Kdansky

Re: 6E Rules changes confirmed so far

Of all I could see in all the threads up to 8 I have to say that this is a major improvement. Some numerical values can still break it (such as AoE being +1 still, letting it have zero effect against anyone with average defenses), but the ideas work. CVs and figureds decoupled will finally make some concepts work well, such as the fighter that is not also a superhuman acrobat, or the mental power genius that actually breaks under torture or can be seduced (sorry, charmed). The trash (ex COM / Forcefield + Armor) got taken out, the new powers (Possession) look very clever.

Disadvantages? Nostalgia goggles have to come off. Backwards compatibility will be broken, at least on a cost-level. Which is irrelevant anyway for NPCs, and the handful of PCs that are around can be rebuilt easily. Hopefully costs become a measure instead of the current general guideline. See the hundreds of utterly gamebreaking builds by the usual suspects.

Re: Normal Human

I think when I get SHRED, or whatever we call the next Edition, I'll try to recreate the Normal Human and the Florist Friars.

 

If I can't do it, I'll have to acknowledge that the system has improved.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary wonders if Lucius will miss the problems once they're gone.

I am looking SO forward to this.

Re: Final Fantasy XI style Ninja Shadows

There is actually an old thread on this power somewhere with a lot of build ideas.

Re: If I could put END in a bottle

Eh what?! Not even remotely true.

Compare:

1. Aid 6d6, Only Usable On One Person At A Time (-x?)

2. Aid 6d6

3. Aid 6d6, Self Only (RAW: -1/2 though -1 would be way more suitable)

4. Aid 6d6, 1 Charge (-2)

Don't you think that [1] should be limited at -1/4 or even -1/2 if Self Only was correctly priced? 1 Charge includes that indirectly. It is one of these "If you take Armor that costs End, it is automagically nonpersistent, but if you take nonpersistend FF, it still costs END"-problems. It's not such an obvious one.

Basic Aid's primary power lies in the fact that you can use it on more than one person. 1 Charge significantly reduces that power.

Re: If I could put END in a bottle

Aid END, Charges (and possibly Focus, fragile and gestures).

Problem: Charges are incredibly limiting on Aid for the cost decrease you get (After all, one Charge nearly includes Self Only). I would allow to put "Only one person at a time (-1/2)" on it, even though that is technically pointless, but it brings the cost in line with what it does.

If you want to pay 50 END to put 50 END into the bottle, go with Side Effect.

There is also the "Alchemy" build:

Aid 6d6, Extra Time 6 hours, Requires Ingredients, Fragile Focus (Bottle), 1 Charge, Delayed Effect

a lot cheaper

I really like this build:

Combat Drugs: Focus, 1 Continuing Charge, Fragile (-2.75)

Naked Advantage: 0 END on up to 120 AP (+1/2): 60 AP, ~14 real.

Re: Favorite 60-point Power Construction

4d6 Killing Attack

Help, the Stun Lotto Debate is flaring up! Someone get a big bucket of Houserules Against Stun Lotto and extinguish it!

That aside: I agree. 4d6 KA with RAW are ludicrously good.

Current houserule: Stunmultiplier fixed at x2, expected resistant defenses slightly below expected DC of KAs. It's not a very good solution, as the KA now does nearly no stun anymore... But the campaign is already in it's second half, so that will work until it ends.

Transfers make some fun powers. Transferring strength to strength (AE) is a pretty nasty ability. Even at low levels it can be pretty potent stuff in a hurry' date=' particularly against agents. For 60 points you can get 1/2D6 of 0 END cost AE megahex, continuous, uncontrolled transfer with +20 points of maximum effect, that will jack your strength up by 26 points (and with a nice 18 or so base, that gets you up past Spider-man territory). It is a nice add on to a basic martial artist template, one of my favorite types of builds: the Martial Artist Plus...[/quote']

 

You might want to replace +maximum Effect with Cumulative? I always thought that increased Maximum Effect (after all, what else should it do? It's also priced a lot better than +2 per 1cp which does not scale for the different cost of 1d6 of each Transfer, Drain or Suppress). You'd get a lot of mileage out of it since you are already advantage stacking. Also, Megahex is cheap

I would probably not allow it on a PC.

Re: Spreading Good WIll

Laugh, turn around and go home. Which is not on earth.

Isn't it nice to play an ass?

Re: Ninja Spring Leap

The Ultimate Skill: Pages on Leap and Acrobatics. All covered.

Re: Normal Human

Being normal' date=' most of the time, in a very abnormal world, IMO, qualifies.[/quote']

 

Social Limitation. Not NCM.

 

 

NCM is a purely mechanical thing and as such, it utterly fails. Inreasing or decreasing cost of stuff you could buy at will never works.

 

No Psionic: Mental Powers cost x2: -20cp

No Speedster: Speed above 6 costs x2: -10cp

No Brick: STR above 40 costs x2: -5cp

No Energy Projector: EBs cost x2: -10cp

No Dimensiontraveler: EDM costs x2: -5cp

No Transformer: Transform costs x2: -5cp

NCM: Characteristics above arbitrary treshold cost x2: -20cp

 

Shall I go on? It's a horrible concept. It works as a campaign rule, but only there. The book even lists the example: "If you want Transform to be more common, you can reduce it's cost by half." etc.

