Ragdoll

Re: How would you have handled this (GMs)?

Re: Champions Universe Movie Casting Call Foxbat: Ben Stiller? I don't particuarly like his work, but he feels like he has the odd Foxbat quality.

Re: Campaign cliche: The demise of the Champions /collapses onto the floor in loud, uncontrollable laughter. Oh. my. god. So rep'd!

I had an idea for a teleporter/sort of. One of her powers is the ability to open a gate of varying sizes. The gate is a 'tunnel'. The opening is invisible, and you can run things through it. For instance: The character wants to hook up a telephone. She has the phone and the cord with a clip that goes into the wall. But she wants to hook it up downstairs, and for some reason their are no phone jacks, or no working ones, downstairs. So she opens a small gate, and drops the clip end of the phone chord through it. At the same time upstairs, close to her working phone jack, the end she dropped in downstairs hangs in the air (she's still holding it from the other end) then drops to the floor (she let it go to go upstairs and plug the clip into the jack upstairs). The cord section that's still downstairs seems to run through space, and just suddenly seems to 'end' into empty space. At a glance it might look like someone cut the phone chord, but if someone picked it up they'd either pull the chord back out of the gate (if it was still unplugged) or feel a pull on the other end (if it was already plugged into the wall). The gate is 'permenant'. It's like a tunnel of sorts, though a person that walked through a larger one would not see anything in the tunnel, they would simply step through it like an invisible door, and simply appear upstairs, across the street in their local deli, or where ever the 'tunnel' had been set. A person could stick their head through it and look around at the other point...then draw themselves out. Back to the phone example. So, she's upstairs now, and plugs the clip end of the phone chord into the wall. The end with the clip looks like it simply appears from thin air. Again, glancing at it might lead one to think it's just the snipped off end of the chord from downstairs, etc. She goes back down and calls a friend, etc... end of case. Now, the tunnel is 'always' open. How would this power be made? It seems like a set of powers to me, but I'm not sure. Any help is appreciated.

Re: Wanting to make a character, need advice.

Re: Wanting to make a character, need advice.

Re: Wanting to make a character, need advice. She's going to be a standard 350 point hero. She's a mutant her only things are hyper intellect, and her size problem. No problem there. She is 'essentially' a normal...in most of her statistics. She might have a 'minor' VPP for magick effects..or a MP..I don't know..and the rest of her powers come from the power armour. I have a rough draft for her. She's legal and everything. I'll see if I can post something soon. I like your ideas..this was the part I was 'shakey' on..wonderful suggestions. I'll have to pick one.

I've had this character 'made' in one form or another for the last year or so. But I've recently had an interesting twist on her. This is my idea, please be brutal and tell me if it sounds silly or overwrought. A woman born a natural mutant, born with very high intellect, but of small stature. She only stands about three feet in height at twenty eight years of age. She's not a genetic dwarf, her body is 'proportioned'...she just looks like a normal woman would, except she's three feet in height, and doesn't seem to be growing. In her college years, she gets involved with a fringe group looking for a way to scientifically quantify ambient magick levels. They succeed, and codify the energy and particles that mages use to manipulate magick, codify spells into formula, etc. She's on the cusp of introducing an engine which converts ambient magickal energy into usable electricity..when her research staff are all brutally slain, by a very powerful orginzation that want to keep magick secret, she herself survives though the efforts of one individual in the orginization who believe the researches could have been negotiated with. So he brings her before this organization and at great personal risk he gets them to agree to not to kill her, with a few exceptions that she give over all her relevant research on her techno-magick work, so they can supress, study and 'eventually' release it when humanity is prepared. They also want her working for them...as a sort of independent agent. She agrees, but asks that she be allowed to choose they way in which she works. They agree within reason. So she comes up with a technological suit of powered armour that has integrated techno magick. They allow this on the condition that she have an official watchdog/liason which is the person in the organization that helped her to survive originally. She builds a suit of armour that's either human size or just slightly larger. So here's this three foot tall woman with super human intellect that has studied magick, and has built this suit of tech-magick powered armour, working for a secret orginzation all the while working in public wit a group of local heroes to do 'good' works. Does this sound...too silly?

Re: Appropriateness of "Automaton" advantages for a PC Just thought of something: The fact is takes no stun may be powerful and would certianly require GM approaval, but just taking it raises the cost of buying defense by 3 times anyway, doesn't it? The original poster was making a cyborg right? That seems like an 'expensive' price, and likely they'll not be able to ever get their PD/ED on compairable levels with other players. Is this cyborg going to be a brick type? What's the point cost of the game? This is an interesting problem, but even if the DM said it was okay, I'm not sure it would throw things out of wack, thier is a clear balance with the cost of defenses anywhere, isn't there? I'd be interested in seeing if this character could be built, and how well.

