TheEmerged

Re: Hypothetical Axis Amerika 2005

Re: Hypothetical Axis Amerika 2005

Re: The Champions Do they suck? RE: GURPS Just my opinion, no more and no less. GURPS is better for a low-powered campaign that focuses on the investigative side. GURPS has a better psionics system. But if it weren't for those caveats, it wouldn't be worth the shelf space I give it.

Re: Special Entangle Speaking for myself, I'd require only the Indirect for the ability to "ignore" the Entangle and shoot right through it. "Personal Immunity" means it has no effect should it somehow get reflected back on him. As a player, however, I'd lean toward giving the Entangle the "Both Damaged" advantage for tactical reasons. It wouldn't be the effect you're seeking, but it's darn useful for its cost...

Re: Hypothetical Axis Amerika 2005 RE: The Japanese Half of this scenario. You might want to hit the bookstore and pick up Harry Turtledove's "Days of Infamy". He does a pretty good job of building an initially pro-Japanese WW2 scenario, and back-handedly does a good job of explaining why Japan would have a great deal of trouble holding onto anything much further east of Hawaii. RE: The German Half of this scenario. The most common method of developing a pro-Nazi scenario is to have the assasination attempt against FDR work. That's a good place to start... It's my opinion that for a Nazi-world scenario to work long term, there's a *different* person that needs to die in the late 30's or very early 40's -- Adolf Hitler. Many of the mistakes Germany made as the war went on can be fingered directly at him. And it wouldn't hurt if you knocked off Mussolini (spelling?) too, or give him a more competent military commander. His miserable failure against Greece for example hamstrung the German advance into Russia.

Re: The Champions Do they suck? RE: The point argument. Speaking for myself and the campaign I'm running, I'd like to see some more heroic types statted out for a more selfish reason: I'm running a villain campaign and need more schmucks to throw against the PC's As to the "proper" point level? Depends on what you want to play. I find 350 point characters a little lacking relative to the standards in The Ultimate Vehicle. So I've been quite generous in the experience I've handed out; the players started at 400 pts and are closing in on 600. Of course my Dr. Destroyer is built off more than 2000 pts -- before perks... For either side to mock the other is poor form, and speaks poorly of the mockers. Just because I want supers that stand a chance against the weaponry a squad of marines carries doesn't mean Witchcraft's pathetic defenses are wrong in a lower-powered campaign -- it just means it's off kilter for Witchcraft (as part of the Champions) to be hunting Viperia. (Speaking as the guy who ran the encounter in the other thread, I don't consider surviving all of a turn to be all that hot).

Re: The Champions Do they suck? The Duck hat, pure and simple.

Re: The Champions Do they suck? They don't "suck". There are some obvious flaws in the writeups from a character perspective (Sapphire not having contacts/reputation appropriate to her defined status), gaming perspective (the gladiator Ironclad not having appropriate skills like Breakfall), and wargaming perspective (the lack of secondary targetting senses, Witchcraft's lack of an "impact" attack). One of them has an especially galling appearance flaw (cf NightDuck). It's obvious they were intended to be archetypes. That, *in my opinion*, is where they break down. To each their own on that point, I'll admit. Speaking for myself I like Sapphire better than Quantum, Ironclad better than Obsidian, Solitaire better than Witchcraft, and Seeker better than Nighthawk. I also like the team better with Jaguar than without. And here's a key point -- I'm using the Champions I want to use. As to their power level? I rewrote them for the 650-750 pt range for my campaign, because that's the niche I wanted them to fill. Of course, my PC's are villains so the Champs need to fit the role of "unfriendly rivals" especially in the media-friendly issue.

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs Forget surveilance. It falls apart long before you get there, usually at the "human intel" level.

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs Bottom line is, unless you have powers that can help you no Secret ID is going to stand up to any realistic scrutiny. This goes double if your campaign has an equivalent of the "nova detect" powers (Detect person lacking Normal Characteristic Maxima, Detect Active use of Nova Powers...)

