that 'big bad and super good are the same guy' doesn't seem to be getting much love. Am I that far out there?

Re: How would you imitate Uncontrolled Missile Deflection for Melee Attacks?

So far the player has described the SFX as a liquid metal exoskeleton that he can stiffen to super hardness. He did not want to use damage reduction or increased armor because he liked the idea of attacks that pierce the exoskeleton doing full damage.

Then an Activation Roll on the extra defenses seems to fit the idea pretty well also. Or a 'Requires Power' roll, as that is modified by the active points in the power. Or you could buy Desolid with Invis fx, AO, Can't pass through objects, only to prevent damage, activation roll. That way if the roll is made, the character is immune to that attack.

Re: My yang needs a little help

Since yin and yang must balance, the characters cannot affect each other directly at all. They both have Immunity to the others powers and the villain, being mystical, knows this. And since they must balance, every time the yin does something selfless and kind, the yang does something selfish and cruel. Furthermore, whenever the yin helps someone else without benefit to himself, it also helps the yang at a direct penalty to someone else.

Since the yang is aware of this, he wants the yin to do good in the world. He will actually aid the yin in his pursuit of other evildoers, perhaps even setting himself up as the yin's benefactor.

See 'Unbreakable' for examples of how opposites aren't necessarily direct opposites.

Ooo, oo! Have the yang have a superpowered martial arts sidekick that the yin thinks is the yang!

(thats the surprise plot twist)

Re: Minor Knockback power

(This use of teleport is blatantly stolen from another thread.)

Rep for blatant theft!

Re: lets make this work: Instant Change

I'm personally more than okay with the way the cosmetic transform works, especially on powered armor builds. The player wants to shave 1/4 limitation or more on all his powers by buying them OIHD or some such, but then wants to be able to instantly change form very cheaply. This IMO makes that 1/4 limitation not actually limiting, and as a munchkin myself, I strongly suspect that's exactly the point. If you have a suit of armor thats saving you 50 points then you have limited options as far as I'm concerned.

One, your instant change is expensive. It's trying to change a lot of points instantly, and that ain't cheap.

Two, it ain't instant.

Three, it don't save you a ridiculous amount of points.

Pick one.

Re: [Review] The Ultimate Metamorph

Cause 'Other' are the coolest types of powers.........