Re: Appropriateness of "Automaton" advantages for a PC I'm not sure I believe the inference that buying takes no stun makes you an automaton. Maybe it's not in concept for a cyborg, but I don't see why a sentient robot could not take takes no stun, really. 'If' it fits the concept and the DM doesn't think it will unbalance their campaign, I don't see the problem with it. Take for instance a character like Dark Man. Their's strong evidence that character would be well with their rights to take takes no stun. Often in the movie, not being able to feel was a serious detriment to him anyway. Their are plenty of ways to capture a PC that takes no stun. Drain away str, dex, speed, etc. Designate some attack between the player and the DM that 'will' do stun, (an EMP attack for instance or what have you), or just a very strong entangle. I don't know. I just don't see the problem with taking it if it fits, and the DM says it's okay, and I definitely don't believe taking it as an advantage automatically put you into the same category as a mindless machine with no ego score, etc.

Re: Special effect or something else? Power Question. Wow guys, thanks for all the quick responses. Maybe I should elaborate a bit to help further. The character is someone I kind of invented, and I'm sort of reinventing her to give her a bit more flavor. She 'used' to be an Kinetic energy absorber. She had an 'invisible' field around her that would cushion and absorb incoming kinetic attack, and store the energy away. She could later release it as a destructive blast of energy. She used to power up by 'encouraging' the people she was fighting to strike her. She even had acting skills to make it look like she was just really clumsy and bad at fighting, she'd literally 'fall' into blows, and make it look like she tripped with her acting so her assailants wouldn't catch on. Never the less some of the criminals and underworld element started circulating the rumor that she was a masochistic vigilante. A reputation she 'loathed'. I thought about making her just more then an 'invulnerable' type girl, though. Her name was Ragdoll. Since to use her powers she had to lets herself get knocked about to absorb kinetic energy. But I started thinking about 'building' on her name a bit more. So I came up with the idea of her more 'displaying' the wounds she took as she was fighting. They're painful in a 'cursory way', but not enought to effect the game mechanic. My intention wasn't to trick the enemy, really. It was merely to show a neat special effect of her absorbtion power/armour field, really. [smiles] That and I gave her takes 2's knockback from all kinetic attacks. So she 'really' can go flying about. Gets up a few rounds later, and 'blasts' them. [grins] As for the 'wounds' healing over and such and how long. I'm not 'really' sure, to be honest. I don't want to just 'seal' right over, but I don't want them to hang about for months and months either. Somewhere in between I guess. I'd heard that this type of special effect is usually assigned something like a 'zero' point lim: "Visible when Struck?" (-0). Would this be correct? I don't need to save the points or anything, the build works remarkably well on 350 points. She's got competant powers, kind of normal stats, and about 100 point in skills and perks so I'm pretty happy with her, I was just stumped on this one part. Kind of wanted to personalize her. [smiles] Ragdoll.

Hi. [smiles] I was looking to design a character that has 'armour'. The armour is when she's hit, it protects her from damage, but doesn't 'look' like it does. For instance, if she's struck in the shoulder her shoulder would bruise. If she's cut by a sword, the wound would be open and bleed. It 'hurts', but she's not harmed by it stat wise (the armour protects vs. body and stun). Is that simply a special effect or do I need some sort of advantage? [asks] Any help is appreciated. [smiles] Thanks for your time. [smiles, waves] Ragdoll.

Hi. Thank you for all the answers. Restrainable. There is a story behind this. The blades can be generated from her hands and feet, but she must be able to 'move' her hands and and feet to 'aim' them. I asked about an approapriate limitation in gestures, but wasn't sure since binding her in an entagle or if someone were to grab her and pin her arms and legs, meant she couldn't aim, but could 'still' fire. Someone suggested restrainable. But it got me to thinking, maybe no limitation is needed, since she'd still be able to use the power and not aiming it is just special effects? But, still, I 'really' wanted something that would render her inert powerwise. I figured the KA's need some sort of 'trade' off since they have the capability to be so lethal, and energy blasts don't fit the special effects of this power, as they're sharp blades of telekinetic energy. So, I started thinking, what if she...had to kind of 'really' move her hands/arms legs/feet to 'generate' the blades before either spinning them into exisitance around her hands, or fireing them at range at a target? Would that be more conducive to gestures? Also, I 'too' am worried about the damage. I think with the points she has left over, she has 66 points (it's a beginning 350 point character), so I was going to put 33 points in non combat skills, and 33 point in combat skill (some of which will be a martial arts, something like Akido, or Ju-Jitsu maybe). This is because I like skill heavy characters, and I also want her to be able to help a team without having to shear some poor villian's 'arm' off at the shoulder. The variable advantage, I'm thinking is a mistake. While 'I'd' never use things like NND, and Indirect (though it would perfectly legal to), others would, but some of those effects might not be in keeping with how I envisioned the power. Perhaps, I could simply apply 0 END, and AP to those slots? I think that might be better. I am worried over the damage. The first slot, for example seems 'terribly' excessive to me. The way I envisioned the blades was as sort of 'super' sharp telekinetic blades, so perhaps they should 'all' have AP applied to them in some form. I 'also' came up with some 'neat' ideas for non standard power uses, others then for straight forward attacks. Like, generating a wider blade, and slicing into an object carving a tunnel through a wall or other object. (Tunneling up to a certian DEF, with a low movement score maybe just 1" phase, and can't fill in the tunnel?). A second power I thought about would be generating a standard ranged or hand to hand blade of telekinesis, hitting the target with it at range or in hand to hand, and having it sort of 'shatter' into hundreds of 'tinnier' blades that would buzz around the effected character in a sort of 'field' doing damage to him continously. She'd have to concentrate to keep the power going, and it would cost end. A third power, would be a more 'directed' control of a telekinetic blade. She generates a ranged blade as usual, but this one 'stays' in exisitance, and can 'follow' a target trying to hit it 'again' and 'again' even if it should miss the first time. It costs end to keep it active, and if she is knocked out it winks out. But I thought it might be a nasty surprise for some villian she throws it at if they were to dodge it thinking it missed only to have it swing back around and hit them from behind the very next phase she has as an attack. Though, admitedly, I'm unsure how to do this. Would anyone care to offer suggestions about this one? I'll try and go back, and see how I can 'lower' the total overall damage the blades do from the 'existing' slots. and, yes, she only has 10 STR, and I didn't see her as going any higher in that, as her concept is more energy blaster than anything. The entire multipower isn't bought with restrainable, basically because the last slot in the multpower, she doesn't have to use her hands or arms to generate the field, it can spring into being around her.