Re: OIF for Powered Armor why? #1> As a focus, the powers attached to it are harder to "turn back on" after being dispelled or brought to 0 active points by drain/suppress/transfer. #2> As a focus, it can be removed by non-invasive measures. If it can't (cf Iron Man), it's not really a focus and is at best an OIHID. #3> As "Obvious", you can't use it discreetly or trick opponents into underestimating you as easily. If not, it's not an Obvious focus. Of course, the bottom line is that it's only as much of a limitation as the GM makes it -- if he never invokes out-of-combat situations, never uses dispel, etc etc then it's effectively free points.

Re: Viperia: Less Pow Than Champions?? /devil's advocate still on But without the NND, less damage gets through /devil's advocate off You're welcome, Scott.

Re: Question about CE It's book legal, I'd just advise against allowing an EDCV power (or -EGO roll power) based on bad experience with that one...

Re: Viperia: Less Pow Than Champions?? Can I play Devil's Advocate for a moment John? AE attacks are going to do half the damage of non-AE attacks. Is it really so out-of kilter? I'd argue it is the NND + Rapid Fire aspect that makes it a problem more than the AE + Rapid Fire aspect. The second one just means you can partially circumvent the to-hit penalties.

Re: Tale of the Tape Would you accept "because I forgot about it?" Because that's the real reason The No-Prize reason would be that it doesn't supply any useful information to the Champions other than that she's a VIPER Supervillain -- something the Green & Gold snake-motiffed costume could have told them... RE: Rapid Fire. There were no PC's or NPC's here -- no metagame whatsoever. Rapid Firing an AE NND is cheesy and I'll admit it; it's also perfectly valid if you're allowing Rapid Fire (which is an optional rule). She has the capability and as such it was used.

Re: Viperia/Champions matchup: Define Witchcraft's VPP I never knew that you couldn't get a Recovery on the same segment you were Knocked Out on. This mostly affected Sapphire, who spent several phases going "back and forth". Viperia knocked her into "down but not out" territory, she'd recover later in the same segment, only to repeat next phase... Interestingly I knew the second part of that rule (that the STUN and END only recovery at the end of the segment, not on the character's DEX).

Re: Viperia: Less Pow Than Champions?? Okay, did I do that backwards again? I penalized her DCV to reflect the coordinate issue. Which is precisely why this GM didn't use it -- too much of a judgement call. Each of which only matter when they can hit her. You will note they failed. You answered your own question there. I do note that her miss in Segment 2 got left off the play-by-play though... she was r9 vs 7- (she rolled a 9 when she needed a 7-). I left stating out her VPP to another thread.

