Derek Hiemforth

Hmm... I may have to steal this idea for my game as well. It would really mess with some of the PCs.

Like Blue, my players are a blasphemous lot anyway, so I'm pretty safe. In general, as long as the villainous religious group is sufficiently extreme and obviously not intended to be an accurate depiction of someone's real-life religion, I think you're safe. For example, I have an organization in my supers world called the Angels of the New Millenium. They're a radical Christian cult (well, they consider themselves Christian; "normal" Christian groups do not agree) who believe that that the appearance of supers was the beginning of armageddon, and that supers are incarnate demons. They use intensive training and high tech to do battle with these "evil spirits," and try to turn non-super heroes and villains to their cause.

Question A: If the target of a Mind Link also has Mental Powers, can he use them to attack the originator of the Mind Link as described on H5E page 132, or is using Mental Powers through the Link something that only the originator of the Link can do? Question B (meaningful only if it is legal for a Mind Link target to use Mental Powers through a Link as asked above): Can a character take the Cannot Be Used Through Mind Link Limitation on Mental Powers, even if he doesn't have Mind Link himself? Thanks!

How about Life Support: Immune to All Diseases, bought with Area Effect Line (with a long enough Line to circle the hospital), Usable Against Others, with the -2 Limitation that it doesn't prevent them from getting the disease while within the area, it just keeps the area itself from being "contagious". (I'm assuming that if a diseased person passed through the barrier, it would not cure them, correct? So if a diseased person left the hospital, he could still spread the disease once beyond the ward?)

Hey Steve - The absence of any questions in the rules FAQ regarding Mind Control was just getting to me, so I had to come up with one. Seriously though, according to page 131, if a situation changes while a victim is under Mind Control, and the change is such that a higher level of Mind Control would now be needed, then the victim of the Mind Control gets a new Breakout Roll with a +2 bonus per level of change. What if the situation changes in such a way that it would now require a lower level of Mind Control? Does the change in conditions make it more difficult for the victim to break out? (For example, let's say Batman was being Mind Controlled to beat on some old man (at least an EGO+20 effect, maybe EGO+30). Then he learns that the old man is Joe Chill. All of a sudden, maybe he don't mind so much being asked to beat on this guy. ) Thanks!

That should probably be in the errata too. It directly changes what the book says.

Oops! Should check the FAQ before posting!

Each level of Decreased STUN Multiple is a -1/4 Limitation. You can apply it up to four times, for a minimum STUNx of 1. Hence, a -1 Limitation (H5E, page 124)

Hey Steve, I checked the FAQ and didn't find anything. Hopefully I didn't miss it. I know it's legal to put two Linked Powers into a single EC slot. What about Powers that aren't Linked? If you have an effect where two game mechanics are required to simulate it, but it doesn't make sense to Link them for some reason, can you put them both in a single EC slot without the Linked Limitation? (In the specific case at hand, I'm working on an ice-based character and want to give her an "Ice Slides" slot in her EC. In the USPD, Ice Slides are built as Running and Gliding in a MP together. Obviously I can't put a MP in an EC slot, and it makes no sense to Link the Running and Gliding because they would be used exclusively, not simultaneously. But it seems like they should go in the same slot together because they're just one effect: Ice Slides.)

Per the normal rules, a Scientist (for example) who buys a Science Skill must still spend at least 1 point on it, but for that one point, he gets an 11- roll instead of an 8- roll. However, I'm wondering about characters who have a smattering of lots of Skills. Do you all think it would be abusive to allow a character with the appropriate Skill Enhancer to purchase two 8- Background Skills for 1 point (instead of one at 11-)? Why or why not?

Assuming the book is ready by then, do you know if anyone will be selling your books at DunDraCon in California on President's Day weekend?

This is covered in the Rules FAQ, under Combat And Adventuring. Click here and scroll down to (or search for) "Q: How does using an Autofire attack affect Coordinating?"

<obscure_Friends_reference> Flameboy! </obscure_Friends_reference>

There was a rule in 3rd Edition and before (removed in 4th and 5th) that you couldn't necessarily use your full STR when using Flight. You could only use as much STR as you had points in Flight. You might try something like that.

I agree with Fitz. I'd just rule it to be dissimilar to all other Languages, and therefore have it cost one extra point. I suppose if you wanted to make it even tougher, you might also rule that the Linguist Skill Enhancer doesn't apply to it, or say that it's really dissimilar to any other Language, and charge two extra points instead of just one.

Re: Transform Advantage If I was GMing, it would be difficult to persuade me to allow this at all. If I did allow it for some reason, I would certainly make it much more expensive than simply tacking a 3-point Concealment Skill on it. I would require at least a +1.5 Advantage (the same value as Attack Versus Limited Defense).

Umm... what? Ben, I sent you the PDF on 1/5 at 3:47pm. Is your email filter branding me as spam again?

Excellent! Looking forward to it!

Well, yes. Wouldn't something that runs around on its own trying to hit something also need a DEX and SPD? IMO, Summon or a Vehicle are definitely the ways to go.

I think you've got a couple of options. For characters where gaining new Powers frequently does not make sense, (ie., this doesn't apply to Gadget Man), just stick to your GM guns about violating character conception by buying new Powers too often. If it's a logically-explained new way of using an existing power, that may not be too bad. But everything still has to make sense in a game-world context, and if they're sprouting new powers with no rationale, that doesn't make sense. For characters like Gadget Man, where adding new powers often really is within their conception, it's often useful to have them encounter situations in games where their powers won't save them. Sometimes what you really need to get out of a tight spot or succeed in an important mission is a Contact or a Skill or what have you. Gently encourage Gadget Man to remember that there are other useful things besides more gadgets. You don't have to stop him from buying gadgets -- that is kind of his schtick, after all -- but make sure there are some consequences of having nothing but gadgets, and hope he gets the clue. Another possibility is to track campaign time closely, and watch new superpowers the same way you might watch spell research or magic item construction in a fantasy campaign. "Sorry, Gadget Man. This adventure picks up only two days after the last one ended. You simply haven't had time to finish creating that new Hyperdimensional Plasma Induction Rifle yet."

Another consideration is enforcement. For example, let's say that mages in a particular Fantasy Hero game world must take a vow to never reveal a certain secret to non-mages. Another question to ponder when deciding how this works as a Disad is, "What happens if the character breaks the vow?" In our example, if breaking the vow means that the character will now be ruthlessly pursued and exterminated by all of magedom, then there may be an element of Hunted involved. If breaking the vow triggers a curse, then perhaps there is a Susceptability or Unluck involved, etc.

A 30d6 Explosion? Yikes, that's a huge Multipower reserve!

The Emerged has the right of it, IMO. Having more SPD simply means you have more actions per Turn. Why you have more actions per Turn is a question of SFX.

Re: Knockback and Unsconsciousness Nope.

There are also some good general tips on running con games in this thread.