Hi. I came up with a design for a character that can generate telekinetic blades. But by rights, the special effects should be very high damage RKA and HKA and or KA's with advantage such as Armour Piercing. So, this is what I came up with. I was wondering if it was acceptable. Would this be a difficult character in itself to run? 10 Armour: 10 rED; OIF: Energy Cloth/Inserts Costume (-1/2) 80 Multipower: Telekinetic Blade Generation m-10 RKA: 5D+1; Restrainable (-1/2) u-5 RKA: 3D-1; AP x's 2 (+1), Restrainable (-1/2) u-5 RKA: 2D-1; Variable Advantage up to +1 (+2), Restrainable (-1/2) m-10 HKA: 5D+1, Restrainable (-1/2) u-5 HKA: 3D-1; AP x's 2 (+1), Restrainable (-1/2). u-5 HKA: 2D-1; Var. Adv. up to +1 (+2), Restrainable (-1/2). m-14 HKA: 1D+1; Damage Shield (+3/4), Continuous (+1), 1/2 END (+1/4), Armour Piercing (+1/2). 10 Force Field: 10 PD; 0 END (+1/2), Linked to HKA damage shield (-1/2). The first slot is simply raw cutting power. The second slot is a fine edged telekinetic blade/saw. The third slot is a weaker cutting ability with the advantage of being able to shift things around. She could set this slot of 0 end and AP x's 1. The HKA slots are much as the above, just that she can generate them from the hands and keep them spinning around her hands, rather than them spinning out to hit something. The last HKA slot is her surrounding herself in a tight field of telekinetic blades, that can shred or deflect away misc objects (the force field outside the mp that functions agianst physical attacks), and cut anything she touches, holds, or anything that strikes her physically. It's a HKA damage shield, because I think that means she can add her strength to it, yes? I figured it made sense, as she could touch a section of wall lightly, and let the telekinetic blades slice at it, or she could touch the wall, and 'push' against it, lending more force behind the telekinetic blade field? I know this 'looks' like some kind of 'killing' machine build...but I 'really' think this build is interesting, and could make a good character. But I'm wondering if I am biased? What does the community think? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks Ragdoll.

Hi. I was working on developing a character that can generate telekinetic 'blades' to damage things. But I'd like her powers to be 'restrainable' to an extent. The way I conceptualized it, was she can hurl or generate the blades from her hands and feet, but no other places. She also would have to use her arms or legs to point at the target and aim. Would gestures be appropriate for a power like this, to simulate if she is entangled or held, the power wouldn't work, since she can't aim the power? Or would this be something else? She could fire it...just not at what she might want? Any help you can give, would be appreciated. Thanks. Ragdoll.