Tale of the Tape Executive Summary The Champions almost pulled it off thanks to a couple of lucky breaks and a noteworthy flaw on Viperia's writeup -- but their luck fails them on the 'follow thru' and they're unable to close it out. In the end, Viperia really only needed a single attack power. ======================================================== ======================================================== Map: “Rosie’s†from the GM Screen. Viperia is in the centermost hex, each of the Champions surrounding her 8†away in a hex pattern, their positions randomly chosen. Defender, Sapphire, and Witchcraft begin the fight with 5†of altitude; Nighthawk and Ironclad begin at ground level. Whether Viperia begins at ground level or not will be determined after the relevant rolls. Segment 11 (pre-combat) Viperia makes deduction rolls (14-) to recognize that these are the Champions, that Witchcraft is a magic-user, that Ironclad is a brick, that Sapphire is an energy-projector, and that Defender is a ‘battlesuit’. However she fails the roll against Nighthawk and therefore is not sure of his capabilities. Viperia lacks any KS’s appropriate to knowing anything beyond this of the Champions. Defender fails his KS: Superhuman World roll (r/13 vs 11-), and therefore has no idea who he’s up against. He lacks any other relevant skills. Ironclad also fails (r/13 vs 8-) his Superhuman World roll. However he manages to make his Tactics roll (r/5 vs 8-). Nighthawk makes the Superhuman World roll (r/5 vs 11-), and hence knows he’s fighting a ‘flying brick’ named Viperia with impressive defenses. He’s aware of her magic vulnerability. Sapphire has no relevant skills. Witchcraft has only one semi-relevant skill – KS: Witchcraft. She fails (r/16 vs 13-). As such she is using her Spell of Vitality (+40 END, +5 REC). Note that Nighthawk can’t inform his teammates until his action. Segment 12 The arrangement of the Champions preclude a good Move By or Move Thru except versus the ground-pounding targets. The Thunderclap’s low damage will be countered by the upcoming Post-12 recovery. Therfore Viperia opts to start on the ground, put all levels on DCV, and unleash the Shockwave. This will do 8d6 vs Nighthawk, Ironclad, and one of the two cars -- the other car will take 7d6. Result is 28s 9 B 18k (7B 14k against the far car). Ironclad decides to try and tough it out, taking 3s and 4k (negligible KBD), and is prone. Nightduck tries to Dive for Cover 4†away (to reduce the damage, since he can’t swing far enough to avoid completely). However he fails miserably (r17 vs 10-), taking 10s and 11k – and then immediately hitting a wall for 11d6. This does 30s, an additional 12s. This leaves Nighthawk with 13s, but the two totals are not added for the purpose of CON-stunning. Nighthawk is prone, because he failed his Breakfall roll (r15 vs 14-). Nighthawk attempted dive for cover and hence has no action. He was not CON-stunned and therefore shouts “She’s vulnerable to magic!†Defender replies “But there’s no such thing as magic…†He flies up to 4†away from Viperia, makes his teamwork roll (r8), puts his H-H level on DCV, puts his multipower levels of OCV, and then waits. Sapphire flies up to 4†away from Viperia, makes her teamwork roll (r13), and then waits. Witchcraft moves away from Viperia, makes her teamwork roll (r13), and waits. She puts one skill level each on OECV and PDCV. Ironclad stands up (insert crack about his lack of Breakfall skill here), and attempts Find Weakness. He rolls a 10, just succeeding (12 minus 2 for range). The three active Champions all unleash attacks. Defender (r11 vs 9-) and Sapphire (r9 vs 7-) miss. Witchcraft however hits (r8 vs 13-) with her Ego Attack, resulting in 20s. This is increased to 30s because of Viperia’s vulnerability – of which 6s actually gets through Viperia’s defenses. Post-12 Recoveries End result – Nighthawk is down 14s and currently prone. Segment 1 Nobody acts Segment 2 Viperia goes +1/+2 (10 OCV 11 DCV), half-moves into Witchcraft’s hex, and goes for a punch. Witchcraft goes for DFC (2 hexes) and succeeds (r9 vs 11-) Nighthawk makes his Breakfall roll and can stand up as a 0 phase. He goes +1 DCV, half moves to get closer, and misses a “might as well try†Flash (r11 vs 7-) Segment 3 Viperia goes +0/+3, then lets loose with the Thunderclap. She gets a 17s 10f result. Nighthawk succeeds at a DFC (r7 vs 10-), as does Sapphire (r11 vs 11-). Nighthawk also succeeds at a Breakfall roll (at -3) to avoid going prone. Witchcraft however has no realistic chance (she could try as she hasn’t acted yet this segment but it would involve diving about 7 hexes). Defender flies in as close as he can (5†away from Viperia) and attempts an Entangle attack – which misses (r11 vs 7-) Witchcraft does not get an action due to the DFC in seg2. Ironclad moves to Car 1 (easily making the jumping roll) and picks it up. Segment 4 Nighthawk (who is not prone) does not get an action due to DFC in seg3. Sapphire (who is prone) does not get an action due to DFC in seg3 Segment 5 Viperia half moves to a position where all 5 are within the TC radius, and goes TC. This time she gets a 19s 12f result. Nighthawk again manage to DFC (r7 vs 9-) & not go prone (r10 v 11-). Sapphire also succeeds at DFC again despite taking a -2 penalty for already being prone (r9 vs 9-). Ironclad and Defender decide to stand tough. Witchcraft makes a desperation attempt to DRC (6 hexes this time) and fails; per the rules she stays in her current hex. This is enough to take her to -6 STUN (and therefore 0 END), and she is now prone. Defender attempts the entangle again, and again misses (r11 vs 9-). He has 11 segments of hearing flash remaining. Witchcraft gets does not get a recovery, as this is the segment she was injured on (FREd pg 