Re: A Complete Overhaul of the Hero System Combat and Skill System

It is an interesting way of doing it. Basically you are doing not a comparison like d20 or hero, where you add/subtract OCV/DCV, where REAL differences are relevant, but rather one where RELATIVE differences count. 10 vs 5 is the same as 20 vs 10.

That means that boni and mali get less relevant the better both combatants are. At 3 CV, dodge is killer. At 30 CV, dodge is nearly pointless. Which is the total opposite from right now. You essentially replace the horrible scaling in regards to different powerlevels (12 ocv vs 6 dcv) right now with horrible scaling in regards to high/low power characters. You also remove the bell-curve, which made Dodge useful in the first place (try a +3 DCV Dodge and roll a d20. It's not worth doing for 15% -hit).

Another thing I don't like: You get choices of how to allocate levels where you always have an ideal choice (from a probability point of view), but for most people, this is very difficult to calculate. This means that some people (like me) would have a tremendous advantage if they can do the math in their head. I would also slow play down, since I would insist of doing that math to know which maneuver gives me better chances. And other players would have to guess which means they lose. I know another system which does something similar, and I hate it for it.

I also don't think it's workable in practice, since recounting the beads and drawing takes ages compared to rolling dice. I also like rolling dice (though I do play Go and I like that too from a tactile point of touch).

But thanks for the interesting read.

Re: Sleep Is Food, Food Is Sleep

Interesting Idea. I will have to write up some NND Disease Spells now

Re: Three point CSLs

Yes, the Speed-sellback is brutal. And nearly any character ever written buys speed, since 30 DEX + 4 speed is just even. Characters with more than 30 DEX and 4 speed or less are a rarity, considering Speed 4 is Brick @350, but 30 DEX is very good.

I do see that a 5cp Level has some Advantages over +3 DEX (for 6 points after speed). But not nearly enough to make it worthwhile purchase for a broad choice of characters. You'd rather first bump your dex, since Teamwork, Breakfall, DfC and similar things are incredibly useful, and you get nearly as much CV, or even more, depending on how you look at it (+5/+5 (+10 total) vs +6 total on either DCV or OCV).

Re: Sleep Is Food, Food Is Sleep

And your background concept may call for it. Most of those concepts of mine which have the character having longevity at some point don't have that character starting out at age 16 or 30; they're already 60 or 90 or' date=' in one case, 150,000 years old. I take the power because I [i']want[/i] the power. I want the background to be 'he's an ancient dragon' or 'she's been around since Earth first went into space'. I take the power not because it's necessarily ever going to come up in-game, but because it adds punch to the background flavor (Bam!!) and because it's cool to have.

I agree there are a lot of reasons to have it. But that still should not mean it's expensive. 1 point seems about right for Longevity. LS is often overpriced. 10 points for immunity to diseases? Of course that would be incredibly useful for a normal person. But that does not mean it should cost as much as Teleporting 5".

Re: Three point CSLs

I allow:

+1 OCV: 3 points

+1 DCV: 3 points

Because if I don't, everyone will just buy more DEX instead. Yes, 8 points levels are practically nonexistant in my game, for good reason. +1 CV (distribute however you want) is 5 points. Overall Skill Levels are still 10 points. There, I just fixed CSLs.

Re: Sleep Is Food, Food Is Sleep

Because for most campaigns, it's completely irrelevant. It's like overpriced longevity. When will "I live for 500 years" ever matter? 1 point is expensive enough for something that is meaningless in game. My background story also does not cost points.

Re: Favorite 60-point Power Construction

Actually, I forgot Does BODY in my heart-attack idea. It's there if you do the math, I just forgot to list it. Also, you don't only sneak 9 stun past nearly everyone's defenses. You also sneak in 3.5 Body. ouch.

Re: Close Your Nose

Except for the part about the average human being able to do this.

Like Sean, I can do this pretty well, and even though I'm definitely not average (haha), I'm still human. I don't get a perfect 100% coverage, but I can easily breathe mostly through my mouth and not be bothered by harsh smells if I concentrate on it. Underwater it's a lot easier and I can use a snorkel without anything over my nose. Yes, it's a bit less hassle with the thing, but the difference is marginal.

I'd go with "camels (and anyone with a decent SFX-justification) can get that for free", but if you really have to put a point value to it, I'd go with "Life Support: Can close Nose without EGO roll: 1 point" which I still find vastly overpriced.

Re: Close Your Nose

Guys, you are making a mistake here: The camel is immune to flashes against the smell sense. BY SHUTTING IT OFF. So yes, you can avoid getting flashed if you don't use that sense, effectively flashing yourself for infinite time.

Zero phase action to do so. Like closing eyes. Yes, nobody can flash you in the eyes, but then again, you cannot see anyway!

So if you build those nostrils, you might as well build eyelids too. And lips, since I can close my mouth if I don't want to taste something. And the ability to not touch something.