Hi. I'd definitely say their are some 'laws' that would be broken if a character just decided to 'keep' a certian defeated enemies foci such as a superhuman's foci. Whatever law enforcement agency deals with cleaning up the villians afterward and transporting the, to whatever institution you've deemed to deal and keep super powered criminals under lock and key, will begin to get suspicious 'very' very' quickly, if they visit 3 of your player's battlesites and find Doctor Freeze minus his ring, Evil Power Suit girl, minus her power armour and evil slasher claw villain missing his claw gauntlets. Even if they 'don't' know what powers the villains had before hand, investigators that show up willtake statements from anyone that witnessed the battle as a matter of course. They'll hear that doctor freeze was freezing things, or that a woman in power armour was flying around blasting things or a person with claws strapped to their hands was tearing through barricades. They may 'assume' Doctor Freeze's powers are inborn and not he result of a ring, but they'll wonder where the woman's armour went to and where the claw persons claws vanished to. Further more, when Doctor Freeze wakes up, the team that incarcerates villians will want to study him, with the villians consent I'd imagine, or they'll want to take a confession or a statement. They'll ask about things, Doctor Freeze will eventually work out they don't have his super equipment, this will come as a surprise to investigators...little things like that add up. The government or state agencies that deal with the aftermath of battles will eventually begin to look oddly at the PC's. Foci 'will' be missed, it's only a matter of time. If the PC that took it, shows up in action or at a battle site wearing the 'armour' or using Doctor Freeze's ring, the investigators will figure out 'very' quickly that this teams seems to like to 'take' things, and that's a no no under state/federal law. Even if an ice using character is the one that took the ring to increase her own power, that might let her stay under the radar for a while, but enventually, Doctor Freeze is going to accuse her of something even from jail. ie: She was looking at my ring! She's the one that stole it, why don't you arrest her too! If nothing else, the investigators will probably check her out, especially if other foci have gone missing when this team is around. OR alternately, Doctor Freeze may escape, or be parolled. You can 'bet' he'll come looking for his ring. Likely with friends, or a new toy in his arsenal, or something that will either turn the ring against the wearer or nulify it. Of he may just ambush her, when she's on patrol by herself and teach her a lesson about stealing. I mean, their are 'so' many things you can do with this. Not all of them have to be bad either. You can design an entire adventure around a villains need to get revenge against one character, bringing in the other PC's eventually. Actions often have consequences. Alternately, if a character does get their hands on a foci object, and it's a 'freebie' (ie: no one will miss it), the acceptable way in the HERO book, is, I believe, make the character pay points for it, while they use it. Either have 'every' other xp point total go towards paying for the ring, or make 'every' xp point total from every session they play in go towards the ring until they pay it off. For instance, if player a takes Doctor Freeze's 60 point pool Multipower Freeze ring which is OIF: Ring. Then the player can use it but they'll have to: a. pay for the cost in xp, at 'every' session they play in until the cost is paid for completely. b. pay for the cost in xp at every other session, until paid for. Also take note of how often they use the ring. If player a gets 3 xp for an adventure, but they used the doctor's ring 100% of the time, then nearly all or all of the xp earns goes to paying off the ring. it doesn't matter if the player used conversation skill or analyze during an adventure. Look at what the player used most, and assign xp spenditures accordingly. If you feel generous, make them spend 90% of xp on the ring if they use it nearly all the time, and let them put 1 point into some other skill they used if they want. This assumes they used a skill for something else and didn't just use the ring constantly, of course. Also, take into account not all foci are universal, some are personal foci. That freeze ring may work for the doctor because it's keyed to his personal life readings or brainwave patterns. That suit of power armour may be be usable by the villian but has passcodes to keep others from using it. It 'very' likely has security systems. Even if it didn't, figuring out 'all' of the fuctions of a suit of powered armour will be a daunting task at best. And...most technology, especially if you're playing with gritty realism, is 'breakable'. it may work well, until the team gets into a fight, then the one with the ring get blasted through a wall, or gets hits with an AE attack. Suddenly the ring isn't in tip top condition, and you'd got a damaged possibly dangerous situation. You'll need to have it analyzed and repairs 'attempted'. This will be difficult, since the person repairing it doesn't have schematics. They'll have to try and reverse engineer it, or study it. Things like this take time without knowledge of the device before hand. And don't forget, if it's technology, not 'every' piece of technology comes with clearly labeled instructions. That ring Doctor Freeze had doesn't have clearly labled instructions or a book of instructions. Doctor Freeze knows how to use it, but the character isn't as adept. Place no point cost activation rolls on some powers or all the powers. Give them a sheet of paper with the power written in and little 'else'. If it's a Multipower, put: Multipower: Freeze Ring (Points ??) OIF: Ring. U-??; act 8- M-Unknown Power activation roll 8- etc... If Doctor Freeze used an ice blast...well, they know the ring does that..but what else does it do? He may, for instance, have not used the hypothermia blast which is 4D6 NND (not vs. those with Life Support vs. Cold). The character would have no idea that the ring has this power. They'd have to discover it. What I'm saying is, if a player character takes a foci, this does not automatically assume instant knowledge of all its functions. When they get the ring, ask them to write down the the things that Doctor Freeze did with the ring as 'best' they can remember. Use 'that' as the starting sheet on the rings abilities and put other powers they don't know about with question marks and activations rolls or no concious control. In sort, if they take a focus, even if it's one that won't be missed, don't make it too easy on them. If they want new equipment, make it clear to them, they're going to have to 'work' for it. Ragdoll.