274). Ironclad half-moves toward Viperia, still carrying the car (easily making his jumping roll). He is now 4†away from her, and opts to try Find Weakness again – succeeding (r4 vs 10-). Viperia is now at ¼ DEF from his attacks. Segment 6 Viperia decides to follow the Shampoo Directive (Rinse, Repeat), still at 12 DCV. She finds a spot where all the Champions are in range of TC and lets loose. Defender manages to make a desperation DFC (r4 vs 7-), a hit would have left him at 2 STUN). Witchcraft is simply hosed – this damage takes her below -10 Stun. Nighthawk DFC’s again – spending his Phase in Segment 8, and succeeds easily (r9 vs 11-, r8 vs 11-) keeping his feet. Sapphire also burns her Segment 8 with a DFC – but misses. Ironclad takes it on the chin again Nighthawk and Sapphire do not have actions this segment because of DFC in seg5. Nighthawk has 10 segments of flash left, Sapphire 7. Witchcraft & Defender have 10 segments of flash left, while Ironclad has 7. Segment 7 And on the 7th segment, the GM rested Segment 8 Viperia is getting pissed, and as such does the unthinkable – Rapid Fire’s the TC. This will leave her at 6 DCV (9, +3 skills, /2) but hitting her own hex 3 times is accomplishable if difficult -4 to all three rolls (r11, r12, and r9 vs 13-). This will affect Ironclad, Sapphire, and Witchcraft (Defender and Nighthawk are out of range by virtue of position from seg6). Sapphire makes a desperation DFC vs 5- (14- minus 7 for the range and 2 for being already prone) and fails with an r8. Ironclad decides he has to take his chances, while Witchcraft is simple hosed. Final damage result is a mere 31s 11f however (42s would have been average). That’s enough to move Sapphire and Witchcraft beyond any hope of returning this fight… but Ironclad still has a single point of Stun left. Neither Nighthawk nor Defender get an action this phase because of the DFC in seg6. Both have 8 segments of flash left. Sapphire does not get a recovery. Ironclad thinks for a moment and drops the car (0 Phase) – he knew it had already been damaged but was going to use it for the area-effect. He easily makes the to-hit for Viperia’s hex, pushes his Strength to 70, and divides his skill levels as +1/+3 (in case he misses). He needs a 12-, and rolls an 11-. The damage result is 56s, 16b, and 13k – of which 48s, 8b, and 3k get through her defenses. This is enough to CON-stun her! Segment 9 Ironclad and Viperia hit the ground (they were 5†in the air) – only 5d6 damage, not enough to penetrate their defenses. Viperia recovers from being Con-Stunned (she does not get any END or STUN back, however). She places all three levels on DCV. Segment 10 The three standing Champions make a hard decision – they aren’t going to coordinate this turn. If they did, Viperia could simply DFC once. What’s more, they decide that there best chance is to try and make Ironclad’s next punch count. Nighthawk opts to let Defender go first – Defender goes for the bolo attack. Putting both ranged levels on OCV (and the H-H level on DCV), he attempts the bolo attack again – and misses (r15 v 9-). Nighthawk swings in and goes for a Martial Throw, putting his lone level on OCV – and misses (r13- vs 8-). Note that even if Viperia weren’t allowed to assign her combat levels, both of these attacks still would have missed… Ironclad grabs the car again (1/2 phase action in GM’s opinion), goes all DCV – and gets interrupted by a Viperia that doesn’t want to take her chances. She successfully DFC’s out of the car’s reach; Ironclad’s failed blow destroys the car. Segment 11 Nothing happens – Viperia spent this phase for a DFC in Segment 10. Segment 12 Too late, the Champions realize they all three are quite close to her and she’ll get to act before they do. Viperia rapid-fire’s the Thunderclap again (burning 18 END, leaving her with 11 END left) – this time for results of 16s, 17s, and 13s, more than enough to put all three below -10 Stun. Nighthawk attempts a desperation 9 hex DFC and fails (r13 vs 5-). Defender comes closer but still fails to make a 6 hex DFC (r9 vs 8-). Ironclad similarly makes the valiant attempt at a 7 hex DFC and comes up ouchie (r13 vs 6-). ===================================================== ===================================================== BOTTOM LINES 1> Viperia's lack of "Lack of Weakness" is noticeable given her otherwise thorough defenses. Her DEF score also isn't really at "boss" levels relative to the 12-15 DC attack powers common to printed 350-pt Champions Universe characters. 2> NightDuck was basically useless, doing little more than putting on a show with the constant DFC's he needed to stay in the fight -- and blowing his one chance to actually hit her. 3> Said it before, will continue to say it -- Defender either needs an AE:1h entangle or a "both damaged" entangle. 4> In hindsight, Witchcraft's best use of her VPP would have been FD: hearing usable by others to represent hard ear coverings. This would have meant the NND part of Viperia's "Thunderclap" slot would have been useless and based on what I saw without this slot she would probably have lost. 5> The prospect of a Move By/Thru was checked by intelligent positioning of the Champions. Perhaps Viperia should invest in some Flight Levels or No Turn Mode flight... 6> Again, just like in the Mechanon fight, the Champion's lack of Ranged levels meant they had to get within AE range to hit her effectively. 7> As expected, this fight showed both the strength and weakness of Dive For Cover. They could mostly nullify Viperia's attacks unless they got too close, but it meant they couldn't press the attack either. 8> Rapid-Firing the Thunderclap is a little cheesy, but perfectly legal. If I were Viperia my next 5 points would be spent on the Rapid Attack skill

