Dust Raven

Or look at is this way:

Which is more usefull: A full knowledge of acrobatic maneuvers and how to correctly perform them...or the actual skill in doing so?

Knowing about types of tracks and tell-tale signs of passage through the wilderness...or the ability to follow those tracks and signs and have an idea of where they are headed?

Knowing the answers to hundreds of riddles and mind twisters, or being able to solve new ones through deduction and reasoning?

The point costs of Background skills reflect the difference in usefullness.

Originally posted by mattingly

It used to be that if you were firing all of the Autofire shots at a single target, you got a bonus to hit.

I think what he's asking about is that since the Gatling Guns were hand-cranked, that would mean that the stronger you are, the faster you can turn the crank, and therefore the faster you can shoot.

The AE effect could easily simulate this. The stronger you are, the more damage is done. The greater the damage, the larger the area (the larger the area bullets can fly into).

But this is just one of the most efficient and practical ways of simulating a gatling, certainly not the most realistic.

Originally posted by Deejmeister

Mind Control implies that other people are affected by the character's emotional state (I'm angry so now you are too). If the character just telegraphs his emotion to anybody around, then this is just a Distinctive Feature. It's wrong to make a character pay points for a power that doesn't do anything.

In the Psyscape book, it describes the ability as a "week version of empathic transfer." The way I see it, it's just a telegraph of emotions and intentions to the people around him. Now, this would make this character completely sincere, since he can't hide anything from what he's saying and the people around him will know it (though they might not believe it, and get freeked out by the sensation). This might make it easier for him to talk to people, but not necessarily a full blown bonus to PRE. Maybe just a reason to increase Persuasion and Oratory skills.

Still not sure though.

I guess I'll drop in my vote for the most quoted reply...

Originally posted by Tech

I disagree with BNakagawa's take on Detect Evil. Evil is definably objective. To say evil is not definable means good cannot be definable either. The attack on Sept 11 was definitely evil. Regardless, if your GM says it's you can buy it, go for it. Someone who can detect an evil presence is quite common, whether comic books, fantasy books or whatever else.

First, for everybody trying not to mention 9/11, those people dancing in the streets are far from objective observers. On the same hand, neither are any Americans.

This overwhelming lack of objective observers helps to back up the theory that evil can't be defined. And yes, this does mean that good can't be defined either. I think chocolate is good, but those unfortunate enough to be alergic to it might dissagree and call it evil (mainly because almost everybody alergic to it also crave it).

Fantasy games, golden age superheros and such things are diferent is that they are works of fiction. In a work of fiction, anything is possible, including a universal definition of good and evil.

Originally posted by Monolith

This is actually a power in USPD. It is basically Change Enviroment with the "Temperature" modifier stating that it removes oxygen from the area, thus forcing the players to begin using the Drowning Rules when inside the area.

So how would this be written up? How much Temperature Modifier would you need to have no breathable air?

Most (but not all) martial artish NNDs will have predetermined hit locations. If sucessfull, they will always trike the specified location, but receive no modification (good or bad) from that location. Examples include Choke Hold (neck), Nerve Strike (usually the vitals, sometimes neck), Ear Slap (well, duh). Others affect something beyond the simple physiology of the character (a ch'i attack for instance) or something internal (like a poison) and the hit location, though it can vary, won't make a bit if difference.

Now if you want to get creative, you can say a Nerve Strike will have different effects upon striking different parts of the body. After all, not all nerve centers are created equally. In this case, rolling for hit location, as using called shots, would definately apply.

Originally posted by Derek Hiemforth

No. I should have elaborated more. I'd say that if you take 100% Damage Reduction, then you have to define a single, reasonably common, SFX that it works against. Examples might be Physical Damage Reduction that works against bludgeoning weapons or against slashing weapons, or Energy Damage Reduction that works against fire or electricity. If the SFX it works against is less common than this (for example, PD DR vs. one particular weapon, or against a Martial Arts style, or ED DR vs. Gamma Radiation or unholy magical fire), then it can apply a Limitation based on how much less common it is (in the judgement of the GM).

I like this idea. It's cleaner and less costly than uber limited defense (Armor +50 ED, Only Vs Fire) and Desolidification methods (which are really only cost effective if you are playing a brick).

Re: Thoughts and questions for autofire

Originally posted by Toadmaster

Ok, I liked the AF rules from DI (big surprise), bonuses to hit for AF etc. To represent this I guess it would be easiest to buy guns with AF, CSL's only with AF? (+1 OCV with 3 round burst, +2 with 5 rounds and +4 with 10 etc? I am assuming the lim on the CSL's would be minimal probably 1/4.

I'm not sure what you are talking about here.

How about a gatling (the old hand cranked type) AF with the lim "based on STR" Perhaps using the point value of the STR go towards buying levels of AF? How much of a lim do you think this would be worth.

 

Any ideas?

From what I understand, gatling guns aren't buy the round accurate, but are meant for hosing an area. I'd represent this in game with the Area Affect Advantage rather than AF. If you want STR to be a factor, make it a Ranged HKA, with the SFX being that the stronger the gunner, the more round they fire, the more bullets hit their targets.

Originally posted by Toadmaster

How do you determine holding breath, are you just using the drowning rules and assuming that holding your breath works the same way?

Hold your breath and drowning are the same. They even share the heading for the rule on page 285 of FREd.

Not to jump topic, but could you create an "unbreathable environment" with Change Environment now? I don't see much of a guideline for in the rules.

My take is this. All the "usefull" skills are listed and are based on a characteristic (or are skill levels or martial art maneuvers). Then there are the "create your own" skills that fill in the gaps in a character's knowledge and expertise. Of these create your own varity, 5E offers two varieties: Background Skills and the Power skill.

Background Skills are the gap fillers that specialize a character's knowledge and training, and as such only coast +1/1 to increase.

Power Skills are the gap fillers that provide us with a way to create new "usefull" skills that are equal in caliber to the main listed skills. A classic example would be the Magic Skill used in many Fantasy Hero campaigns.

The Always On Mind Control looks cool, and doesn't cost much either. The boosted PRE doesn't seem like it would work, because the empath could just as easily be an insecure, uncharismatic twit, and simply boradcast that. I'll run both by the GM and see what she says.

Thanks,

Here's the deal:

I"ve got this concept for an empath type character. The thing is, he subconsciously radiates his emotions and intentions to everyone around him. Basically I want the "Radiate their nature" ability of Psyscape Psychics presented in Rifts World Book 12: Psyscape on page 29 (Palladium Books).

The thing is, is this a Power or a Disadvantage, both or neither? On the one hand, such a character will almost always be able to inspire trust and friendship in others (at least in people that aren't predisposed against him). On the other hand, he'll rarely be able to sneak up on anyone or perform many surprise attacks and everybody will know exactly what he's feeling (and if those feelings are directed toward them).

Currently I'm leaning toward Disad and not a Power at all. After all, "No Poker Face" is listed in the Great Netbook of Hero System Disadvantages and this is just that on steroids!