I looked at the points, and I think I can make it work this time. Any comments and improvements/changes are greatly appreciated. Name: ??? 20 STR (10) 20 DEX (30) 20 CON (20) 20 BOD (20) 20 INT (10) 17 EGO (14) 15 PRE (05) 20 COM (05) 12 PD (08) 12 ED (08) 5 SPD (20) 8 REC (00) 0 END (-20) 40 STN (00) [130 points] -POWERS- 10 0 END for STR (+1/2) 7 0 END for Running, Jumping (6/12", 3/6") -2 -2" Swimming (0/0") 2 -1" Knockback Resistance 8 8 rPD/8 rED Damage Resistance 12 Cannot be Stunned: Not vs. Electricity or Sonics (-1/4). 50 Life Support: Full 8 Endurance Reserve: 40 END 10 REC; OIF: Spell Module (-1/2), Will not recover in area of no magick (-1/4) 72 VPP: 60 point pool; +30 point control cost; Limitations for Control Cost: -1/4 Only Magickal Spell effect powers (ie: no 'physical' creations: enchanted talismans, nothing bought through a focus) -1/4 Gestures applied to 'all' powers created in the pool: only to start. -1/4 Incantations applied to 'all' powers created in the pool: only to start. -1/4 May not use VPP in area of no magick. -1/2 OIF: Spell Module. 15 Technomagick brain -Absolute Time Sense -Eidetic Memory -Lightning Calculator -Speed Reading -SKILLS- 5 Analyze Skill: Magickal Styles and Training 14- 4 KS: Known Spells 14- 4 KS: Known Arcane Objects 14- 4 KS: Known Arcane Organizations 14- 4 KS: Known Arcane Individuals 14- 4 PS: House Keeper/Servant 14- 5 Power Skill (to change pool in combat): Magick Pool 14- 3 Linguist 5 Lost/Arcane Languages (1 points in each: [fluency with each] total 5) -DISADVANTAGES- 15 Distinctive Features: Exotic looking construct; Concealable, Major 15 Distinctive Features: Extremely Distincitve Arcane Signature; Not Concealable, Extreme, Detected with unusual senses 15 Berserk when a spell change skill roll is failed; Uncommon, Go 8-, Recover 14- 10 Hunted: DEMON splinter sect; As powerful, 8-, enslave/imprison 15 Watched: Trismegistus Council; More Powerful, NCI 11-, watching 25 Psychological Limitation: Code vs. Killing (Common, Total) 15 Psychological Limitation: Driven to Aquire Arcane Knowledge (Uncommon, Total) 10 Psychological Limitation: Must Protect the Creator (Uncommon, Total) 0 Psychological Limitation: Curious about the World (Common, Strong) 5 Physical Limitation: Social Inept, Unfamiliar with the world (Frequently, Slight) 15 Physical Limitation: Made from metals, weighs 440 lbs. (All the time, Slightly) 5 Dependance: On the Spell Module; Takes 1D STUN, -1 to all skill and related rolls every 6 hours if Spell Module is taken by anyone other than the creator without the proper passcodes; Very Common Item. 0 DNPC: The Creator; As Powerful, 14-, Useful Non combat position or skills.

Hello. I'm not sure I can build it. I had a 350 point character done, and was looking over the points I'd spent, when I realized I'd left 'out' full life support, which is 50 points, isn't it? I'm not sure I can make this character on 350 points which is a terrible dissapointment, since I was quite fond of the concept at least. Here's what I have. I was writing up its disadvantages when I discovered my error, so they're not defined yet. One other minor point, with damage reduction 25% on both physical and energy, it's 12 and 10 points (-1/4 limitation on physical for not vs. sonics, and -1/2 limitation on energy for not vs. electricity). But that brings the robot to 260 points. I could add, instead, cannot be stunned, and limit it with 'Not vs. electricity or sonics' and take the lower of the limitation value at -1/4 and that's 12 points which makes it 250 again. I have that jotted down. I'm not sure how I can make this fit. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks. 30 STR 20 DEX 20 CON 20 BOD 20 INT 20 EGO 16 PRE 20 COM 12 PD 12 ED 5 SPD 10 REC 0 END 45 STUN [145 points] -POWERS- 15 0 END for STR (+1/2) 12 0 END for Running, Jumping 4 +2" Running (8/16") 3 +3" Jumping (8/16") -2 -2" Swimming (0/0") 2 -1" Knockback Resistance 6 6 rPD/6 rED Damage Resistance 9 Endurance Reserve: 40 END 10 REC; OIF: Spell Module (-1/2) 73 VPP: 60 point pool; +30 point control cost; Limitations for Control Cost: -1/4 Only Magickal Spell effect powers (ie: no 'physical' creations: enchanted talismans, nothing bought through a focus) -1/4 Gestures applied to 'all' powers created in the pool: only to start. -1/4 Incantations applied to 'all' powers created in the pool: only to start. -1/2 OIF: Spell Module. 13 Detect: Magick at range, Discriminatory, Analyze; OIF: Spell Module (-1/2) 21 Technomagick brain -Absolute Range Sense -Bump of Direction -Absolute Time Sense -Eidetic Memory -Lightning Calculator -Speed Reading 12 Damage Reduction: 25% Physical Resistant; Not vs. Sonics (-1/4). 10 Damage Reduction: 25% Energy Resistant; Not vs. Electricity (-1/4). OR 12 Cannot be Stunned: Not vs. Electricity or Sonics (-1/4). -SKILLS- 5 Analyze Skill: Magickal Styles and Training 14- 4 KS: Known Spells 14- 4 KS: Known Arcane Objects 14- 4 KS: Known Arcane Organizations 14- 4 KS: Known Arcane Individuals 14- 4 PS: House Keeper/Servant 14- 5 Power Skill (to change pool in combat): Magick Pool 14- 3 Linguist 4 Lost/Arcane Languages (1 points in each: [fluency with each] total 4) -DISADVANTAGES- Distinctive Features: Exotic looking construct; Concealable