Re: Viperia/Champions matchup: Define Witchcraft's VPP What range modifiers? He was planning to use it as a melee weapon. It's all over but the dying -- the Champions almost pulled it off thanks to a couple of lucky breaks, but their luck broke down and they were unable to clinch it. In the end it was only 1 turn (Segment 12 to Segment 12). I'll post it as soon as I make a few corrections due to a rule about recoveries I honestly did not know until today...

Re: Viperia/Champions matchup: Define Witchcraft's VPP Actually? In hindsight I think her best bet would have been some variant on Flash Defense: Hearing, usable by others (ranged, simultaneously, etc) -- this would have all but eliminated the effectiveness of Viperia's Thunderclap slot (the NND part of which is negated by hard ear coverings). Will be resuming shortly; Ironclad is going to drop the car and go for a direct blow so he can do 14d6 instead of 13d6 (the car is actually limiting how much damage he can do)...

Re: Viperia/Champions matchup: Define Witchcraft's VPP Just completed Segment 8. Sapphire is down, Witchcraft is out, Nighthawk and Defender are one shot from Viperia's Thunderclap shot from going down, Ironclad is at 1 Stun (by the luck of a bad roll) -- and I'm debating whether or not to allow his Find Weakness to apply to hitting her with a car. To be continued...

Re: Viperia/Champions matchup: Define Witchcraft's VPP It's Segment 6 right now, at the current rate I won't finish tonight. So far all of the Champions but Witchcraft have been lucky with DiveForCover -- and the one she missed was a longshot (7-) desperation attempt because she knew an average result would have put her below 0 Stun. So far the Champions have not laid a finger on Viperia -- although Ironclad is on a pace to change that in Segment 8 thanks to a car and 2 successful Find Weakness rolls... of course Viperia can DFC too if she wants.

Re: Viperia/Champions matchup: Define Witchcraft's VPP For the record -- Viperia made her deductions against everyone *but* Nighthawk. Nighthawk made his KS:Superhuman World by 6 and hence knows her vulnerability -- but won't be able to do anything with this knowledge until his turn. Witchcraft, it turns out, only has one halfway-relevant skills in KS: Witchcraft -- to recognize her opponent is vulnerable to magic. She blew it, however (r/16 vs 13-). Spell of Vitality it is... The other relevant skill success was that Ironclad made his Tactics roll (r/5 vs 8-). He can't attempt Find Weakness until actual combat phases...

Re: Viperia/Champions matchup: Define Witchcraft's VPP This is what I'm going to go with. The others are too dependent on making an OCV roll against Viperia. The rolls are starting... now.

Re: Element Control Tweaking I see more than one attack power in a phase fairly often now, under the 5th edition MPA rules.