Have I driven the point home?

The rules on "what can you do when you are grabbed" are rather fuzzy. What would you do with a Mentalist who gets grabbed? Can he still use his powers? Does he get ECV modifiers like he gets OCV modifiers? Can he use them on the grabber and/or anyone else?

Re: Tesseract Storage Device: Cheesy?

But then, the difference between Restrainable + OIF to OAF is pretty slim. You can take both away. If you get grabbed or entangled, you cannot use either (although OAF makes exceptions here, see the rules). You can only disarm the OAF, but you can "weaponlock" against both.

Re: Favorite 60-point Power Construction

I like this one:

Destabilize Life-energy: EB 3d6, AVLD (Power Defense) +1.25, Uncontrolled (+1/2) can be turned off by taking a Recovery (post12 does not count), Constant (+1), Half End (+1/4).

Hit them once, run away but keep close by. If they try to recover, Haymaker them with a generic 12d6 EB in the same Framework. Or let your team mates do that. If they don't recover, keep dodging. The character has an incredible CV (and horrible defenses, of course).

I also like the Lightsaber construct and I have my own variant (same character):

Induce Heart Attack (SFX: Target has a heart attack and spits blood): 1d6 RKA, Indirect (+1/4) always "from inside the target", No Knockback (-1/4), AVLD Power Defense (+1.25), Increased Stun multiplier x2 (+1/2).

Question: Would a target need Resistant Power Defense against the body damage?

Another build I like *a lot*:

Generic Attack plus:

Elemental Attunement: NPA Variable SFX +1/4 for (60 AP?), Visible (-1/4), Extra Time Half Phase (-1/2), Increase End x5 (-2) (and OAF -1 in my case, but that's not a necessity)

In the example case, the character has a Sword which he charges with *any* element/SFX als a half-phase action. Robots? EMP Sword! Werewolves? Silver! Water Elementals? Sword starts burning. Changes the ED/PD aspect and neatly works against vulnerabilities. Yes, it's 72.5 AP.

Some more:

A Golem with VPP - Shape Body. Can make weapons/tools/stuff from his body. Force Wall (character takes damage) is also fun ("I place myself inbetween and take the hit").

Mentalist with EB 4d6, ECV vs DCV (+1/2) (TUM), double Knockback x2 (+1.5). 16"-2d6 KB is fun, especially after you declare as a GM: "Ok, you take *roll* 14 stun damage vs ED." - "What? That's like nothing?" - "Yep. Also, you suffer *roll* 14" knockback and 14d6 from that wall over there" - "Ouch!?"

I also like my Critical Hit build: NPA Armorpiercing +1/2 for 60 AP, Activation Roll 6- (-4). The roll is the same as the attack roll. Yes, that is technically better than rolling twice, but a lot more fun and faster to play.

And last but not least on a robot:

Force Wall 14/10, self only, fixed shape, concentration, lockout: anything except the repair bots

+ Regeneration 8d6, concentration, self only, 1 turn, 0 END, nonpersistant, OAF (4 repair-bots flying around the robot) -3/4, gestures, lockout (anything except the force wall)

+ 24 Recovery, same limitations, END only

Result: The robot shields itself with a force field and starts repairing itself. The recovery is distributed during the 12 segments (2 per segment). The build is not finished yet, but I like where it is going. I fear I will have to bump up the Forcewall quite a bit, since the PCs will do 15 Body easily (they carry around (advantaged) 4d6 KAs, and more than one).

Re: Think Tank

Well, defenses always stack (you can have two armors or two force fields, SFX permitting) and that is a problem for VPPs, since one can get way too high defenses with them. But no, not other things.

Else: Considering 14d6 Attacks, he will go down first solid hit with 26 stun. He should buy up strength and the following secondaries, which would be a lot cheaper than only buying strength, since he needs all these.

Re: CSL's, while surprised and DCV question

This highlights the benefits of making DCV a figured characteristic which could be raised separately from DEX. I guess one could buy DEX, does not change combat order, OCV or skill rolls, no figured to get just DCV. I'd suggest that would cost less than 5 points for +3 DEX, since it should cost more than 4 points to get all the other benefits of DEX.

 

This highlights the problem that either DEX is radically underpriced or the broken-out components (I'm looking at YOU, Lightning Reflextes) are largely overpriced.

 

Is +1 DCV, non-persistent, really worth 5 points? A level in HTH allows me to choose between OCV, DCV and enhanced damage. A DCV level allows me no choices whatsoever - maybe it's not really WORTH 5 points.

This is so very true. I am accepting 3point levels for +1 OCV or +1 DCV by now, since that is how much it costs if you buy DEX. Having a *nonpersistent* +1 DCV for 5 points when I can have +1/+1 CV, +0.6 to dex rolls and +3 Initiative for 6 points sounds like a horrible deal.

Re: The thumb-lighter trick

I would go with "free", since everyone else can carry around a lighter.

Re: Lose Weakness

Shapeshift vs Sense: Find Weakness seems to work. Or Invisibility (15 points at 0 END vs nontargeting sense).