Hi. I asked, because I've posted a character, that had what I considered to be a small but effective power pool for a gadgeteer effect (bringing some gadgets from the base?), it was about 20 points or so, and the general community concensus seemed to be it was too small to be worth bothering over. The general opinion was to make it an MP, or something to that effect. Do you think I could make this concept with a smaller VPP? Perhaps 50 points? Lower? I'm interested to hear what you'd suggest as I'm a little stuck with this character. I personally didn't think it was too small, I've just heard some community members say in general: Small VPP's are wasteful and large ones are very scary. But I was wondering what the community thought was 'large'. I know what they feel is too small. I chose a VPP, because I felt that a VPP fit the specific concept. Having the whole of the worlds magical spells stored within you, would likely be too cumbersome to simulate with a multipower, yes?

Hi, this was something I was curious about, and I thought I'd ask the community? I'm building a technomagickal robot/golem, that's been built by a powerful technomage as a sort of pseudo apprentice-servant character. The character is built as a robot. Full life support, 0 END on STR, running, and leaping. I bought the robot's END to 0, and installed a END reserve. But, I was curious about cannot be stunned. I thought it would make a good power, without making it too machine like. It still has stun, but it cannot be momentarily stunned. I've looked for examples in some of my HERO material for sample constructions of robotic characters that are 'aware', but the closest I found was Yeoman from a 4th ed. Supplement called Enemies for Hire. All the other robot examples I've found seem to be 'true' automatons..like the Destroyer 'Destroids' and the Minutemen robots. But those seem to be 'away' from what I'm trying to build. I also reason that they have the takes no stun at all power because they're not true PC characters, and or not 'aware' machines. My idea was to give the robot an endurance reserve, and a VPP and have them 'both' the same OIF: The spell module. The spell module is how the robot casts spells, and taps the magickal ether to power those spells. Without the module..if it's removed, the robot looses its ability to cast spells, as well as tap the ether to power spells (it's END Reserve). The robot uses the module to actually 'power' itself, so eventually it will begin to loose STUN every few hours, if it's removed. Once the stun is gone, it will begin to loose body at a much faster pace, as the complex spells that keep it alive bleed off, having no ability to tap the ether to keep its core systems active. The robot has 'every' known spell contained within it's spell module, placed there by the technomage. In addition, it can 'scan' in spells it finds or learns about/records, and then, assimilate them into its database for later use. The database is huge, so it can't change in combat without a magickal skill roll. If the roll fails, it doesn't find the file/spell in that moment, but can keep trying. I'm just concered it's rather expensive. The VPP is 60 points. It's OIF, and the control cost requires incantations and gestures. It's 75 points. The characteristics are high, the robot has, I think, 20's in DEX, CON, BOD, INT, EGO, etc. I built it ruggedly, but with asthetic beauty. But since it is a machine, I reasoned it should be quite durable. I'm not sure. For that matter, is a 60 point VPP even worth having? Is it too small? If anyone has any ideas, on how to proceed, or needs me to post the work up I have, I'd really appreciate any suggestions and or help. Thanks! Ragdoll.

Hm, you make a good point. Would this be approriate as Social Limitation: 'Secret'? Instead of Secret ID. This 'is' something she'd rather not have people know. Well, certian people. Thanks. Ragdoll.

Hi, and happy holidays everyone. I've had this character written down in one of my notebooks for a while now, and I've finally set to ask opinions and help on it. This character originates in a parallel universe. It's very similar to the Champions 5th ED universe, with some exceptions. One notable exception I wanted was the scale of their universe is one half the Champions 5th ed. universe. It's just something I thought would be interesting, and how it would be applied to this powered armour archetype. So, I've built the character at roughly 3ft. in height. I thought a 3ft tall power armour character might be novel. 3/40 STR (-7) [19] 12/21 DEX (9) [12] 13/30 CON (6) [17] 8/20 BOD (-4) [12] 16 INT (6) 11 EGO (2) 15/18 PRE (5) [2] 14 COM (2) 3/10 PD (2) [5] 3/10 ED (0) [5] 3/5 SPD (7) [13] 5 REC (2) 26 END (0) 18/45 STN (2) [18] <135 total> -POWERS- 20 Main Power Source: Endurance Reserve 200 END, 10 REC; OIF: armour (-1/2) 5 Backup Batteries: Endurance Reserve 20 END, 2 REC; OIF: armour (-1/2) 15 Advanced Materials Armour: Armour: 10PD/10ED; OIF: armour (-1/2), Ablative: when takes body (-1/2). 8 Structured Energy Field Armour Enchancement: Resistant Defenses: full 10/10. Hardened (+1/4), OIF: Armour (-1/2). 53 Multipowers: Structured Energy Field Generation Abilities; OIF: armour (-1/2): 80 point MP u1 Structured Energy Field Beam Projection: Energy Blast vs. PD 8D; beam attack (-1/4), cannot be bounced (-1/4), 2x's END (-1/2). u1 Unfocused Structured Energy Field Overcharge Attack: Energy Blast vs PD 10D; AE: hex (+1/2), Extra End x's 3 (-1), Burnout 10- (-1). u2 Full Power Structured Energy Field Generation: Force Field 13 rPD / 13 rED; Hardened (-1/4). u2 Close Structured Energy Field Extension Model: Force Wall 12 rPD/ 12 rED; No Range (-1/2), Restrictive Shape: Bubble (-1/4), Hardened (+1/4), Burnout 10- (-1). u4 Restrictive Structured Energy Field: Entangle 6D 10 DEF; cannot force barriers (-1/4). u1 Structured Energy Sustained Boot Bursts: Flight 15"/120"; 1 Hour long fuel charge (+0). u2 Structured Energy Boot Bursts: Superleap 48"/96" 2 Armour Life Support: Extended Breathing 1 END/20 Minutes; OIF: armour (-1/2). 1 Safe Enviornment: Low Pressure/Vaccume; OIF: armour (-1/2). 1 Safe Environment: High Pressure; OIF: armour (-1/2). 1 Safe Environment: High Radiation; OIF: armour (-1/2). 1 Safe Environment: Intense Cold; OIF: armour (-1/2). 1 Safe Environment: Intense Heat; OIF: armour (-1/2). 10 +2 DCV [3 ft tall] 4 +2 Stealth Rolls [3ft. tall] -4 Running -2" [3ft tall] -1 Swimming -1" [3ft. tall] SKILLS/TALENTS/PERKS 3 Scientist 3 Electronics 3 Mechanics 3 Inventor 3 KS: Personal Battlesuit Systems 3 Computer Programming 3 SC: Mathematics 2 SC: Metallurgy 2 SC: Subatomic Physics 3 Systems Operations 3 PS: Battlesuit Systems 3 PS: Inventor 3 KS: Chicago 1 KS: Calligraphy 2 PS: Calligraphy 15 JuJitsu -Disarm -Escape -Joint Lock -Slam 1 Breakfall 8- 1 KS:??? Attributes: 135 Powers: 130 Skills: 58 Total: 323 DISADVANTAGES 15 DNPCS: Parents (mother and father); Normals, Unaware 8- 10 DNPC: Younger Brother (25); Reporter {Daily Mirror}; Useful, Normal, 11- 5 DNPC: Robin Morgain; (Defense Attorney); Unaware, 8-, Useful non combat skills, normal. 15 Distinctive Features: 3ft 3in tall; Not concealable, Noticed and recognized 15 Psych Lim: In Love with Robin Morgain; Common, Strong 15 Psych Lim: Code vs. Killing; Common, Strong 20 Psych Lim: Driven to Protect the Innocent; Common, Total 10 Psych Lim: Torn between wanting to return home and remaining in this dimension: Uncommon, Strong 10 Social Limitation: Secret Identity Occassonally 8-, Major 20 Phy Lim: Character is always 3 ft. tall; (mass 12.5 kg, takes +6" KB) All the time, Slightly Imparing. ************************* As you can see this is supposed to be a 350 Point starting character, but I'm having a few problems. 1. I have 27 points left over, and I'm not sure where to put the points. 2. I'm not entirely sure about her martial arts, though I 'would' like her to be able to defend herself outside of the suit should the need arise. 3. She's the primary creator/repairer of the suit, but I'm not sure about the science skills. Given that's it's a battle suit and has force wielding abilities, what sort of science skills should I be buying? 4. I'm thinking she should have wealth, but given she's from another dimension and her alternate is dead here, I'm not sure how that would work. 5. Anything else you might recommend? -She was quite wealthy in her home dimension. Her parents were killed off by her brother (he used to good, but became slowly corrupted by money and power due to his being into the family business a bit too much. She ran the business with her brother, unaware of his hand in their parents murder. The battlesuit was part of the company research division, and they had a contract with the military for the suit. She wasn't keen on this idea, her parents hadn't been, which is 'one' reason why the brother had them eliminated. She find information out on him regarding his hand in her parents murder, she threatens to expose him, if he doesn't turn over soul ownership of the company to her, he does so, she goes to turn him in anyway, but he destroys the evidence. He's turned out on the street, but has a backup plan. 5 years later he takes over his own company, and begins warring with her company. She begins using the suit to battle him in and out of the board room. He suspects she's the woman in the suit, but can't prove it. He has her fiance (the head of R&D in her world, but a DA in the Champions Universe) kidnapped to draw her out and expose her. He fights her with an earlier prototype of the suit he'd pilfered and had designed. In the ensuing battle, her fiance is killed, and the prototye suit experiences a fault and explode, tearing a hole between universes and cutting her loose from her dimension and into the Champions one. She finds in this universe she died in the Destruction of Detroit as a College student attending the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Her former fiance was a love interest at that same school, Robin Morgain who's now a DA in Chicago. Her alternate and he dated a few times, but it never went anywhere, and then her alternate was killed in the destruction of Detroit. Her alternate's father and mother are middle class, having no family fortune. Her father never got into business he chose another job, both her alternate and her brother went to college on partial scholarships and student loans. Her alternate brother seems well adjusted, and works as a reporter. He does mostly fluff pieces, but wants to work in crime reporting. Her alternate parents are divorced, the stress caused by the death of her alternate caused the break up of their marriage. They're her DNPC's because she's actively looking out for them in her heroic ID. They haven't seen her out of the armour. She's desperately in love with Robin, but he has 'no' idea who she is out of the armour, and doesn't know about her feelings. All her relations are though the battlesuit. Given this unique situation, should she have the secret identity disadvanage? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Well, I certainly agree with you, but I never said that it wouldn't fit the bill. In general, though I was interested in making a more unique brick-type than by just using the old armour/damage reduction/high con method. I was looking for something in the power build that kind of divested from the norm, but still kept the special effect of them being reasonably pure. ie: it takes a lot of damage to put her down. I wasn't focused so much on the absorbtion. It does what it does, true, but I was percieving it as an energy aura that surrounded her body that would simply absorb the damage, coupled with her psychokinetic/electrokinetic ability to shield herself from the damage when it slammed into her and was absorbed via the field. In a way, both the absorbtion and armour are just two uses from 'one' power. Her strength is linked to this field as well, being an extention of the field's psychokinetic abilities, which is why I bought the strength as doesn't effect physical characteristics. The damage reduction is another aspect of the armour effect..it not only protects, but cushions to a certain extent, not just blocking the energy as if it were hitting a wall, but letting the energy roll over the field, and stretch across it, sort of creating a cushioning effect. Really all of these individual powers are simply aspects of the field that surrounds her body. While I wanted someone with the ability to take damage like superman but not be knocked out unless a concentrated effort was made, I thought the absorbtion was a rather 'neat' idea to simulate it in a unique fashion. I just wasn't sure about the possible ramifications of absorbtion/damage reduction and armour together at such high levels. I do appreciate all of your input, I've found it to be extremely helpful. Thanks again. Ragdoll.

Oookie. That reasoning is a bit scary, I didn't 'quite' realize how powerful I'd made it, but I had a nagging suspicion. Thank you for that insight and example. Yes, I can see how terribly powerful that is, now. I suppose I could move the Armour and Damage Reduction outside the Elemental Control. I'm curious about your linked to armour comment? You said it doesn't apply because the armour is always on? I was to understand that linked could apply to a power that was always on? Did I make a mistake there? Thank you all for your input. I still like the concept, but I'm trerrible at looking at the 'big' picture, as in, how much damage it could soak up and what would be abusive. Would the community suggest some revisions to this build to make it still a very tough character to batter down, but not so much, that she's shrugging off pushed haymakers from Grond, and later adopting him as a cute pet? For instance, should I reduce the level of absorbtion, and hence the armour maximum? Should I reduce the damage reduction to 50% or 25% rather than 75%? Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks. Ragdoll.

Hi. I need some advice regarding a power build. Would the following power build be acceptable in a campaign, or is it too abusive? The idea was to mimic superman's ability to soak up damage, but still be able to to be knocked into sleepy land, given enough effort. Still, this build seems to make a character 'extremely' difficult to bring down. It's essentially made for a brick template. A sort of absorbtion/pseudo telekenetically enhanced strength template. The character is a music lover with a good amount of non combat skills. I had points left over, so I put the extra ones into improving her non combat skills, and 'adding' some combat skills like a combat skill level or two. Here's the power build: 20 Elemental Control: Psychokinetic/Energy Absorbtion Field a-13 Absorbtion 8D vs PD; Half points to Stun, Half to END, Linked to Armour (-1/2). b-13 Absorbtion 8D vs. ED; Half to stun, half to END, linked to Armour (-1/2). c-78 Armour: 46 PD/46 ED; Only protects up to amount rolled on Absorbtion (-1/2) d-13 Damage Reduction 75% PD Non resistant; Stun only (-1/2). e-13 Damage Reduction 75% ED Non resistant; Stun only (-1/2). Her strength is about 50, with the no effects figured characteristics. Her PD and ED are both 2, so her theoretical maximum protection is 48 PD/ED and 46 rPD/rED The non resistant damage reduction and stun only, represents the superman like ability to shrug off 'most' things, unless either a 'real' concentrated effort is made, or someone brings a very powerful weapon, and hits superman with it..usually..he's knocked out maybe damaged some...but not killed outright..not unless a concentrated effort is made. So, is this build 'too' powerful? Is their anything the community might suggest be added or removed? Any comments are appreciated.